The NFL football pre-season is coming to a close but the majority of fantasy football drafts are in the last week. If you are like me, you prefer to wait until that week so you have a clear understanding of who the starters will be and not own valuable players who are now injured. I have been keeping a Fantasy Football Mock Draft list all summer long and have made numerous adjustments to it. I have also watched many drafts and have build an \”average\” draft from those results for standard scoring leagues. This allows me to compare the two and helps me understand if I need to pick a player earlier than expected if I really want them or if I can wait a little while longer on a player. I will share these insights with you now.

Round 1

1.Adrian Peterson

2.Doug Martin

3.Alfred Morris

4.Ray Rice

5.Arian Foster

6.Jamal Charles

7.Marshawn Lynch

8.Charles Johnson

9.Matt Forte

10.C.J. Spiller

11.Steven Ridley

12.LeSean McCoy

NOTES: After AP. Every mock draft has a different order for the remaining picks in round one. I believe that Doug Martin is the safest choice out of this group followed by Morris and Rice. Arian Foster is a best but knee and foot injuries with your number 1 pick can be a real killer. Steven Ridley is a questionable number 1 since he has no real track record and Shane Vereen could easily slide into a co-number 1 back role.

Round 2

1.A.J. Green

2.Aaron Rodgers

3.Brandon Marshall

4.Dez Bryant

5.Frank Gore

6.Drew Brees

7.Demaryius Thomas

8.Steven Jackson

9.Trent Richardson

10.Chris Johnson

11.Larry Fitzgerald

12.Maurice Jones-Drew

NOTES: I don’t like Rodgers this high. Too many injuries at WR and a bad OL have me concerned with his production this year. IF I want to go QB early, Brees is easily my first choice off the board. If I don’t get Brees, I look down a round or two for Matt Ryan. All RBs in this round with a shortened nickname give me pause; Sjax, T-Rich, CJ2K and MoJo are better left for other owners if you ask me. I’d pull a top WR before one of these 4, even Larry Fitzgerald since I am all in on his connection with Palmer this year.

Round 3

1.Julio Jones

2.Andre Johnson

3.Roddy White

4.Jimmy Graham

5.Randall Cobb

6.Tom Brady

7.Marques Colston

8.Darren McFadden

9.Cam Newton

10.Montee Ball

11.Matt Ryan

12.Vincent Jackson

NOTES: You can’t go wrong with any WR in this round or Jimmy Graham. Barring injury, Graham will double-up all other TEs this year. I personally grab Matt Ryan over Tm Brady this year due to age, health and far, far, far better receivers.

Round 4

1.Reggie Wayne

2.DeMarco Murray

3.Mike Wallace

4.Peyton Manning

5.Jordy Nelson

6.Torrey Smith

7.David Wilson

8.Victor Cruz

9.Reggie Bush

10.Ryan Mathews

11.Danny Amendola

12.Derrick Bowe

NOTES: If you have 2 solid RBs, a top WR/ Jimmy Graham and have a shot at Manning here, take it! You can fill out other WRs as you go on. Adding more confidence, better health and Wes Welker will only make his numbers better this year. There are a lot of question marks in this round that I would leave up to other owners, namely, Wayne, Murray, Mathews and Bush (only if not in a PPR league). David Wilson is a high risk, high reward in this round. Do yourself a favor, in round 12-13, grab Andre Brown if you are the person drafting David Wilson, even though Brown is hurt.

Round 5

1.Steve Smith

2.Eric Decker

3.Anquan Boldin

4.Stevie Johnson

5.Greg Jennings

6.Lamar Miller

7.Eddie Lacy

8.James Jones

9.Wes Welker

10.Emmanuel Sanders

11.Lance Moore

12.Vernon Davis

NOTES: In my eyes, there are two sets of receivers here, the must drafts and the definitely skip. I don’t trust Greg Jennings and Wes Welker this high. Manning loved throwing to Decker last year and I don’t see a fall-off there, but I do with Welker. I love Boldin as a player and think he will be a beast in San Fran this year so he is my first pick out of this group.

Round 6

1.Chris Ivory

2.Mike Williams

3.Rob Gronkowski

4.Tony Gonzalez

5.Miles Austin

6.Colin Kaepernick

7.Greg Olsen

8.Owen Daniels

9.Hakeem Nicks

10.Giovani Bernard

11.Darren Sproles

12.Rashard Mendenhall

NOTES: Giovani Bernard has moved up every week since the rankings came out and with good reason. He is the Real Deal and will own the number 1 RB slot on a very good Bengals offense this year. I take him over anyone else in this round. Too many TEs in this round for me, though I would draft Tony G since he is still a health freak and will repeat last year’s monster numbers. I can’t trust Gronk, but think Mendenhall is a great choice here.

Round 7

1.Tyler Eifert

2.DeSean Jackson

3.Cecil Shorts

4.DeAngelo Williams

5.Andrew Luck

6.Jason Witten

7.Daryl Richardson

8.Isaac Redman

9.Ahmad Bradshaw

10.Kyle Rudolph

11.Pierre Garcon

12.Golden Tate

NOTES: Round 7 is a money round. If you overloaded in a position earlier, you can easily fill a hole here. Not enough RBs? Williams and Richardson are bruising starters. Not enough WRs? Jackson, Garcon and Shorts have potential for monster seasons. Need a TE? Eifert and Witten will make you smile. I think this is too early for Luck. Bradshaw is a roll of the dice that could pay off if you want a bench RB and potential trade bait if he plays well. If you get Bradshaw, grab Vick Ballard a few rounds later as well.

Bill Parsons is the owner of http://www.MaximumFantasySports.com and a rabid fantasy sports participant. He began creating his own football and baseball fantasy leagues at the ripe old age of seven; tracking stats and standings on paper. Bill decided to create a real-time fantasy football league website that includes all of the best features and some of which have never been attempted at any other website. Maximum Fantasy Sports offers Free Fantasy Football leagues, Free Pools and Public Fantasy Football Leagues with cash payouts.

Bill Parsons is the owner of Maximum Fantasy http://Sports.com and a rabid fantasy sports participant. He began creating his own football and baseball fantasy leagues at the ripe old age of seven; tracking stats and standings on paper. Bill decided to create a real-time website that includes all of the best features and some of which have never been attempted at any other website. Maximum Fantasy Sports offers, Free Pools and Public Fantasy Football Leagues with cash payouts.

Author Bio: Bill Parsons is the owner of http://www.MaximumFantasySports.com and a rabid fantasy sports participant. He began creating his own football and baseball fantasy leagues at the ripe old age of seven; tracking stats and standings on paper. Bill decided to create a real-time fantasy football league website that includes all of the best features and some of which have never been attempted at any other website. Maximum Fantasy Sports offers Free Fantasy Football leagues, Free Pools and Public Fantasy Football Leagues with cash payouts.

Category: Sports
Keywords: Free Fantasy Football, Free Fantasy Football Leagues, Fantasy Football, mock draft, player rankings