2015 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Round 7

Scoring: This mock draft is based on standard-scoring formats and is for the 2015 season only (i.e., not keeper or dynasty leagues). 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 or 10 receiving yards.

Mock Draft Start Date: Saturday, August 22nd
Mock Draft End Date: Tuesday, September 1st

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.

Round: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 - Teams | Positions

View image | gettyimages.com

Here are Round 7 results of our 2015 Fantasy Football Mock Draft:

7.01 - Dan Yanotchko (Team I): Vincent Jackson, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The good news is that Jackson eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth consecutive season and sixth time in the past seven years -- the exception was his holdout-shortened 2010 season. The bad news is V-Jax had just two touchdowns, the lowest of his career since his three-catch rookie season (2005). Jackson should score more touchdowns in 2015 although the 6-foot-5 receiver has never scored double-digit touchdowns.

7.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team I): Arian Foster, RB, Houston Texans

The Texans led the NFL with 551 rush attempts last season and Foster is one of the league's few true workhorse backs, when healthy. Although Foster missed three games in 2014, he averaged 95.8 rushing yards per game and 4.8 yards per carry, both of which were four-year highs, and scored double-digit touchdowns (13). Not only did Foster finish as a top-five fantasy running back last season, he also finished as a top-12 fantasy running back in 10 of 13 weeks last season.

Unfortunately, Foster recently had groin surgery, which means he'll miss some time to begin the season. That said, there is growing optimism that Foster will only miss a few games as opposed to half the season. Once Foster returns, he'll immediately become a starter for this team along with Le'Veon Bell (1.02).

7.03 - Brendan Donahue (Team I): Charles Johnson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

Possessing an impressive combination of size (6-2, 225) and athleticism (sub-4.4 forty), Johnson was reunited with Norv Turner in Minnesota after being released by the receiver-deficient Browns last offseason. In the final six games of the season, Johnson was on the field for all but 19 of the team's offensive snaps. And over his final seven games, Johnson posted 25 receptions for 415 yards and two touchdowns. With a full offseason and the continued development of second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, Johnson should pick up where he left off last season.

- DraftKings: FREE Week 1 NFL Contest: $100,000 in prizes, $10,000 to 1st place

7.04 - Brendan Donahue (Team II): John Brown, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Small but ultra quick, Brown had a solid rookie season especially given the team's injuries at quarterback and finished with 48 receptions for 696 yards and five touchdowns. Improved year-over-year production should be expected, but his personal outlook is less bullish than it would have been without Larry Fitzgerald back in Arizona.

7.05 - Sean Beazley (Team I): Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Speaking of Fitzgerald, he had 63 receptions for 784 yards and a career-low two touchdowns last season and his 784 yards were only four more than the career low he had as a rookie. Given the injuries to the team's quarterbacks, the decline certainly wasn't solely the fault of Fitzgerald, who also missed two games.

In the 22 games that Carson Palmer and Fitzgerald have played together over the past two seasons, Fitzgerald has averaged 5.18 receptions, 65.32 yards and 0.55 touchdowns per game. That's a 16-game pace of 83/1,045/9 so perhaps Fitz ends the drought of 1,000-yard seasons if both he and Palmer stay healthy.

7.06 - Sean Beazley (Team II): Ryan Mathews, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

Mathews has struggled with durability as he has played a full 16-game season only once in his five-year career. That said, he has been productive when on the field with a pair of 1,000-yard seasons under his belt a career 4.40 YPC average. While he enters 2015 second on the depth chart behind last year's rushing champion, DeMarco Murray has his own durability concerns as he is coming off a massive 497-touch season counting the playoffs. And if Murray misses time, Mathews becomes an RB1-type fantasy back in those games.


7.07 - Dan Yanotchko (Team II): Steve Smith, WR, Baltimore Ravens

Smith's first season as a Raven went better than expectations as he posted a 79/1,065/6 full-season stat line. With all four of his 100-yard games occurring in the first six games of the season, Smith was much less effective over the final 10 games. That said, he did have at least five catches in each of the final four games for a total of 25 catches during the final month of the season. Now 36 years old, it's unlikely that Smith posts another 1,000-yard season in what will be his final NFL season, but he has made a career out of disproving his doubters.

7.08 - Dan Yanotchko (Team III): Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons

Ryan has more than 4,500 passing yards in three consecutive seasons with the third-most (13,928) over that span. In addition, he has 26-plus touchdowns in five consecutive seasons and the sixth-most (143) during that span. The good news is that Ryan has finished as a top-eight fantasy quarterback in four of the past five years, but he has yet to finish as a top-six fantasy quarterback in his career.

7.09 - Kevin Hanson (Team II): Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Based on his 2014 average draft position (ADP), Roethlisberger was one of the biggest draft values last season. Only four quarterbacks scored more fantasy points and he threw for a career-high 4,952 yards, which tied Drew Brees last season for the league lead, and 32 touchdowns, which tied a previous career high. It wouldn't surprise me if Big Ben posted another top-five finish in 2015 so I like getting him as the QB7 in this mock.

- Mock Draft Simulator: Complete fantasy football mock drafts in just 5 minutes (for free)

7.10 - Kevin Hanson (Team III): Isaiah Crowell, RB, Cleveland Browns

On a positive note, the coaching staff wants to lean on the rushing attack and the Browns have one of the better run-blocking offensive lines, when healthy. On a less positive note, the coaching staff's allocation of carries was unpredictable on a weekly basis. Adding Duke Johnson to the mix only creates more uncertainty in projecting how things will shake out in Cleveland's backfield, but I still expect Crowell to lead the backfield in touches and (fantasy) production.

7.11 - Brendan Donahue (Team III): Shane Vereen, RB, New York Giants

Vereen is one of the league's better receiving backs and he set career highs last year with 52 catches for 447 yards. Especially with both Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams likely to get more carries, Vereen is a better fantasy running back in PPR formats, but he should be in the flex mix on a weekly basis in standard-scoring formats as well.

7.12 - Sean Beazley (Team III): Tevin Coleman, RB, Atlanta Falcons

The biggest home run threat in college football last year, Coleman rushed for 2,036 yards on 270 carries with four 200-yard games and eight 60-yard runs, most in both categories. Clearly, that won't be repeated at the NFL level, but it illustrates his big-play ability as he joins one of the league's better offenses. With a committee approach between Coleman and second-year back Devonta Freeman expected to start the season, Coleman is likely to see his usage expand as the season develops.

> Continue to Round 8 of our Fantasy Football Mock Draft
> Go back Round 6 of our Fantasy Football Mock Draft

More of our content and 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