Below is a real 2012 Fantasy Football Draft that we have kicked off, and we went out and gathered some of the best fantasy football sites in the business, including heavy hitters like Footballguys, FFToday, FantasySharks and more. This is a fresh dynasty start-up league, not a mock draft, and it’s PPR with a relatively-standard scoring format, and the line-up requirements consist of 1QB, 2RBs, 2WRs and 1Flex (RB/WR/TE), 1TE, 1K and 1DST.
We were handed the 1.02 draft slot in a standard snake-style draft, and we landed Arian Foster with that 1.02 selection. Follow along as the draft unfolds, and hang with us all year-long as we battle it out week in and week out (as we put our very own advice to the test). Also, you will find commentary written below each round as that round completes. Enjoy!
Our Roster
Tom Brady, Arian Foster, C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson, Julio Jones, Kenny Britt… [view rosters]
2012 Fantasy Football Mock Draft
Round One
1.01 1. FantasyFootballStarters.com – Rodgers, Aaron GBP QB
1.02 2. DraftCalc.com – Foster, Arian HOU RB
1.03 3. Fantasy Football Xtreme – Rice, Ray BAL RB
1.04 4. BrunoBoys – McCoy, LeSean PHI RB
1.05 5. Fantasy Sharks – Johnson, Calvin DET WR
1.06 6. FantasyFootballCalculator – Richardson, Trent CLE RB
1.07 7. FootballDiehards – Stafford, Matthew DET QB
1.08 8. Dynasty League Football – Mathews, Ryan SDC RB
1.09 9. FantasyTaz.com – Johnson, Chris TEN RB
1.10 10. Footballguys.com (Chris Smith) – Green, A.J. CIN WR
1.11 11. Fantasy Football Xtreme – Newton, Cam CAR QB
1.12 12. FFToday – Graham, Jimmy NOS TE
Smitty’s Take: I was pleased to land Arian Foster with the second overall pick, as I do have him ranked No. 1 overall heading into all 2012 fantasy football leagues and formats… Aaron Rodgers going No. 1 overall was a bit shocking, but it’s arguable, no question; while the average fantasy owner still tends to stay clear of drafting a quarterback in the first-round, I say it is far from a crazy plan, it just boils down to whether or not it plays to one’s draft strengths and team building skills… Trent Richardson was drafted right where I have him pegged, which is in the top 6, and A.J. Green is will absolutely earn his 1.10 drafting… two players stood out in this first-round as being more second-round worthy, and those two players are Matthew Stafford and Jimmy Graham. Neither selection is nuts, but first-round value is just a bit high for my taste given the alternatives that were still on the board. I myself will pass on drafting either Graham or Rob Gronkowski this year because it costs way too much. Unless either falls into the late third-round range, which isn’t likely, I will let someone else scoop them up. It’s not that these stud tight ends can’t earn that high-end value, I’d just rather focus on runners and receivers, and possibly a top quarterback, then just attempt to land the next breakout TE at that bargain-type value (and I’ll talk later about what breakout tight end I have in mind for 2012).
Round Two
2.01 13. FFToday – Murray, DeMarco DAL RB
2.02 14. JunkyardJake.com – Forte, Matt CHI RB
2.03 15. Footballguys.com (Chris Smith) – Jones, Julio ATL WR (traded to acquire Lynch/Nicks)
2.04 16. FantasyTaz.com – Gronkowski, Rob NEP TE
2.05 17. Dynasty League Football – Fitzgerald, Larry ARI WR
2.06 18. FootballDiehards – Peterson, Adrian MIN RB
2.07 19. FantasyFootballCalculator – Brees, Drew NOS QB
2.08 20. Fantasy Sharks – Bryant, Dez DAL WR
2.09 21. BrunoBoys – Jones-Drew, Maurice JAC RB
2.10 22. Fantasy Football Xtreme – Darren McFadden OAK RB
2.11 23. DraftCalc.com – Hakeem Nicks NYG WR (traded with M. Lynch to acquire Julio Jones)
2.12 24. FantasyFootballStarters.com – Wes Welker NE WR
Smitty’s Take: So far in the second-round, there aren’t too many surprises other than Dez Bryant getting snagged before our 2.11 selection. While so many will jump ship due to Bryant’s recent off-the-field issues, we stand in his corner, and I personally see him having a top 2-4 overall season in 2012, even if he misses let’s say a game… Larry Fitzgerald was a bargain at 2.05, and so was Darren McFadden at 2.10. While Hakeem Nicks has injury issues, he was by far the best long-term WR on the board at 2.11. Still, our concerns about Nicks led us to trade him in a Marshawn Lynch-involved deal that landed us Julio Jones, a player that can be inside the Calvin Johnson/A.J. Green tier by season’s end (read more on that on our 2012 Upside Board).
