This is a “WR-heavy class” no matter how you slice it, but when you slice it in terms of “Fantasy Football,” it’s especially wide receiver heavy. To the point where if you only selected skill position players in the first round, as I did in this article, you might come away with close to 20 of them being receivers.
2014 NFL mock draft: Fantasy players only
The 2014 NFL Draft goes down on Thursday evening, which means we’ll find out just how wrong mock drafts have been. Rather than focus on a normal mock, we at SB Nation Fantasy decided to mock out the first round only using skill position players that will have a fantasy impact.
Now that’s heavy.
While the class of quarterbacks is leaving a lot to be desired, especially at the top, they aren’t the only offensive position group that appears to be “suffering” from a lack of top-end talent this year. In fact, it’s possible that only one tight end and zero running backs are selected on Thursday. If Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr can’t secure first-round picks, either, then it’s possible that you see more receivers taken on day one than you see QBs, RBs, and TEs combined.
And you still might see that, with some expecting there to be a record number of receivers taken on the first day of the 2014 draft. So you can only begin to imagine how lopsided that gets if you held a fantasy mock draft in which each team in the first round only picks players that will help them with their team from a fantasy perspective. That’s what I did here:
- Identify the biggest need on offense, strictly at QB, RB, WR, or TE
- Identify the best prospects available at that position
- Make your pick
From Texans to Seahawks, each team could always use a little more help on offense. It just so happens that usually every team could use another wide receiver, and in the 2014 class, there's enough that even Seattle might be able to get a good one in this scenario. You won't find Jadeveon Clowney, Greg Robinson, or Khalil Mack. This is strictly skill players.
Here's a very mock, very fantasy 2014 NFL draft:
1. Houston Texans - Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
Most people find Blake Bortles to be “not worthy” of the first overall pick, while others doubt that the skills that made Manziel so exciting in college will translate to the NFL. Well, why not at least take a chance on the player with the higher, more exciting ceiling?
Bortles might turn out to be the better player -- or perhaps neither ever pan out in the pros -- but Manziel gets a chance to succeed right away with Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins, and Arian Foster as support. Few rookie QBs have ever had this kind of talent around them, so why not give the former Heisman winner a shot? At least my fans won't be as bored as they would be with Bored-les.
2. St. Louis Rams - Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson
A possible, if not likely, scenario on Thursday. Watkins gives Sam Bradford a number one option right now, while giving Tavon Austin something that William Wallace never had:
Freedom.
3. Jacksonville Jaguars - Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M
They could take a quarterback, but why not just give their current QB some more options? Frankly, if you took Bortles or Bridgewater or Carr, what are you giving them to work with assuming that Justin Blackmon doesn't return? That's something that could be just as ugly as the situation was under Blaine Gabbert, and who would want that?
4. Cleveland Browns - Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida
On the other hand, the Browns already have two elite receiving options and an elite left tackle. And unlike Jacksonville, they get to pick twice in the first round. They simply can’t leave the first round without a hopeful QBOTF. Welcome to Cleveland, Blake.
All the little chicks with their crimson lips say,
“Cleveland Borts”
“Cleveland Borts”
5. Oakland Raiders - Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State
Give my compliments to the Cooks. Even without Al Davis, the Raiders take the fastest thing available (with the exception of Dri Archer) and all of a sudden Oakland has a pretty decent receiving corps. (But they’ll still be picking in the top five next year.)
6. Atlanta Falcons - Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina
They’ve got two elite receivers, a quarterback, and a couple of running backs that can get the job done. What they don’t have is Tony Gonzalez’s replacement. Well, they’ll probably never be able to replace Gonzalez, but Ebron is a very nice addition.
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Odell Beckham Jr., WR, LSU
Ideally the Bucs would like to take Evans, but that’s impossible in this mock draft unless they trade up. Still, Beckham has the potential to be special.
8. Minnesota Vikings - Derek Carr, QB, Fresno State
Carr me, maybe?
/everyone logs off
The Vikings could go receiver here if they aren't satisfied with the QBs available, but would they be any less satisfied with Carr than they would be with Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel again? Heck no.
9. Buffalo Bills - Marqise Lee, WR, USC
Here’s a guy (as Jon Gruden would say) that was “elite” on Watkins’ level only a year ago. Are we to believe he’s lost all of that ability? He could still be elite and a possible steal for any team in the first round. Buffalo could use help just about anywhere on offense, and this is anywhere.
