2013 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Review: Round 1

When you think of a 2013 Fantasy Football Mock Draft, you rarely picture the opening scene of “The Usual Suspects”, where a flaming matchbook is used to lite a wounded man’s smoke. And then a gasoline trail, which races by a corpse while a dude in a trenchcoat takes a whizz.

As the suspenseful score picks up, his urine actually puts out the gasoline trail. Then he walks to the other man and lights a smoke himself.

We find out the wounded man is named Keaton and the other Söze. Söze shoots Keaton and proceeds to relight the gasoline trail and that is it, well, after the loud explosion. But why did Söze kill poor Keaton and more importantly, who is Keyser Söze?

You’ll have to watch the movie three times to figure it out, but it is awesome and once you know, you’ll want to watch it again a few more times anyway.

The first round of the Post-NFL Draft 2013 Fantasy Football Mock Draft with the usual suspects from FantasyTrade411.com, LateRoundQB.com and DavidGonos.com is more compelling and momentous than the opening scene of the movie.

True, it lacks the violence, some of the suspense and obviously the urination, but the ramifications of this first round will only take a single view, unlike the movie, and it will keep you coming back again and again! You guessed it — just like the movie! Please find all the necessary details below for our standard format mock draft, along with some analysis and pick explanations.

2013 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Participants

The LateRoundQB.com writers:

• Austan Kas
• Keith Black
• Chad Scott
• J.J. Zachariason

The FantasyTrade411.com writers:

• Michael Clifford
• Terrance Bridgett
• Nick Raducanu
• Tony Mauriello

From MyFantasyLeague.com

• Geoff Stein

The DavidGonos.com writers:

• Devon Jordan
• David Gonos
• Neil Parker

2013 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Results

Selection Analysis From Writers:

1.01 – Austan Kas – Adrian Peterson, MIN RB: Fresh off one of the best seasons in NFL history, Peterson is somewhat of a no-brainer here. Sure, there is some regression expected, but he led the league in rushing by 408 yards a year ago. Logic would tell you that AP should be hindered by the lack of weapons around him (to put it nicely), but AP defies logic – see: ACL recovery. The good part about having the first pick is getting to land a surefire stud. The bad part is the uncertainty about what will be there for my 2-3 selections.

1.02 – David Gonos – Adrian Foster, HOU RB: Last year, I debated taking Foster with the No. 1 overall draft pick because I thought Ray Rice was going to be Terrell Davis Pt 2 and the Texans’ offensive line was being restructured. I was wrong. This year, I will take Foster with the No. 1 overall pick, even over Adrian Peterson. Foster is in L.T. mode these days, even though he had a ton of touches last season.

1.03 – Terrance Bridgett – Calvin Johnson, DET WR: I see no value from any Running Back not named AP in the 1st Round. If I was selecting 1.02 or later this summer gimmie Megatron or AJ Green!

1.04 – J.J. Zachariason – Doug Martin, TBB RB: I love him.

1.05 – Devon Jordan – Jamaal Charles, KCC RB

1.06 – Michael Clifford – C.J. Spiller, BUF RB

1.07 – Chad Scott – LeSean McCoy, PHI RB

1.08 – Neil Parker – Ray Rice, BAL RB: Obviously, we’re all a little worried about the emergence of Benard Pierce, but is that enough for Rice to fall to 8th? Pierce’s 13 yards on 9 Red Zone carries and single TD within the 20 aren’t intimidating, whereas Rice had 8 TDs on a mere 36 carries in the Red Zone. Finally, in formats that reward bonuses at the 100 yard mark, Rice suffers because of his frequent involvement in the passing game, but that is minor. Spelling with Pierce will keep Rice fresh and hopefully make him even more explosive.

1.09 – Nick Raducanu – Marshawn Lynch, SEA, RB: I know…I know. The Seahawks have Robert Turbin (and now Christine Michael) too, but last I checked this isn’t a dynasty league. Lynch is still only 27 and is coming off back-to-back years of 1,200+ rushing yards and 11+ rushing TDs. There’s a higher upside option who I was debating here, but I’ll go more reliable with Lynch.

1.10 – Keith Black – Trent Richardson, CLE RB: Wanted Lynch here, but alas I’ll settle for T-Rich here. Still tons of untapped potential, I think.

1.11 – Tony Mauriello – Alfred Morris, WAS RB: The Redskins finally found their RB in Morris after a few seasons of playing the “who will Mike Shanahan give the ball to today” game. At 1.11, I was thrilled to be able to grab a No. 1 RB, who is coming off a 1613yds/13TD 2012.

1.12 – Geoff Stein – A.J. Green, CIN WR

Round 1 Rundown:

There were very few surprises here, Calvin Johnson third overall likely wont happen frequently, but T already told the world it is what he was planning to do this draft season. Seeing 10 running backs go in the first round will be standard in most drafts this season and really only the order they’re selected should amount to any debate. Adrian Peterson and Arian Foster are likely to go first and second, but after that a lot will depend on the preference of owners in your draft, as cases can be made for any number of combinations after the top two.

The leader for the third RB off the board is likely Doug Martin, but with optimism surrounding both, Jamaal Charles and C.J. Spiller, a case could be made for each. Furthermore, LeSean McCoy and Ray Rice might be a little removed from the huge hype of previous seasons, but a proven track records has a comforting appeal too. Trent Richardson, Marshawn Lynch and Alfred Morris are all powerful backs that should be staples for the bottom-half of the first round.

Where Calvin Johnson ends up going in drafts will be interesting, I went with him in the 1st in a single draft last year and my running back production suffered a lot.  I think his production itself might have almost evened it out, but it was painful chasing after Felix Jones, Bryce Brown and Jalen Parmele all season. It is worth noting, that it isn’t the Johnson selection that caused that situation, but it is far more likely to happen if you don’t go with a running back in the first round. I could see Johnson being an excellent pick as you approach the turn though, especially knowing you can secure a reliable running back early in the 2nd round.

Here is a link to the draft, so you can watch all the action unfold!

I’m a Loyal Leafs, Cubs, and Cowboys fan for decades. I wear the C for The Fake Hockey, in addition to contributing to The Fake Baseball and The Fake Football in more of a Timmy Try Hard role.  You can also find my weekly fantasy baseball preview here at davidgonos.com and can reach me on Twitter @naparker77.