What if you had to draft your 2015 fantasy football team right now? We’re just coming off of the 2014 fantasy football season where a lot of new names hit the market and some former studs fell from reality. This early mock draft depicts some players who finished big and who look to offer future potential in the 2015 fantasy season.
Consisting of 15 draft rounds, this is a standard scoring mock draft picking 10th out of 12 team members.
1.10 C.J. Anderson, Running Back, Denver Broncos
Anderson ended his season as the stud offensive player the team. He outranked all fellow running backs in rushing yards and touchdowns when he resumed the starting role with the Broncos in Week 10. Clearly the best of all running back options in Denver, Anderson is hands-down an RB1 entering 2015.
2.3 Odell Beckham Jr., Wide Receiver New York Giants
Maybe a touch of a risk, however, I chose Beckham over Calvin Johnson with this pick. We all know well that played out in 2014. Beckham, had he not missed the first four weeks of the year healing from a hamstring injury may have finished as the No. 1 ranked fantasy receiver. Instead, he was No. 5 dominating WR1 fantasy numbers every week. If you have the chance at Beckham as your WR1, I wouldn’t hesitate on him.
3.10 Jeremy Hill, Running Back, Cincinnati Bengals
Remaining new-school in this draft Hill makes an excellent RB1-2 pick for 2015. The Bengals chose him as their lead back towards the end of 2014 and it appears they are happy with starting him in this role in 2015. He’s durable and racked up 1,124 rushing yards in 2014 and that was while splitting carries.
4.3 Golden Tate, Wide Receiver, Detroit Lions
Tate slimly out-ranked Megatron in 2014 and had his best fantasy season thus far as a Detroit Lion. While Johnson’s targets take a dip when teams are double-covering him, Tate who had 99 catches on 144 targets will continue to rack up fantasy points making him a reliable WR2 moving forward.
5.10 Latavius Murray, Running Back, Oakland Raiders
We should be seeing a more run-heavy approach under the Raiders’ new coach, Jack Del Rio who turned Maurice Jones-Drew into a running back machine when both were in Jacksonville. Now that the aging MJD is slowing down, and Darren McFadden isn’t exactly turning heads, the young Murray could be poised to see a boost in carries in 2015. He’s a great flex option at the running back position.
6.3 Matthew Stafford, Quarterback, Detroit Lions
While I had my eye on either Tony Romo or Ben Roethlisberger for my fifth pick, both were drafted by the time my pick came around. This left me with Stafford, who I see improving in 2015. The fact he and the Lions made it to a playoff game, and he’s been committing less mistakes, has me thinking he’s back on the road to becoming one of the top 10 fantasy quarterbacks to own in 2015.
7.10 Delanie Walker, Tight End, Tennessee Titans
With eight other tight ends already taken off the draft board, this was a chance to secure Walker who actually ranked eighth among the tight ends in 2014. With 106 targets, Walker is definitely a threat to build up fantasy points from week to week.
8.3 Jordan Matthews, Wide Receiver, Philadelphia Eagles
Matthews finished 2014 as the 24th ranked fantasy receiver outranking many other draft picks who were selected higher last year. 2015 should have Matthews improving on his numbers even more where we might see him even crack the 1,000-plus yard mark. At this time, Matthews makes a good flex option with room to move up in the ranks.
9.10 Dan Herron, Running Back, Indianapolis Colts
Herron was the Colts’ No. 1 workhorse after fellow back Ahmad Bradshaw got injured last year. While Bradshaw should return healthy, the Colts standardly rely on a running back committee which should still leave plenty of touches for Herron to handle.
10.3 Buffalo Bills Defense
At this point two defenses were taken, so where it didn’t seem like I would sacrifice too much in choosing a running back or wide receiver in this round, I went for the second-ranked Bills defense. I have found that using one solid defense rather than streaming which can be a guessing game makes for a sound fantasy team.
11.10 Joe Flacco, Quarterback, Baltimore Ravens
Flacco, in my opinion actually makes an excellent pick in round 11. He actually out-ranked my first quarterback choice, Stafford (above) by two places in 2014. He’s definitely a plug and play option when Stafford is faced with an unfavorable fantasy matchup.
12.3 Doug Baldwin, Wide Receiver, Seattle Seahawks
Baldwin is a little rough around the edges and unpredictable, but at this point, he’s just adding bench depth while he continues to build on his consistency with his young quarterback, Russell Wilson.
13.10 Pierre Thomas, Running Back, New Orleans Saints
It’s anyone’s guess which running back the Saints will rely upon in 2015, and anyone’s guess as to which one(s) will get injured. Thomas makes a good stash should Mark Ingram go down.
14.3 Dan Carpenter, Kicker, Buffalo Bills
The Bills move the ball just enough to come within field goal distance a lot. This is why I targeted the fourth-ranked fantasy kicker rather than waiting to round 15 where I would have ended up with the 11th or 12th ranked fantasy kicker. Carpenter had six 50-plus yard field goal in 2014 which wasn’t too bad.
15.10 James Jones, Wide Receiver, Oakland Raiders
I had to pick someone last and why not a receiver who’s working for an up and coming rookie quarterback who might just see more action in 2015?
Completed overall draft results.