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Today I drafted on Yahoo.com in a 12-team league from the 7-spot. This was my first mock draft of the year, so lets take a look at how the team turned out. I’ll share some quick thoughts on each player round by round, too.
My Team:
- Dalvin Cook (Minnesota Vikings)
- Nick Chubb (Cleveland Browns)
- Melvin Gordon (Denver Broncos)
- Mark Andrews (Baltimore Ravens)
- Keenan Allen (Los Angeles Chargers)
- Will Fuller (Houston Texans)
- Julian Edelman (New England Patriots)
- Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers)
- Rob Gronkowski (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
- Cam Newton (New England Patriots)
- Adrian Peterson (Washington)
- Golden Tate (New York Giants)
- DeSean Jackson (Philadelphia Eagles)
- Indianapolis Colts (... the Colts)
- Robby Anderson (Carolina Panthers)
First thought… Man, I really do not like the 7-spot in Round 1. But I sure like it more than the 8-12 spots, unlike in some years past. I have five players that I LOVE 1-5, then about 20 players I’m happy to take after that.
Dalvin Cook, an unquestioned #1 back in one of the most run-focused offenses in the NFL. The off-season changes for the Vikings could, at first, appear daunting with the loss of a superstar wide receiver in Stefon Diggs and the loss of offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski.
While Diggs will undoubtedly be missed, he departs a receiver’s room that was never really big enough for both he and Adam Thielen.
Stefanski’s loss may be bigger than I believe it will be, but it seemed Stefanski was really the 1B offensive coordinator to the 1A Gary Kubiak. Kubiak is expected to run the same inside-outside zone, play action scheme he’s been running since he was an assistant to Mike Shanahan with the 49ers back in 1994.
Nick Chubb was next for me in Round 2. If I’d stayed true to my personal ranks I would have taken Chubb at 7, but thanks to Yahoo’s seemingly incredibly soft ranks, I was able to pick up a back I expect to finish top-5 in the middle of the 2nd round.
Melvin Gordon was a surprise to me in the 3rd round, and he’s shaping up to be one of my big targets this season.
Gordon will be the unquestioned #1, workhorse back for a Broncos side that, while they may not be that great this year, they are still coached by former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Defensive coordinators famously want to slow down the game and run the football. To bring Fangio’s vision to life, the Broncos brought in Pat Shurmur to be offensive coordinator. Shurmur made draft-night-nightmare Daniel Jones look like a decent QB in his rookie season. Shurmur, as offensive coordinator for the Vikings in 2017, helped Case Keenum produce over 3,500 yards, propelling the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game.
Something tells me the Broncos offense might surprise a few folks this year.
Mark Andrews is the guy who you have to squint pretty hard, but if you do it just right, you can see him creeping in to the Travis Kelce and George Kittle club. The only guys around Andrews here were middle-of-the-road wide receivers and backs with more question marks than the Joker’s classic dinner jacket.
Keenan Allen is just unbelievably undervalued this year. I don’t expect the Chargers to be very good this year, but Keenan Allen is very good at getting open and catching the football. I’m happy to have him as my #1 in a weak receiver corps for this draft.
Will Fuller is the kind of receiver with upside you have to take a shot on when you take so many running backs early. Fuller is a no-brainer starter when he’s healthy… he’s just never healthy.
Julian Edelman is the kind of wide receiver with a solid floor you have to draft when you might end up relying on a receiver like Will Fuller.
Aaron Rodgers is a great QB to take a shot on returning to that top-5 QB club, and he’s cheap this year.
Rob Gronkowski is going to end up on all my teams this year. I know I took Andrews way to early to be spending more draft capital on tight end, but Gronk smash.
Cam Newton is a bit of a hedge on Rodgers. It’s unlikely I’d keep both these guys on my team all year, but as the NFL season gets underway, I don’t mind holding a second QB to see how things shake out.
Adrian Peterson Is the last man standing in Washington with Derrius Guice recently being cut. Peterson is swinging for a single in the later rounds, but a starting running back is a valuable commodity.
Golden Tate is the best wide receiver on an offense that has the potential to be one of the worst offenses in the league. Maybe you can get a few starts out of him. Maybe he’ll be off your roster come Week 4.
DeSean Jackson is the best receiver on the Eagles by a long-shot. He can’t stay on the field, though…
The Colts D/ST starts the season with a pretty strong schedule on the road versus the Jaguars, home against the Vikings, home against the Jets, and then on the road against the Bears.
Robby Anderson is a late-round target for me this year, but I was really trying to auto-draft a kicker here. Its a pretty compelling question with Anderson this year; will he get the leaving-the-Gase bump that DeVante Parker and Kenyan Drake got?