Plus, he’d be paired again with longtime buddy Robert Woods. I hope this happens IRL. (I love a good friendship story.)
10. Detroit Lions - Cody Latimer, WR, Indiana
The Lions have been rumored to be interested in moving up in this draft, possibly for a receiver. They've got the best WR in the game; they just signed Golden Tate to a nice contract, so what else could they need? Given this draft board, and the always-suspect health of Ryan Broyles, another receiver for Matt Stafford is still necessary.
Detroit’s other skill positions are still solid for now, especially with the potential of Joseph Fauria.
11. Tennessee Titans - Bishop Sankey, RB, Washington
The first running back off the board, you shouldn't expect any of them to actually get the call on Thursday. But the Titans cut Chris Johnson and are very thin on talent at running back at the moment. In reality they'll probably take someone like Sankey in the second, but here they grab him in the first and start him from day one.
If not, they could still go QB, WR, or TE. There’s very little certainty on the Tennessee offense.
12. New York Giants - Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE, Washington
The Giants also need help at wide receiver, but can you name a tight end in New York at the moment? I'm sure that anyone outside of New York couldn't. Or anyone on the Giants, for that matter: Kellen Davis, Daniel Fells, Adrien Robinson, Larry Donnell.
They’ll take a tight end at some point in the draft, why not grab ASJ right here? Much like Lee, he was seen as “elite” as year ago. He still could be.
13. St. Louis Rams - Jace Amaro, TE, Texas Tech
The Rams might take Ebron with the 13th pick on Thursday, but given that the top two tight ends are off the board here, they take Amaro instead. Now they’ve given Bradford two more receiving threats, so he’s all out of excuses.
(Maybe he doesn’t make excuses at all. I don’t really know him, personally.)
14. Chicago Bears - Carlos Hyde, RB, Ohio State
Alshon Jeffery, Brandon Marshall, and Martellus Bennett are going to remain featured in Marc Tressman's offense. They could go for a WR here, but a bigger concern is the lack of support behind Matt Forte. That'd change quickly by taking Hyde.
Because he’s also a running back.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers - Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Florida State
In the last two years the Steelers have lost Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, and Jerricho Cotchery. They've added Lance Moore, but they'll need more than that.
So here they get the huge target known as Kelvin Benjimore-- Sorry, Benjamin.
16. Dallas Cowboys - Allen Robinson, WR, Penn State
Before we’ve gotten to the second half of the first round, the eighth wide receiver has come off the board. Is Dallas really hot and heavy for Manziel, as rumored? Their receiving corps actually aren’t that strong, so it would be crazy to go for a backup player before someone that could push Terrence Williams for starting reps.
Then again, the Cowboys’ first day decisions have seemed a bit crazy in recent years.
17. Baltimore Ravens - Tre Mason, RB, Auburn
Instead of picking yet another receiver in this draft, the Ravens grab some Ray Rice insurance.
18. New York Jets - Bruce Ellington, WR, South Carolina
If Stephen Hill can develop, you've got your tall receiver. Now Ellington can be the smaller, shifty receiver that teams up with Hill and Eric Decker to make a decent 1-2-3. And even Jeremy Kerley is still around, too.
Now, if only Michael Vick can stay healthy or Geno Smith can be not-terrible.
19. Miami Dolphins - Troy Niklas, TE, Notre Dame
You probably won't see Niklas on any other first round mock besides this one, but given that Miami has spent loads on its receiver unit as it is, signed Knowshon Moreno, and is committed to Ryan Tannehill, then grabbing a tight end makes the most sense. Niklas is the biggest target (6'7) in the draft, and should get playing time due to his blocking ability.
Maybe he can be the next Joseph Fauria and then go catch eight passes, all for touchdowns.
20. Arizona Cardinals - Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville
It's possible that this becomes the best pick of the entire round. Then again, Geno Smith once fell from first overall to out of the first, and that hasn't worked out too good. Same can be said for guys like Jimmy Clausen and Matt Barkley. How often do guys see their draft stock fall so far and then prove the doubters wrong? At least as far as QBs go.
I can think of Aaron Rodgers off the top of my head, but few others at the moment. Then again, it might just be that I have a head problem.
The Cards can take Bridgewater and sit him for one or two years. It’s possibly what they’ll actually do in real life.
