It’s never too early to begin preparation for the next fantasy football season. Free Agency is almost over, and for the most part all of the big names have signed somewhere or are planning on signing somewhere soon. That means the next big milestone for this season is going to be the NFL Draft which is coming up on May 8th, so the timing couldn’t be any better for to release my Fantasy Football 2014 Mock Draft 1.0. I’m going to be doing a 10 team mock draft, as if I were the only owner of the 10 teams in the draft, I will break down every pick and tell you why I’m taking the player I’ve just picked, this will also let you in on my early strategies for the 2014 fantasy football season. I’m going to be showing you all what I would do for the first 5 rounds in a fantasy football draft, as of today. So no rookies will be in this mock draft, I’m going to pretend that all unsigned free agency are still on their old teams too.

This draft is going to be done under standard scoring, so in other words, no ppr (points per reception). Also, i’m not going to keep track of who I’m drafting, so one team may have four running backs, but that isn’t the point, I’m doing this to show you when it’s appropriate to take certain players.

Round 1

1. Jamaal Charles- Jamaal Charles busted out in 2013, and I see more of the same in 2014. He seems to love the type of offense that Andy Reid runs and I see no signs of him slowing down. The one thing that does worry me about Jamaal is that some of the offensive linemen on the Chiefs have signed elsewhere in free agency, so that could make his job a little bit harder than it was in 2014, but lets not forget that he did have 70 receptions in 2013, so even if his line is bad, they can always dump it off to him in the flats and watch him go to work.

2. Adrian Peterson- After a monstrous 2012, AD came back down to earth a little bit in 2013. He was hit with an injury bug and that sidelined him for a couple of games in 2013, but something great happened to the Minnesota Vikings this offseason… Norv Turner! Norv Turner always has provided huge fantasy seasons for all of his players, and he is going to treat Peterson well in 2014. Even with everything bad that happened to AD, he still was able to finish 8th in fantasy points among RB’s last season.

3. LeSean McCoy- Shady McCoy had a fantastic season under Chip Kelly, he claimed his first ever rushing title in the NFL and he is due for many more great seasons. McCoy did great under Kelly’s power run offense, I know that most of us really didn’t think that’s how the offense in Philly would work, but it did. They ran the ball inside the tackles A LOT in 2013 and I see more of the same for them in 2014. If Philly does cut or trade DeSean Jackson then I think McCoy’s fantasy value will go up more than it already has.

4. Matt Forte- Forte posted a career high 1,339 rushing yards in 2013, and he did a great job in the receiving department too, with 74 receptions and 594 receiving yards. The addition of coach Mark Trestman really helped Forte, he was the main focus of their offence and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. The best thing about Forte is that he is such a great receiver, there is no way that any defense is going to be able to lock down Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, and Matt Forte.

5. Eddie Lacy- Lacy had a huge rookie season in 2013, he even missed some time due to injuries and lets not forget that he didn’t have his QB Arron Rodgers for some of the season due to injury. Lacy turned on the furry on all defenses in the later part of the season, from week 10 on he out scored every running back in the NFL. My favorite part about Lacy is that he does better with Aaron Rodgers under center. Defenses cannot stop everything, so if you have a healthy Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, Aaron Rodgers, and Eddie Lacy, one of those guys are bound to have a nice fantasy day, and normally is it going to be Lacy, just because people are not going to want Rodgers to light them up for 400+ passing yards every game.

6. Marshawn Lynch- I get that Beast Mode is getting older, but he can still run the rock, and he is only 27. Lynch plays on an offense that isn’t going to take the most risk, they want to run the ball, maybe do some read option, and then once every now and then they’ll try to burn you with some play action. Lynch is their workhorse, for now, he is 27 and I really see them lightening the load for him next season, maybe working in Turbin for some 3rd downs or if they’re up by 14 in the 4th quarter they could get Turbin to go do the dirty work. Seattle is going to try to keep Lynch healthy for a big playoff push, and that is why I have him at 6, not 3.

7. Le’Veon Bell- Bell is going to end up on a lot of my teams for the 2014 campaign, he played in only 13 games as a rookie, but he proved how successful he can be in those games, he averaged about 13 points a game, and I really believe that he is going to be the main focus of their offense in 2014. He is a guy that can play on every down, and every scenario, so if it’s 3 goal and the ball is at the 2, expect to see Bell out there.

8. Clavin Johnson JR- Megatron, everyone seems to love this guy, I have been is some many leagues where he is picked way above his value, but if you have a pick late in the first round I’d highly advise picking him up. Golden Tate is really going to help Megatron out, and I think that this could be his best fantasy season yet. The Lions signed Jim Caldwell to be there new OC his season, and he as always been a pass first type of guy, so expect a HUGE season from Megatron.

