Last preseason, we conducted one fantasy football mock draft per day using a mock draft simulator powered by FantasyPros.
Having begun our 2013 series of drafts on June 1st, we will continue to post our draft results and comments up unt...
Last preseason, we conducted one fantasy football mock draft per day using a mock draft simulator powered by FantasyPros.
Having begun our 2013 series of drafts on June 1st, we will continue to post our draft results and comments up until the start of the 2013 season on September 5th.
We will track all of the mocks here on this centralized page.
Like last year, I will vary the size of the league, the scoring format and draft slot and then post the results of my team with comments.
For today's mock, it is a 12-team point-per-reception (PPR) scoring mock and I had the No. 1 pick. The league starts one quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker and one team defense.
Here are my picks:
1.01: Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings
2.12: Darren Sproles, RB, New Orleans Saints
3.01: Andre Johnson, WR, Houston Texans
4.12: Reggie Bush, RB, Detroit Lions
5.01: Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay Packers
6.12: Stevan Ridley, RB, New England Patriots
7.01: Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks
8.12: Cecil Shorts, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
9.01: Jeremy Maclin, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
10.12: Pierre Thomas, RB, New Orleans Saints
11.01: Denarius Moore, WR, Oakland Raiders
12.12: Owen Daniels, TE, Houston Texans
13.01: San Francisco 49ers D/ST
14.12: Greg Little, WR, Cleveland Browns
15.01: Matt Bryant, K, Atlanta Falcons
- For all picks in the mock draft, click here.
Here are some thoughts by position:
Quarterbacks (my rankings)
In many of these mock drafts, I have waited on quarterback and ended up with Russell Wilson, my seventh-ranked fantasy quarterback. Wilson was as good as it gets in the second half last year — 16-to-2 TD-to-INT ratio, 120.3 QB rating, 9.0 yards per pass attempt, 6.2 yards per rush attempt and four rushing touchdowns.
While it would be hard to be better in 2013 than he was in the second half last year, Wilson should be able to carry over the positive momentum as the team traded for Percy Harvin in the offseason.
Running Backs (my rankings)
Despite returning from a torn ACL and suffering a sports hernia late last year, Peterson nearly broke the NFL single-season rushing record in 2012. In the final 10 games of the season, Peterson rushed for 1,598 yards and 10 touchdowns. If he gave the league a six-game head start, that still would have ranked him ahead of everyone other than Alfred Morris (1,613 yards) in rushing.
Through 29 games as a Saint, Sproles has 161 receptions, 2,224 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns and is an excellent value at 2.12 in a PPR league. The Lions will make better use of Bush's receiving skills than the Dolphins did and he could approach 70-80 receptions in 2013.
Better in standard-scoring formats, Ridley is still a good value as an RB4 and the 72nd overall pick. Meanwhile, Thomas has been working with the first team (instead of Mark Ingram) this offseason. While I expect Ingram to get more work than Thomas, PT has been more productive over the past couple of seasons than Ingram.
Wide Receivers (my rankings)
Even though he has never scored double-digit touchdowns in a season, Johnson has three seasons with 100-plus receptions and 1,500-plus yards over the past five years. Two seasons ago, Nelson had 1,263 yards and 15 touchdowns and he should have a bounce-back season provided he stays healthy. Shorts is my team's WR3 and he would have finished with 1,000 yards last year if he didn't miss two games. Maclin, Moore and Little provide my team with depth at receiver.
Tight Ends (my rankings)
Like in most fantasy drafts, I will wait until near the end of the draft to select my tight end. Last year, Daniels had 62 receptions for 716 yards and six touchdowns.
Kickers and Defense
Almost always, I will take the best available team defense with my second-to-last pick and the best available kicker with my last pick.
As a reminder, we will centralize links to our mocks here and you can conduct your own free mocks here.