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Stadium Rant
Fantasy Football First Round Mock Draft
By Gerard Turner,
10 hours ago
The NFL regular season is a few weeks away, meaning fantasy football drafts are underway. It is always challenging to decide who to take in the first round because it could be the most important pick of the draft. Below is a guide on how the first round should go in fantasy football.
The first Jet to fly off the board in the first round is the wide receiver out of Ohio State, Garrett Wilson . He was the WR26 last season which may have people questioning why he should go in the first round. Wilson being so low had more to do with the team’s quarterback play in 2023-24 rather than himself.
Expecting to have Aaron Rodgers throwing you the ball and four plays into the season opener it flips to Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian, and Tim Boyle for the remainder of the year can alter one’s production. He was still able to eclipse a 1,000-yard season, but his production in the endzone was minimal.
Wilson will now have the future Hall of Famer slinging him the rock which will allow his production to skyrocket and for him to showcase his true potential.
Jonathon Taylor was banged up last season. He missed the first four games while he was rehabbing an ankle injury and missed an additional three games with a thumb injury, but he is entering this season healthy and will be competing for the rushing title this year.
He may not have too many catches, but where he lacks receptions, he makes up for in carries. Taylor will also have one of the highest snap percentages as a running back with Trey Sermon being second on the depth chart, so expect his volume to be high.
Second-year QB Anthony Richardson will be back so be ready for the Colts’ offense to be much improved resulting in more redzone chances for JT.
2023-24 Stats: 188 touches, 894 total yards, 8 touchdowns, 156.4 fantasy points
8th Overall - Amon-Ra St. Brown
Amon-Ra St. Brown is entering his fourth season and will continue to get better each year. He is huge in PPR leagues as he can rack up multiple catches on a single drive and pop off for a big gain on any play.
He is easily Jared Goff’s favorite target on a team with an abundance of offensive weapons. It is hard for teams to double him knowing they have to worry about Sam LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, and Jameson Williams, so expect a lot of one-on-one coverages for him. The Lions also play at a fast rate on offense, fifth-most plays ran in 2023, so there is higher volume for St. Brown compared to other players in the league.
It was unsure how impactful Breece Hall was going to be last season after tearing his ACL seven games into his rookie year in 2022. He silenced any doubters in the first game of the year where he ripped off an 83-yard run. From that moment on Hall was back to his rookie self and was racking up yards on the ground and in the air.
He finished as the RB2 last year on a team that had poor QB play consisting of Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian, Tim Boyle, and Aaron Rodgers for a millisecond. Now with Rodgers healthy, the offense will be flowing much better and Hall won’t have to run against stacked boxes.
The one downside is his receiving production will go down a tad. The Jets played very conservatively and dumped the ball off to Hall a lot last year, but don’t expect Rodgers to do the same. He will still get around three catches a game, but where his receiving numbers decrease, his rushing numbers will improve.
2023-24 Stats: 299 touches, 1,585 total yards, 9 touchdowns, 290.5 fantasy points
6th Overall - Bijan Robinson
After a four-pick run of wide receivers, the second running back goes off the board. Bijan Robinson has all the skill sets to be the best back in the game, size, speed, and shiftiness. He rushes the ball just as well as anyone and will be used heavily in the passing game.
Robinson was a top 10 fantasy running back last season with Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke at the helm, now imagine what he will do with Kirk Cousins leading the charge. Drives will be longer and more productive for the Falcons leaving Bijan with more touches and fantasy points.
2023-24 Stats: 272 touches, 1,463 total yards, 8 total touchdowns, 246.3 fantasy points
5th Overall - Justin Jefferson
Justin Jefferson could be the first player off the board this year and it would not be a surprise. He is still the best receiver in the game at just 25 years old, but the quarterback situation in Minnesota is concerning.
Going from a Pro Bowl QB in Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold may hinder Jefferson’s production a tad. With that being said, Jefferson is still elite so it may not matter who is commanding the offense as long as they throw it up to number 18.
Last season fantasy owners were left disappointed after J-Jettas only played 10 games after suffering a hamstring injury that sidelined him. When he did play he was still producing like a top receiver.
Ja’Marr Chase could be the number-one fantasy receiver by the end of the year so getting him anywhere in the first round isn't a bad idea. The combination of having a healthy Joe Burrow back and the loss of Joe Mixon will help give the fourth-year receiver more targets.
Expect the Bengals to be throwing more than they did last season. The team has something to prove after going 9-8 and missing the playoffs and their run game will be weaker with Zack Moss taking the starting role.
Tyreek Hill and Tua Tagovailoa are entering their third season together and will continue to exploit any defense. One-on-one, double coverage, zone coverage, jammed at the line, it does not matter. Hill will burn anyone with his speed and can explode for a touchdown on any given play.
Even with having another top receiver on the team in Jaylen Waddle, Hill still gets the majority of targets. Last year he tallied 171 targets, the third most in the league, and in 2022 he logged 170 targets.
Hill can give you a consistent 18 points per game with the upside of 35+ on any night.
The connection between Ceedee Lamb and Dak Prescott in 2023-24 was something special. Lamb led the league in receptions with 135 and was the number one ranked fantasy player with 403.2 points, 11 more points than the next closest in Josh Allen.
He had massive weeks for fantasy owners last year with eight games with 115+ receiving yards and four games with 150+ receiving yards. Lamb came up huge when it mattered the most. In the semi-finals, he reeled in six catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, and in the championship game, he delivered with 13 grabs for 227 yards and a 92-yard touchdown.
Lamb is still searching for a new contract so it is unsure whether or not he
will hold out come Week 1, but if he is ready to play he is arguably the best wide receiver in the league.
Christian McCaffrey remains the best-skill player in the league and remains the top choice for anyone who possesses the first overall pick in fantasy. He is one of the best rushers in the game and one of the best receiving backs. Having a player who can explode in the run or pass game gives fantasy owners an advantage against everyone in the league.
He was a touchdown machine last year scoring in 13 out of 16 games
played, three of those games being multi-touchdown games. Even with Pro Bowl talent up and down the offense, CMC still got his touches every week averaging just over 21 a game.
If McCaffrey can remain healthy like he did last year, it should be a no-brainer to take him at the one spot.
2023-24 Stats: 339 touches, 2,023 all-purpose yards, 21 total touchdowns, 391.3 fantasy points
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