9. Jimmy Graham- Jimmy Graham was franchised tagged by the Saints, as a tight end, and he didn’t like that one bit. Graham has a lot to play for now, a little extra motivation to get even bigger numbers than before and I think he will do just that. The Saints are a well balanced team, but once they get into the redzone we all know that Drew Brees is always going to be looking for Graham first. In 2013 he had 16 TD receptions, that is unheard of, and I see him doing even better than that in 2014, it’s just too hard for corners to cover him, and he’s too fast for linebackers.

10. DeMarco Murray- If the Cowboys would really commit to running the ball, they’d be a much better team. Last year was probably Murray’s best season as a pro, but they just don’t trust him. He did such a great job in 2013 that I think the Cowboy’s will finally realize his value and make him the focus of their offensive attack. If he doesn’t get hurt, expect a big 2014 from DeMarco Murray.

Round 2

11. Knowshawn Moreno- Moreno was one of the biggest sleeper picks in last years draft (yes I called it) but it’s going to be hard for him to repeat his number from 2013. The best case scenario for fantasy owners is that he will go to the Dolphins, and if he does I’d take him around 7th overall, but if he stays in Denver I see him as a second round pick. Moreno will still be there go to guy, but they’re going to start working Ball into the offense more and more.

12. Demaryius Thomas- Thomas is Peyton Manning’s favorite target, and that is music to every fantasy owners ears, anytime you are the go to receiver on the best offense in the NFL, you’re going to be a high pick. Thomas seems to always find away to beat his man, no matter what route he is running. If Thomas can keep finding his way into the endzone like he did win 2013 when he had 14 TD grabs, I see no reason not to draft him this high.

13. Josh Gordon- Gordon is a playmaker, but the Browns have huge question marks. The signing of Ben Tate is really going to help Gordon get defenses to play up to stop the run and he will burn him deep, but the Browns need a QB. If Cleveland drafts a QB I really see Gordon repeating his 2013, but if they don’t it will be very hard, teams will start to double team him and they will plan directly around him.

14. Zac Stacy- Stacy isn’t a really flashy runner, but ever since that Monday Night Football game in St. Louis vs the Seattle Seahawks when he went off, he has proved he can be a consistent running back for any fantasy team. Jeff Fisher is going to make young guys better, and Stacy is young, the Rams also have a couple of high draft picks that should help free Stacy up even more. The one thing I really love about Stacy is that you know he is going to get a solid number of touches, especially around the goal line.

15. Brandon Marshall- Marshall loves Cutler, and Cutler loves Marshall. These two have been hooking up ever since their days in Denver, and it should continue another season in Chicago. Alshon Jeffery took away from Marshall’s production in 2013, but Jay Cutler wasn’t under center, it was Josh McCown. If Cutler can stay healthy I think Marshall will have a huge 2014.

16. A.J. Green- A.J. Green had a solid 2013, but his supporting cast is suspect to say the least. Andy Dalton really scares me, I know that Dalton was a top 5 fantasy QB last year, but that was mainly due to big games vs teams that were horrible, or down at the time they played him. I am not doubting Green’s ability to be a fantastic fantasy player, I’m just questioning that the Bengals can get him into spots to succeed.

17. Julio Jones- Earlier in the offseason I was low on Jones, but then it hit me, before Jones got knocked out for the season with an injury, he was the leading fantasy wide receiver! The Falcons are going to have a deadly offense, it’ll be a pick your poison type of team, do you want Steven Jackson to run on you, do you want Roddy White to eat you up on medium routes, or do you want Jones to burn you deep? If Julio can keep his feet under him he’ll do just fine in 2014.

18. Dez Bryant- Bryant is a nut case, but he is a nut case that can play football. If Bryant had a better relationship with Tony Romo I’d have him higher up on my list, but he doesn’t really get along with Romo, and it shows on the field. Dez has crazy talent and he is going to find the endzone a lot, he’s too big for these little corner’s that most teams have, but he’s too inconsistent to have any higher than this.

19. Doug Martin- Martin was a great surprise in 2012, he came onto the scene and preformed well, until he was injured in 2013, but even before that his play wasn’t up to par with the season before. Hopefully Lovie Smith can help get Martin back on track in 2014, but he is going to be a high risk, high reward type of pick.

20. Giovani Bernard- Bernard was another rookie running back that had a solid 2013, but the Bengal’s scare him, just like I said with AJ Green. Bernard is mainly used in the passing game, but I think that they will use him more in the running game now that he does have a season under his belt. Look for Bernard to be a guy that goes under the radar in 2014, he should give you a consistent amount of production all season long.

Round 3

21. Peyton Manning- Manning had arguably the best fantasy of all time last year, but QB’s are super deep, and I wouldn’t be caught dead taking one before the 3rd round. Manning should have the type of season he had last year, maybe a little less production, but I still see him giving defenses headaches all year long. If his neck doesn’t act up he should be the highest scoring fantasy player in 2014.

