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.
Details of today's mock draft:
- Scoring: Standard scoring (i.e., non-PPR scoring)
- # of Teams: 12
- Draft Slot: 12
- 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:
1.12 - Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons: With 1,400-plus yards in each of the past four seasons, Jones has a total of 6,317 receiving yards during that four-year span. Only Antonio Brown (6,349) has more and both have more than 1,200 yards more than DeAndre Hopkins (5,063, third). Only Brown has more catches than Jones over that span.
2.01 - Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers: Yet to average 4.0 yards per carry in a season, Gordon rushed for 1,105 yards last year and added 58 catches for 476 yards, all of which were career highs. And after not scoring on 217 touches as a rookie, MG3 has scored exactly 12 touchdowns in each of the past two seasons.
3.12 - Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals: Returning for (at least) another season, Fitzgerald has finished as a top-20 fantasy wide receiver in each of the past three seasons and four of the past five. Incredibly consistent, Fitz has 100-plus receptions and 1,000-plus yards in three consecutive seasons. Going into his age-35 season, he's a solid WR2.
4.01 - Demaryius Thomas, WR, Denver Broncos: Thomas is coming off his worst season (83/949/5) since breaking out in 2012 (Peyton Manning's first year in Denver). Signing Case Keenum may not return Thomas to the days of 90/1,400/10 numbers he posted from 2012 to 2014, but a bounce-back campaign to the tune of 85 catches and 1,100 yards seems reasonable with steadier quarterback play.
- MORE: Denver Broncos 2018 Fantasy Football Projections
5.12 - Rex Burkhead, RB, New England Patriots: Burkhead scored eight touchdowns (in 10 games) as he rushed for 264 yards and added 30 catches for 254 yards in his debut season with the Patriots. Even before Sony Michel had a knee procedure, I had Burkhead to outproduce the rookie. Although I still consider him a value, Burkhead's ADP has been on the rise this month.
- MORE: Burkhead tops weekly Fantasy Football ADP risers list
6.01 - Michael Crabtree, WR, Baltimore Ravens: As part of a 1-2 punch with Amari Cooper in Oakland, Crabtree now becomes his team's clear No. 1 wideout. Over the past three seasons, Crabtree has 25 touchdowns -- eight-plus in each of the past three seasons. He's a high-upside WR4/flex.
- MORE: Michael Crabtree 2018 Fantasy Football Profile
7.12 - Tevin Coleman, RB, Atlanta Falcons: Even if he's the 2 to Devonta 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 19 total touchdowns since 2016.
- MORE: Devonta Freeman 2018 Fantasy Football Profile
8.01 - Jamaal Williams, RB, Green Bay Packers: Due to other injuries at running back, only three running backs had more carries than Williams (122) from Week 10 on -- Melvin Gordon (137), Frank Gore (134) and LeSean McCoy (130). That said, Williams averaged only 3.6 yards per carry as a rookie and the workload allocation for the team's top-three backs could be fluid throughout the season. The two-game suspension of Aaron Jones to start the season helps Williams' case.
9.12 - Chris Thompson, RB, Washington Redskins: The injury to Derrius Guice could open up more early-down opportunities for Thompson as well, but he will continue to handle the majority of the team's third-down snaps. Missing the final six games of the season, Thompson had 294 rushing yards, 39 catches for 510 yards and a total of six touchdowns through 10 games. Through Week 11 (his last game played), Thompson was the RB12 (RB10 in PPR) in fantasy football scoring.
10.01 - Sterling Shepard, WR, New York Giants: Even though he missed five games, Shepard posted a career high in receiving yards (731) and set a career high in receptions on a per-game basis (5.36). Shepard will have an opportunity to post full-season career highs as the team's WR2.
11.12 - Giovani Bernard, RB, CIncinnati Bengals: Joe Mixon missed a couple of December games, but Bernard was highly productive down the stretch. Gio had 507 YFS, averaged 4.75 YPC with 24 receptions and two scores across five December games.
- MORE: 16 Fantasy Football Sleepers
12.01 - Jordan Reed, TE, Washington Redskins: If he ever puts together a 16-game season, Reed has the potential to lead all tight ends in fantasy points. Unfortunately, he has missed at least four games in four of his five NFL seasons including 10 missed games last season. In his healthiest season (14 games in 2015), Reed had a monster 87/952/11 line.
13.12 - 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. On my list of 12 Undervalued Players Compared to Fantasy ADP, Rivers has thrown for at least 4,286 yards and 28 touchdowns in each of the past five seasons.
14.01 - Samaje Perine, RB, Washington Redskins: With rookie Derrius Guice (ACL) out for the season, it's possible that Washington either signs a free agent or trades for a running back. If they don't, however, I'd expect Perine to get the majority of carrries on early downs.
15.12 - New England Patriots D/ST
16.01 - Stephen Gostkowski, K, New England Patriots
- View full mock draft results here
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