2014 Fantasy Football Dynasty Mock Draft: Round 8

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.

FanDuel Week 1 NFL Contests
Win money playing fantasy football. Week 1 NFL FanDuel contests are live:

-> NFL Kickoff: $100K in prizes; $10,000 to 1st
-> NFL Rush: $50K prize pool; $5,000 to 1st
-> Join my free league for bragging rights only
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

#453407328 / gettyimages.com

Here are Round 8 results:

8.01 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Rashad Jennings, RB, New York Giants

When given the opportunity that resulted from a Darren McFadden injury last year, Jennings had 127 carries for 593 yards and six touchdowns and 24 receptions for 195 yards in the final half of last season. Although he turns 30 in March, he should at least have a productive season in 2014 as the Giants lead back although rookie Andre Williams has looked good this preseason and will get most goal-line carries.

Jennings is the third running back on this team, but he could be the better RB2 option in a larger share of weeks than Dan's second running back selected (Shane Vereen).

8.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Eric Decker, WR, New York Jets

Fantasy Football Mock Drafts
Using our Mock Draft Simulator, we have begun a series of daily mock drafts and posted the results.

-> View all fantasy football mocks
-> Complete mocks with our simulator for free
Decker had 172 receptions for 2,352 yards and 24 touchdowns over the past two seasons combined. Only two other receivers had a line of at least 172/2,352/24 over the past two years: (now former) teammate Demaryius Thomas (186/2,864/24) and Dez Bryant (185/2,615/25).

Is there a bigger fantasy buzzkill than going from Peyton Manning and the high-powered Broncos offense to the Jets low-powered offense? While their offensive woes last season were partly due to their lack of weapons, Decker enters a new role as a team's No. 1 wide receiver and will draw a more difficult assignment every week. On a positive note, though, he should see his targets increase.

8.03 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Bernard Pierce, RB, Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens ground game struggled for a number of reasons last season. Among the 49 running backs with at least 25 percent of his team's carries, no running back was worse than Pierce (48th) or teammate Ray Rice (49th) in yards after contact per attempt with 1.75 and 1.52, respectively.

Both Pierce and Rice have lost some weight this offseason and look more elusive. Pierce will get his opportunity to steal a larger share of the workload as Rice will miss the first two games to suspension. And in fact, he may be a better fit than Rice in the team's new scheme.

8.04 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

Solid as a rookie (36/469/4), big things could be in store for Ertz in his second season. It's typically difficult for tight ends to make a huge impact as a rookie, but Ertz has also focused on his blocking to help keep him on the field for more snaps.

Quarterback Nick Foles has recently compared Ertz to his former Arizona teammate Rob Gronkowski saying that the pair were "similar in ability to stretch defense, make tough catches, thrive on athleticism."

8.05 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Tre Mason, RB, St. Louis Rams

While Zac Stacy's role as workhorse appears to be safe, it's unclear how many touches Mason will get as a rookie. Pass protection is always the hardest adjustment for rookie running backs and Auburn didn't throw the ball much, but he was extremely productive as a runner with 1,816 yards and 23 touchdowns last season.

That said, the Rams liked Mason enough to use a top-75 pick on him in this year's draft.

8.06 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Marques Colston, WR, New Orleans Saints

For the first time in four seasons, Colston finished with less than 1,000 yards (943) and he also tied a career-low in touchdowns (five). That said, Colston was better in the second half last year as he averaged 6.0/75.1/0.5 over the final eight games of the season.

Unfortunately for Colston and his fantasy owners, he dealt with a foot injury that slowed him down last season, but he claims that his foot issues are no longer bothering him. The best may be behind him as a 31-year-old receiver, but he would be my WR2 (assuming Josh Gordon's suspension is upheld) this year.



8.07 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Terrance Williams, WR, Dallas Cowboys

As a rookie, Williams had 44 receptions for 736 yards and five touchdowns. Like most rookie receivers, Williams was a bit inconsistent as half of his production came in just five games (21/384/4 from Weeks 4 to 8). Going into the 2014 season, however, Williams becomes the unquestioned No. 2 wideout opposite Dez Bryant and will have another year of building chemistry with Tony Romo.

8.08 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks

Despite playing in Seattle's run-first offense, Wilson still finished as the No. 9 scorer among QBs through Week 16 last year. While he won't throw many more than 400 pass attempts (has 800 through two seasons), Wilson has finished in the top 10 in passing TDs in both of his seasons with 26 per year. In addition, he has rushed for 1,028 yards and five touchdowns in his two seasons.

8.09 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): Golden Tate, WR, Detroit Lions

Fantasy Football Sleepers
Looking for some late-round options in your fantasy drafts that can pay dividends? Hanson identifies some players available after Round 10 that can help:

-> Fantasy Football Running Back Sleepers
-> Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Sleepers
Going from a run-first offense in Seattle to Detroit could lead to a significant boost in fantasy production for Tate. Without a real (healthy) No. 2 receiver opposite Calvin Johnson for several seasons, Tate helps take some pressure off Megatron. But, of course, Megatron's presence on the other side will open things up more so for Tate, who should always see single coverage.

Tate set career highs in receptions (64) and yards (898) to go along with five touchdowns last season, but I would expect the 25-year-old receiver to set new career highs in 2014.

8.10 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): Rueben Randle, WR, New York Giants

While Randle led the Giants in TD receptions in his second season with the team, he and Eli often failed to get on the same page. As a bigger-bodied receiver than Victor Cruz or Odell Beckham, Jr., this year's first-round pick, Randle is likely to lead the team in TD receptions again — and in the foreseeable future. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if he finished third among that group in receptions and yards as soon as 2015.

8.11 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): Kyle Rudolph, TE, Minnesota Vikings

While injury cut his season short after Week 9, Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph was a bit of a disappointment in the first half of the season when he did play. In eight games, Rudolph finished with only 30 receptions for 313 yards and three touchdowns. In half of his eight games, Rudolph had two fantasy points or less.

Things are looking up for Rudolph as new offensive coordinator Norv Turner's offenses have typically allowed tight ends to prosper like Cameron last year and Antonio Gates (and others) before him. In addition, the days of Christian Ponder starting are over. With 12 touchdowns in his past 24 games, Rudolph has had red-zone success, but we should see an all-around improvement in production from the slimmed-down Rudolph in 2014.

8.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Wes Welker, WR, Denver Broncos

In 13 games with the Broncos last season, Welker finished with 73 receptions on 110 targets for 778 yards, all of which were seven-year lows, and a career-high 10 touchdowns. With Eric Decker out and Emmanuel Sanders in, Welker should see an increase in targets per game in 2014.

At 33 years old, his long-term fantasy value is obviously low, but he's an excellent option here as the WR40 and a potential WR2 in given weeks behind Megatron and (in some weeks) ahead of Kendall Wright.

> Continue to Round 9 of our Dynasty Mock Draft
> Go back to Round 7 of our Dynasty Mock Draft

DraftKings -- $1,000 Week 1 Fantasy Football Free Roll: $1,000 in prizes, FREE entry


2014 Fantasy Football rankings: More fantasy football resources: Keep track of our site's updates: (1) follow us on Twitter, (2) LIKE us on Facebook and/or (3) add us to your Google+ circle