2014 Fantasy Football Mock Draft, 1.0: Round 9
Mock Draft Start Date: Monday, May 12th
Mock Draft End Date: Saturday, May 24th
Scoring: This mock draft is based on re-draft leagues (2014 season only). 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.
Here are Round 9 results (commentary from Kevin Hanson):
9.01 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys
Purely based on ADP, I have no problems with selecting Romo here. In fact, it's an example of why waiting to draft your QB1 is the most logical draft strategy. That said, Romo is not Sean's QB1. With Peyton Manning as this team's starter, this is essentially a wasted pick for a guy to be his bye-week replacement (bye weeks grid).
For the record, Manning was selected where I think he should (last pick of Round 2). But for Romo to be worth a ninth-round pick for Sean, Manning essentially needs to get hurt and miss time. With the position so deep, there is suppressed trade value for QBs if that was/is his plan with this pick.
Both picks would be fine individually, but it's definitely a difference of philosophy in drafting two QBs in a 12-team (one-QB) league.
9.02 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): Colin Kaepernick, QB, San Francisco 49ers
It was a somewhat disappointing season from a fantasy perspective, but Kaepernick still finished ninth in scoring among quarterbacks last year. He hit his stride at the end of the season, however, as he scored 20-plus fantasy points in the final three regular-season games last year.
Going into the 2014 season, Kaepernick will have a much more talented receiving corps to begin the season. Last year, Michael Crabtree missed the majority of the season as he rehabbed his Achilles injury. In addition to a healthier Crabtree, the 49ers traded for Stevie Johnson and drafted Bruce Ellington.
With his running ability and improved weapons, Kaepernick has tons of upside and it wouldn't surprise me if he finished as a top-five scorer in 2014.
9.03 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): Danny Woodhead, RB, San Diego Chargers
If Brendan did not take Kaepernick at 9.02, I would have taken him here. Instead, I will target a quarterback in Round 10.
The addition of Donald Brown, who signed a three-year free-agent deal, reduces some of Woodhead's value, but he is one of the league's best receiving backs. Woodhead had 76 receptions last season and totaled 1,035 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns.
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9.04 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): Emmanuel Sanders, WR, Denver Broncos
What's not to like about a free-agent wide receiver signing with the Broncos? Well, perhaps the selection of Cody Latimer in the second round, but at least to start the season, Sanders will have an opportunity as the team's third receiver behind Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker. And we've seen how productive DT, Welker and Eric Decker could be as a trio last season. Compared to his ADP (via Fantasy Football Calculator) of 66th overall, Sanders is an excellent bargain here.
9.05 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): Danny Amendola, WR, New England Patriots
While Amendola had a few big games including the season opener (10/104 vs. BUF), but the biggest concern with Amendola is his durability and he missed several games last season as well. Even when he was on the field, he was less productive than I had expected he'd be. In fact, he had only three games with more than five receptions last year.
9.06 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Rueben Randle, WR, New York Giants
The good news is that Randle led the Giants in receiving touchdowns (six) last season. That bad news is he seemed to struggle at times and many of his mistakes led to Eli Manning interceptions. It's also bad news (from Randle's fantasy perspective) that the team drafted Odell Beckham, Jr. with the 12th overall pick in this year's draft. With Hakeem Nicks gone, the addition of OBJ means that Randle is unlikely to take a big step forward in 2014.
9.07 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Terrance West, RB, Cleveland Browns
While the players may change from year to year, there is one player unlikely to find his way to any of my rosters in 2014: Ben Tate. Even though the Browns should be a run-first team, especially with the pending suspension of Josh Gordon, Tate's durability concerns make his ADP of 35th overall a little too steep of a price for me to pay. Tate has played 40 games in four seasons.
With Tate's ability to stay healthy the main obstacle to a featured role, West could find himself with a prominent role in this offense. Granted, there is an enormous jump in level of competition from Towson to the NFL, but the big back (5-foot-9, 225 pounds) was über productive in his time there and running back is one of the positions easiest for a rookie to make an impact. Last season, West ran for 2,509 yards and 41 touchdowns!
9.08 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): DeAngelo Williams, RB, Carolina Panthers
With Jonathan Stewart missing the majority of the year, Williams rushed 201 times for 843 yards and three touchdowns. It was the first time that Williams reached 200 carries since the 2009 season and he's unlikely to repeat that feat provided The Daily Show stays healthy in 2014. That said, the Panthers should continue to be a run-first team and I'd expect the 31-year-old RB to lead the team in carries again.
9.09 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Josh Gordon, WR, Cleveland Browns
This is a boom-or-bust pick for Sean and I like it. The fear (or expectation) is that Gordon will miss the entire season, but SI's Peter King speculated that Gordon could miss 8-16 games for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. Despite missing the first two games last year for a suspension, Gordon led the NFL in receiving (1,646 yards) last year. If it were certain that he'd miss only eight games, I would have taken him a couple of rounds earlier.
9.10 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Pierre Thomas, RB, New Orleans Saints
Not to pat myself on the back, but there are a lot of reasons to like this pick. Not only is his average draft position a couple of rounds earlier on average (7.02, via Fantasy Football Calculator), but Thomas set a career high with 77 receptions in 2013. (His previous career high was 50, 2011). Now that Darren Sproles is in Philadelphia, it seems likely that PT will at least finish with 70-plus receptions again with the upside for more.
9.11 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Terrance Williams, WR, Dallas Cowboys
As a rookie, Williams had 44 receptions for 736 yards and five touchdowns. Like most rookie receivers, Williams was a bit inconsistent as half of his production came in just five games (21/384/4 from Weeks 4 to 8). Going into the 2014 season, however, Williams will be the unquestioned No. 2 wideout opposite Dez Bryant and will have another year of building chemistry with Tony Romo.
9.12 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): LeGarrette Blount, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
A 1,000-yard rusher as a rookie in 2010, Blount finished last season strong. Even with a dud against the Broncos (six yards on five carries), Blount rushed 69 times for 437 yards — 6.33 YPC — and eight touchdowns. With this team, Dan also owns Le'Veon Bell as his RB1 so the selection of Blount provides him with some insurance.
> Continue to Round 10
> Go back to Round 8
2014 Fantasy Football rankings from Kevin Hanson:
- 2014 Fantasy Football QB rankings
- 2014 Fantasy Football RB rankings
- 2014 Fantasy Football WR rankings
- 2014 Fantasy Football TE rankings