Round Three
3.01 25. FantasyFootballStarters.com – Doug Martin TB RB
3.02 26. DraftCalc.com – Tom Brady NE QB
3.03 27. JunkyardJake.com – Robert Griffin III WAS QB
3.04 28. BrunoBoys – Andre Johnson HOU WR
3.05 29. Fantasy Sharks – Jamaal Charles KC RB
3.06 30. FantasyFootballCalculator – Greg Jennings GB WR
3.07 31. FootballDiehards – Jordy Nelson GB WR
3.08 32. Dynasty League Football – Victor Cruz NYG WR
3.09 33. FantasyTaz.com – Brandon Marshall CHI WR
3.10 34. Footballguys.com (Chris Smith) – Demaryius Thomas DEN WR
3.11 35. JunkyardJake.com – Jeremy Maclin PHI WR
3.12 36. FFToday – Darren Sproles NO RB
Smitty’s Take: We were extremely pleased to land Tom Brady at 3.02; the guy has at least 2 years left as a top 2-4 fantasy QB if you ask me. Robert Griffin was a couple rounds high for my taste, as he went at 3.03. I am not saying he can’t earn that value eventually, but I think my personal approach with Griffin is to let someone else have him at that value, and only look to land him as a bargain grab. At 3.03, he HAS TO produce elite numbers to earn back that value… Andre Johnson was a player I almost grabbed instead of Nicks, as I think AJ has 1-2 elite years left, and that’s enough in my opinion. Demaryius Thomas has huge upside, but I think 3.10 was a bit high.
Round Four
4.01 37. FFToday – Mike Wallace PIT WR
4.02 38. JunkyardJake.com – Roy Helu WAS RB
4.03 39. Footballguys.com (Chris Smith) – Jahvid Best DET RB
4.04 40. FantasyTaz.com – Percy Harvin MIN WR
4.05 41. Dynasty League Football – Roddy White ATL WR
4.06 42. FootballDiehards – Steve Smith CAR WR
4.07 43. FantasyFootballCalculator – Miles Austin DAL WR
4.08 44. Fantasy Sharks – Jonathan Stewart CAR RB
4.09 45. BrunoBoys – Dwayne BoweKC WR
4.10 46. JunkyardJake.com – Jermichael Finley GB TE
4.11 47. DraftCalc.com – Marshawn Lynch SEA RB (traded with H. Nicks to acquire Julio Jones)
4.12 48. FantasyFootballStarters.com – Marques Colston NO WR
Smitty’s Take: Jahvid Best was one of my favorite players entering last year, and I still stand by the fact that this kid has LeSean McCoy-type talent. The problem is, he can’t stay healthy, so drafting him at 4.03 seemed extremely high… Not much else stood out in this round, and we were relatively pleased at 4.11 when we landed Marshawn Lynch, who is only 26. He has top 10-14RB upside for 2012, and maybe one more year after that, but we felt like the players we were targeting at 4.11 (and 2.11) just weren’t falling, and as mentioned above, we packaged both Lynch and Hakeem Nicks for Julio Jones, our No. 3 fantasy WR for the now and future. Read more on Jones here, where I have him slotted as our No. 3 overall on our 2012 Upside Board!
