2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Round 3
- Mock start date: Sunday, August 7th- Mock end date: Sunday, August 14th
Scoring: This mock draft is based on a standard-scoring format and is for the 2016 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.
In this mock draft, four of our contributors -- Kevin Hanson, Brendan Donahue, Sean Beazley and Dan Yanotchko -- will each draft for three (of 12) teams.
Note: While this is a "slow" mock, we will post picks as they are made and Hanson will add comments for the picks as well.
View Round: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 | By Teams - By Pos.
Here is Round 3 of our 2016 Fantasy Football Mock Draft:
3.01 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 1): Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland Raiders
Cooper had 72 catches for 1,070 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie, but he battled a foot injury down the stretch. With 20 yards or less in four of his past seven games, his rookie campaign could have been even better, but I expect a stronger performance throughout all of 2016 for the talented second-year receiver.
3.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team 1): T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts
A top-10 fantasy receiver in 2014, Hilton disappointed fantasy owners with only 1,124 yards and five touchdowns, but Andrew Luck missed nine games. Through the first seven games, Hilton had 606 receiving yards -- only five wideouts had more. Provided Luck stays healthy, Hilton is poised for a bounce-back season and has top-10 upside.
3.03 - Brendan Donahue (Team 1): LeSean McCoy, RB, Buffalo Bills
Missing four games in his first season with the Bills, McCoy averaged nearly 20 touches (19.58/G) and 100 YFS (98.92/G) per game. Assuming good health, McCoy should rank near the top of the league leaders in usage and YFS in 2016 for the run-heavy Bills.
3.04 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Demaryius Thomas, WR, Denver Broncos
With 1,400-plus yards and double-digit touchdowns in each of the previous three seasons, Thomas had 105 catches for 1,304 yards and six touchdowns in 2015. While the team's quarterback situation is less than ideal, which may cap Thomas' upside, Peyton Manning posted a 9-to-17 TD-INT ratio last season. In other words, there is a good chance that DT posts at least comparable numbers to 2015.
3.05 - Sean Beazley (Team 1): Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers
The top-scoring fantasy quarterback in 2015, Newton threw for 3,837 yards and 35 touchdowns while rushing for 636 yards and 10 touchdowns. Newton has now finished as a top-four fantasy quarterback in four of his five NFL seasons. No quarterback has more weekly upside than the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player as he finished as the weekly QB1 in five of his final nine games in 2015.
3.06 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Brandin Cooks, WR, New Orleans Saints
The breakout may not have been as great as some had expected, but Cooks finished the season with a productive stat line of 84/1,138/9 as he became the youngest (22) 1,000-yard receiver in Saints history. In fact, he became the first Saints wide receiver to reach the 1,000-yard mark since Marques Colston in 2012. (Tight end Jimmy Graham exceeded 1,000 yards in 2013.) Eight of Cooks' touchdowns came in the final nine games and three of his four 100-yard games happened in December so the speedster carries plenty of momentum into his age-23 season.
3.07 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 2): Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Carolina Panthers
As a rookie in 2014, Benjamin finished with 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns. Missing all of 2015 with a torn ACL, Benjamin resumes his role as the No. 1 receiver for the highest-scoring offense in the NFL. That said, this is a little early for me as Benjamin is the WR24 in my rankings and the WR17 off the board in this mock.
3.08 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Thomas Rawls, RB, Seattle Seahawks
Fantasy owners have seen a glimpse of what life could be like with Rawls as the full-time starter. In the six games that he started and finished, Rawls had four 100-yard rushing games while averaging 118.67 rushing yards per game and 5.65 yards per carry. Rawls (ankle) began training camp on the active/PUP list, but he has been activated from the PUP list.
3.09 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): C.J. Anderson, RB, Denver Broncos
Drafted as a late first-round pick in many 2015 fantasy drafts, Anderson started slowly and spent much of the season in a timeshare with Ronnie Hillman. In the second half of the season, however, CJA was much better than both his first half and Hillman. Starting with Week 8, Anderson carried the ball 85 times for 540 yards (6.35 YPC) and five touchdowns. Especially given the quarterback depth chart, the Broncos will rely on their defense and run game to win games, leading to a heavy workload for Anderson.
3.10 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Latavius Murray, RB, Oakland Raiders
Not only did Murray rank fourth in the NFL in touches (307), but no other running back had as many games with 15-plus touches than Murray (15). Rookie DeAndre Washington may cut into Murray's workload some, but the Raiders have one of the league's best offensive lines and their overall roster improvements should lead to more positive game flows when it comes to running the football.
Murray appeared on my list of 12 Undervalued Players in Fantasy Football Drafts
3.11 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Carlos Hyde, RB, San Francisco 49ers
A stress fracture in his foot limited Hyde to just seven games last season, but he should benefit from playing in an up-tempo, run-heavy Chip Kelly offense. With Kelly as head coach, the Eagles are one of seven NFL teams with 1,400-plus rush attempts over the past three seasons. Provided he stays healthy, Hyde has a plenty of upside here.
3.12 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Randall Cobb, WR, Green Bay Packers
Through the first three games of the season, it was so far, so good with Cobb, who had hauled in 20 receptions for 245 and four touchdowns. From there on out, however, Cobb disappointed his fantasy owners. Over the final 13 games, Cobb averaged 47.85 YFS per game and scored only two touchdowns. With Jordy Nelson back as the team's No. 1 receiver, however, it should take defensive attention off Cobb and lead to improved 2016 production.
> Continue to Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Round 4
> Go back to Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Round 2
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- Top-200 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
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