The passing of the deadline last Friday for college juniors to declare for the 2010 NFL draft reveals the continuing labor dispute did NOT cause a mass of them to declare early as some suspected. Those keeper/dynasty league team owners who were hoping for a 2010 fantasy football rookie gold rush, will be disappointed, despite a Record-tying 53 non-seniors apply for National Football League draft.
Tom Condon, whose clients include Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, notes that the rookie wage scale is being discussed by the NFL and the union.
“I think the league has stated publicly that they didn’t have to come out because there won’t be a wage scale,” Condon said of the non-seniors. “But a wage scale was in the league’s proposals to the union in their negotiations.
“And obviously there is certainly the potential for a work stoppage in 2011” without a new collective bargaining agreement.
Yet the projections of as many as 100 players seeking early entry to the draft didn’t occur.
The 2010 rookie class currently projects to have 4 (maybe 5) fantasy football-ready prospects according to a new QBallers rookie ranking set to be released this week. This number is about in-line with previous rookie classes.
The big bet, however, may end up being 2012 rookies. If there is a work stoppage in 2011, there will be a whole year’s worth of extra college seniors waiting to enter the 2012 draft, swelling its ranks with an unusually strong amount of talent, and in turn increasing the number of fantasy football rookie prospects. Check your constitution/bylaws/rulebook (whatever you call it) for how your particular league might handle this, but you may find that actively trying to trade out of the 2011 rookie class and into the 2012 class is in your team’s best interests, if you believe a work stoppage is inevitable.
A 2011 work stoppage would be armageddon for many keeper/dynasty leagues, but if your league survives (I know mine would), your 2012 rookie picks will be gold in that scenario. Why not come out ahead in the end with a little foresight? Just don’t think about how much 2011 would suck without football.
[UPDATE-1 01/20/10 @8PM]: In answering questions for Bengals.com, the NFL claims there will be a 2011 rookie draft, without elaborating.
Q. When does the CBA expire should there be no extension to the agreement?

A. In March 2011.
Q. Will there be a college draft in 2011?
A. Yes.
While nobody wants a work stoppage, I do not take that answer seriously. If there is no extension, there is no season. How could there be a 2011 NFL draft if there was no 2011 NFL season?