RADIO
At RotoBaller, we are starting off the month of August with a series of articles analyzing a staff mock draft. The mock draft included 12 of RotoBaller's best and brightest. A forewarning, this mock was drafted at the end of July and will not be able to account for more recent news like the Le'veon Bell suspension and the Josh Gordon reinstatement and suspension.
In this article, Nathan Powell will be breaking down the teams that selected from picks 7 to 9 in the mock draft. The full mock can be found here: Rotoballer Team Mock.
Editor's Note: RotoBaller has the best Premium NFL Subscription, only $29.99 for the full season. We have all the preseason tools to help win your drafts, and in-season tools to win your seasonal and daily leagues: Draft Kit, Premium Rankings, ADP Sleepers Tool, Matchup Ratings for every player, Daily DFS Cheat Sheets, Lineup Picks, Expert Lineups, Stacks and Avoids.
Nathan Powell - 7th Draft Position
Best Pick: Jamaal Charles (2.07)
Picking my 2nd round pick as my favorite pick in a draft is less than shocking. However, I am highlighting this pick because of what it says about the current landscape and how people are valuing running backs versus wide receivers today. Jamaal Charles was the 9th running back off the board in this mock, in years past, RB9 would be off the board by 2.01 at the latest. I like Charles value overall as well as where he was drafted among running backs. Charles is one of three running backs who I think have legitimate RB1 overall upside in 2016(Todd Gurley, David Johnson). Charles may have a lower floor than players drafted ahead of him due to his health concerns, but he has had a 5.0+ yards per carry in each of his NFL seasons, with more than 1000 rushing yards and 35 or more catches in each of his healthy NFL seasons after his rookie season.
Worst Pick: Dorial Green-Beckham (10th Round)
My least favorite selection was the one that has the highest chance of producing no weekly consistency in fantasy football in 2016. I will admit I am a resident member of #TeamBigWR, which is a major reason for why I have an affinity for Dorial Green-Beckham. However, there are a number of ways that Green-Beckham is irrelevant in fantasy football, from the crowded wide receiver depth chart, low passing volume and the possibility that he just isn't good at football, a la his teammate Justin Hunter. To defend the pick, he did come off the board at WR46. I think there is very little chance that he finishes as the WR46, Green-Beckham is the definition of a high upside/low floor pick, if he hits, I have at least a WR2 in 2016. If he flames out, I cut him in week 4 and it only cost me a 9th round pick.
Team Analysis
Critiquing your own draft can often be a difficult task, but I did come away from this mock very happy with my own team. Starting the draft with 2 of my top 5 running backs is always a good thing and to extent, that is made possible by the growth of the ZeroRB strategy. Early running backs with a combination of safe wide receivers(Hilton, Floyd, Marvin Jones) and more risky wide receivers(Moncrief, Green-Beckham, Funchess) has been my favorite draft strategy all offseason. Adding Mariota and Ebron as two of my favorite late round quarterback and tight end targets just makes me even more giddy at the sight of my own roster. Okay, I'll stop talking about myself now.
Barry Leonard Jr. - 8th Draft Position
Best Pick: Devontae Booker (13.08)
Devontae Booker is one of my favorite rookies to draft late in drafts this season and is one of the best late round running back targets for ZeroRB enthusiasts. What are you looking for in a late round RB? A path to RB1 touches, and I believe Booker has that in his range of outcomes. C.J. Anderson has one of the more curious ADP's in 2016. The concept of "starts" may be a bit overrated in fantasy football, but Anderson has only started 12 of his 30 games in the past two seasons, which means he has definitely had competition for touches, and now the Broncos add Booker in the 4th round. Booker has the rare combination of large reception volume with 80 receptions in two seasons with Utah, along with showing workhorse traits as a runner with 560 carries in two seasons. Booker has shown workhorse capability and is playing behind a player who has not shown such ability, which is why he is a great value in 2016 PPR leagues.
Worst Pick: Michael Thomas (6.05)
While I loved Barry's selection of a rookie in the late rounds, I found his first selection of a rookie puzzling with Saints Wide Receiver Michael Thomas coming off the board in the 6th round. Thomas landed in one of the top offenses in the NFL with one of the leagues best quarterbacks in Drew Brees. However, Thomas' landing spot is being a bit overhyped, in my opinion. As of now, I think he is the 4th target in the offense behind Cooks, Fleener and Snead. While I do think that over the course of the season, Thomas will work his way to being Brees' third most targeted receiver ahead of Snead, that is closer to his year 1 ceiling and that may not even be good enough to live up to his WR36 price in this mock.
Team Analysis
Like myself, Barry started with a balanced RB-RB-WR-WR start, which in a fantasy world of extremes being right or wrong, there is just something that feels right about balance. My biggest concern with his team outlook is, while I liked a lot of players that he drafted, many of them don't mesh well on a team together. When you draft a quarterback(Russell Wilson- 5.08) and a tight end(Tyler Eifert- 7.08) in the first seven rounds, that can make your RB/WR lineup less dependable. Barry drafted 8 rookies in this 17 round mock, I prefer to mix my late round picks with dependable players to fill in during bye weeks and injuries, as well as the occasional "Home Run Swing" like Will Fuller in the 11th round.
Joe Sorensen - 9th Draft Position
Best Pick: Desean Jackson (8.04)
Desean Jackson was one of the best value picks in the entire draft. Jackson is the #1 wide receiver on an offense that ranked 11th in the NFL in passing yards in 2015. I expect to see similar passing volume from Washington in 2015, which means if Jackson stays healthy, he will definitely be a beneficiary and will live up to his WR41 price in this mock draft. Jackson may not be the speedster that he was with the Eagles, but he did have the highest catch rate of his career at 61.2%.
Worst Pick: Jordan Reed (3.09)
More than anything, my dislike for this pick has to do with my dislike for investing in the tight end position early in fantasy football drafts. With the talent at running back and wide receiver that is in the NFL today, it tough to invest in a position where you only have to start 1 weekly, especially when that one is Jordan Reed, who has had a few concussions and hamstring injuries in his first 3 NFL seasons where he has missed 13 games. On the bright side, selecting Reed in the early rounds means locking up 1 position with the player who led all tight ends in PPR points per game in 2015.
Team Analysis
Joe dominated the middle rounds of this mock draft, getting value with nearly every pick. While I often advocate for late round quarterback, getting Andrew Luck at 6.04 and QB5 off the board was a great value for one of the leagues best quarterbacks in one of the leagues best offenses. Emmanuel Sanders at WR32 and Michael Crabtree at WR38 are both excellent values for a pair of veteran wide receivers that give Joe's lineup a very high weekly floor and he would be one of the top competitors in the playoffs if this league played out.
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