2012 Fantasy Football Mock Draft (Standard Scoring)
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Scoring: This mock draft is based on leagues that use standard scoring (i.e., not point-per-reception (PPR)
scoring). Passing touchdowns are worth four points while rushing and receiving touchdowns are worth six
points. In addition, one point is earned per 25 passing yards, 10 rushing yards and 10 receiving yards.
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For this mock draft, four EDSFootball.com contributors will draft for three teams per round
and we will exclude kickers and team defenses from this mock.
We will draft 12 rounds and I will include commentary for each of the 144 picks.
To keep track of the updates, bookmark this page or follow me (@EDSFootball) on Twitter.
You can follow the other contributors/mockers on Twitter as well:
- Brendan Donahue (@DonnyCasino)
- Dan Yanotchko (@TheTipDrill_Dan)
- Sean Beazley (@XtremeDynasty)
This is a slow draft that is conducted offline, but rounds of the draft will be posted as they are completed.
Draft Start Date: Saturday, June 30th
Draft End Date: Tuesday, July 10th
Round Completed: Saturday, June 30th
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Round One
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Round: One - Two - Three - Four - Five - Six - Seven - Eight - Nine - 10 - 11 - 12 | By Team(s)
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See our PPR Mock Draft (started 7/14)
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Pick (Overall)
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Contributor (Team)
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Player, Pos., Team
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1 (1).
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Dan Yanotchko (Team 1)
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Ray Rice, RB, Ravens
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With the first overall pick, it comes down to a matter of preference and there is no "wrong" choice here as long
as it is one of three backs: Rice, Arian Foster or LeSean McCoy. Running backs are, by far, the position with
the least amount of depth to it in 2012 and there is a clear top three even though folks may differ on the order.
As you would expect, Dan has Rice as the top back in his rankings (see here).
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2 (2).
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Kevin Hanson (Team 1)
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Arian Foster, RB, Texans
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Unlike Dan, Foster is my top-ranked fantasy running back (see my rankings). One concern (although not a
major one) for Foster is the possibility of an increase in workload for Ben Tate, his capable backup. That
said, Foster got workhorse-like touches when the two backs were healthy last year and I don't expect that to
change, barring injury.
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3 (3).
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Sean Beazley (Team 1)
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LeSean McCoy, RB, Eagles
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Arguably worthy of the top pick, McCoy is a no-brainer pick here. After a breakout season last year, McCoy
was given a long-term contract by the Eagles. McCoy scored a total of 20 touchdowns (17 rushing and three
receiving), but it's likely that the Eagles lighten his workload a little to protect their investment and considering
they added Bryce Brown, one of their seventh-round picks, and Chris Polk.
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4 (4).
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Brendan Donahue (Team 1)
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Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers
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Out of the four of us, Brendan had the first difficult decision. After the top three running backs, there are
question marks with all of the backs in the next tier. There are certainly no question marks when it comes to
Rodgers, the league's reigning MVP. One concern about going with a non-RB in the first round, however, is
the lack of depth at the position catching up to you quickly. As the saying goes though, you can't win the
championship in the first round, but you can lose it. Rodgers is a sure thing so there are no worries there for
Brendan.
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5 (5).
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Brendan Donahue (Team 2)
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Calvin Johnson, WR, Lions
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Megatron is an absolute stud at receiver and another sure thing for Donahue unless you believe the Madden
Curse is real. In his final four games counting the playoffs last year, Johnson had three 200-yard games and
finished with a total of 36 receptions for 771 yards and six touchdowns during that span. Last year, Johnson
became only the second receiver in NFL history to record 1,600-plus yards and 16-plus touchdowns in the
same season.
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6 (6).
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Kevin Hanson (Team 2)
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Ryan Mathews, RB, Chargers
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As noted above, there is risk with any of the running backs after the top three and the risk with Mathews is his
ability to stay healthy. Not only has he missed six games in his first two NFL seasons, but durability concerns
date back to his college days. Reports are that Mathews is in the best shape of his life and Jacob Hester
described him as looking like "Arnold back in the day." Mathews set career highs with 1,091 rushing yards,
50 receptions and 455 receiving yards last year. With Mike Tolbert, who rushed for 19 touchdowns in the past
two years, now in Carolina, Mathews should get more goal-line opportunities going forward.
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7 (7).
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Sean Beazley (Team 2)
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Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, Jaguars
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Before he skipped out on the team's mandatory minicamp, Jones-Drew was my fourth-ranked player overall.
With the threat of a training camp holdout, there is plenty of risk in drafting last year's rushing champion until
there is a contract resolution. GM Gene Smith has said that he expects MJD to honor his contract so it might
get ugly (uglier) as we approach training camp. Even if he does not miss any games, we saw with CJ2K how
a training camp holdout can impact a running back's season.
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- (Poll) Will MJD miss any games in 2012 due to a holdout?
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8 (8).
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Dan Yanotchko (Team 2)
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Chris Johnson, RB, Titans
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After a disappointing year, Johnson expects to (and should) bounce back. Despite his blazing 4.28 speed,
Johnson had only one rush of 40-plus yards in 2011. (He had seven of those runs in 2009 and four of them
in 2010.)
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9 (9).
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Dan Yanotchko (Team 3)
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Tom Brady, QB, Patriots
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While I still prefer Brees over Brady, Brady has plenty of new weapons and is coming off a 5,000-yard season
as well. Last year, Brady threw for 300-plus yards and/or multiple touchdowns in all 16 regular-season
games. It's great to be able to count on that kind of consistency.
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10 (10).
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Kevin Hanson (Team 3)
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Marshawn Lynch, RB, Seahawks
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I'm drinking the Kool-Aid ... or eating the Skittles, I guess. Of course, anyone that drafts Lynch will (and
should) be concerned about his ability to stay motivated after getting paid in the offseason. That said, the
Seahawks should run the ball, a lot, and the line blocked much better in Tom Cable's zone-blocking scheme
as the season progressed.
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11 (11).
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Brendan Donahue (Team 3)
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Rob Gronkowski, TE, Patriots
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Although he's drafting for three separate teams, Brendan rounds out his non-RB trifecta in the first round. His
three teams now have the top-ranked player at three different positions. Gronkowski set position records in
2011 with 1,327 yards and 17 receiving touchdowns. Along with Megatron and Saints tight end Jimmy
Graham, he was one of three players to finish with 90-plus receptions, 1,300-plus yards and 10-plus
touchdowns last year. With the team's offseason additions at receiver and receiving the focus of opposing
defenses, how close will Gronk come to duplicating last year's performance?
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12 (12).
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Sean Beazley (Team 3)
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Drew Brees, QB, Saints
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Although Brees and the Saints have yet to agree to a long-term deal, Sean Payton is suspended for the
season and the team lost receiver Robert Meachem via free agency, I still think Brees is a better option than
Brady (as noted above). So, in other words, I like the value here. If you count his two postseason games last
year, Brees threw for mind-boggling 6,404 yards and 53 touchdowns in 18 games last year. That's insane!
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