2015 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Round 9

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

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Here are Round 9 results:

9.01 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Montee Ball, RB, Denver Broncos

Three different Broncos running backs had more than 20 touches last season -- Ball (Week 1), Ronnie Hillman (Weeks 6 and 8) and C.J. Anderson (Weeks 12 through 16). Going into 2015, it appears that Anderson is in line for a featured role under new head coach Gary Kubiak, but it wouldn't be a complete surprise if Ball or Hillman end up in that role at some point in the season as well. And it's not completely out of the question that Ball (or Hillman) won't start the season in that role. That said, Ball averaged just 3.13 yards per carry in the games he did play last season.

9.02 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): Justin Blackmon, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

Blackmon has played a total of four games over the past two seasons combined due to league suspension. Those four games were in 2013 and Blackmon was highly productive in those games -- 29 catches for 415 yards and two touchdowns. Although Blackmon is suspended indefinitely, there is some "optimism" that Blackmon will be reinstated this season. If he plays 16 games this season, he would be a huge value at this point of the draft.

9.03 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): Charles Sims, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This team already has the Muscle Hamster, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sims turns out to be the most productive Bucs running back this season. The current regime inherited Martin, but used a relatively early pick on the versatile Sims, who rushed for 3,465 yards in college but also added 203 receptions for 2,108 yards. With that said, he was less than impressive when healthy over the final eight games of his rookie season -- 2.8 yards per carry.

9.04 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Percy Harvin, WR, New York Jets

Harvin was enough of a headache that the Seahawks traded him away in the middle of the season and it appears there is a good chance that his new team will release him as well. If the Jets release him, they save $10.5 million in salary-cap space and only send a sixth-round pick (instead of a fourth-rounder) to the Seahawks. A dynamic and explosive player with the ball in his hands, he certainly has upside at this point in the mock but it's unclear where he will play in 2015.

9.05 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego Chargers

Winning the Comeback Player of the Year award in 2013, Rivers followed up his bounce-back season with 4,286 yards and 31 touchdowns but he also threw 18 interceptions. Dealing with a back injury, Rivers threw seven of those interceptions in the final three games of the season. Fortunately Rivers won't have to have back surgery this offseason and he should be a relatively safe bet for 4,000-plus yards and around 30 touchdowns once again in 2015.

9.06 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): Antonio Gates, TE, San Diego Chargers

Gates, who will turn 35 in June, scored more fantasy points than all tight ends not named Rob Gronkowski last season. Although his targets (98), receptions (69) and yards (821) were down year over year, Gates finished with 12 touchdowns, the second-most of his career. Gates finished as a top-two weekly fantasy tight end four times last season and a top-eight tight end eight times. It's unlikely that he finishes as a top-five tight end at 35 years old, but another top-10 season is still within reach.



9.07 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Denard Robinson, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars signed Toby Gerhart last offseason expecting him to be the team's featured back, but Gerhart was a major disappointment. Of the team's running backs, Robinson was head and shoulders above the rest in terms of effectiveness. Robinson got a shot at the featured role in Week 7 and posted back-to-back 100-yard games and averaged 4.3 yards per carry last season, but he finished the season on IR due to a foot injury. Going into 2015, he's the preferred option among the team's current running backs, but it's likely that the Jags will add competition for touches in free agency and/or the draft.

9.08 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Fred Jackson, RB, Buffalo Bills

Although Jackson rushed for a career-low 3.7 yards per carry, he also set career highs with 66 receptions for 501 yards. In fact, Matt Forte (102) and Le'Veon Bell (83) are the only running backs that had more receptions than F-Jax last season. Turning 34 years old this month, however, Jackson is likely to see fewer carries in 2015 than he had last season (although it's crazy to also think that John Riggins had a 375/1,347/24 season as a 34-year-old running back as well).

9.09 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Jordan Reed, TE, Washington Redskins

In two NFL seasons, Reed has played nine and 11 games, respectively, and that's the biggest concern (durability) with Reed. That said, he's been reasonably productive in those 20 games -- 95 receptions for 964 yards (plus 18 rushing yards) and three touchdowns. I like Reed's upside if he can stay healthy, but he also was invisible in too many games last season as he had 25 yards or less in five of his final seven games and he didn't score a single touchdown last season.

9.10 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Fitzgerald 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 Carson Palmer and then Drew Stanton, the decline certainly wasn't solely the fault of Fitzgerald, who also missed two games. Assuming that both sides agree on restructuring his contract, Fitzgerald should see a bump from last year's production.

9.11 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Victor Cruz, WR, New York Giants

With his season cut short after after six games due to a torn patellar tendon, Cruz had a pair of 100-yard games in Weeks 3 and 4, but he averaged just 56.2 yards per game, a four-year low, with only one touchdown. Provided that Cruz is on track for the start of the season, it's unlikely that Cruz would be available at the end of Round 9, but there is significant separation between Cruz and Odell Beckham as the top Giants fantasy wide receiver.

9.12 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Brandon LaFell, WR, New England Patriots

In his first season with the Patriots, LaFell had his best NFL season, by far, as he set career highs in receptions (74), yards (953) and touchdowns (seven). As solid as LaFell's overall numbers were, there was plenty of weekly inconistency as he had four top-12 finishes but he finished outside the top-36 eight times. At best, he's the team's third option in the passing game behind Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, but he's a solid value as the 46th receiver off the board.

> Continue to Round 10 of our way-too-early fantasy football mock draft
> Go back to Round 8 of our way-too-early fantasy football mock draft

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