2014 Fantasy Football Mock Draft, 1.0: Sean Beazley (Team 1)
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 Sean Beazley - Team 1:
1.01 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Jamaal Charles, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Since the beginning of the offseason, it's been a tossup for me on which running back to take with the first overall pick: Jamaal Charles or LeSean McCoy. Either way, there is not a wrong choice with either one. Charles led the league in total touchdowns with 19 — 12 rushing and seven receiving scores. As great as that was for his fantasy owners in 2013, it will be unlikely for Charles to repeat. If you remember back to 2011, McCoy scored a league-high 20 touchdowns and then followed that up with just five total touchdowns in 2012.
It certainly wouldn't be a knock on Charles if he does not repeat last year's scoring fest and I'm not projecting a drop to five total touchdowns for him. That said, what he did last season is rare as the only running backs with 19-plus touchdowns in the past seven seasons are: Charles (2013), McCoy (2011) and DeAngelo Williams (2008).
Playing one less game than McCoy as the Chiefs rested their starters in Week 17, Charles set a career high in yards from scrimmage (1,980) and that ranked second only to McCoy. In addition, no other player had as many games with 100-plus YFS than Charles (13) last season.
2.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Peyton Manning, QB, Denver Broncos
Manning, a five-time league MVP, broke the record for most passing yards (5,477) and passing touchdowns (55) while throwing only 10 interceptions in 2013. Not only did he throw multiple touchdowns in all but one game, Manning threw four or more TDs in nine games. (As a comparison, Hall-of-Famer John Elway did that 10 times ... in his whole career.)
While the Broncos lost Eric Decker and Knowshon Moreno in free agency, they are loaded at the skill positions. Counting on record-setting numbers again may be unrealistic, but leading the game in fantasy points once again seems like a reasonable expectation.
3.01 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
With Sean going quarterback in Round 2, I'd probably go running back here if I were him. Even though he has Jamaal Charles and Peyton Manning, arguably the best fantasy running back and quarterback, the options at running back with his next pick (4.12) will be relatively slim.
That said, Brown was a model of consistency last year with at least five catches and 50-plus yards in every single game. For the season, he posted career highs across the board with 110 receptions for 1,499 yards and eight touchdowns and he finished second in the NFL in both receptions and yards.
4.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Wes Welker, WR, Denver Broncos
In 13 games with the Broncos last season, Welker finished with 73 receptions on 110 targets for 778 yards, all of which were seven-year lows, and a career-high 10 touchdowns. With Eric Decker out and Emmanuel Sanders in, Welker should see an increase in targets per game in 2014.
5.01 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Steven Jackson, RB, Atlanta Falcons
There are a couple of reasons to be concerned about Jackson: (1) Jackson turns 31 in July and (2) nearly 3,000 touches (2,552 carries and 440 receptions) in his career. On a positive note, the Falcons took some steps to improve their offensive line by drafting Jake Matthews with the sixth-overall pick. They also drafted his likely long-term replacement in Devonta Freeman, a back that has been compared some to Frank Gore.
If Jackson stays healthy for the full season, something he didn't do last year, there is the potential for upside here. Given his age and cumulative workload, however, I wouldn't bank on a full 16 games from S-Jax in 2014.
6.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Jason Witten, TE, Dallas Cowboys
Witten set seven-year lows in receptions (73) and yards (851) last season, but he finished with eight touchdowns, the second-highest total of his career. Two seasons ago, Witten set a single-season tight end record for receptions (110).
In an offense that should be one of the league's best (unfortunately due in part to a defense that should be one of the league's worst), I see a bounce-back season for Witten in the range of 80-90 receptions and 900-975 yards.
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7.01 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Marques Colston, WR, New Orleans Saints
For the first time in four seasons, Colston finished with less than 1,000 yards (943) and he also tied a career-low in touchdowns (five). Unfortunately for Colston and his fantasy owners, he dealt with a foot injury that slowed him down last season and it could slow him down again this season.
8.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Mark Ingram, RB, New Orleans Saints
Although Ingram is now the first Saints running back off the board, he would be my third based on preference. Not only is Pierre Thomas a more complete back, but Khiry Robinson has drawn comparisons to HOFer Curtis Martin from Bill Parcells.
In 11 games last season, Ingram carried the ball 78 times for 386 yards — a career-high 4.9 yards per carry — and just one touchdown.
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.
10.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Carolina Panthers
On a roster otherwise devoid of talent in the wide receiver corps, there should be plenty of opportunity for Benjamin. Far from the fastest or most polished route-runner, Benjamin was blessed with something that cannot be coached — tremendous size (6-foot-5, 240 pounds, 34 7/8-inch arms). Benjamin's size and opportunity could allow him to flourish as a red-zone target in his rookie season.
- See Beazley's other two teams: Team 2 - Team 3
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
