Welcome back to my 2017 fantasy mock draft….
Before we jump into round 3, check out rounds 1 and 2.
Paul’s 2017 Fantasy Mock Draft: Round 1
Paul’s 2017 Fantasy Mock Draft: Round 2
ROUND 3
Pick #25 – Allen Robinson
AR15 had a season to forget for fantasy owners in 2016. Coming into the season Robinson was a top 10 fantasy receiver. When the season was over guys like Adam Thielen finished with more fantasy points. You can’t keep a talent like him down, unless your quarterback sucks. Bortles does suck, but the expectation is he sucks a little less in 2017.
Pick #26 – Doug Baldwin
Honestly, why Doug Baldwin falls to the 3rd round is beyond me, but he will. This guy is the perennial underrated wide receiver in drafts over the last two season. All he did last year was finish in the top 10 for wide receiver fantasy points. Another season with 100+ targets, and he went over 1100 yards receiving and 7 TDs. A deal in the third round.
Pick #27 – Carlos Hyde
A bit of a gamble here at the 27th pick, and probably not the sexiest pick in your draft thus far. Combine Carlos Hyde’s natural talent with the offensive mind of Kyle Shanahan, and you could have fantasy gold. Last year under Chip Kelly ran for almost 1000 yards, added another 163 receiving yards and 9 total TDs. I expect even better in 2017.
Pick #28 – Rob Gronkowski
Coming into his 8th season in the NFL this all world talent tight end may be seeing his career ending quicker than he expected. With that being said, if he’s available in the 28th spot during my draft, he won’t make it to 29. The talent and opportunity alone give me enough reason to take a risk on him this early. Amazing to believe that we are talking about Gronk being a risk in the third-round. Unfortunately, that’s what happens when you haven’t played 16 games in a season since 2011.
Pick #29 – Amari Cooper
After finishing last year as the 12th best fantasy receiver, Amari could easily finish the 2017 season in the top 5. This really depends on how involved the Raiders keep Michael Crabtree. Cooper also needs to find the end zone more this year. He has the quarterback with the talent to throw him open and they love airing it out in Oakland. Last year Cooper finished the season with 83 catches, 1153 yards receiving and 5 touchdowns.
Pick #30 – Demaryius Thomas
Thomas fell back last year, but not as far as I had expected with the Denver quarterback issues. Depending on what Elway decides to do in the offseason will dictate if Thomas is better than a third-round pick. Even with inexperienced quarterbacks last year Demaryius finished with 90 catches, over 1000 yards receiving and 5 TDs.
Pick #31 – Brandin Cooks
This guy will probably go higher than this if he stays in NOLA, but I am still putting him behind Michael Thomas. Last year Cooks finished in the top 10 for fantasy points among receivers, but saw a lot of inconsistency from game to game. Hard to look at him as more than a fantasy WR2 or WR3 in 2017. Depending on if he ends up on a team that will depend on him could drive up his fantasy value.
Pick #32 – Kenneth Dixon
This guy may seem like a crazy pick here in the third-round, but I assure you by August he will be on fantasy radars. I’m just going to make you smart by giving you a chance to talk him up early. The Ravens are a run first team, contrary to popular belief. They found their guy late last year. His name is Kenneth Dixon. Dixon had double digit fantasy points in 5 of the last 8 weeks of the regular season.
Pick #33 – Adrian Peterson
“All-Day” has become “Yester-Day” in Minnesota and in fantasy. I said it before and I will say it again. Plenty of tread still on the tires and if he ends up in a place like New York and the Giants organization I expect them to ride the wheels off him. AP is a freak of nature. He has proven before, if you doubt his abilities, he will make you look stupid.
Pick #34 – Drew Brees
My second quarterback off the board goes to the last of the Tier 1 quarterbacks in fantasy. Brees has been mediocre at best for fantasy owners over the last 9 season. I mean if mediocre means unfreakin’ believable. In those same 9 season, Brees has thrown for over 5000 yards 5 times. He also has thrown for 30+ TDs in every one of those seasons. Yes, he is worthy of a third-round pick because he is a guarantee thing. You don’t get many of those in the third round.
Pick #35 – Keenan Allen
Breaking News! Keenan Allen expects to play an entire season in 2017. Something has not done one time in his 4-year career. If the Chargers can keep this guy healthy while Rivers is still young enough to throw the ball down field Allen can be elite. All the talent of a top tier wide receiver, just need the durability and little luck.
Pick #36 – LaGarrette Blount
The expectation is that the Patriots will hold on to Blount during the off-season. If that’s the situation, LaGarrette makes a great case to be drafted right here at #36. Even with a crowded back field in New England, Belichick and McDaniel found ways to make Blount a top 8 fantasy RB in 2016. An absolute touchdown machine, scoring 18 times and rushing for 1161 yards. This is a risk versus reward play.
This concludes Round 3 mock fantasy draft. This will be my final round of mock draft until early summer. I will, however, have my top 100 rankings up for 2017 fantasy football starting in April. I will refresh them weekly, so when it comes time for your draft, you will be prepared to dominate.
Use the comments section to let me know what you think of the first three rounds. What would you do differently? Which owner below has the best start to a team?
-Lipko
Twitter: @Paul_ThePAS