Footballguys Staff Mock Draft 12, 12 team IDP, PPR

Photo: Kirby Lee, USA Today Sports

On August 17th, the Footballguys staff completed a 12-team 32-round IDP, PPR mock draft. Below are the league's scoring and bylaws. Our Dan Hindery provides an unbiased summary of each team's picks and strategies. 

League Parameters

• 12 teams
• 32 roster spots
• Starting Lineup
• 1 quarterback
• 2 running backs
• 3 wide receivers
• 1 tight end
• 1 offensive flex (running back, wide receiver, or tight end)
• 1 defensive tackle
• 2 defensive ends
• 3 linebackers
• 2 cornerbacks
• 2 safeties
• 1 defensive flex (defensive tackle, linebacker, cornerback or safety)

League Scoring

• Offensive Players
• 4 points - passing touchdown
• 6 points - rushing/receiving touchdown
• 1 point - reception
• 0.04 points - passing yard
• 0.1 points - rushing/receiving yard
• Individual Defensive Players
• 10 points - safety
• 6 points - defensive or return touchdown
• 6 points - blocked field goal
• 6 points - blocked punt
• 6 points - blocked extra point
• 5 points - sack
• 4 points - defensive interception
• 3 points - fumble recovery
• 3 points - forced fumble
• 2 points - tackle
• 1 point - assist
• 2 points - pass defensed

The Draft Order

The draft order was randomly generated. After the first round, the draft continues in a regular serpentine manner. Click here for the Full Draft, pick by pick or Rosters - Grid View

1. Cian Fahey
2. Mark Wimer
3. Devin Knotts
4. Aaron Rudnicki
5. Justin Howe
6. Jene Bramel
7. Daniel Simpkins
8. John Norton
9. Matt Bitonti
10. Jeff Haseley
11. Sigmund Bloom
12. Matt Waldman

Starting with Cian Fahey from the 1.01 spot, we will go over each person's selections in the mock draft.

Cian Fahey - slot 1

OVERALL STRATEGY Cian Fahey

Balanced

Best Pick

LeSean McCoy (4.12). McCoy is positioned to have a big season in Buffalo if he can just stay healthy for 16 games. The Bills are likely to lean on their ground game and McCoy should see 20 touches per game. He has the talent to produce strong RB1 numbers with that type of volume.

Worst Pick

Von Miller (3.01). Miller does not produce enough tackles to put up big IDP numbers at the LB position. This is almost a wasted pick as Miller may not even be a weekly starter in this format.

Evaluation

Cian’s offensive roster is lacking elite players due to his using two of his three premium picks on defensive players. He may not get enough bang for the buck from those selections.

Mark Wimer - slot 2

OVERALL STRATEGY Mark Wimer

QB/TE early

Best Pick

Rashad Jennings (12.11) Jennings somewhat quietly took on a workhorse role in the Giants offense down the stretch of the 2015 season. In the final quarter of the 2015 season, Jennings was a top-five running back. He looks poised to maintain that role heading into 2015 and has sneaky RB1 upside in what should be an explosive Giants offense. Brian Cushing (31.02) also looks like a potential late-round steal. He is fully healthy for the first time in years and was flying around making plays in preseason action with six tackles in just over a quarter against the Saints.

Worst Pick

Travis Kelce (6.11) and Coby Fleener (7.02). While the value was solid on both of these guys purely as tight ends, Mark should have picked one or the other and then moved on to another position. Neither player profiles as a strong flex and that is what Mark has to be banking on when drafting both. Even in a relatively strong 2015 season, Kelce averaged just 11 points per game and was not a strong flex option. Players like Emmanuel Sanders (8.05) and Michael Crabtree (9.05) were much better flex options.

Evaluation

Using three of his top seven picks on QB or TE left him weak at RB and DL. He may be able to overcome those challenges if Rashad Jennings or Ryan Mathews is able to exceed expectations and stay healthy.

Devin Knotts - slot 3

OVERALL STRATEGY Devin Knotts

Rookie-Heavy

Best Pick

Will Fuller V (31.03). Fuller has emerged early in camp as the starting receiver opposite of DeAndre Hopkins for the Texans. Despite being the second-highest receiver drafted in the 2016 draft, Fuller has flown under the radar in redraft leagues (perhaps due to early reports that Jaelen Strong would start). Fuller has the pedigree and opportunity to be a steal in the final rounds of this draft.

Worst Pick

Devontae Booker (18.10). Taking a flier on Booker this late in a draft is perfectly fine. Drafting him as your RB2 puts you in a major hole. With only one starting RB (Hyde), Devin will be forced to start either Devontae Booker, Kenneth Dixon or Jordan Howard Week 1.

Evaluation

Devin had a fantastic start with his first five picks. The selections of Jordan Reed (4.10) and Carlos Hyde (5.03) at the 4/5 turn was especially impressive. His 6/7 picks were strong as well. But he is putting a lot of his eggs in the basket of rookie RBs who were drafted in the 4th round or later.

Aaron Rudnicki - slot 4

OVERALL STRATEGY Aaron Rudnicki

Balanced Approach

Best Pick

Jeremy Langford (12.09) Langford is a prime example of a player for whom the “hate” went too far. He certainly had his fair share of struggles as a rookie. But it has been clear that the Bears really like him and he seemed to win his teammates (especially the offensive linemen) over as a rookie. He looks like a player poised to make significant improvements in his second season and should be the workhorse back in Chicago. Andrew Luck (7.04) was also a nice value.

Worst Pick

Dion Lewis (5.03). Hindsight is 20/20 and of course Aaron did not know at the time of the draft that Lewis’ injury would require another surgery. However, this situation can serve as a reminder to try to price in some risk when drafting players who we do not have clarity on in terms of health.

