Fanspeak Fantasy Football: 14 Team PPR Mock Draft

By Staff Writer Ryan Gerrity @RyanGerrity:

In this 14-team point per reception mock draft I was dealt with the 14^th overall pick.  Which is the last pick in the first round, and with the snake style draft the first pick in the second round.  Knowing at least the top 10 running backs would be gone before I could pick, I wanted to get a top 3 wide receiver with my first round pick.  Lets see how it turned out.

A.J. Green was my first round pick and I was very happy with him at #14 because he is going to get a lot of targets this year in the Bengal’s offense.  It doesn’t hurt that he is also Andy Dalton’s favorite target and still should be a red zone threat this year.  With the first pick in the second round I wanted to get a running back that was going to score a lot of touchdowns.  Touchdowns in this PPR league from a running back give you a huge advantage and last year Stevan Ridley of the Patriots had double digit rushing touchdowns.  He may not be as involved in the passing game as Shane Vereen but he will get a lot of the touches in the running game.

The third round is when the quarterbacks started to come off the board.  I was waiting to see if Peyton Manning fell to me in the third round, but if he were taken I would have waited for a quarterback until the 6^th round.  After Manning there is a pretty big drop in the production from quarterbacks.  In the forth round Wes Welker was still available, and after drafting Manning I can get double points on touchdowns.  I know Welker is not a touchdown machine, but he is a PPR monster.  Over 100 catches and 1,000 yards receiving is almost guaranteed with Welker.

The fifth round is where I started to worry a bit about my running back situation.  A 14 team league is a deep league and a lot of running backs were taken off the board because I focused on wide receiver and quarterback with 3 out of my first 4 picks.  Ben Tate was the best running back available and during the preseason he has looked like a starting running back in the NFL.  Tate is not going to take a lot of carries away from Arian Foster, but I would not be surprised if the Texans find a way to use him in the offense more after his performance this preseason.

Round 6 came around and I wanted to take a bit of a risk with this pick and I ended up deciding on Tavon Austin.  A rookie out of WVU that was taken in the first round of this years draft by the Rams.  Austin is the fastest player on the field at all times and the Rams are going to find ways to get him the ball in the offense this year.  He is one of the most versatile players coming into the NFL this year because he can carry the ball out of the backfield, run routes, catch the ball in traffic, returns punts and kicks, and can break a big play at any moment.

Other notable picks that were made in this mock draft were the 49ers defense in the 10^th round.  I am very interested to see how Nnamdi Asomugha fits at cornerback for the 49ers this year.  Asomugha was a pro bowl shut down corner and he still has the potential to be that again which makes the 49ers defense that much more dominant.  Late round sleepers that I chose were Alshon Jeffery with the Bears and Kendall Wright with the Titans.  Both of these players have potential to make a huge impact offensively for their respective teams.  Jeffery will have a lot of single coverage having Brandon Marshall lined up as the #1 wide receiver in Chicago, and Wright has to learn to use his body to “box out” defensive backs.

Overall my lineup for a 14 team PPR league after this draft is satisfying.  I am not thrilled with my running back group but my wide receiving corps is very deep and should put up big numbers in a PPR league like this one.