Many fantasy football participants have already drafted, but there are many more in multiple leagues or waiting until the very last day before Week One kicks off in Seattle on Thursday. In HNGN's Mock Draft 3.0, we were given the third overall pick in a league of 12 participants and our results are likely to give you a good draft strategy of your own.
Below is the analysis of the ESPN Fantasy Football mock draft we conducted. As mentioned in the previous mock draft analyses, we'll be providing our picks as well as the picks directly before and after ours. The 'Worst Pick of the Round' will be documented in each of the first 14 rounds to further give you an idea of who was being selected at each point in time. We opt not to reveal every selection because it's better to think outside the box rather than have the entire draft laid out in front of you. Here are the draft picks with the third overall selection:
Round 1, Selection #3: Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson
Pick #2: Kansas City Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles
Pick #4: Chicago Bears RB Matt Forte
Worst Pick: Houston Texans RB Arian Foster - With a new coach and essentially no quarterback, I wouldn't have wasted a top-10 pick on Foster, especially since he's coming off a season in which he played only eight games.
Round 2, Selection #10: Chicago Bears WR Brandon Marshall
Pick #9: Denver Broncos RB Montee Ball
Pick #11: St. Louis Rams RB Zac Stacy
Worst Pick: I would have to go with Stacy here, solely because Rams beat reporters believe backup Benny Cunningham is going to eat into his workload, which is not a good sign for the 23rd overall selection.
Round 3, Selection #3: Washington Redskins RB Alfred Morris
Pick #2: New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski
Pick #4: Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown
Worst Pick: San Diego Chargers WR Keenan Allen - I don't doubt his talent, but Pierre Garcon and Larry Fitzgerald were selected right after him.
Round 4, Selection #10: Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford
Pick #9: New England Patriots RB Shane Vereen
Pick #11: Washington Redskins WR DeSean Jackson
Worst Pick: Atlanta Falcons WR Roddy White - The 10-year veteran had only 63 receptions for 711 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games last season, which was his worst season since 2006. The decline has begun.
Round 5, Selection #3: San Francisco 49ers TE Vernon Davis
Pick #2: New York Giants RB Rashad Jennings
Pick #4: Tennessee Titans WR Kendall Wright
Worst Pick: Indianapolis Colts RB Trent Richardson - He's averaged just 3.3 yards per carry in two seasons and carried the ball four times for one yard and a lost fumble in two postseason games last year.
Round 6, Selection #10: Philadelphia Eagles WR Jeremy Maclin
Pick #9: San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick
Pick #11: Buffalo Bills WR Sammy Watkins
Worst Pick: Sammy Watkins - Round 6 was too early to draft a rookie WR who had three catches in the preseason and has suffered two rib injuries in the past couple of weeks.
Round 7, Selection #3: Miami Dolphins RB Lamar Miller
Pick #2: Philadelphia Eagles QB Nick Foles
Pick #4: New Orleans Saints RB Pierre Thomas
Worst Pick: Baltimore Ravens TE Dennis Pitta - I think the Ravens might see Owen Daniels as a better receiving option as the season goes on, but that's unknown at this point. Greg Olsen, Jordan Reed and Martellus Bennett went after him, and I think they're all going to have better scoring seasons.
Round 8, Selection #10: Dallas Cowboys WR Terrence Williams
Pick #9: Washington Redskins TE Jordan Reed
Pick #11: Kansas City Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe
Worst Pick: Dwayne Bowe - As I've already mentioned in the previous mocks, Bowe has just 116 receptions for 1,474 yards and eight touchdowns in the past two seasons as the number one option. He's also suspended for one game, and Andy Reid will find other options if he underperforms or misbehaves.
Round 9, Selection #3: San Francisco 49ers RB Carlos Hyde
Pick #2: New Orleans Saints RB Khiry Robinson
Pick #4: Jacksonville Jaguars WR Cecil Shorts
Worst Pick: New England Patriots WR Danny Amendola - An injury-ridden player who has just 24 games under his belt over the past three seasons. If Gronk is as healthy as he says he is, I think Brady will be going to him and Edelman a lot more even if Amendola can stay on the field.
Round 10, Selection #10: Cincinnati Bengals D/ST
Pick #9: New York Giants WR Reuben Randle
Pick #11: New Orleans Saints WR Brandin Cooks
Worst Pick: Indianapolis Colts WR Hakeem Nicks - He had eight catches for 86 yards during the preseason, with five receptions and 53 yards coming in one game against the Giants. Nicks has been said to have motivation issues and we've seen his excessive injury woes, which have limited him to 109 receptions and three touchdowns over the past two seasons.
Round 11, Selection #3: Seattle Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin
Pick #2: San Diego Chargers RB Donald Brown
Pick #4: Oakland Raiders WR James Jones
Worst Pick: St Louis Rams WR Tavon Austin - Shaun Hill is taking over the offense and the team just claimed Case Keenum off waivers. Perhaps Round 11 isn't terrible value, but I wouldn't touch any WRs on the Rams.
Round 12, Selection #10: Philadelphia Eagles TE Zach Ertz
Pick #9: Tennessee Titans WR Dexter McCluster
Pick #11: Oakland Raiders RB Darren McFadden
Worst Pick: San Diego Charges TE Ladarious Green - He was selected before Antonio Gates and Gates is still the starter, but I suppose he's not a bad backup option for later in the season.
Round 13, Selection #3: Cincinnati Bengals RB Jeremy Hill
Pick #2: Miami Dolphins TE Charles Clay
Pick #4: Tennessee Titans TE Delanie Walker
Worst Pick: I surprisingly have no criticisms for the selections in this round.
Round 14, Selection #10: New York Giants QB Eli Manning
Pick #9: Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill
Pick #11: Tampa Bay Buccaneers D/ST
Worst Pick: Green Bay Packers WR Davante Adams - The #4 wide receiver on the depth chart? Floyd, Marquise Lee, and Kelvin Benjamin all went after him.
Round 15, Selection #3: Jacksonville Jaguars WR Marquise Lee
Pick #2: San Diego Chargers K Nick Novak
Pick #4: Buffalo Bills D/ST
Round 16, Selection #10: Minnesota Vikings K Blair Walsh
Pick #9: Chicago Bears K Robbie Gould
Pick #11: Houston Texans QB Ryan Mallett
So here's my full team:
QB: Matthew Stafford
RB: Adrian Peterson
RB: Alfred Morris
WR: Brandon Marshall
WR: Jeremy Maclin
TE: Vernon Davis
FLEX: Lamar Miller
D/ST: Bengals
K: Blair Walsh
BN: Terrence Williams
BN: Carlos Hyde
BN: Doug Baldwin
BN: Zach Ertz
BN: Jeremy Hill
BN: Eli Manning
BN: Marquise Lee