2014 Fantasy Football Mock Draft, 1.0: Kevin Hanson (Team 3)
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.
With the 2014 NFL Draft now behind us, we have wasted no time in starting a new fantasy football mock draft.
In this mock draft, four of our site's contributors (Kevin Hanson, Brendan Donahue, Dan Yanotchko and Sean Beazley) will each draft for three teams per round and the mock will run for 10 rounds.
Mock By Contributor: Kevin Hanson | Brendan Donahue | Sean Beazley | Dan Yanotchko
Here are all the picks from Kevin Hanson - Team 3:
1.10 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): DeMarco Murray, RB, Dallas Cowboys
There are a number of running backs that I considered here. After the top six, there are about five or six running backs that I feel are fairly similar from a fantasy outlook.
Before the 2014 NFL Draft this past weekend, Murray was ranked as my RB7. After the draft, that won't change. While the team did not add a better backup to steal touches, they did add Notre Dame's Zack Martin to improve their offensive line further.
[On a side note, I will be updating my 2014 fantasy rankings within the next day or two.]
The biggest concern with Murray is his durability, but he played a career-high 14 games last year, and he has top-five upside if he can stay healthy for a full season. With a career average of 4.95 YPC, Murray established new career highs of 1,121 rushing yards, 53 receptions for 350 yards and 10 total touchdowns.
In the final eight games of the season, Murray had 879 YFS, seven TDs and a 5.5 YPC average. Only four running backs had more YFS in their team's final eight games than Murray.
2.03 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Montee Ball, RB, Denver Broncos
Last season, Knowshon Moreno was a top-five finisher in fantasy points among running backs, but Moreno signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins in free agency. Moreno's departure creates an enormous opportunity for Ball in the league's most explosive offense.
Ball, the Broncos' second-round pick in 2013, got off to a relatively slow start: 3.26 yards per carry (68 carries for 222 yards) in first 10 games. From Weeks 11 to 16, Ball averaged 6.48 YPC (52 carries for 337 yards).
In addition, the Broncos did not draft any additional competition for Ball although they signed Kapri Bibbs as an undrafted free agent. Provided Ball gets roughly the same amount of work that Moreno received last year, he has a shot to finish as a top-five fantasy running back in 2014 despite being the RB11 in this mock.
3.10 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Reggie Bush, RB, Detroit Lions
In his first season with the Lions, Bush ran for 1,006 yards and caught 54 passes for 506 yards with a total of seven touchdowns in 14 games. Despite missing two games, Bush set a career high in yards from scrimmage (1,512).
In a related note, new offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said that he sees Bush and Joique Bell "having a split role and both being very productive." Bell is someone that I expect to be on the majority of my fantasy rosters, but Bush still set that career high in YFS last season with Bell getting 219 touches.
4.03 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Andre Johnson, WR, Houston Texans
There have been two primary knocks on Johnson: durability and lack of touchdowns. While he has played in 16 games in back-to-back seasons, it is shocking that he has never caught double-digit touchdowns in his 11-year career.
When he has played 16 games in a season, however, he has been extremely productive. He has played 16 games in four of the past six years. In those four seasons, Johnson has a minimum of 101 receptions (2009) and 1,407 yards (2013).
Reports are that Johnson won't attend any of the team's OTAs or mandatory mini-camp in June, but it's unlikely that the team trades him or that he misses any games related to any of the questions he has about the organization.
5.10 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): DeSean Jackson, WR, Washington Redskins
Even though Jackson is only 27 years old and had a career-best season (82/1,332/9) in 2013, the Eagles released him outright without receiving any compensation in turn. While there may be some concerns off the field and in the locker room, Jackson is a difference maker on the football field.
One of the benefits about signing with Washington, Robert Griffin III throws an accurate deep ball and D-Jax has the explosiveness to take the top off a defense. With last year's NFL leader in receptions on the other side, however, Jackson could/should see a modest reduction in targets in 2014 compared to last season.
6.03 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Stevan Ridley, RB, New England Patriots
One season after rushing for 1,263 yards, seventh-most in 2012, and 12 touchdowns, Ridley fumbled his way to a reduced role within the Patriots backfield rotation in 2013. Even though LeGarrette Blount, who has eight TDs in his past three games, signed with the Steelers, it's hard to have a ton of confidence in predicting Ridley's workload in 2014.
Provided he doesn't, um, drop the ball, however, he at least has the talent as a runner to put up numbers like he had in 2012. Whether he gets that opportunity remains to be seen, but he's worth the risk in the sixth round as the 30th running back off the board.
FanDuel MLB: Win the $1 MILLION top prize in FanDuel's DFBC
7.10 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Golden Tate, WR, Detroit Lions
Going from a run-first offense in Seattle to Detroit's pass-first offense should lead to a significant boost in fantasy production for Tate. Without a real (healthy) No. 2 receiver opposite Calvin Johnson for several seasons, Tate helps take some pressure off Megatron. But, of course, Megatron's presence on the other side will open things up more so for Tate, who should always see single coverage.
Tate set career highs in receptions (64) and yards (898) to go along with five touchdowns last season, but I would expect the 25-year-old receiver to set new career highs in 2014.
8.03 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Robert Griffin III, QB, Washington Redskins
Rested for the offseason, RG3 will go into the 2014 fully healthy and with a new weapon (as noted in the previous pick). If tight end Jordan Reed (concussions) can stay healthy, he has one of the league's better young trios of pass-catchers with Pierre Garcon, D-Jax and Reed. Part of the risk with Griffin III is the injury risk associated with his running style, but his elite straight-line speed can lead to long rushing touchdowns and the potential for monster performances.
With the depth at the position, there will be plenty of quality QB2s later in the draft or in the waiver pool if I want to protect myself from his injury risk. In a 12-team league, however, I'd be comfortable maintaining just one QB on my roster and then pick one up, when necessary.
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.
10.03 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Kyle Rudolph, TE, Minnesota Vikings
While he averaged more yards per game (30.8) and per reception (10.4) than he had in 2012, Rudolph posted a relatively disappointing line of 30/313/3 in the eight games he played. Going into the 2014 season, however, Rudolph has the potential to take a big step forward in a Norv Turner-led offense that typically features tight ends.
- See Hanson's other two teams: Team 1 - Team 2
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