Round Five
5.01 49. FantasyFootballStarters.com – Antonio Brown PIT WR
5.02 50. DraftCalc.com – C.J. Spiller BUF RB
5.03 51. Fantasy Football Xtreme – Stevie Johnson BUF WR
5.04 52. BrunoBoys – Steven Jackson STL RB
5.05 53. Fantasy Sharks – Ben Tate HOU RB
5.06 54. FantasyFootballCalculator – Kenny Britt TEN WR
5.07 55. FootballDiehards – David Wilson NYG RB
5.08 56. Dynasty League Football – Ahmad Bradshaw NYG RB
5.09 57. FantasyTaz.com – Eli Manning NYG QB
5.10 58. Footballguys.com (Chris Smith) – Fred Jackson BUF RB
5.11 59. FFToday.com – Eric Decker DEN WR
5.12 60. JunkyardJake.com – Torrey Smith BAL WR
Smitty’s Take: I let C.J. Spiller get snagged in another dynasty expert draft, and I was determined to reach for him in this draft. We landed him at 5.02 and I truly feel he was the only player left that had top 10 overall upside. Is he a lock for that? No, absolutely not, but the talent present, and despite Freddy Jackson, I firmly believe that the situation is ideal for Spiller (for the long-term). We also landed the 5.06 pick in this draft (via trade), and we snagged the troubled Kenny Britt. Again, believe it or not, but Britt is younger than A.J. Green, so I’ll take my chances on him growing up and bank on that top 5WR upside winning out!
Thoughts, comments, or predictions thus far?
I’m liking our core squad, which consists of:
Tom Brady, Arian Foster, C.J. Spiller, Julio Jones, Kenny Britt
I’m in a 10 team, 4-keeper PPR league. As my forth option should I keep Jimmy Graham, Welker, or Brandon Marshall? My other three keepers are Megatron, Stafford, and Ray Rice. Thanks!
The way I tend to look at this is, who are you least likely to be able to draft again if you toss them back into the player pool. I think Graham is the clear answer, so I take him. The only way I’d go against that thinking is if I was a huge believer in one of the players and didn’t want to risk tossing that player back in an attempt to get crafty. While solid talents, neither Marshall or Welker are those types, and Graham’s ADP is a ton higher than either. Graham, final answer. Nice squad!
Thanks for the response. What do u think of me giving up Stafford and keeping Graham,Marshall and Welker? Last year I got Stafford and Big Ben on the 6/7 turn of my draft and can probably get Ben and Cutler this year.
Right now the QBs being kept are Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Romo, Rogers, Brady, Vick, Brees, Newton, and I kid u not Alex Smith!!!
We can start 1-QB 2-RB 1-RB/WR, 1-Flex 1TE.
Well, you’re not going to land Stafford again deep in your draft. No way. Again, I take the same approach, and Stafford will be far less likely to be available for re-draft if you toss him back into the player pool. Stafford is your keeper, and I stick with your initial plan and keep Graham as that last keeper.
I like the squad. It’s risky, but it should all be worked out by mid season, so you’ll be strong for the playoffs. I just traded for britt so hoping he gets his act together too. He’s currently my WR3/flex battling with b Lloyd, so there wasn’t much risk for me.
I noticed you just bumped Finley up in your dynasty rankings. I was wondering why. TE and RB are my squads “weaknesses” but in dynasty I’m totally unwilling to overpay for a RB, so I’m looking to upgrade at TE. I actually have Finley and was considering him and Crabtree for Graham. If they’re in the same tier then it may not be worth doing, but I see Graham in a league of his own.y league is 1 ppr so Jimmy’s rec total is a nice boost. I like finlys tools but he has yet to have a GREAT year, even if he’s been consistently good.
I’d appreciate any thoughts on the trade.
Be ez