2017 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Army: Draft Recap

It came and went in under 90 minutes. There were Ghostbuster quotes, Rae Carruth references, and great memories made by all. Like all good inside jokes, you just had to be there! So if you’d like to get in on the fun follow Howard Bender (@rotobuzzguy) on Twitter for updated on future MDA’s heading into the 2017 Fantasy Football Season!

League Specifications

• 12 teams
• PPR
• 16 rounds
• Start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 Flex, 1 DST, 1 Kicker
• Snake Draft

The Players (In Draft Order)

Let’s Talk Strategy

So going into the draft I saw that I possessed the 11^th pick. Which is fine. I know right off the bat I’m missing out on the Top 3 RB’s and Top 3 WR’s. So I figure I can still grab a solid RB1 and WR1 with an early pick in the 2^nd round. From there I’d go about looking for depth at RB/WR for the next few rounds and grab a QB after Round 8. As you’re about to find out, my strategy had to change VERY quickly.

Round 1

Mike Evans – WR (Buccaneers): With the 11^th overall pick in Round 1 I was stunned that Mike Evans fell to me. He’s been a Top 8 pick in most mock drafts I’ve run heading into this and he somehow fell outside the Top 10. Like I said earlier, I wanted to go RB and WR or WR and RB with my first two picks. I knew if I passed on Evans there was a 95% chance he wasn’t coming back to me.  I really like Evans’s upside with the addition of DeSean Jackson. It forces defense to plan for Jackson’s deep routes and that could open things up for Evans and Tampa’s two TE’s… But mostly Evans! So I took him thinking Devonta Freeman or Jordan Howard would come back to me.

Round 2

T.Y. Hilton – WR (Colts): Spoiler alert! Devonta Freeman and Jordan Howard did not come back to me. Rick Boleto actually went RB heavy to start the draft by taking Freeman and Howard with his first two picks and then Christian McCaffrey in the 3^rd round. So with him taking Freeman and Howard I had a significant monkey wrench thrown in my strategy. Now since this was PPR I decided to target another WR since we start 3 in this format. I could’ve taken DeMarco Murray who ran the ball real well last season, but I’m worried about the mileage on his legs so I went with T.Y. Hilton as a solid WR2 and had to adapt a Zero-RB strategy (which is ironic since I wrote up an article a week ago not in favor of Zero-RB).

Round 3

Terrelle Pryor – WR (Redskins): When it came back to me after a long wait Pryor was the best player available in my opinion. I really like his potential in the Redskins offense this year. They throw the ball plenty and there’s a lot of motivation for Cousins to put up big numbers this year. Sure he’ll share the targets with Reed, Crowder, and Doctson. But everyone saw his potential in Cleveland last year where he still had some big games with a lesser QB than Cousins. So to start off I boasted a receiving group of Evans, Hilton, and Pryor. I love that potential a lot in PPR.

Round 4

Carlos Hyde – RB (49ers): I’m not crazy about this pick especially in a PPR format, but I’m pretty content with Hyde, especially if he’s healthy. Kyle Shanahan takes over as head coach and he ran an explosive offense with Atlanta last season. He’s a coach that favors running plays featuring zone blocking designed for the running back to run sideways looking for a hole to cut back up the field. If Hyde can fit into this system then he could have value, but the 49ers offensive line is pretty terrible.

Round 5

Mark Ingram – RB (Saints): Another PPR RB I like, despite the fact that the Saints seem to hate him at times. Ingram isn’t the most consistent RB in standard or PPR settings, but despite scoring single digits in 8 games last year he still finished as a Top 12 RB in PPR. The addition of Adrian Peterson is mildly concerning, but I’m still a fan of Ingram even with the addition of an aging, injury-prone running back.

Round 6

Theo Riddick – RB (Lions): Went with another pass-catching RB here in the 6^th round. It was a bit of a reach, but in the 10 games he played last season he scored double digits in 7 of them and never scored fewer than 8 points in any game in PPR formats. If he can play 16 games he can get 80 targets (he had 99 in 2015), and his rushing attempts have increased each year he’s been in the league.

Round 7

Jack Doyle – TE (Colts): By far, my WORST pick in the draft. I missed out on Jeremy Maclin and John Brown who went in the next two picks by taking Doyle. I like Doyle’s upside and do think he has a very productive year. He didn’t finish 2016 strong, but it’s hard to see him not improving this year.

