Now that the major waves of free agency have passed, we have a better indication of how the first few rounds of a 2019 fantasy football draft are shaping up. No rookie from the NFL Draft will be a first round fantasy selection this upcoming season. So now I can issue my first version of the one-man mock draft in advance of the upcoming season, with three rounds with a lean toward PPR formats.
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The Spring Fantasy Football One-Man Mock Draft: Round One
Pick One: Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants – There may be a thought process that the loss of Odell Beckham Jr. could draw more significant defensive attention for Barkley. That may be true, and his numbers may take a minor hit overall. Yet he proved he could be the crux of an offense as a rookie and heavily carried the unit in 2018, and he will continue to do so, no matter who his supporting cast is.
Pick Two: Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys – The uptick in receptions last year was quite impressive and he will remain a heavy contributor in that department. The Cowboys’ biggest adds in the passing game were to sign a broadcaster and a seemingly has-been Packer who cannot stay healthy.
Pick Three: Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers — This is a rather easy one after the first two are off the board, as you can expect even more consistency in terms of TD production in 2019.
Pick Four: Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams — The fact that the Rams did not sign a prominent backup or re-up with C.J. Anderson is an apparent confidence booster about the state of his knee for now.
Pick Five: Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints — Latavius Murray could steal a few more of his goal-line carries than Mark Ingram did. He still makes the most of every touch, though, and any drop-off in his overall production would only be minor.
Pick Six: James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers – Looking back now, the Steelers were visionaries in identifying a possible successor to Le’Veon Bell.
Pick Seven: Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers — He hurt his owners with late-season injury issues last year, but you have to forget that now and remember he scored 14 total TDs in only 12 games.
Pick Eight: Le’Veon Bell, RB, New York Jets — A Jet has not been picked nearly as high since the days of Curtis Martin. This is the biggest superstar the franchise has featured in a very long time and he will be out to prove he can be the axis of his new team’s offense.
Pick Nine: DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans — Should produce the best combination of receptions, yardage, and TDs as the new kingpin of his position.
Pick 10: Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers – Green Bay did nothing to improve the receiving corps around him, and Adams will play much of the same huge role he did last year with a healthier Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball.
Pick 11: Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints — Not much of a separation between him and Hopkins/Adams, he could always finish as No. 1 at his position overall.
Pick 12: Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons — The TD production in the second half of the year was very satisfying and possibly an indicator of the huge overall season he could deliver in 2019.
Round Two
Pick 13: Odell Beckham Jr., Cleveland Browns – He is going to a better QB situation and will be very happy pairing with old college buddy Jarvis Landry on a team on the rise.
Pick 14: JuJu Smith Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers — If the savvy Steelers front office was willing to deal Antono Brown, it’s because they believe JuJu is ready to be the main attraction at WR.
Pick 15: Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals – He showed what he can do in an instable offense last year, and he’ll continue to be the one sure thing for the Bengals in 2019.
Pick 16: Antonio Brown, WR, Oakland Raiders – I would not let him fall too far. He’s not old yet for a WR and he has never let fantasy players down when they drafted him early. He still has the same tremendous work ethic and high level of football intelligence.
Pick 17: Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs – We know the position is so thin, and last year he posted the numbers of a top starting fantasy wide receiver.
Pick 18: Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – The numbers could be great if Bruce Arians finally gets better play out of Jameis Winston.
Pick 19: A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals — We all know health is the key here, can still put up outstanding numbers when he is available.
Pick 20: Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings — Of course we would have liked to see more consistency over a full season last year. But I’ll bank on a more steady high-level campaign in 2019.
Pick 21: Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings — Impressed us last year by showing what he can do when he mostly stays healthy.
Pick 22: T.Y. Hilton, WR Indianapolis Colts – A safe pick for receptions and yardage, wish he would score more.
Pick 23: David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals – You have to believe Kliff Kingsbury’s arrival will boost his overall outlook again.
Pick 24: Tyreek Hill, WR Kansas City Chiefs – His uncertain legal situation has him ranked nine spots lower than I would place him if there were no worries on his status,
Round Three
25 – Zach Ertz, TE, Eagles
26 – Amari Cooper, WR, Cowboys
27 – George Kittle, TE, 49ers
28 – Patrick Mahomes, QB, Chiefs
29 –Aaron Jones, RB, Packers
30 – Nick Chubb, RB, Browns
31 – Keenan Allen, WR, Chargers
32 – Dalvin Cook, RB, Vikings
33 – Leonard Fournette, RB, Jaguars
34 — Robert Woods, WR, Rams
35 – Sony Michel, RB, Patriots
36 – Kerryon Johnson, RB, Lions
Scott Engel is an inaugural member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association’s Hall of Fame and a four-time award winner. He was one of the driving content forces in the rise of RotoExperts.com and was the lead host on the RotoExperts in the Morning for six years on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. He was also instrumental in the launch of the FNTSY Sports Network. Scott was the first-ever Senior Writer and Managing Editor at CBS SportsLine and won a company Hall of Fame Award. He was also an Associate Editor and Fantasy analyst for ESPN.com. He has been the featured Fantasy Writer on Seahawks.com since 2012 and his work has been syndicated to the Associated Press, NFL.com, New York Daily News, New York Post, Yahoo Sports, Bloomberg Sports, Sports Illustrated and many others. He is a credentialed media member who won an FSWA award in 2016 for his Insider Fantasy Reporting. Known as “The King”, Scott is on Twitter @scottTheKing
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