Wednesday, July 25, 2018

2018 Fantasy Football 16-Team PPR Mock Draft

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 July 7th, we began drafting (at least) one fantasy football team per day using the 2018 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator and we will continue to do so up until the start of the 2018 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: Point-per-reception (PPR) scoring
  • # of Teams: 16
  • Draft Slot: 13
  • Starters: QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, Flex (RB/WR/TE), K, DST
  • Bench Size: 6

With that said, here are the results of today's mock draft:

1.13 - Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons: Going into the draft, I was expecting to take a running back here -- Devonta Freeman, Leonard Fournette, etc. Compared to an 8th-overall ranking in my Top-200 PPR Fantasy Football Rankings, however, Jones offered too much value at No. 13 to pass up and I'm not worried about his training camp holdout. With 1,400-plus yards in each of the past four seasons, Jones (6,317) trails only Antonio Brown (6,349) in receiving yards during that four-year span.

2.04 - Jerick McKinnon, RB, San Francisco 49ers: McKinnon gets an opportunity to be a lead back for the first time in his career. One beat writer puts the over/under on McKinnon receptions at 73, the high mark for Freeman during Kyle Shanahan's time in Atlanta.

3.13 - Alshon Jeffery, WR, Philadelphia Eagles: Posting a 57/789/9 line in his debut season with the Eagles, Jeffery's yardage was the lowest since his rookie season, but he was only one score shy of his career high. With a team-high 120 targets last season, however, Jeffery remains a threat for double-digit touchdowns as the team's No. 1 receiver with a strong chance to improve on his catch and yardage totals.

- MORE: Philadelphia Eagles 2018 Fantasy Football Projections

4.04 - Jarvis Landry, WR, Cleveland Browns: The Browns traded for Landry and then signed him to an extension through the 2023 season. Leading the NFL last season with a career-high 112 receptions, Landry finished the season with 987 yards and nine touchdowns (also a career high). In a 16-team PPR league, Landry is about as good of a WR3 as one can expect to have.

5.13 - Mark Ingram, RB, New Orleans Saints: The alternative at 4.04 was Ingram. Even with Alvin Kamara going off last year, Ingram set career highs in 2017 with 1,124 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns, 58 receptions and 416 receiving yards last season. Although he'll miss the first four games, the discount for his strong production from Weeks 5 to 16 provides even more fantasy appeal. With good health, Ingram should easily perform as a top-16 back over the period of Week 5 to 16.

6.04 - Randall Cobb, WR, Green Bay Packers: With 600-something yards in back-to-back seasons, Cobb could bounce back provided that he and Aaron Rodgers can stay healthy given a secure WR2 role.

7.13 - Tevin Coleman, RB, Atlanta Falcons: Even if he's the 2 to Freeman in the team's 1-2 rushing attack, Coleman has finished as a top-24 running back and exceeded 900 yards from scrimmage in each of the past two seasons with a total of 19 touchdowns since 2016.

- MORE: Devonta Freeman 2018 Fantasy Football Profile

8.04 - Chris Thompson, RB, Washington Redskins: Missing the final six games of the season, Thompson should handle the majority of the team's third-down snaps and he was the RB10 in PPR through Week 11 (his final game played).

9.13 - Giovani Bernard, RB, Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Mixon missed some time, but Bernard was highly productive down the stretch. In five December games, Bernard had 507 YFS, averaged 4.75 YPC with 24 receptions and two scores. The 46th running back off the board in this mock, Gio offers late-round value as a back that could return PPR flex value.

10.04 - Charles Clay, TE, Buffalo Bills: With more than 500 receiving yards in all three of his seasons in Buffalo, Clay a relatively safe punt option at tight end assuming he can stay healthy.

11.13 - Philip Rivers, QB, Los Angeles Chargers: Except for 2012 (21st) and 2016 (14th), Rivers has finished as a top-12 fantasy quarterback in the eight of his past 10 NFL seasons. With at least 4,286 yards and 28 touchdowns in each of the past five seasons, Rivers offers tons of value this late (pick 173).

- MORE: 12 Undervalued Players Compared to Fantasy Football ADP

12.04 - Austin Hooper, TE, Atlanta Falcons: In his second season, Hooper posted a 49/526/3 stat line and finished as fantasy's TE17 in PPR. His weekly performance was inconsistent, but he adds some depth at my team's worst position.

13.13 - Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans: Given a more aggressive philosophy from the new coaching staff, Mariota could have a bounce-back season. The drawback with Mariota as backup, however, is that he and Rivers both share the same bye week (8).

14.04 - Pittsburgh Steelers D/ST

15.13 - Stephen Gostkowski, K, New England Patriots

16.04 - Albert Wilson, WR, Miami Dolphins: Wilson set career highs (42/554/3) across the board last season. With Jarvis Landry gone, there could be a significant opportunity to post even better numbers and Wilson has impressed the coaching staff in offseason workouts.

- View full mock draft results here

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