Fantasy Football Party Mock Draft #4

In our fourth and penultimate mock draft event, I failed to insert draft round into the fields when entering players—realizing only in the 7^th or 8^th round and at that point figuring it wasn’t much use changing course. So, this will be a shorter review than usual since I can’t really analyze round value. I think you’ll live.

Overall I really liked the team that Andy put together—solid in all areas, balanced, and if I remember correctly he didn’t really reach for anyone. John Brown came at a value thanks to his lingering concussion symptoms, which have me scared enough to drop him a half dozen spots or so in my rankings.

Brandon’s team is probably my second favorite. The more mock/actual drafts I’m in, the more I like how things play out from the No. 1 spot. Letting value fall and getting to take advantage with back-to-back picks works out nicely if you know what you’re doing, and seems to be more beneficial on this specific turn than at the end of the snake based on what I’ve seen in my travels. I think there are better flyers than Cameron Artis-Payne at running back, but overall this team was well constructed.

Logan did a nice job of balancing risk with reward on his squad in the WR, QB and TE departments, though taking on three guys who won’t play the first month of the season (Brady, Eifert, Gordon) could come back to bite him—especially since he eschewed RB depth to make up for it. Devonta Freeman has a timeshare in his future, Thomas Rawls might as well and has injury concerns to boot, and DeAngelo Williams is old and only guaranteed a productive role for three weeks. I know its tempting to grab those injured/suspended guys (included Le’Veon Bell) when you see their value as they fall in drafts, but you can only really take one, maybe two, without incredibly deep benches. Remember, all these guys have bye weeks to consider, too.

Brian lacked conviction with many of his picks, but ultimately put together a decent starting lineup. WR could be a bit thin, but otherwise really no complaints here.

I like Lalyn’s WR and TE position quite a bit, and I won’t really knock any QB considering in a 10-teamer you can comfortably stream the position, but he took a couple of guys at RB that I worry about in Langford and Hyde. In both cases it’s more about the team circumstance than the player, though I don’t think either player is particularly special. Langford is especially ordinary, if that’s a thing. Bilal Powell could be a late-round steal, and Justin Forsett is shaping up that way too with Kenneth Dixon’s injury, so he’s got some outs here.

Harley did a nice job getting value on Aaron Rodgers in the 6^th-ish round, but will need to work on his RBs most likely. Counting on Arian Foster for anything more than Le’Veon Bell coverage is playing with fire, and Charles Sims isn’t the greatest asset in standard leagues.

Phil Jennings tried to get a QB run started with a 3^rd-round pick of Cam Newton, but it failed to take so ultimately may have been a bit of a reach. The Landry/Benjamin/Matthews WR trio in a standard league isn’t dynamite, but DeSean Jackson as a late pick was helpful there. Same goes for the late Matt Forte/TJ Yeldon picks. Ultimately this is a team Phil can sneak up on anyone with using various lineup formations to disguise his otherwise singular intentions of overthrowing his opponent from within.

Sorry, I blacked out there. What happened?

As for Bo, Tuvey and I, overall I don’t have any complaints except for my continued concern with drafting Allen Hurns and Tyler Lockett at their current ADPs. Lockett wasn’t a huge issue for Bo, though, considering he’s a WR4. But Hurns is a WR3 for Tuvey. I see a future of coin-flipping between Hurns and Snead on a weekly basis. My squad would look much better in a PPR format. Maybe I shouldn’t have used my ½ PPR cheat sheet. Alas, I still think it’s a strong top-to-bottom lineup with both upside and depth to sustain injuries and be a contender.

We’ve got one more mock draft left! Join us at Bent Brewstillery in Roseville Wednesday night if you’d like to play!