Evaluation

Aaron put together a nice team with great balance. He should be able to overcome the likely loss of Lewis due to his savvy depth picks of Jeremy Langford and Justin Forsett.

Justin Howe - slot 5

OVERALL STRATEGY Justin Howe

WR-heavy

Best Pick

T.Y Hilton (3.05). Justin’s first four picks were all strong selections that set him up to have arguably the best starting receivers in the league. A.J. Green, Alshon Jeffery and T.Y. Hilton all have realistic WR1 upside and the trio should combine to score a lot of fantasy points.

Worst Pick

Dont’a Hightower (18.08). While the specific pick of Hightower was okay, Justin is lacking upside and depth at the crucial position of LB. He is at risk of being badly outscored each week at the position and does not have a strong flex option in a league where ideally you can run four top linebacker options out there each week.

Evaluation

Justin is loaded offensively. His strength at WR should win him a lot of games. But he would have been well-served drafting a legitimate top LB in the early rounds instead of Golden Tate or Matt Forte.

Jene Bramel - slot 6

OVERALL STRATEGY Jene Bramel

RB-RB Start

Best Pick

Vontaze Burfict (16.07). Burfict was the seventh-highest scoring IDP player over the second-half of the 2015 season after spending the early part of the season on the PUP list recovering from micro fracture surgery. He should be an elite IDP option in 2016. Jene also got tremendous value by waiting at QB and TE. Blake Bortles (15.03) and Zach Ertz (13.06) are strong starting options and waiting allowed Jene to load up at the premium positions of RB and WR.

Worst Pick

John Brown (6.07). Jene put together a fantastic draft, so it is hard to pinpoint any one pick as a negative. Brown has been had some issues with injuries his first two seasons and is battling concussion issues in camp. He is a solid value in the 6th round, but there were some slightly better options than Brown available given the injury concerns.

Evaluation

Jene’s team is loaded and my pick as the league favorite. He has elite options at RB and LB and no real weaknesses at other positions. He proved that you can successfully start RB-RB as long as you hammer the WR value in the early rounds and take advantage of the depth of the QB and TE positions.

Daniel Simpkins - Slot 7

OVERALL STRATEGY Daniel Simpkins

Offense-Heavy

Best Pick

Jordan Hicks (12.06). Hicks is a prime breakout candidate in IDP leagues. The second-year linebacker flashed major potential as a rookie and could put up big numbers as the middle linebacker in Jim Schwartz’s 4-3 defense. If Hicks picks up the new scheme quickly and stays healthy, he could be one of the steals of the mid-rounds.

Worst Pick

DeVante Parker (7.07). Daniel loaded up on WRs, with six in the first nine rounds. He was able to pull off the strategy by finding some nice IDP values in the mid-rounds. But for the strategy to fully work, he’ll need some of his younger receivers to emerge as fantasy stars. Parker has had a slow start to camp. Kenny Stills has been a bigger deep threat on the outside and Ryan Tannehill still looks to Jarvis Landry as his first read on most plays.

Evaluation

Daniel did a nice job of finding value in the mid-late rounds. He used six early picks on wide receivers and is banking on a couple of the young guys having breakout seasons.

John Norton - slot 8

OVERALL STRATEGY John Norton

Balanced, RB-Heavy

Best Pick

Paul Posluszny (12.05) John is loaded with intriguing options at LB and did not have to spend a premium pick at the position. Posluszny has always had a high floor in IDP leagues and if he stays healthy, should be a strong weekly starter for John. The pick of Marvin Jones Jr (6.05) was savvy. Jones is going to see a lot of targets in the Lions’ pass-heavy scheme and he has the talent to make the most of those opportunities.

Worst Pick

Jeremy Hill (5.08). Gio Bernard splits time with Hill in the Bengals backfield and Bernard is the primary option in the passing game. In PPR leagues, it is tough to justify drafting Hill this high when players like Jonathan Stewart (11.11), Jeremy Langford (12.09) and Matt Jones (13.11) are going off the board so much later. John whould have waited on his RB3 because his starting duo of Devonta Freeman and Doug Martin is formidable.

Evaluation

John has a strong overall roster. He is banking on Tyler Eifert (7.08) returning early in the season from his ankle injury, because he has very little depth behind him. If Eifert is able to return in the first couple weeks, John has one of the stronger rosters in the league.

Matt Bitonti - slot 9

OVERALL STRATEGY Matt Bitonti

Balanced, Early QB and TE

Best Pick

Doug Baldwin (6.04). Everyone is quick to talk about touchdown regression and how Baldwin is unlikely to repeat his torrid second-half of 2015 pace. However, the regression is more than priced into Baldwin’s ADP. Even if his production comes back to earth a bit, he still should return fourth-round value.

Worst Pick

Cam Newton (3.09). Every draft plays out differently. Thus, you have to know your league mates and their tendencies to really dominate your draft. With the depth at quarterback this season and drafting against a savvy group of owners who are likely to sit back and wait on quarterback, the third round was too early for Newton. When you look at the values other owners were able to achieve at the position (Andrew Luck in the 7th, Tom Brady in the 12th, Blake Bortles in the 15th, etc.), it’s tough to justify Newton in the third.

Evaluation

It can be difficult to take both a tight end and quarterback (deep positions with plenty of mid-round values) early without seriously hurting yourself elsewhere. By getting nice values on Eddie Lacy and Doug Baldwin, Matt was able to overcome some of those issues. His roster at wide receiver is weak after his top two and he could struggle a bit at the DL positions.

Jeff Haseley - slot 10

Sigmund Bloom - slot 11

Matt Waldman - slot 12

Thanks to Dan Hindery for his unbiased team summaries and evaluations.

Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to haseley@footballguys.com

Follow @JeffHaseley