Wednesday, August 1, 2018

2018 Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft: 12 Teams, 12th 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: Point-per-reception (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 - 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-best numbers (102/1,393/6) in a healthy 16-game campaign. Based on my 2018 Fantasy Football WR Projections, Allen is projected for a league-high 108.6 catches for nearly 1,400 yards.

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 - 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.

4.01 - 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: 12 Undervalued Players Compared to Fantasy ADP

5.12 - 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 Texans have one of the league's worst offensive lines (actually the worst if you go by PFF rankings) and the line won't be markedly better in 2018. On a positive note, however, Miller has shed a few pounds and entered training camp at his lowest weight since signing with Houston and it's unclear if D'Onta Foreman (Achilles) will be ready for the opener.

6.01 - Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots: Showing no signs of slowing down, Brady threw for a league-high 4,577 yards and finished as fantasy's QB4 in 2017. Typically, I wait on QB, but I wanted to experiment a little and see how my roster would look by drafting a stud at the position a little earlier than usual.

7.12 - Jay Ajayi, RB, Philadelphia Eagles: Getting limited regular-season touches (70 carries and 10 receptions in seven games), Ajayi averaged 5.8 yards per carry and 9.1 yards per reception. Ajayi saw a postseason workload bump with 42 carries and six receptions over three playoff games and he's poised for a (much) larger workload heading into 2018 with LeGarrette Blount now in Detroit.

8.01 - Mark Ingram, RB, New Orleans Saints: Even with rookie Alvin Kamara finishing as PPR's RB3, 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 huge discount for his strong production from Weeks 5 to 16 -- and I'm more than comfortable subbing in Miller, Ajayi or Burkhead into my RB2 spot during the first four weeks.

9.12 - Rex Burkhead, RB, New England Patriots: Missing six games in his first season with the Patriots, Burkhead scored eight touchdowns as he rushed for 264 yards and added 30 catches for 254 yards. Unlike most others, I actually prefer Burkhead to first-rounder Sony Michel, but there is plenty of upside here either way.

10.01 - Jack Doyle, TE, Indianapolis Colts: Doyle finished second on the team in targets (108) last season and posted career highs with 80 catches and 690 yards last season. With the Colts signing Eric Ebron, it's possible that Doyle fails to reach those numbers or perhaps even his 2016 numbers (59/584/5).

11.12 - Theo Riddick, RB, Detroit Lions: With 50-plus catches in each of the past three seasons, Riddick has a total of 186 receptions during that span and he's obviously more valuable in PPR formats.

12.01 - 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.

- MORE: 16 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Late-Round Bargains

13.12 - Jared Cook, TE, Oakland Raiders: Cook led the team in receiving yards (688) and 20-yard receptions (10) and finished second in receptions (54), but he had just two touchdowns. In fact, Cook has just six touchdowns in 58 games over the past four seasons combined. Finishing as a top-12 fantasy tight in PPR, Cook has top-10 upside should he generate a little more red-zone volume and success.

14.01 - Minnesota Vikings D/ST

15.12 - Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: When opportunities presented themselves, Godwin capitalized and posted a 26/442/1 (17.0 Y/R) second-half line with 68-plus yards in three of his final four games. Making "a lot of plays everyday," Godwin could once again see his role expand as the season progresses, but it may not be until 2019 that we see a breakout from Godwin.

16.01 - Stephen Gostkowski, K, New England Patriots

- View full mock draft results here

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