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2018 Fantasy Football Standard Mock Draft (12 Teams, 6th pick)

2018 Fantasy Football Standard Mock Draft (12 Teams, 6th pick)

Fantasy football draft preparation is changing on a weekly basis.

One week you are excited to have Derrius Guice as your No. 2 running back. The next he’s out for the year with a torn ACL.

Injuries happen, guys’ average draft positions rise and fall and names move up and down the depth chart. Thankfully, I (along with the FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Simulator) am here to help. The Mock Draft Simulator allows owners to set custom league settings and run a mock draft in a few minutes, without having to wait on lobbies or for other owners to make their picks. So it’s easy to get a feel for your draft after every preseason game.

In my ongoing series this month of mock drafts, today, I’ll run through a mock draft in which I picked in the middle of the round. My drafts running down early and late picks can be found here and here, respectively. Each time, I am using a standard 12-team format. Here are the league settings:

Below is a rundown of my roster, along with the round I selected each player.

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Quarterback: Philip Rivers (Rd. #10), Jimmy Garoppolo (Rd. #11)

It sounds silly on the surface to take quarterbacks in back-to-back rounds, but I was already feeling pretty comfortable with my starting lineup, so I figured I would go with Rivers (who is relatively safe and reliable) and Garoppolo (a high-upside guy who could be trade bait or a top-10 quarterback).

Rivers has finished four of the past five years as a top-12 quarterback in total fantasy points, and will now have second-year receiver Mike Williams fully healthy in the lineup after he was injured for most of 2017. I will never have to be overly concerned about playing Rivers in any given week.

Meanwhile, Garoppolo could easily be my every-week starter if he can live up to the hype. In his five starts last season, he was on pace to throw for nearly 5,000 yards had he been the starter all year. The touchdown-to-interception ratio concerns me, but with a healthy Pierre Garcon and a new weapon in Jerick McKinnon, he could break out early and be a potential trade target for other owners or my regular starter. And, if not, I have Rivers already.

Running back: Saquon Barkley (Rd. #1), Royce Freeman (Rd. #5), Mark Ingram (Rd. #6), Kerryon Johnson (Rd. #7), Matt Breida (Rd. #13)

This is a running back group that is primed for late-season success – it’s just going to be about surviving until then. Barkley is going to be a workhorse back in New York, so no need to worry about playing him Week 1.

But Freeman and Johnson both have to wrestle away the starting jobs with their respective teams, and Ingram is suspended for the first four games and has a bye in Week 5. Still, there’s a lot of potential here.

It’s no secret that I’m high on Ingram this year, so I will be eager to use him as soon as he’s back in the lineup. Then there’s Freeman, who looks to be the starter, but still has to beat Devontae Booker. Freeman’s stock has been rising since Week 1 of the preseason, so I am happy to get him in the fifth round. He looked good in his NFL debut, carrying the ball four times for 38 yards and a touchdown. If Denver didn’t see him as a bellcow, they likely would have run him more during the first preseason game. It’s a good sign that they want him to have fresh legs.

I also could see Johnson becoming the Lions’ starter by midseason. LeGarrette Blount could vulture some red zone touches, and touchdowns, but Johnson is the quicker back of the two and looked great in the preseason game against the Bears. He averaged 4.9 yards per carry, and also had a 57-yard run that was negated by a penalty.

Wide receiver: A.J. Green (Rd. #2), Stefon Diggs (Rd. #3), JuJu Smith-Schuster (Rd. #4), Jamison Crowder (Rd. #8), John Ross (Rd. #14)

My top three receivers are all guys who finished inside the top 18 in total fantasy scoring among wideouts last year, which I can definitely live with. Smith-Schuster is one of only 17 players in NFL history to have at least 900 receiving yards, seven touchdowns and 55 catches in their rookie year, according to Pro-Football-Reference. Among that group, he is second in catch percentage behind only Michael Thomas of the Saints. Some other names in that group include Randy Moss, Odell Beckham and Keenan Allen. There’s a ton of upside with him, and Green is a known quantity at this point who is a lock to be a top-12 receiver.

I was able to get Crowder in the eighth round again, which I did in the first of my mock drafts. That’s still great value, and even better considering Guice is down for the year. I could see Alex Smith relying on Crowder a lot to catch short passes and make things happen in the open field a lot more now.

John Ross is also the ideal lottery ticket. I took him with my last position player spot, so I won’t be kicking myself if I cut him in Week 4. But he also has the speed and opportunity to be a solid flex guy this year. He is also a potential handcuff for Green if he gets hurt at any point in the season.

Tight end: Jordan Reed (Rd. #9), George Kittle (Rd. #12)

I accidentally went heavy-handed on 49ers, but I think Kittle makes a good pairing with Reed. When he’s healthy, Reed is one of the best fantasy tight ends, but he’s only started 13 games over the past two years.

If Reed only plays five or six games, Kittle is a guy I don’t mind plugging in for the other eight. Besides that, Kittle has legitimate upside to be a top-10 fantasy tight end this season, especially with a lack of depth at the position. In the five games with Garoppolo at quarterback for San Francisco, Kittle averaged 5.6 fantasy points per game, and closed out the season with back-to-back 10-point games. As my colleague Marc Mathyk pointed out earlier this offseason, Kittle is a fantastic athlete who boasts top-tier speed and catch radius. I don’t mind having either of these guys where I drafted them.

Defense: New Orleans Saints (Rd. #15)

The Saints have one of the five best corners in the league in Marshon Lattimore, and one of the five best 4-3 defensive ends in Cameron Jordan. I’ll take that.

Kicker: Jake Elliott (Rd. #16)

So there you have it, my latest mock draft using our free mock draft simulator. Keep on mocking!

Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team PPR Middle Pick)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team Standard Middle Pick)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team PPR Early Pick)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team Standard Early Pick)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team Standard)
Fantasy Football Mock Draft (12-Team PPR)

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Jon Munshaw is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Jon, check out his archive and follow him @jon_munshaw

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