My favorite spots to draft in are the late first round
picks. The sandwich picks, as they are sometimes called, allow you to both
close and open a round. You get to take a look at what your opponents have and
need. Then you get to take two players that fit either your needs or desires.
In the front end of the draft, you get two of the top 13 players in a 12 team
league. So let’s take a look at the who’s and why’s of my mock draft from pick
12. Note that this draft was done prior to the injury to Arian Foster.
So at the end of the first round the top six running backs
have come off the board.
Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski are also gone. I am a
big proponent this season of taking a running back in round one as long as you
get one of the top tier running backs. In this particular draft I had taken
Arian Foster, but as I wrote on socalledfantasyexperts.com,
I would now substitute that pick with CJ Anderson. Anderson is the end of my
first tier of running backs, and has a big opportunity in front of him.
With my second pick in this sandwich, I look to Julio Jones.
As I wrote about him awhile back, I absolutely love Jones this year. The schedule for Atlanta is
primed for him to have a huge season. The team will likely have a better
defense, but won’t likely be a big jump this year. This leads me to thinking
that they will still be involved in shootouts. Shootouts are a great thing for
a player like Jones. So now after my second pick I have a top level running
back, and the wide receiver I like the most for 2015.
When my pick comes up at the end of round three I am now
thinking about taking another top level wide receiver and maybe a good second
running back. After my fourth round pick in that scenario, I would already have
a solid core of starters that I will be likely to plug and play for the whole
season. This strategy leaves you in a good situation to fill in the rest of
your starters, or add bench depth in case of injuries or for bye weeks.
So at the end of round three my pick wend Mark Ingram.
Ingram is in a good situation. He is the definite running downs back. His team
traded away more than one receiving option, and added a Pro Bowl run blocking
center. This all bodes well for the lead back in the New Orleans offense. This
will fill out my starting running backs for the greater part of the season,
barring injury.
My fourth round pick is a guy that I find myself drafting a lot
at the late third and early fourth round slots. Oddly he is a
teammate of my third round pick. Brandin Cooks was the player I decided to
snatch up with the first pick of the fourth. Cooks had an interesting ride last
year. His usage was quizzical early in the season, and then with a slight shift
to usage, he was on pace for monster rookie year numbers. Injury cut his rookie
season short. It was obvious this offseason that there is a shift coming in the
offense. The run is likely to be more important to the offense of the Saints,
but they will still have to pass. The defense is not good. They will have a
hard time stopping anyone. And that will lead to passing if they fail to
control the clock and get a stop. Cooks in a PPR league should be a solid play,
amassing a lot of catches, and possessing the skills to do great things with
the ball. As my second wide receiver, I am a very happy man.
When the draft comes back to me again at pick 60 overall,
I
find a great value still on the board at running back. Jonathan Stewart is
hanging around. This is an unbelievable value. Stewart is a Top 20 running
back, and he is sitting at pick 60. With DeAngelo Williams no longer clogging
the backfield in Carolina, Stewart only needs to stay healthy to be a productive
member of your team. There is no way that I could let Stewart pass at this
spot, so welcome aboard.
The first pick of the sixth round is an interesting one.
There are a lot of choices left on the board that would fit well on this squad.
Latavius Murray, TJ Yeldon are running backs on board. Russell Wilson and
Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are still there. Wilson might be a great pick at
6.01, but I was waiting on a quarterback in this league. Travis Kelce is there,
but I know I am not a believer in Alex Smith, so Kelce is out for me. I decided
to take Yeldon in this spot. Reports out of Jags camp is that Yeldon has picked
up the offense very quickly. He has been talked about as a three down back.
This is something I am interested in taking a shot on. A new three down back in
the league. Sign me up.
During the rest of the sixth and seventh rounds before my
next pick comes up there is a run on quarterbacks.
When my pick at 84 overall
comes up
the best quarterback on the board is Eli Manning. I am still waiting
on quarterback. I want to see what I get if I wait really late. The best
available players left are Latavius, Todd Gurley, Joique Bell, Rashad Jennings,
Eric Decker. I can’t pass up Latavius Murray at this point. I think Gurley is a
decent selection, but just today as I am writing this article news hit that
Gurley will likely miss the first few games. So Murray is a better choice here
in my opinion. Last year he flashed moments of brilliance. Murray gives me four
starting running backs to choose from week to week.
