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: 8
- 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:
1.08 - Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers: Yet to average 4.0 yards per carry in any 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. I considered DeAndre Hopkins here, but I prefer the value that I can get at WR at 2.05 over the RB options.
2.05 - Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers: Playing just eight games in 2015 and one game in 2016, Allen won the AP Comeback of the Year award as he posted career numbers (102/1,393/6) in a healthy 16-game campaign. From Weeks 11 to 17, Allen was absolutely dominant with five 100-yard games during that seven-game span. No player had more receptions (58) or receiving yards (797) and only Antonio Brown (six) scored more touchdowns (five) than Allen over that stretch.
3.08 - T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts: Failing to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the first time since his rookie season, the new offense and return of Andrew Luck bodes well for Hilton, who led the NFL with 1,448 receiving yards in 2016.
4.05 - 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 WR3 for this team.
5.08 - Mark Ingram, RB, New Orleans Saints: Even with rookie Alvin Kamara finishing as fantasy's RB4, Ingram set career highs in 2017 with 1,124 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns, 58 receptions and 416 receiving yards. Although he'll miss the first four games due to a PED suspension, that creates more fantasy appeal (to a certain degree) as there is a discount for his strong production from Weeks 5 to 16.
6.05 - 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.
7.08 - 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 -- 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.
8.05 - Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts: It will be more than 600 days in between regular-season games, but it's been great to see Luck under center in the preseason. In his past three full seasons, Luck has finished as fantasy's QB4 (2013), QB2 (2014) and QB4 (2016). Although his ADP is likely to rise as we approach the start of the season, there is plenty of profit potential in the eighth round.
9.08 - Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks: A sleeper pick in 2017, Carson was off to a promising start, but he missed the final 12 games. Even though the Seahawks drafting Rashaad Penny in the first round has held some back from touting Carson as a breakout candidate in 2018, the second-year back has sat atop the team's depth chart since the start of camp.
10.05 - Peyton Barber, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tampa's leading rusher in 2017, Barber had 335 rushing yards (15th-most in the NFL) on 78 carries (4.29 YPC) from Weeks 13 to 17. Even though the Bucs used a high second-round pick on Ronald Jones, it's Barber -- not Jones -- that will enter the season as the team's starter. Coach Dirk Koetter recently said: "He's doing everything he should be doing right now, and I think if we went out there and gave it to Peyton 20 times, we'd like what he does. But we're not going to do that in a preseason game.''
11.08 - Kyle Rudolph, TE, Minnesota Vikings: Rudolph's targets dropped year over year (132 to 81), but he still finished as fantasy's TE6 (TE8 in PPR) in 2017. He posted a 57/532/8 stat line last season and those numbers may be a reasonable floor for the veteran tight end.
12.05 - David Njoku, TE, Cleveland Browns: Playing less than half of the team's offensive snaps as a rookie, Njoku posted a 32/386/4 stat line in 2017. Coach Hue Jackson says that he expects a big jump from Njoku in Year 2.
13.08 - Matt Breida, RB, San Francisco 49ers: As a rookie, Breida had 126 touches for 645 yards from scrimmage (4.4 YPC and 8.6 Y/A) and three touchdowns. As McKinnon's primary backup, it's possible he posts similar -- or even better -- numbers in 2018.
14.05 - Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers: Finishing as a top-50 fantasy back in 2017, Ekeler has a reasonable chance to do so again as MG3's backup. As a rookie, Ekeler had 539 YFS, 27 catches, 5.5 YPC and five TDs.
15.08 - Pittsburgh Steelers D/ST
16.05 - Matt Bryant, K, Atlanta Falcons
- View full mock draft results here
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