Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 16 Teams, 15th Pick

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. While we may not be able to draft a "perfect" fantasy football team, the more we practice, the better our teams will be.

Starting on June 10th, we began drafting (at least) one fantasy football team per day using the 2017 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator and we will continue to do so up until the start of the 2017 NFL season.

Each day, we will switch things up -- e.g., PPR vs. standard scoring, league size, draft slot, 2-QB leagues, auction leagues, etc.

In addition, we will centralize links to our daily fantasy football mock drafts for an easy way to keep track of our mock drafts.

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Details of today's mock draft:
  • Scoring: Standard scoring (i.e., not PPR scoring)
  • # of Teams: 16
  • Draft Slot: 15
  • Starters: QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, Flex (RB/WR/TE), K, DST
  • Bench Size: 6
With that said, here are the results of today's mock draft:

1.15 - Jay Ajayi, RB, Miami Dolphins: There were four 200-yard rushing games last season and Ajayi had three of them. (Le'Veon Bell had the other.) Getting double-digit carries every week starting in Week 5, only Bell (243) had more carries than Ajayi (242) from Weeks 5 to 17 last season. Only Ezekiel Elliott (1,219) rushed for more yards than Ajayi (1,197) during that span. Entering 2017 as the team's bellcow back, Ajayi could challenge for the league lead in carries in 2017.

2.02 - Dez Bryant, WR, Dallas Cowboys: Even though no team called a pass on a lower percentage of their plays, Bryant is a dominant presence in the red zone. Dez has a league-high 52 receiving touchdowns (in 70 games) over the past five seasons.

3.15 - Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs: Extremely productive at Toledo with nearly 5,000 career rushing yards, there was speculation that Hunt would eventually emerge as the starter for the Chiefs. Given the knee injury to Spencer Ware, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if Hunt finished as fantasy's most productive rookie running back in 2017.

4.02 - Michael Crabtree, WR, Oakland Raiders: Half of one of the NFL's top wide receiver duos, Crabtree has been highly productive in both of his seasons in Oakland. Crabtree has a minimum of 85 catches, 900 yards and eight touchdowns each season and is coming off his first 1,000-yard season since 2012.

5.15 - Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans: Finishing as fantasy's QB12 in 2016, Mariota threw for 3,426 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Given the team's offseason investments to put an improved supporting cast around Mariota, 2017 should be even better — perhaps much better — for this ascending dual-threat quarterback.

6.02 - DeVante Parker, WR, Miami Dolphins: Preseason expectations were unfortunately greater than his actual production in 2016. Coaches, players and reporters have generally talked Parker up all offseason, which can be summed up by the offensive coordinator's 2017 expectations for him: "Gigantic year."

7.15 - Mike Wallace, WR, Baltimore Ravens: Even though Wallace had his first 1,000-yard season since 2011, he has finished as a top-30 fantasy wide receiver (standard scoring) in seven of eight seasons since entering the league in 2009.

8.02 - Hunter Henry, TE, Los Angeles Chargers: Henry finished his rookie campaign with 36/478/8 and he was especially productive during a four-game stretch early in the season (18/290/3 from Weeks 3 to 6). Even with Antonio Gates back, it's likely that Henry leads the position group in targets and production.

9.15 - Jeremy Hill, RB, Cincinnati Bengals: After an impressive rookie season (1,124 rushing yards and 5.1 YPC), Hill has failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark and averaged under 4.0 yards per carry in back-to-back seasons. Not only did the Bengals draft Joe Mixon, the team lost two of its best offensive linemen in free agency. Eventually Mixon should take over as lead back, but it may happen later than most expect.

10.02 - Jonathan Williams, RB, Buffalo Bills: With Mike Gillislee now in New England, the 223-pound second-year back is expected to move into backup role and has weekly flex upside even if LeSean McCoy stays healthy for a full season.

11.15 - Tyrod Taylor, QB, Buffalo Bills: No team threw the ball fewer times than the Bills (474) in 2016, but that didn't keep Taylor from finishing as a top-10 fantasy quarterback (QB8) last season. In his two seasons as a starter, Taylor has rushed for 1,148 yards and 10 touchdowns -- more than six fantasy points per game from his rushing stats alone. The trade of Sammy Watkins to the Rams hurts Taylor's outlook, but Watkins missed eight games and finished with just 430 yards and two touchdowns last season as Taylor posted QB8 numbers.

12.02 - Wendell Smallwood, RB, Philadelphia Eagles: At a minimum, Smallwood is worth a flier as my RB5 and there is a chance, perhaps remote, that the Eagles cut LeGarrette Blount.

13.15 - Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks: Like Smallwood, Carson is worth an upside pick late in this draft as my RB6.

14.02 - Jacksonville Jaguars DST

15.15 - Chris Boswell, K, Pittsburgh Steelers

- View full mock draft results here

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