Round 8

Tyrell Williams – WR (Chargers): I like this pick. Don’t love it. It’s a by-product of taking Doyle way too early and missing out on Maclin and Brown as previously mentioned. Tyrell Williams was very productive in 2016 after Keenan Allen went down. Allen’s returning and the Chargers drafted Mike Williams in the 1^st round of this year’s draft, but the rookie is dealing with some injuries. If Williams was my 3^rd receiver I’d be concerned, but I don’t mind him as my 4^th.

Round 9

Terrance West – RB (Ravens): I would really like this pick more if I was able to land Doug Martin earlier in the draft. Martin is suspended for the first 4 games of the year and since West should get a majority of carries with teammate Kenneth Dixon suspended the first four games of the year, West and Martin are a nice pair to own in 2017. The Ravens do have an odd lovefest for West. Though he’s not the PPR machine that Danny Woodhead is, West is good depth at RB.

Round 10

Alvin Kamara – RB (Saints): The thought crossed my mind in Round 8 to potentially grab Adrian Peterson and Alvin Kamara so I at least owned the whole New Orleans backfield. I couldn’t fathom using 3 of my 16 picks on one backfield however. So if I own 2/3 of the backfield then at least the guy I don’t own is the oldest and most injury-prone. Kamara is a solid handcuff to Ingram. A very underrated facet of the Saints is their offensive line. Yes Terron Armstead and Max Unger are injured (though Unger should be ready by camp), but the line still has talent with Andrus Peat, Ryan Ramczyk, Larry Warford, and Zach Strief.

Round 11

Jameis Winston – QB (Buccaneers): I finally took a quarterback in Round 11 and was very happy to take Winston here. I like that I’ll benefit big on TD passes to Mike Evans. Winston is the only QB in history to throw 4,000+ yards in each of his first two seasons and he should easily pass that mark again this year. Additionally, if you saw the Fantasy Alarm Bold Predictions table, Winston was picked by 9 of the 18 FA contributors to throw 30+ TD passes for the first time.

Round 12

Jamaal Williams – RB (Packers): Not crazy about this pick, but I think he’s got potential to get 10-15 touches at some point this season. The offensive line isn’t terrible and the Packers don’t want to lean solely on Ty Montgomery this year. They drafted 3 running backs in this year’s draft and Williams is my favorite to emerge as the best of the three. I will say that with this pick I do with I had taken another wide receiver. At this point I’m still only sitting on 4 receivers… And shamefully I wouldn’t draft another.

Round 13

Darren McFadden – RB (Cowboys): Everyone knows the Dallas offensive line is fantastic. Sure McFadden’s not the top RB in Dallas. But two years ago he was very productive after DeMarco Murray departed. With a potential suspension for Ezekiel Elliott looming over training camp there’s potential for McFadden to get some touches early on in the season.

Round 14

Austin Hooper – TE (Falcons): If I had known that Hooper would be available this late in the draft I would have easily passed on Doyle. He had only 19 catches on 27 targets in 2016, but his production is expected to go up in 2017. He won’t put up Gronk, or Jordan Reed numbers. But by taking Hooper in the later rounds you can build depth at RB and WR while getting a TE with upside in an explosive offense in the later rounds.

Round 15

Los Angeles Rams DST: It was between them and the Seahawks. The team is very young and with Wade Phillips now in at defensive coordinator, I expect the defense to make huge improvements. I also like Tavon Austin’s quickness on punt returns though he didn’t score a special teams TD in 2016.

Round 16

Cairo Santos – K (Chiefs): This is usually a position I stream on a weekly basis, but since this is a mock I went with santos. When I’m drafting a Kicker, I typically look for a team that effectively moves the ball between the 20’s. If you draft a Kicker on a team that moves the ball between the 20’s and flounders in the red zone then congratulations, you hit the jackpot! In Kansas City’s first 9 games, Santos hit double digits in 6 of them. Usually it’s good if a Kicker hits 7-8 points, so double digits are a big win. From weeks 11-16 the Chiefs went on an offensive tear and Travis Kelce went on a huge run constantly scoring TD’s. So the Chiefs kicked less field goals and it hurts Santos. But he still possesses a great leg and he’s a Top 10 Kicker.

All in all I’m pretty pleased with my team. I love my core group of receivers, and I like getting Winston late. I’d easily pass on Doyle in the 7^th if I can get Hooper in the 14^th. I missed out on a reliable RB1, but I’m okay with the depth at the position overall. And as mentioned before I wish I had more depth at receiver. But it was a great kickoff for the next month and a half! The Mock Draft Army is back!