2016 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: Post NFL Draft mock draft

I would normally have passed on Brees, who likely won’t be there in Round 7 in most formats, but as you’re well aware, quarterbacks fall in our drafts. But no one else stood out, and I didn’t want to settle for Frank Gore, Danny Woodhead, Charles Sims or Kevin White. Instead, I went with Brees, and I wanted to see what my Saints, er, Fantasy team would look like.

The starting lineup is legit as long as New Orleans continues to be an offensive juggernaut (minus Week 5 when the Saints are on a bye), and I like the reserves in Kenyan Drake, who is the handcuff for Ajayi, Dorial Green-Beckham, Phillip Dorsett, DeAndre Washington, Theo Riddick and Chris Hogan. Green-Beckham, Dorsett, Washington and Hogan are all sleeper candidates this year, and Riddick has a solid role with the Lions as their third-down back.

I wouldn’t plan on hitching your Fantasy wagon to one team, but the Saints are a good option if you want to go that route. We’re not playing out this league, but I’m beyond curious to see what the end result would be with this team.

As for the rest of the results, this was our first mock draft following the NFL Draft, so this can be an early guide of where some of the rookies will land for Fantasy owners. Ezekiel Elliott was drafted first in Round 1, which is a fair spot for him, although I’d rather see him slide to Round 2. He’s definitely being drafted in the first 15 overall picks in any format.

Sterling Shepard and Corey Coleman were the next rookies off the board in Round 7, and C.J. Prosise, Derrick Henry, Devontae Booker and Kenneth Dixon were drafted in Round 8. The biggest steal among the rookies was Laquon Treadwell in Round 10 – after Shepard, Coleman, Josh Doctson and Michael Thomas. Treadwell can easily be the best rookie receiver this season.

The first three rounds of this draft were receiver heavy with 18 selected in the first 36 picks. There were 15 running backs drafted over that span, along with Rob Gronkowski at No. 6 overall, and Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton went in Round 3. All of this should be expected since receivers are safe and just as dominant as running backs coming into this season.

There were three owners who went WR-WR with their first two picks (Jeff Tobin, Will Brinson and Meron Berkson), and you should follow their teams to see if this strategy appeals to you. There also were three owners who went RB-RB with their first two picks (Dave Richard, George Maselli and Peter Madden), and you should see if that’s something you like as well.

This is the time of year to experiment with different strategies in a mock draft. And you never know what plan you’ll like and end up using when your real draft is here.

In this league, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, K, DST and a FLEX (RB/WR/TE). There will also be six reserve spots for a 15-round draft.

Finally, the reunion we’ve deserved since 2009 is in the works.

On Monday, the Bears and Patriots announced that they’re teaming up for two days of joint practices in New England on Aug. 15-16 before they meet for a preseason gamelater that week. And that means a few awkward pairings might be on the horizon.

First up: Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

This is the messy one.

(Favre is different from Manning because he actually did waffle all over the place when it came to leaving the game — people legitimately thought he might try and take the football at halftime last year when he had his number retired at Lambeau Field.)

Manning’s also getting heat because he hasn’t immediately leaped into another vocation. He’s enjoying his time off and doesn’t plan on immediately becoming a broadcaster/coach/executive.

He’s staying busy per Archie, though, which helps ease the sting of not being involved in football. Until the NFL offseason really ramps up anyway.