2014 Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft: Round 4

Scoring: This mock draft is based on re-draft leagues (2014 season only) and based on point-per-reception (PPR) scoring. Passing touchdowns are worth four points while rushing and receiving touchdowns are worth six points. Receptions are worth one point. In addition, one point is earned per 25 passing yards, 10 rushing yards and 10 receiving yards.

Mock Draft Start Date: Saturday, July 12th
Mock Draft End Date: TBD

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 14 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, instead of waiting until the entire mock draft is complete.

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Rounds: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Teams

Here are Round 4 results:

4.01 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Wes Welker, WR, Denver Broncos

Once an absolute stud in PPR formats, Welker scored a career-high 10 touchdowns in his first season with the Broncos, but he finished with only 73 receptions on 110 targets for 778 yards, all of which were seven-year lows. In his previous six seasons with the Patriots, Welker had at least 110 receptions five times. To put that into perspective, no receiver has ever done that more than twice.

With Eric Decker out and Emmanuel Sanders in, Welker should see an increase in targets per game in 2014. That said, I'd much rather have the receiver I took with the next pick, who happens to be one of the five guys that are second to Welker with two 110-reception seasons.

4.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Andre Johnson, WR, Houston Texans

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In his illustrious career, there have been two primary knocks on Johnson: durability and lack of touchdowns. While he has played in 16 games in back-to-back seasons, it is shocking that he has never caught double-digit touchdowns in his 11-year career.

When he has played 16 games in a season, however, he has been extremely productive. He has played 16 games in four of the past six years and in those four seasons, Johnson has a minimum of 101 receptions (2009) and 1,407 yards (2013).

Johnson skipped the team's OTAs or mandatory mini-camp last month and it's possible that he extends his holdout into training camp. That said, it's unlikely that the team trades him or that he misses any games. As far as the team's quarterback situation, while it's less than ideal, he has never had a quarterback better than Matt Schaub throwing him the ball.

Assuming that he's in the lineup Week 1 and stays healthy, he's a lock for another 100/1,400 season. If he somehow ends up in a place like New England, as unlikely as that seems, that's all the better for his fantasy outlook.

4.03 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Ryan Mathews, RB, San Diego Chargers

After missing eight games combined in his first three seasons, Mathews played a full 16-game season for the first time in his four-year career. He rushed for a career-high 1,255 yards, which ranked seventh in the NFL, and scored six touchdowns last season.

Getting off to a relatively slow start, Mathews was one of the league's most dominant runners from Weeks 6 to 17. During that 11-game stretch, Mathews had six 100-yard games. In addition, he was one of only three running backs (McCoy and Lacy were the others) to rush for 1,000-plus yards during that span.

Even though the team added Donald Brown in free agency, Mathews should remain the featured back, but he may be even less involved as a receiver. With Danny Woodhead getting a career-high 76 receptions last year, Mathews had a career-low 1.63 receptions per game in 2014.

4.04 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints

For a long time, 5,000 passing yards seemed like a special feat. And it is ... for everyone else. For Brees, however, it's become an expectation. Brees has now thrown for 5,000-plus yards in three consecutive seasons. With four 5,000-yard seasons in his career, Brees is tied with all other quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. In addition, Brees has thrown for 128 touchdowns over the past three years.

Even if Brees doesn't reach 5,000 passing yards this season, he's going to come close and he's a lock to be a top-three producer in fantasy points at the position once again.

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4.05 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Alfred Morris, RB, Washington Redskins

While he won't add much at all as a receiver and his numbers overall dropped last season, Alf has averaged 1,444 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns over his first two seasons in the NFL.

With the transition to the team's new offensive scheme, there are some concerns that Morris could see a decline in touches, but he is worthy of this draft slot (RB20) in PPR formats.

4.06 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Victor Cruz, WR, New York Giants

As disappointing of a season as it was for the Giants, their offense and Cruz, Cruz still managed to finish with 73 receptions for 998 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games. In fact, he averaged more yards per game in 2013 (71.3 YPG) than he did in 2012 (68.3).

Of course, the big difference was touchdowns as Cruz had a total of 19 touchdowns in 2011 and 2012 combined and only four last year. Even worse, he had three of those touchdowns against the Cowboys in Week 1 and only one other touchdown (Week 4) in his final 13 games.

4.07 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Roddy White, WR, Atlanta Falcons

So far, this team is loaded at wide receiver with Megatron, Brandon Marshall and now White. Higher than most on White, I expect a bounce-back season similar to pre-2013 type of production from him this year.

Injuries (ankle, knee) kept White from having one of his typical seasons, but he hit full stride by season's end. In five games in December, White finished with 43 receptions for 502 yards and two touchdowns. (That's comparable to a pace of 137.6 receptions and 1,606.4 yards.) In the last five games of the season, there were only three receivers with at least 500 yards: Josh Gordon (658), Alshon Jeffery (561) and White (502). Only New England's Julian Edelman (44) had more receptions during that span.

4.08 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): Vincent Jackson, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In his second season with the Bucs, Jackson set a career high with 78 receptions and once again exceeded 1,200 receiving yards with seven touchdowns. While he has more than his fair of inconsistency from week to week, a 70/1,200/7 season (or better) should be a lock for Jackson.



4.09 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): Michael Crabtree, WR, San Francisco 49ers

An Achilles injury in May kept Crabtree from building upon his 2012 breakout season. Assuming good health in 2014, I would expect numbers comparable to his 2012 season: 85 receptions for 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns.

4.10 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): DeSean Jackson, WR, Washington Redskins

Even though Jackson is only 27 years old and had a career-best season (82/1,332/9) in 2013, the Eagles released him outright, which means they received no compensation in turn. Regardless of any concerns off the field and/or in the locker room, Jackson is a difference maker on the football field.

One of the benefits about signing with Washington, Robert Griffin III throws an accurate deep ball and D-Jax has the explosiveness to take the top off a defense. With last year's NFL leader in receptions on the other side, however, Jackson could/should see a modest reduction in targets in 2014 compared to last season.

4.11 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots

In his first four seasons in the NFL, Patriots receiver Julian Edelman had a total of 69 catches for 714 yards and four touchdowns. Not only did he exceed those numbers in 2013, but he was especially good down the stretch as Tom Brady's most trusted target.

Finishing 10th in the league in targets (151), Edelman's full-year numbers were 105 receptions, which was fourth-most in the NFL, for 1,056 yards and six touchdowns. In Edelman's final eight games counting both playoff games, he had a minimum of six receptions and 64 yards in every game. During that span, he racked up a stat line of 69/729/5.

It's unlikely he duplicates last year's production, but I still expect him to be a viable WR2 in PPR leagues.

4.12 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

When it comes to lists of wide receivers poised for a breakout in 2014, Patterson tops the list. After watching Josh Gordon have a huge sophomore campaign with Norv Turner last year, it would be unrealistic to expect Gordon's league-leading numbers for Patterson but perfectly reasonable to expect a big year-over-year jump for Patterson in Turner's offense.

One of the league's most dangerous players in the open field, Patterson led the NFL in kickoff return average (32.4 Y/R). In the final eight games of the season, Patterson had 29 receptions for 323 yards, 10 carries for 156 yards and a total of seven touchdowns.

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> Go back to Round 3

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