2015 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Round 2
Scoring: This mock draft is based on standard-scoring fantasy football leagues 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 yards and 10 receiving yards.Mock Draft Start Date: Saturday, February 7th
Mock Draft End Date: Sunday, February 15th
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 10 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 | Teams | Positions
Here are Round 2 results:
2.01 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons
With 21 catches for 448 yards and a pair of touchdowns over a two-game stretch late last season, Jones showed how dominant he can be. On the season, Jones finished with 104 catches for 1,593 yards, both of which shattered his previous career highs, and six touchdowns.
Given his size and speed and the fact that he had 18 touchdowns in his first two seasons, I would expect closer to double-digit touchdowns in addition to a similar line of receptions and yards in 2015 with good health. Despite being the fourth receiver off the board in this mock, Jones has as much chance as any receiver to lead the position in fantasy points in 2015.
2.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Jeremy Hill, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Over the final nine games of the season, Hill had 22-plus carries and 100-plus rushing yards in five games including the final three of the regular season. During that nine-game span, Hill had 172 carries for 929 yards and six touchdowns and no running back had more rushing yards than Hill during that stretch. (Marshawn Lynch was second with 824 yards.)
For part of that stretch, Giovani Bernard was sidelined, but Bernard was healthy from Week 12 through the end of the season. Going into the 2015 season, Hill is clearly the team's lead back with Bernard as the change-of-pace option.
2.03 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Demaryius Thomas, WR, Denver Broncos
Similar to Eddie Lacy, Thomas got off to a slow start in the first three weeks but finished the season strong. DT went over 100 yards in 10 of the final 13 games and finished with a full-season stat line of 111 catches and 1,619 yards, both of which were career highs, and 11 touchdowns.
Although it's not a lock that Peyton Manning returns and Thomas is set to become an unrestricted free agent, I expect both Manning and Thomas to return to the Mile High City in 2015. Another season of 90-plus receptions, 1,400-plus yards and double-digit touchdowns is a strong possibility.
2.04 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit Lions
Between Sean's Team 2 and Team 3, he has a pair of elite wide receivers on each -- ODB and Megatron on this team, Dez Bryant and Thomas on the other. Given the volatility of production at running back and the injury risk, loading up on stud receivers is certainly a viable option to win your fantasy league. After all, some of the guys drafted outside of the top-24 fantasy running backs include Hill, C.J. Anderson, Justin Forsett, Lamar Miller, etc. to name a few.
Personally, my preference is to have at least one running back with my first two picks especially in a standard-scoring league like this one. That said, it's difficult to ignore the (close to) sure thing at wide receiver at the end of Round 1 and beginning of Round 2 where the uncertainty at running back is growing quickly.
The sixth receiver off the board in this mock, Megatron has more 200-yard games (six) than any other receiver in league history (counting playoffs). And while he still has as much potential as any receiver to take over a given game, he has battled some injuries over the past couple of seasons and missed a total of five games in 2013 and 2014.
2.05 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Injuries kept Green from building upon his 98/1,426/11 campaign in 2013, but he extended his streak of 1,000-yard seasons to begin his career to four. Only Megatron (6,214), Antonio Brown (5,092) and Demaryius (5,034) have more yards during that four-year span than Green (4,874). With good health, Green is a good bet for at least 1,300 yards and double-digit touchdowns in 2015.
2.06 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay Packers
Not only is wide receiver deep, it's deep with elite wide receivers. The WR8 in this mock draft, the only receiver to score more fantasy points than Nelson last season was Brown. While Nelson is far from a lock to finish as a top-two producer at the position once again, he's certainly one of a group of eight-plus wideouts that has the talent and opportunity to do so.
2.07 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): Arian Foster, RB, Houston Texans
With Foster, who turns 29 in August, it boils down to his health. If he can play 14-plus games, something he has failed to do in back-to-back seasons, he'll be a huge steal at this spot. Even if he duplicates last year's 13-game production, he'd be a bargain as well.
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 he scored double-digit touchdowns (13). Foster had at least 23 touches in 10 of his 13 games last season. Finishing as a top-five fantasy scorer at running back last season, Foster finished as a top-12 fantasy running back in 10 of 13 weeks last season including a nine-game streak from Weeks 5 to 16 (he missed two games and Houston had their bye during that stretch, though).
2.08 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts
To be fair, Dan was high on Hilton last season; I was not. Dan made a good call, I did not. Perhaps I would take a couple of other receivers still available ahead of him, but Hilton had a breakout 82/1,345/7 season last year. And that breakout year would have been even better if he weren't limited down the stretch by a hamstring injury. With good health, I'd expect Hilton to set new career highs in both receptions and yards this season.
2.09 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Alshon Jeffery, WR, Chicago Bears
Even though his receptions (85) and receiving yards (1,133) were down year over year, Jeffery set a career high in touchdowns (10) last season. With a combined 2,692 yards from scrimmage (including 138 rushing yards) and 17 touchdowns over the past two seasons combined, Jeffery should once again finish as a top-12 (or better) fantasy wide receiver even with a new coaching staff and inconsistency from Jay Cutler.
2.10 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): Randall Cobb, WR, Green Bay Packers
Scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, Cobb is unlikely to hit the market after last season's career year. Cobb, who will turn 25 in August, finished the season with 91 receptions for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns, all of which set career highs, but I would be surprised if he scored 12 touchdowns again in 2015.
2.11 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): Jimmy Graham, TE, New Orleans Saints
With a shoulder injury slowing Graham down, he had 54 yards or less in six of his final seven games last season and finished with only 889 yards, a four-year low. The good news, however, is that Graham will avoid surgery on his shoulder and he should be able to bounce back in 2015. Over his past four seasons, Graham has averaged 89 catches, 1,099 yards and 12 touchdowns per year.
2.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings
One of the greatest running backs of all-time and only two years removed from a 2,097-yard campaign, last year was a lost year for Peterson for disheartening off-the-field reasons. Playing just one game in 2014, Peterson, who will turn 30 in March, is eligible for reinstatement on April 15th. Given the $13 million he is owned in 2015, however, it's unclear if he'll be back with the Vikings assuming he is reinstated. While my guess is that he plays for the Vikings next season, there is plenty of uncertainty still surrounding Peterson at this point, but he has tremendous fantasy upside at the end of Round 2.
> Continue to Round 3 of our way-too-early fantasy football mock draft
> Go back to Round 1 of our way-too-early fantasy football mock draft
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