So all the previously listed players are still available.
With a decent amount of depth at the running back position this team needs to
add a wide receiver. Eric Decker is the best on the board at this point in the
draft. I am bullish on Decker this year, as I wrote earlier this season. Decker
has a good situation, and I honestly believe it got better with Ryan
Fitzpartick as the quarterback this year. Decker is a good receiver, in a team
that made some great moves this off season, and is headed in the right
direction. Decker fills in some much needed depth at the wide out spot.
At the end of round 9, 108 overall
this team has needs at
tight end, quarterback, and wide receiver depth. The best receivers available
are Brandon LaFell, Steve Smith, Michael Floyd, Anquan Boldin, Mike Wallace.
The best tight end on the board is Delanie Walker, but I am not a fan this
season. The best quarterbacks available are Eli Manning, Matthew Stafford, and
Tom Brady. I want to let quarterback go one more time and see what is left. This
is after all a mock draft, the place to try things out.
With those facts in mind, I decided that I need to add some
more wide receiver depth to this team. My favorite targets on this list are by
far Anquan Boldin and Michael Floyd. Boldin is the best wide receiver in San
Francisco, and the offseason action is pointing to a complete mess being what
the team looks like this season. I find it likely they will be trailing a lot,
leading to a lot of passing, hopefully to Boldin. Michael Floyd is a slight
gamble. Having just had surgery for a compound dislocation, Floyd’s price is
dropping. If his fingers are healed, and Carson Palmer can stay healthy this
season, Floyd might be able to be a productive member of your fantasy roster
this year. Expect a maximum effort from Floyd this year, as the size of his
paycheck next year depends on it.
Coming back around in the 11th round
we find that
LaFell, Wallace, and Smith are still on the board. Torrey Smith and Marques
Colston and Kendall Wright are available as well. I am not a fan of any of
those wide receivers this year except Colston. The only issue I have with
Colston is that I already have Brandin Cooks. I am not usually in the market
for two wide receivers from the same team so I will pass on Colston.
In the past round there was another run on quarterback and
there isn’t much left at tight end. I deided to take one more wide receiver.
That guy is Pierre Garcon. I love Garcon in the end of round 11. As I wrote about him earlier, I believe
that Garcon is set up for a good season. The schedule is great for Washington,
and if Robert Griffin III can figure it out, Garcon was a PPR monster with him
in his rookie season.
So with the first pick in round 12, I suppose it’s time to
find my quarterback.
I have tried this strategy a few times in mock drafts this
year. I am generally pleased with the quarterbacks that are left behind. If you
look at the points that separated Ben Roethlisberger, the fifth ranked
quarterback on ESPN standard leagues, and the 17th ranked
quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, was a total of 61 points on the whole season. That
is a difference of 3.8 points per game over the whole season. You will likely
recoup those points with the added value you got from players you didn’t take
earlier in the draft. And if my quarterback falters, I can just stream from the
leftovers and likely be just fine.
With my 13th and 14th round picks I am
getting a jump on the competition
and taking the top kicker and the defense
that I want. There are obviously some defenses that are already off the board,
but I am in love with the potential of the Jets defense this season. They
already had a strong front on defense. Then they upgraded the secondary with
one of the best shutdown corners and a solid counterpart on the other side. I
love the Jets this season and want to get them in every draft I can.
For kicker, I like to get Gostkowski at the top of round 14.
At this point I only need to add a tight end, and am going to stream that
position. So I like to take the top kicker. Gostkowski is a good kicker year in
and year out. If he isn’t available I favor either kickers that are indoors, or
the kicker in Denver. Honestly most of the time I end up dropping my kickers
anyways to make room to hold a waiver wire guy for a week.
With my last pick in this draft I selected Charles Clay. He
signed a big contract this past offseason, and is likely to get some usage in
the offense this season. Clay will be the outlet and often a hot route for the
myriad of mess that is the quarterback situation in Buffalo. If I don’t like
what action Clay is getting, I would probably stream a guy that is available on
waivers.
So ends our look at the number 12 overall pick. I love these
sandwich picks for the ability to take two players in a row. This allows you to
look at what is available and what your opponents need in the next rounds and
make an informed decision. Also you end up getting two of the top 13 picks,
which is not a bad thing either. Check back for the next draft position, the
first overall pick.
