2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Round 1

- Mock start date: Sunday, August 7th
- Mock end date: Sunday, August 14th

Scoring: This mock draft is based on a standard-scoring format and is for the 2016 season only (i.e., not keeper or dynasty leagues). 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 or 10 receiving yards.

In this mock draft, four of our contributors -- Kevin Hanson, Brendan Donahue, Sean Beazley and Dan Yanotchko -- will each draft for three (of 12) teams.

Note: While this is a "slow" mock, we will post picks as they are made and Hanson will add comments for the picks as well.

View Round: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 | By Teams - By Pos.


Here is Round 1 of our 2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft:

1.01 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

The consensus top receiver in fantasy, Brown is as safe and productive as it gets. Over his past three seasons combined, Brown has a total of 375 receptions for 5,031 yards and 31 touchdowns with a minimum of 110 catches and 1,499 yards per season.

While he set career highs of 136 catches and 1,834 yards, Brown's numbers may have been even better had Ben Roethlisberger not missed time last season. In the 12 games that Big Ben played, Brown averaged 9.92/133.25/0.83 per game -- equivalent to a full-season pace of 159/2,132/13.

Poll: Will it be a record-setting season for Brown?

1.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons

One of only two players with 3,000-plus yards over the past two seasons combined, Jones has a total of 240 catches for 3,464 yards during that span. While he's second to Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown in both stats, Jones actually led the NFL in targets (204), receptions (136, tied with Brown) and yards (1,871) last season.

1.03 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): Odell Beckham, WR, New York Giants

In his young career, Beckham has averaged more than 100 yards per game (2,755 yards in 27 career games). Even though he has missed five games over his first two seasons, OBJ has 15 100-yard games during that span. Only Brown (17) and Jones (16) have more. In addition, no player has more receiving touchdowns than Beckham (25) during his two NFL seasons.

The trio of Brown, Jones and OBJ are the consensus top-three picks in fantasy drafts this year. It will get a little more interesting starting with pick 1.04 ...

1.04 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals

Injuries finally led to Johnson getting a shot at the featured role, but the third-rounder out of Northern Iowa had been productive in limited opportunities before that. Johnson scored a total of 13 touchdowns -- eight rushing, four receiving and one return -- on only 161 touches last season. Finishing as a top-five weekly performer in three of his five starts, Johnson could lead all running backs in fantasy points in 2016.

1.05 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings

After sitting out virtually all of the 2014 season, Peterson led the NFL in carries (327), rushing yards (1,485) and rushing touchdowns (11). The Vikings will continue to ride AP as their workhorse. Despite his superhuman physical traits, the only concern is that he turned 31 years old in March, but I have Peterson projected for a league-high 331 touches. (LA's Todd Gurley is second with 330 projected touches.)

1.06 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams

Should you draft Gurley first overall? Well, if you ask Gurley, you should. Although Gurley shouldn't be the first player off the board in fantasy drafts, you could argue that he should be the first running back off the board.

Despite missing the first three games of the season, Gurley finished third in the NFL with 1,106 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Despite running behind a poor offensive line with a rookie quarterback under center, Gurley will be one more year removed from his torn ACL and could lead the league in rush attempts in 2016.

1.07 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans

One of the best young talents in the NFL, Hopkins took another huge step forward in his age-23 season. Even with a less-than-ideal quarterback situation, Hopkins set career highs across the board with 111 receptions, 1,521 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015.

If there's any concern, it's that his brief holdout to start training camp has ended without any negotiations of an extension according to reports, but Hopkins is the sixth-ranked player overall on my big board.

1.08 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys

A complete back with the vision, power and speed to excel as a runner, Elliott also possesses soft hands as a receiver. In addition, Elliott is also outstanding in pass protection, which tends to limit rookie playing time. From a fantasy football perspective, Elliott could not have ended up in a better situation.

With the skill set to be a true three-down back, he gets to run behind the NFL's best offensive line. Provided Tony Romo and Dez Bryant stay healthy to keep opposing defenses honest, Zeke has the upside to finish as fantasy's overall RB1 in 2016.

1.09 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Dez Bryant, WR, Dallas Cowboys

Speaking of Dez, it was a disappointing season for Bryant, Romo and the Cowboys in general. Not only was Bryant sidelined for nearly half the season with a broken foot, but Romo broke his collarbone (two times). When healthy, however, Bryant is one of the most dominant receivers in the league and only Rob Gronkowski has more receiving touchdowns than Bryant (53) since 2011.

1.10 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

Averaging a career-low 8.25 targets per game, Green saw double-digit targets in only four of 16 games in 2015. Despite a relatively low volume of targets for an elite receiver, Green finished the season with 86 catches for 1,297 yards and 10 touchdowns. With an 86/1,297/10 stat line in three of his past four seasons, Green should see a boost in targets this season following some free-agent departures at receiver.

1.11 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots

Counting 10 playoff games, Gronkowski has a total of 75 touchdowns in 90 career games. And with the exception of his seven-game 2013 season, Gronk has double-digit touchdowns in five of his six NFL seasons. Gronk is one of the league's biggest mismatches and the clear-cut top option at his position. If there's any concern, it's a potential slow start if Tom Brady's four-game suspension is upheld, but Gronk is in a tier by himself atop the position group.

1.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Lamar Miller, RB, Houston Texans

Perennially under-involved in Miami's offense, Miller has been highly productive on a per-touch basis. Despite his modest workload (194 carries, 18th-most in 2015), Miller scored the sixth-most fantasy points last year and has now finished as a top-10 fantasy running back in back-to-back seasons.

Given the change of scenery, Miller is poised for a jump in workload as the new lead back in Houston. Since Bill O'Brien has taken over as coach, only the Seahawks (1,025) have run the ball more than the Texans (1,023).

> Continue to Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Round 2

Our 2016 Fantasy Football Rankings:
- Fantasy Football Rankings (Standard scoring)
- PPR Fantasy Football Rankings
- Top-200 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
- PPR Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
- Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings

Check out more of our content:
- 2017 NFL Mock Draft
- NFL Mock Draft Database
- NFL Power Rankings
- 2016 Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule (SOS)
- 2016 Fantasy Football Profiles
- 2016 Fantasy Football Projections
- Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator



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