21. Green Bay Packers - Donte Moncrief, WR, Ole Miss
If Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb were hurt (not a huge stretch of the imagination) the starting receivers would be Jarrett Boykin and Chris Harper. There is no maybe, the Packers have to draft a receiver. (Though the potential loss of Jermichael Finley isn't doing the tight end group any favors.)
22. Philadelphia Eagles - Davante Adams, WR, Fresno State
In real life they want to be lucky enough to get Brandin Cooks. In this case, Adams replaces DeSean Jackson instead and if he can translate his production from Fresno State to the NFL, he'll be one hell of a player.
23. Kansas City Chiefs - Jordan Matthews, WR, Vanderbilt
The receiver group was pretty awful last year and it’s hard to see where they’ve made any improvements. The Chiefs will probably draft a receiver, but it’s worth noting that they don’t have a second-round pick and they’re supposedly also interested in a QB. Probably because they want to pay Alex Smith like he’s Alex Smith, and Smith wants to get paid like he’s the long-term answer.
Better to just go with a WR, though, because that group is much more awful than Smith.
24. Cincinnati Bengals - Jeremy Hill, RB, LSU
They could go receiver, but Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones probably get the job done next to Green. They could go for a quarterback due to the sometimes-questionable play of Andy Dalton, but instead the Bengals take a running back to replace BenJarvus Green-Ellis as the Yin to Geovani Bernard's Yang.
25. San Diego Chargers - Martavis Bryant, WR, Clemson
There are few guarantees at wide receiver for San Diego after Keenan Allen, and even then you’re just hoping that he wasn’t a one-year wonder. (I mean, he probably wasn’t, but we’ve seen players peak early before.) Receiver is already one of the biggest needs for San Diego as it is, and Bryant could be a steal.
26. Cleveland Browns - Jarvis Landry, WR, LSU
They went quarterback early, now they add a receiver. This is something they could conceivably do on Thursday (except not Landry) and all of a sudden, the 2014 Browns offense doesn’t look that bad. (That sentence can’t be right, can it?)
They also need a running back, though, but they shouldn't be in a hurry to draft one, as we saw where that got them two years ago with Trent Richardson.
27. New Orleans Saints - Dri Archer, WR/RB, Kent State
The easiest pick of the latter half of this first round. It's hard to replace Darren Sproles, but that's exactly what Archer's ceiling is. He could be a un-Dri-lievable* if he winds up in New Orleans.
(*Better than a “Danger Zone” reference.)
28. Carolina Panthers - Paul Richardson, WR, Colorado
The Carolina Panthers would be pretty pissed if they had to draft a receiver in this mock draft scenario where everyone is drafting receivers. They’ll still end up taking the fourth or fifth best receiver in the class, but not quite as low as Richardson.
That being said, Richardson could still end up being a very good receiver worthy of more than you’d expect from the 15th receiver taken.
29. New England Patriots - Brandon Coleman, WR, Rutgers
Even this late in this mock draft, you’re seeing receivers that could be worth way more than typically seen after this many have come off of the board. Coleman provides a different look at receiver than what Danny Amendola or Julian Edelman or Brandon LaFell bring. They could go tight end or running back, but still Coleman provides more upside than what’s left at either of those positions.
30. San Francisco 49ers - Josh Huff, WR, Oregon
Things should be better at receiver this year for San Francisco with Michael Crabtree healthy at the start of the year, but there’s not much on the depth chart after the top two. While Quinton Patton may still develop, Jon Baldwin probably won’t. And Brandon Lloyd is still just a longshot to make a difference.
Much like half the teams in this draft, receiver is a need.
31. Denver Broncos - Ka'Deem Carey, RB, Arizona
I’m not sure that Carey could make a huge impact in year one, but how many rookies could on this offense? In actuality, after Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman, there’s not much depth. C.J. Anderson was a surprise in the preseason last year, but that was the 2013 preseason. So if anything happens to Hillman and/or Ball, Carey could step in.
Even Knowshon Moreno had more than 1,000+ rushing yards on this “all-pass” offense last season.
(Psssst: The Broncos had more rushing touchdowns last year than the “rush heavy” Seahawks.)
32. Seattle Seahawks - Jared Abbrederis, WR, Wisconsin
He and Russell Wilson had some really good times together at Wisconsin. Possibly someone the Seahawks could actually be targeting in the fourth round (they don’t have a third) but in this case, they take him with pick 32.
Another receiver off the board, the 18th of this first round, and Wilson reunites with an old pal. Yep, I still like a good friendship story.
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