Ten Team Standard Scoring Mock Draft

For this mock draft I choose to start with the seventh overall pick. The draft moves in a snake order so I would have both my picks for two rounds fairly close together. By the time my first pick had come up all the top ranked running backs were off the board. I did not feel that either Demarco Murray or Arian Foster were worth taking at this high of a pick so I decided to change it up. Instead of taking a running back, which is usually what I would do in the first round of a standard scoring draft, I choose Calvin Johnson.

Megatron is the only wide receiver I would ever take in the first round of a standard scoring league.

Since I just choose Johnson, part of me wanted to see if I could get another top wide receiver in the second. Unfortunately, by the time my pick came up again A.J. Green and Demaryius Thomas were off the board. I still could have selected Julio Jones or Brandon Marshall, both of whom I think will do great this year, but they just were not worth risking the running back spot. It would be a while before I got to pick again, so I went the conservative route and chose Le’Veon Bell. At the fourteenth overall pick, Bell is a good value. I have seen him going in the late first. Though I would never spend a first rounder on him, a second seems pretty good to me.
In the third round I selected Andre Ellington. He is a bit of sleeper running back, but he really was the last one before there was a drop off in quality. So I had to grab him and hope for the best. I then got Victor Cruz in the fourth. Cruz had a down year in 2013, but he has been a top five wide receiver in the past and there is really no reason to stay away from him.
I grabbed my tight end in the fifth. Last year tight ends were very important to successful fantasy football seasons. The problem with tight ends is the number of them. There are really only about three top tight ends; then maybe another four decent ones before an owner has to rotate waiver wire picks every week. This does not work out all the time. I prefer to avoid rotating tight ends. I choose Vernon Davis. I consider Davis the second best tight end in the league and he ended up being the third tight end taken in this draft.

Vernon Davis is number two in my tight end rankings.

Once I took Davis, I wanted to grab a flex player. Though taking a running back is best for standard scoring leagues, I could not get a worthy starter here. There was a run on the last of the running backs right after I took Davis. I had a choice of a couple decent wide receivers. I ended up taking Marques Colston. Colston is apparently fully recovered from the foot injuries and should be ready to return to form in 2014. If nothing else, I can still live with 900 yards and seven touchdowns out of a flex player.
Going into the next round I needed a quarterback. I had a choice between Nick Foles and Colin Kaepernick. I like both of them, but I decided to go with Kaepernick. Kaepernick just feels like a safe pick. Safety is something you definitely want from your quarterback.
Unfortunately, now I definitely needed a backup running back. I got lucky. Joique Bell was still on the board. I knew I could not wait to pick him either because the drop off in quality was huge. The next set of guys was all backups or huge injury risks. That very next round I also grabbed DeAngelo Williams. Williams is very much forgotten about in fantasy drafts this year. With Bell and Williams as backups I feel pretty safe.
The next addition to my team would be Anquan Boldin. Boldin could end up starting in my flex spot. I feel he is on par with Marques Colston. After Boldin, I went out on a limb and grabbed Charles Clay. I love grabbing players that other teams could start and just storing them on my bench. Last season, I had Peyton Manning on my team. I picked up Philip River off the waiver wire and just stored him on my bench the whole season. When I finally made it to the championship game, I was playing a guy who had to rotate quarterbacks. Instead of being able to start River, he had to start Mike Glennon. Had he had Rivers on his team, he would have beaten me. Being greedy won me a championship last year.

It was painful to take the Seahawks’ defense. I am thankful this is a mock draft. I do not think I could live with them for a full season.

I could now grab my defense. To me there is no problem spending a 10th or 11th round pick on a starter. I had the option to take any defense I wanted. Normally I would never take the Seahawks defense out of principle. I absolute despise Seattle. However, my team had a lot of byes in the middle of the season, so I had to take the Seahawks simply because of their bye week.
Then I grabbed a backup quarterback. Ryan Tannehill is one of the biggest sleepers in the league this year. Colin Kaepernick may be good, but there is still some risk involved with him. Running quarterbacks always have a chance of injury, so drafting a backup is a must. I choose Tannehill because he has a great chance of surpassing 4000 yards this season.
After that, I choose Stephen Gostkowski. Once again I was the first team to take a kicker. A lot of owners wait until the last round to grab a kicker. Not me. Think about this last year, Gostkowski scored about 170 fantasy points. That is about as much as a second running back. Numbers do not lie, kickers are gaining importance.
In the fifteenth round I went with a sleeper. I selected Jarrett Boykin. Boykin is going to be a starting wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers. Why not take a player who is catching passes from Aaron Rodgers?

At the end of the day my roster looks like this:

Colin Kaepernick is the best running quarterback in the league. He should have a better season in 2014 with a health group of wide receivers.

QB: Colin Kaepernick
RB: Le’Veon Bell
RB: Andre Ellington
WR: Calvin Johnson
WR: Victor Cruz
TE: Vernon Davis
FLEX: Marques Colston
DEF: Seattle Seahawks
K: Stephen Gostkowski
BENCH: Joique Bell
BENCH: DeAngelo Williams
BENCH: Anquan Boldin
BENCH: Charles Clay
BENCH: Ryan Tannehill
BENCH: Jarrett Boykin

I am pretty satisfied with this team. I wish my starting running backs were a bit stronger, but Bell and Ellington have a lot of potential. I feel my backups at the positions are very strong. I love my wide receivers. Any time Calvin Johnson is on your team, your wide outs are always going to look scary.

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