2012 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: EDSFootball.com Contributors, 1.0
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.
With our first 2012 Fantasy Football Mock Draft under way (pre-Super Bowl XLVI), six EDSFootball.com contributors represented two teams each in our 12-team standard-scoring mock draft. Picks for both teams managed by John Trifone (follow on Twitter) will be updated below with commentary after every few rounds.
Mock draft start date: January 29, 2012 Mock draft end date: TBD
Your best pick so far? My best pick was LeSean McCoy. He's one of the most versatile backs in the game and racks up fantasy points rushing and receiving. He's a top three fantasy back and is one of the few relatively sure bets out there.
Your best pick so far? My best pick was Dez Bryant. In the fourth round of a 12-team league, I think Bryant was good value. He's improved each season in the league, and to be honest, I like him better than Miles Austin, who is probably projected to go ahead of Bryant in most leagues.
Hindsight is 20-20, but which pick would you do over? My worst pick was Rashard Mendenhall. When Rashard tore his ACL in week 17, I was busy watching my Giants finish off the Cowboys and lock up the division. So I missed out on the severity of the injury and mistakenly took Mendenhall a tad early.
Hindsight is 20-20, but which pick would you do over? I'm not sure I feel I have a clear worst pick here, but I'd probably go with Marshawn Lynch. On value, I think Lynch is a solid pick, as I expect Lynch to build off what turned into a great fantasy year. However, it's possible that people would have undervalued Lynch and I could have gotten him with my second pick rather than my first.
Overall thoughts about how your teams are shaping up? Overall, I think my team is shaping up pretty nicely. I'm banking on Eli Manning to continue improving, and coming off of his best statistical season yet, that's saying something. I expect Eli to be a top 5 fantasy QB, and with a stud top 3 running back in McCoy, and two other solid backs, I can't complain about my team. I'll need to do some work at WR, but there are usually a fair amount of solid options that can be picked up on waivers, even if I start out slim at the position. Guys like Victor Cruz, Jordy Nelson and Antonio Brown were all waiver wire selections this past year.
Overall thoughts about how your teams are shaping up? Overall, I think my team is coming together nicely. It's a little too Cowboy-dependent for me, but if one of these years Dallas can put it together, the Romo-Bryant combo could pay huge dividends. I'm also solid at RB with Lynch and Turner, so I'd say I'm pretty happy with my team.
Which one of your two teams do you like the best? With Romo at the helm, I have a consistent fantasy producer on a good offense. I also have Dez Bryant, who I expect to get more and more targets from Romo, and continue to add to his fantasy production. Marshawn Lynch finished the season like an animal, and even if he is not quite the touchdown machine he was to finish the year, he was able to show he is one of the best backs in the league. In addition to Lynch, Michael Turner and Darren Sproles give me three very solid running back options. Michael Crabtree and Reggie Wayne both have some question marks, but if either one of them pans out, that will fill out my starters. Wayne was just 40 yards off another 1,000 yard season, and that was on a Peyton Manning-less, 2-14 Colt team with an anemic offense. Crabtree caught 72 balls for 874 yards, but has the potential to complement Vernon Davis and become a bigger part of the 49er offense next year. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way my team is shaping up.
Aside from your teams, which team has had the best draft so far? There are a couple of other teams that had great drafts; specifically, Kevin II, Dan I, and Brendan I. If I had to choose, I'd probably go with Brendan I as having had the best draft thus far. Even if Adrian Peterson misses some time, the most important thing is that he's ready for the playoffs. Ryan Mathews is a good back, and Michael Bush/Jonathan Stewart should be serviceable until AP is healthy. The major thing that sticks out on this team is the incredible receiving corps. Andre Johnson, Victor Cruz, and Steve Smith are some pretty filthy wideouts. Cruz had a break out year, and if Eli continues to improve as he has, I expect both he and Nicks to be top 10 and possible top 5 fantasy receivers. Andre Johnson was considered the best in the game until Megatron had the year he did, but Johnson is clearly still one of the game's best. And Steve Smith looked like he may have been falling off, but with the emergence of Cam Newton, Smith's speed and quickness can be utilized the way it was a few years ago. He caught seven touchdowns and had almost 1,400 yards receiving in Newton's rookie year; and the kid should only get better. Overall, this is a team with few holes. Quarterback is clearly the weakest spot (since he hasn't drafted one yet), but his running back, wide receiver, and flex spots are all pretty top tier. This looks to be a tough team to beat.
FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS:
- Standard Scoring: QBs
| RBs
| WRs
| TEs
(2012 Fantasy Football Rankings coming this week.)
Based on results from FantasyPros.com, Kevin Hanson ranked third overall in accuracy in 2011. Here's what FantasyPros wrote (about Hanson) in their year-end announcement of accuracy results:
"... Hanson was a fixture in the top 5 throughout the season and even led the contest heading into the final week. He also owns the distinction as being the only expert to eclipse the 70% PAY™ mark for a single position. ... Simply put, if you needed QB advice in 2011, the ultimate source to go to was over at EDSFootball. That’s not to say that Hanson was a one-trick pony, however. He also earned a top 10 rating at both WR (# 3) & RB (# 8), demonstrating that he’s among the best of the best when it comes to fantasy prognostication."
SEE ALSO:
- 2012 Mock Draft Databases: NFL | NBA
- 2011 Draft Results: NFL | NBA
