Sunday, August 12, 2018

2018 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 12 Teams, 1st 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: 12
  • Draft Slot: 1
  • 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:

1.01 - Le'Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers: Bell won't report until after the preseason is over, but it "would be a shock" for him to miss regular-season games. Aside from his six-game 2015 season, the three-down workhorse has 1,200-plus rushing yards, 75-plus receptions and 600-plus receiving yards in three of his past four seasons.

2.12 - Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Even though he posted a career-low 1,001 yards last season, Evans has now begun his career with four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Only two other players — Randy Moss and A.J. Green — have started their careers with four 1,000-yard seasons. Over his four NFL seasons, Evans has 32 touchdowns and a pair of 12-score campaigns.

3.01 - 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.

4.12 - 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.

5.01 - 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, but Miller has shed a few pounds and entered training camp at his lowest weight since signing with Houston.

6.12 - Carson Wentz, QB, Philadelphia Eagles: Missing the final three (regular-season) games, Wentz appears more likely than not to be under center for Week 1. Before last year's injury, Wentz threw 33 touchdowns to only seven interceptions in 13 games and trailed only Russell Wilson in fantasy points scored (through Week 14). Given how far Andrew Luck (12.12) fell, I should have passed on Wentz and added another RB/WR here.

7.01 - Greg Olsen, TE, Carolina Panthers: Signing a two-year extension that keeps him under contract through 2020, Olsen missed more than half of last season. Before that, however, the 33-year-old tight end had three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and finished as fantasy's TE4, TE4 and TE2, respectively, during that span.

8.12 - Jamaal Williams, RB, Green Bay Packers: Aided my team injuries, 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.

9.01 - Chris Thompson, RB, Washington Redskins: There is some uncertainty at the position with Derrius Guice tearing his ACL, but Thompson 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 in fantasy football scoring.

10.12 - Kenny Golladay, WR, Detroit Lions: Golladay's best games were his first (4/69/2) and his last (2/80/1). Missing five games, the rookie totalled only 22/328/0 in his nine games from Weeks 2 to 16. A true breakout may not occur in 2018, but Golden Tate said the following of the second-year receiver: "… I'm telling you, this guy can be dominant. He's a WR1 kind of guy."

11.01 - Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks: A sleeper pick in 2017, Carson was off to a promising start, but he missed the final 12 games. If it weren't for the team drafting Rashaad Penny in the first round this year, many would tout Carson as a breakout candidate in 2018. Even so, the second-year back entered training camp atop the depth chart and he's an 11th-round bargain.

12.12 - 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). I'd be comfortable going into the season with Luck as my only QB.

13.01 - Tyrell Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers: With Keenan 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.

14.12 - Samaje Perine, RB, Washington Redskins: Perhaps Washington signs a free agent or trades for a running back, but Perine should get the most opportunities on early downs based on the current roster.

15.01 - Houston Texans D/ST

16.12 - Dan Bailey, K, Dallas Cowboys

- View full mock draft results here

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