2014 Fantasy Football Dynasty Mock Draft: Round 1

Scoring: This mock draft is based on dynasty fantasy football leagues and uses standard (i.e., non-PPR) scoring. Passing touchdowns are worth four points while rushing and receiving touchdowns are worth six points. In addition, one point is earned per 25 passing yards, 10 rushing yards and 10 receiving yards.

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Mock Draft Start Date: Sunday, August 10th
Mock Draft End Date: Tuesday, August 19th

Four of our site's contributors — Kevin Hanson, Brendan Donahue, Sean Beazley and Dan Yanotchko — will make picks for three teams of this 12-team mock. The mock will go 12 rounds with no kickers or team defenses selected.

Although this is a slow draft, we will post picks as they occur, along with comments from Kevin Hanson, as opposed to waiting for the entire mock draft to be completed.

More Rounds: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Teams

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Here are Round 1 results:

1.01 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit Lions

With tremendous combination of size (6-5, 235) and athleticism (sub-4.4 forty), no receiver can take over a game like Johnson. Counting both regular-season and playoff games, no player has more 200-yard receiving games in his career than Megatron (six). Despite the attention he commands from opposing secondaries, Johnson has averaged a statistical line of 101/1,712/11 over the past three seasons.

Even though Johnson will turn 29 next month, he still has several more dominant years in him.

1.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): LeSean McCoy, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

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McCoy led the NFL in rushing yards (1,607), yards from scrimmage (2,146) and touches (366), all of which were career highs, in his first season playing in Chip Kelly's offense. In Philadelphia's high-octane, run-oriented offense, McCoy could have a few more rushing titles in his future.

In re-draft leagues, I would take Jamaal Charles over McCoy, but McCoy, who turned 26 last month, has the edge over Charles, who turns 28 at the end of the season, in dynasty formats.

1.03 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): Jamaal Charles, RB, Kansas City Chiefs

In addition to leading the NFL in touchdowns (19), Charles set a career high in receptions (70) and yards from scrimmage (1,980). Only McCoy had more YFS than Charles, but no player had as many games with 100-plus YFS than Charles (13) last season.

It's unlikely that Charles duplicates — or even comes close to — his 19 scores from last season, but you could easily argue that no player is more of a centerpiece to his team's offense than Charles.

1.04 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): Jimmy Graham, TE, New Orleans Saints

Graham arguably had the best season of his career even though he fell short of his previous career highs in both receptions and yards. He finished the season with 86 catches for 1,215 yards, but he had a career-best 16 touchdowns. It was only the second time in NFL history that a tight end had at least 16 touchdowns. Over the past three seasons combined, Graham has a total of 270 receptions for 3,507 yards and 36 touchdowns; that equates to an average stat line of 90/1,169/12.



1.05 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): Adrian Peterson, RB, MInnesota Vikings

While he's unlikely to ever duplicate his historic 2012 season, Peterson has put up monster numbers despite battling injuries and facing eight- or nine-men fronts over the past couple of seasons.

And while touchdown production tends to fluctuate for (most) running backs, Peterson has rattled off double-digit rushing scores in all seven of his NFL seasons. If there are some concerns with Peterson, it's the fact that he's now 29 years old and has racked up more than 2,000 career rush attempts.

1.06 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Eddie Lacy, RB, Green Bay Packers

While the Packers have long been able to beat you through the air, their ground attack has left much to be desired — until this past season, that is. As a rookie, Lacy finished with 1,178 rushing yards, which ranked eighth in the NFL, and 11 touchdowns, only two RBs had more. From Week 5 through the end of the regular season, only McCoy (1,139) had more rushing yards than Lacy (1,127).

No running back had more games with 20-plus carries last year than Lacy. Counting their playoff loss, Lacy had 20-plus carries in 11 of his final 14 games last season. As productive as he was as a workhorse back, Lacy averaged only 4.15 yards per carry last season, but he should be better on a per-touch basis with good health from Aaron Rodgers.

Turning 24 years old in June, Lacy should be the focal point of Green Bay's ground game for the next half-decade.

1.07 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

Through his first three seasons, Green has 260 receptions for 3,833 yards and 29 touchdowns. In a three-year span to start a career, no player has had more receptions than Green and only Randy Moss has more receiving yards (4,163) than he does.

In each of his three seasons, Green's numbers have improved — 65/1,057/7 (2011), 97/1,350/11 (2012) and 98/1,426/11 (2013). Even though the team is transitioning to a more conservative, run-oriented offense led by Hue Jackson, Green is about as safe as you can get in a first-round dynasty pick.

1.08 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Dez Bryant, WR, Dallas Cowboys

Although he saw a year-over-year drop in yardage from 1,382 to 1,233 yards, Bryant set career highs (barely, by one in each case) in receptions (93) and touchdowns (13). Battling a back injury, Bryant still played in all 16 games last season.

Over the past three seasons, Bryant is one of two wide receivers with at least 3,500 yards and 30 touchdowns. Megatron is the other. Bryant is one of the most physically-gifted players in the league and may still be continuing his ascension.

Entering a contract year, Dez should be a lock for another 1,200-yard season with double-digit touchdowns. Regardless of where he plays in 2015 and beyond, he has the physical tools to potentially emerge as the league's best wide receiver.



1.09 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons

Before his foot injury sidelined him for the remainder of last season, Jones had at least six receptions and 76 yards in all of the games in which he appeared. During that five-game stretch, he hauled in 41 catches for 580 yards and two touchdowns. Compared to 2011 (73.8 yards per game) and 2012 (74.9 YPG), Jones had made huge strides, no pun intended, in 2013 (116.0 YPG).

If there's any concern with Jones, it's his foot and the recurrence of the injury. That said, the sky is the limit for Jones with good health.

1.10 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears

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In his first season with Marc Trestman as coach, Forte set career highs across the board: 1,339 rushing yards, 74 receptions and 594 receiving yards. He tied his previous career high in touchdowns (12). With a talented duo of outside receivers in Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall, Forte has protection from consistent eight-men fronts looking to slow down the run.

While Forte is a clear top-four option in re-draft formats, he slides a bit in dynasty formats considering he turns 29 years old in December.

1.11 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Demaryius Thomas, WR, Denver Broncos

In his second with Peyton Manning, DT's numbers were nearly identical to his first season. After finishing with 94/1,434/10 in 2012, Thomas had 92 catches for 1,430 yards and 14 touchdowns last year. Thomas should be a lock for 90/1,400/10 (or better) in 2014 and next year.

While he has the talent for more seasons of 1,400 yards and double-digit touchdowns beyond the next year or so, he won't get to play with Peyton Manning forever.

1.12 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Giovani Bernard, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

Only 22 years old, Bernard already has a top-15 season (in standard-scoring formats) under his belt. As noted earlier, the team is transitioning to a run-heavy scheme under new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. Coach Marvin Lewis has talked up Bernard earlier this offseason, saying that he expects a first-to-second-year jump similar to that experienced by Ray Rice. If you remember, Rice went from 140 touches and 727 YFS as a rookie to 332 touches and 2,041 YFS in Year 2.

> Continue to Round 2 of our Dynasty Mock Draft

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