Now that we are staring down Week 1 of the preseason, more leagues are going to start holding their drafts. To help you get ready, I’m here with another mock draft, this time picking in the very last slot.
While mock drafting can oftentimes be a tedious process, the FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Simulator allows owners to knock out mock drafts in no time at all, and includes fully customizable options. For the purposes of this mock draft, and the others that I’ll be doing as part of this series, I am using settings for a standard league, which you can see below.
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I’m changing the format up from my last mock draft, when I picked first overall, and rather than go pick-by-pick, I’m going to break down my team position-by-position while noting where I picked them.
Quarterback: Philip Rivers (Rd. #12) and Matt Ryan (Rd. #14)
I waited quite a while to take a quarterback, and I really feel like it paid off.
I don’t have a clear-cut starting guy heading into Week 1, but that gives me the flexibility to play the matchups on a week-by-week basis. If Rivers is playing the Raiders, I’ll put him in, but Ryan will get the nod when he plays the Bucs.
Rivers finished last season ranked eighth in fantasy scoring among all QBs, and he could have an even better season with Mike Williams healthy and new center Mike Pouncey.
Ryan is also incredibly consistent, scoring 16 or more fantasy points in 12 games last year. He also hasn’t missed a game in eight years, so I’m not particularly worried about having to look to waiver wire at any point this season for injuries or bye weeks.
Running backs: Dalvin Cook (Rd. #2), Derrius Guice (Rd. #3), Dion Lewis (Rd. #7), C.J. Anderson (Rd. #9), Chris Carson (Rd. #11)
I absolutely love my running back group. I have three guys who are clear-cut starters on their respective teams (Cook, Guice and Anderson), a high-upside guy (Carson) and a solid flex option on a week-to-week basis (Lewis).
I took Cook with my second pick rather than grab a receiver (I got Odell Beckham No. 12 overall) because I think he can be a top-five fantasy running back by the time this year is over. Before he got injured last season, Cook was averaging 12 fantasy points per game. Had he played 16 games, that means he would have finished as the seventh-best back in the league in terms of scoring. And now he has Kirk Cousins and a second training camp under his belt.
Guice is also the clear-cut starter in Washington, as is Anderson for Carolina.
Carson is also a solid late-round pick for anyone, given that early reports out of Seahawks training camp have him pinned as the starter for Week 1. He started last year as the starter in Seattle, averaging 4.24 yards per carry before breaking his leg and being shut down for the rest of the year.
Wide receivers: Odell Beckham Jr. (Rd. #1), Chris Hogan (Rd. #5), Emmanuel Sanders (Rd. #6), Randall Cobb (Rd. #8), Rishard Matthews (Rd. #10)
Odell was a no-brainer with the last pick of the first round, considering he has the upside to be the No. 1 receiver in fantasy if he’s healthy.
Meanwhile, Hogan, Sanders and Cobb are all reliable guys who have clear-cut roles on their respective teams. I think Sanders is in line for a big year with new quarterback Case Keenum certainly being an upgrade over the guys who have been throwing to him over the past two years.
Matthews is my favorite value out of this whole group. He has obvious injury concerns, but I don’t mind stashing him as my fifth receiver and use him when he plays. Matthews averaged 7.4 fantasy points per game last season, 9.2 in 2016 and 8.2 in 2015. When he plays, he can be a reliable guy to put in my flex spot, and he has solid upside in a new-look Titans offense.
Tight end: Zach Ertz (Rd. #4), Austin Seferian-Jenkins (Rd. #13)
This is a little earlier than I’d like to take a tight end, but I still like Ertz at the very start of the fourth round. He finished last year ranked as the third tight end in fantasy scoring among tight ends, and the Eagles have the eighth-easiest schedule for tight ends this season, according to our ranking, which is better than the Patriots and Chiefs (in reference to Gronkowski and Kelce).
I also wasn’t in love with the other players I had to choose from at this point in the draft. I already had my two starting running back slots filled, and a No. 1 receiver in Beckham.
At least I can pair the consistent Ertz with Sefarian-Jenkins, who had somewhat of a career resurgence last year with the Jets.
Defense and kicker: New Orleans Saints (Rd. #15), Stephen Gostkowski (Rd. #16)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team PPR Middle Pick)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team Standard Middle Pick)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team PPR Early Pick)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team Standard Early Pick)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team Standard)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team PPR)
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Jon Munshaw is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Jon, check out his archive and follow him @jon_munshaw
