Thursday, August 17, 2017

Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft: 16 Teams, 13th 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 June 10th, we began drafting (at least) one fantasy football team per day using the 2017 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator and we will continue to do so up until the start of the 2017 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: 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 - Jay Ajayi, RB, Miami Dolphins: There were four 200-yard rushing games last season and Ajayi had three of them. (Le'Veon Bell had the other.) Getting double-digit carries every week starting in Week 5, only Bell (243) had more carries than Ajayi (242) from Weeks 5 to 17 last season. Only Ezekiel Elliott (1,219) rushed for more yards than Ajayi (1,197) during that span.

2.04 - Dez Bryant, WR, Dallas Cowboys: Even though no team called a pass on a lower percentage of their plays, Bryant is a dominant presence in the red zone. Dez has a league-high 52 receiving touchdowns (in 70 games) over the past five seasons.

3.13 - Michael Crabtree, WR, Oakland Raiders: Half of one of the NFL's top wide receiver duos, Crabtree has been highly productive in both of his seasons in Oakland. Crabtree has a minimum of 85 catches, 900 yards and eight touchdowns each season and is coming off his first 1,000-yard season since 2012.

4.04 - Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots: After missing nine games combined in his previous two seasons, Edelman played a full 16-game slate and finished the year with 98 catches for 1,106 yards and three touchdowns. The addition of Brandin Cooks hurts Edelman's fantasy value a bit, but he's a strong WR3 in a 16-team PPR league (like this one).

5.13 - Tevin Coleman, RB, Atlanta Falcons: Once again, Coleman has missed multiple games, but he showed his big-play ability when he was on the field. While Devonta Freeman will continue to lead the backfield in usage and production, Coleman had double-digit touches in 11 of his 13 games last year and finished the season as a top-20 fantasy running back.

6.04 - Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans: Finishing as fantasy's QB12 in 2016, Mariota threw for 3,426 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Given the team's offseason investments to put an improved supporting cast around Mariota, 2017 should be even better — perhaps much better — for this ascending dual-threat quarterback.

7.13 - Jack Doyle, TE, Indianapolis Colts: Finishing just outside the top-12 in fantasy points scored, Doyle signed a three-year deal to be the team's top tight end. Doyle's 59 catches, 75 targets and 584 yards were all second on the team to only T.Y. Hilton, who led the NFL in receiving yardage in 2016.

8.04 - Darren McFadden, RB, Dallas Cowboys: If Zeke serves his six-game (or a reduced) suspension in 2017, McFadden becomes the Cowboys' starter for those games. In his first season in Dallas without Zeke and Tony Romo injured for most of the year, McFadden rushed for 1,089 yards (4.6 YPC) on 236 carries and added 40 catches for 328 yards.

9.13 - Zay Jones, WR, Buffalo Bills: The 37th-overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Jones set the records for most receptions in a season (158) and career (399) at East Carolina.

10.04 - Jeremy Hill, RB, Cincinnati Bengals: After an impressive rookie season (1,124 rushing yards and 5.1 YPC), Hill has failed to reach the 1,000-yard mark and averaged under 4.0 yards per carry in back-to-back seasons. Not only did the Bengals draft Joe Mixon, the team lost two of its best offensive linemen in free agency. It's possible Hill spends much of the season as the "starter" even though Mixon is the long-term answer at the position.

11.13 - Jonathan Williams, RB, Buffalo Bills: Bills back-up running backs have had some stand-alone fantasy value over the past couple of seasons. With Mike Gillislee now in New England, the 223-pound second-year back is expected to move into the role vacated by Gillislee and he has weekly flex upside even if LeSean McCoy stays healthy for a full season.

12.04 - Anquan Boldin, WR, Buffalo Bills: Signing a free-agent deal with the Bills, Boldin provides some late-round depth as my WR5.

13.13 - Andy Dalton, QB, Cincinnati Bengals: Dalton has finished as a mid-tier QB2 (QB16-18) in each of the past three seasons, but a part of that mediocrity has been the injuries to the team's pass-catchers. During that span, Tyler Eifert has played a total of 22 games and A.J. Green has missed three-plus games in two of three years including six missed games last season. While the offensive line has become a concern, the Bengals used their early picks -- John Ross (first round) and Joe Mixon (second round) -- to give Dalton and the offense more weapons.

14.04 - Los Angeles Rams DST

15.13 - Torrey Smith, WR, Philadelphia Eagles: Depth dries up quickly in a 16-team league. Improving his situation compared to San Francisco last year, Smith has some dart-throw upside as a bye-week fill-in.

16.04 - Dan Bailey, K, Dallas Cowboys

- View full mock draft results here

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