Best Available Options Alfred Morris RB WAS Jordy Nelson WR GB Antonio Brown WR PIT Alshon Jeffery WR CHI Reggie Bush RB DET Randall Cobb WR GB Julius Thomas TE DEN C.J. Spiller RB BUF Andre Ellington RB ARI

You’re on the Clock: Mock Draft Analysis

Details: 12 Man League

Scoring: Standard

Roster Size: 16

Starting Line-up: QB, 2RB, 3WR, TE, K, DEF

Gridiron Experts popular Mock Draft Analysis piece called “You’re On The Clock“ is back! The concept is simple, a group of our writers will be given a scenario and asked their opinion to make the next pick in a fantasy football draft. Let’s see what our writers did with picks 2.12 and 3.1 following the selection of Jamaal Charles at #1 overall…

Having the first overall pick comes with its fair share of difficulties. Sure you landed the best RB on the board, but if you don’t plan accordingly with your first set of back to back picks you’re starting lineup will have holes that will be difficult to fill. With Manning, Rodgers and Brees off the board, it’s far too early to look at a tier two quarterback. At this point in the draft, there are 13 running backs already selected, so you can either get a fringe tier 2 RB now, or gamble on a quality tier 3 RB later on. It may sound a bit melodramatic, but if these two picks turn out to be duds, you’re whole team could suffer. With that logic, I want easy productive players that find the end zone often and are on high scoring teams. Jordy Nelson is a quality pick at 2.12 and a player like Alshon Jeffery makes for an excellent duo. I would target the best QB and RB on the board when I picked again.

Mike Picks: Jordy Nelson and Alshon Jeffery

I love Jordy Nelson at this spot. It’s a toss-up for me between Nelson and Alshon Jeffery here, but I’m going with Nelson. He has the better quarterback, more experience and a deeper supporting cast of receivers. Nelson tallied career highs with 85 catches and 1,314 yards last season, even with Aaron Rodgers only playing nine games. If Nelson can play a full season with Rodgers again like he did in 2011, he’ll be a Top 5 wide receiver. As for Alfred Morris, I’m really not all that high on him, but one of the most overrated strategies in fantasy football drafting is making the “boring” pick. Morris may seem like a boring pick, but over his first two seasons he’s averaged 1,444 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. If this was a a PPR draft I’d probably take Andre Ellington or C.J. Spiller, but I don’t mind taking Morris with the No. 25 pick.

Zach Picks: Jordy Nelson and Alfred Morris

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When on the clock, it is crucial to know three things: what you have, what you need and what is available. I drafted Jamaal Charles first overall, so I know I have an elite RB that is one of the better bets at that position to live up to his draft slot. That eliminates the option of drafting a RB for me because with the best options being guys like Alfred Morris and C.J. Spiller, I would rather use my pick on other positions as RBs are less likely to return value. With an elite RB on my team, I now need a QB, WRs and a TE. I cross QB off my list as I am a huge supporter of streaming QBs and with the three elite QBs off the board, there is no chance I am reaching for a player like Matthew Stafford this early. That leaves me with the options of WR and TE and that is exactly where I would go. Julius Thomas is clearly the second best TE in fantasy and he gives you a huge match-up advantage in head to head leagues on a weekly basis (unless you are playing a team with Graham) and I see him having a huge year with Decker gone and Welker having concussion issues. Next I go with Jordy Nelson, who when catching passes from Aaron Rodgers, has been a week in and week out WR1 with huge upside.

Sean Picks: Julius Thomas and Jordy Nelson

Although his output should decrease some in 2014, Alfred Morris still carries good value here as the lead back in a zone blocking scheme. While Jay Gruden does like to give a speedy running back some touches when he can, Morris is the bruiser and his lack of production in the passing game doesn’t hurt you in a non-PPR format. Despite the scarcity at the position, a duo of Morris and Charles provides you with a threatening one-two punch. Then, with your starting backfield set, you can move onto receiver and snag Jordy Nelson, who brings heavy production and big-play ability in a top-notch Green Bay offense. Nelson is arguably the best player available at this point in the draft and having already drafted your starting backfield, you’ll have solid options at other positions for your next picks.

Shae Picks: Alfred Morris and Jordy Nelson

You’ve probably heard enough about him now, so I’ll only say this about Jordy… This guy was a top 3 wide receiver when Aaron Rodgers was healthy. Whatever share of receptions he loses to Randall Cobb, he stands to gain some back from the departure of James Jones. Reggie Bush is a bit of an unconventional play here, but I really like Reggie in this system. The Lions added even more weapons in the passing game, so they should be able to spread ’em out and create some running and screen lanes for Reggie. Morris is the safe play here, but I love the upside of the slightly riskier player in Reggie Bush. Sure, Joique Bell spells him at times, but Reggie still managed to gain over 1,500 yards and find the end zone 7 times in only 14 games last season. He can definitely improve upon those stats as well.

