Saturday, August 4, 2018

2018 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 16 Teams, 9th 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 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: Standard scoring (i.e., non-PPR scoring)
  • # of Teams: 16
  • Draft Slot: 9
  • 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:

1.09 - DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans: Leading the NFL in receiving touchdowns (13) last season, Hopkins now has four seasons with 75-plus catches and three seasons with 1,200-plus yards through his age-25 season. With a league-high 174 targets last season, Hopkins had 35-percent target share in 10 of 15 games and double-digit targets 11 times. As the focal point of Houston's offense, he arguably has the highest floor among all receivers in the league.

2.08 - Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals: Down to 218 pounds (compared to 238 last rookie minicamp), Mixon is poised for bigger things in his sophomore campaign. The versatile back averaged just 3.5 yards per carry last season behind one of the league's worst offensive lines, but upgrading LT/C this offseason is a move in the right direction.

3.09 - 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: 2018 Fantasy Football WR Projections

4.08 - Lamar Miller, RB, Houston Texans: Miller has two 1,000-yard seasons since 2014, but he was even less efficient in 2017 (career-low 3.7 YPC) than he was in 2016 (4.0). The offensive line is terrible, but Miller has shed a few pounds and entered training camp at his lowest weight since signing with Houston, which should help.

5.09 - Pierre Garcon, WR, San Francisco 49ers: Garcon (neck) missed half the season and was on pace for an 80/1,000 season before the injury. His last full season (2013) playing in Kyle Shanahan's offense, he posted a career-best 113/1,346/5 stat line. Unlikely to repeat those numbers, a 1,000-yard season is certainly within reach.

6.08 - 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. Going against the grain to a certain degree, I expect Burkhead to outproduce first-round rookie Sony Michel this season. Either way, both backs should be productive and I think Burkhead is a value at this point.

7.09 - Isaiah Crowell, RB, New York Jets: Only 25 years old, Crowell has 850-plus rushing yards in each of the past two seasons.

8.08 - 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.

9.09 - Giovani Bernard, RB, Cincinnati Bengals: Mixon missed two games, 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. I love his value as my RB5 in a 16-team league.

- MORE: 16 Fantasy Football Sleepers for the 2018 season

10.08 - Tyrell Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers: With Allen out for virtually of 2016, Williams had a breakout season with 69 catches for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns. With Allen healthy, Williams had 43/728/4 in 2017 — and that level of production is a more reasonable expectation barring an Allen injury in 2018.

11.09 - O.J. Howard, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs used the 19th-overall pick on Howard, who slipped further than most expected in the 2017 NFL Draft. Even though Brate was more involved in the passing game, Howard played more snaps than Brate as a rookie. Howard's role as a receiver should expand in his sophomore campaign.

12.08 - Quincy Enunwa, WR, New York Jets: Enunwa led the team in receiving in 2016 (58/857/4), but he missed all of 2017 with a neck injury. There's a chance that he leads the team in receiving in 2018 if he could stay healthy.

13.09 - Alex Smith, QB, Washington Redskins: Setting career highs, Smith threw for 4,042 yards and 26 touchdowns while adding 355 rushing yards last season. Not only was 2017 the first time he finished as a top-12 fantasy quarterback, Smith finished as fantasy's QB3 last season. Now in Washington, he takes over for Kirk Cousins, who has finished as a top-eight fantasy quarterback in each of the past three seasons. Since Gruden coached Andy Dalton (QB5) in 2013, he's now coached a QB to a top-eight fantasy finish in four of the past five seasons.

14.08 - Mike Gesicki, TE, Miami Dolphins: Freakishly athletic, Gesicki has rare physical tools: 6-foot-5, 247 pounds, 4.54 forty, 41.5-inch vertical and 6.76 3-cone. Moreover, there is little competition atop the depth chart at tight end so Gesicki has a chance to make an immediate impact as a rookie. That said, rookie tight ends historically struggle to produce fantasy-relevant numbers.

15.09 - Carolina Panthers D/ST

16.08 - Dan Bailey, K, Dallas Cowboys

- View full mock draft results here

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