Bob Picks: Jordy Nelson and Reggie Bush

With this being a standard league, it places more of a premium on running backs that churn out yards, rather than specialists that accumulate hollow stats catching a ton of dump-off passes on third-and-long. Alfred Morris has rushed for nearly 2900 yards and 20 touchdowns over each of the last two season. He’s also stayed healthy too – an important factor in the fantasy game. With two excellent runners, the other pick has to go to a top-notch pass catcher. Jordy Nelson was great last season, despite the horrible quarterbacking that Green Bay fans suffered through for nearly half a season. With Aaron Rodgers back, he’s a safe bet to have another huge season. If this were a PPR league, the picks would be Alshon Jeffery, Nelson, or Reggie Bush.

Jody Picks: Alfred Morris and Jordy Nelson

Jordy Nelson is an easy choice for me at #24. When he and Aaron Rodgers have been on the field together over the last three seasons, Nelson has been one of best receivers in the game. Following the offseason departure of James Jones from Green Bay, Nelson should build on last season’s career-high for targets, including extra looks in the red zone this year. With the first pick of the third round, I would go with Alfred Morris in this scenario. In an “disappointing” 2013, Morris still finished fourth in the league in rushing and even as Washington’s offense regressed from 27.2 points per game (4th in the league) to 20.9 points (ranked 23rd), Morris still managed seven touchdowns. He might not match the 1,600 yards and 13 touchdowns of his rookie season, but Morris is a good value pick at this point in the draft and I have him ranked well ahead of the remaining running backs.

Jason Picks: Jordy Nelson and Alfred Morris

I refuse to accept lesser versions of what other teams possess. Therefore, I wouldn’t take a running back at this moment. To me, Jordy is a no-brainer over the rest of the board. He’s the best chance for an elite season with regard to yardage and TDs. Alshon Jeffrey is tempting, but at the end of the day he still competes with Brandon Marshall for targets and Nelson gets to play with a superior quarterback. With my third pick, “Orange” Julius Thomas offers a chance for top-flight tight end numbers. He could lead his position in RZ targets and TDs in 2014. Last year Eric Decker had 23 RZ targets for the Broncos, while Thomas had 16 (Jimmy Graham had 24). Is there a fair chance Thomas gobbles up a large number of the RZ targets that Decker left behind? I think so. I am bullish on Thomas’ scoring potential in 2014.

Heath Picks: Jordy Nelson and Julius Thomas

I am the first to take C.J. Spiller here and I’m not all that surprised. Yet, I’m very happy to blaze that trail. Fantasy footballers are inherently over-reactive. Almost everyone is backing off Spiller after he burned so many who made him a top five pick last season. Still, he presents a good value here and I would argue for taking him ahead of several of the backs that went before him. He’s still incredibly talented and will be the primary pass catching running back in Buffalo. If he stays healthy, Spiller will be much closer to the six yards per carry player of 2012. With no TEs or QBs worth the pick and two RBs on my team, I’ll take Alshon Jeffery next. I considered Antonio Brown and Jordy Nelson, but Jeffery presents the best option. Since this is a standard scoring league, as opposed to a PPR format, I want the receiver with the most upside in the red zone. While Jeffery didn’t dominate there in 2013, his size and skill-set indicate there’s room for massive improvement. Of the three, Jeffery should score the most touchdowns.

Matt Picks: C.J. Spiller and Alshon Jeffery

How am I the first to go with Antonio Brown here? Sure, he’s a better pick in PPR leagues, but he was only second to Josh Gordon in receiving yards last year with 1,499. His 8 TDs could have been better, but he’s an elite WR and Big Ben looks his way a lot. As for Jordy Nelson, he’s just too good to pass up. He’s Aaron Rodgers’ most trusted receiver and should have a solid year. Alfred Morris was considered, but he seems like a bit of a forced pick in this spot. I really like the mid-round RBs that should be around this year like: Ray Rice, Ryan Mathews, Joique Bell/Reggie Bush and even rookie Bishop Sankey. Julius Thomas was very hard to pass-up, but I think TE is very deep this year and Thomas can be a little fragile. It’s Brown and Nelson for me, two elite WRs to go with last year’s landslide #1 RB.

Darren Picks: Antonio Brown and Jordy Nelson

Who Would You Pick?