22. Arian Foster- Arian Foster is older, and he was injured last year, two things I hate looking at when I’m about to draft a player, but he has upside. Foster is going to be the man in Houston, they may not even take a QB with the first overall pick, and if they do, he’ll go through growing pains which is going to lead to more Foster carries. The RB pool isn’t deep at all in 2014, and that’s part of the reason he is up this high, but he has proved that he can be an elite running back, and it’s worth the risk. Even if Foster doesn’t put up the numbers they want, he’ll still start, they don’t really have the best back up RB’s in the world.

23. Ryan Mathews- Mathews was a guy that I tried to stay away from in fantasy leagues, but after his performance last year that all changed. He broke out, in a huge way! At the end of the season all the Chargers were doing was getting him the ball and letting him make cuts. Also the emergence of Keenan Allen really helped take pressure of off their running game. It is really going to be interesting to see how they handle newly signed free agent Donald Brown too.

24. Drew Brees- Brees is a man of consistency, every year he keeps putting up crazy numbers, even if his team doesn’t win the game he normally still manages to get around 20 fantasy points. If you want to take a safe pick at any point in the draft I’d recommend taking Drew Brees.

25. Aaron Rodgers- Rodgers really didn’t have that bad of a season even with the injury that he had. He missed 7 games and still was able to throw for 17 TD’s, if he can keep his shoulder healthy he will be fine, and in a recent interview he had he also stated that there should be no lingering effects on his shoulder in 2014.

26 Antonio Brown- Brown also had a break out 2013, catching 110 passes for 8 TD’s. This Steelers had a really young offense at skill positions and they struggled early in the season, but once they got in the swing of things they started thrashing people later on, and that’s what I expect him to do in 2014. Brown is by far Big Ben’s favorite target, so he would be a great pick in the 3rd round.

27. Alshon Jeffery- Jeffery killed it in 2013! He broke out once Jay Cutler was knocked out with an injury, and he really formed a nice bond with Josh McCown, but McCown isn’t their QB anymore and that is going to hurt Jeffery. In there last two games he caught 9 passes for 156 yards and 0 TD’s. Those aren’t bad numbers, but they aren’t great either. He is going to continue to be the number two wide receiver in their offense. A method I really like is drafting both Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, both can light it up and you’re going to get 90% of the Bears passing offense this way.

28. Ben Tate- Tate is going to be a risky pick, but he is worth the roll of the dice. It’s hard to tell what he is going to do for the Browns this early in the offseason, but one thing is for sure, the kid has talent. Tate does have some injury problems, which scares me a little bit, but if the Browns draft a QB in the first round I think that this will be a great place to snag Ben Tate. He should really come into his own here and I am expecting big numbers from him.

29. Randall Cobb- Cobb was doing great before he injured his knee in a game vs the Ravens last year, but once he came back he made a huge impact. Injuries are something that ever player is going to have to deal with in football, it happens, it is a collision sport. I wouldn’t worry too much about his knee injury, it didn’t really effect him in the games he played in to close out the Packers 2013 season, so I don’t see it effecting him in 2014, at all.

30. Reggie Bush- Bush is scary, a guy that is always hurt, but last year he did a great job with the Lions. He finished 11th in standard scoring leagues, but I don’t think that the Jim Caldwell signing is going to help him. If Caldwell can make Ray Rice a fantasy dud then he can make anyone a fantasy dud. Bush is due for a set back in 2014.

Round 4

31. Jordy Nelson- Nelson struggled in 2013, but that was highly due to the injury that Aaron Rodgers had. Nelson only had one TD catch the whole time Rodgers was out, when Rodgers was at QB he had 7, that alone shows that he is going to preform when the Packers have a healthy Rodgers under center.

32. Keenan Allen- Allen was the best rookie receiver last year, and he is the go to guy in the Chargers passing attack, but the Chargers have really developed into a power running team.

33. Ray Rice- Gary Kubiak is going to bring his zone blocking rushing attack into Baltimore, and that is really going to help Rice a ton! Most people are going to remember the season that Rice had last year and think “no way am I drafting this bum!” but a new OC is just what the doctor ordered for Rice. He should get back on track in 2014.

34. Pierre Garcon- Garcon is always going to get the most targets from RGIII, but he has really improved each year that he has been in the league. Garcon is going to drop a lot of passes, so if you like watching your fantasy players play, this will cause you some frustration, but he is such a deep threat that he is going to get you points, even if they are a little inconsistent.

35. Andrew Luck- Luck is all set to have a monster 2014. The Colts have added new players on each side of the ball and also signed wide receiver Hakeem Nicks to help Luck out. They now have one of the most dynamic offenses in all of football and Luck is going to engineer them to success, if he can cut down on the turn overs I could even see him breaking the top 3 in fantasy points for 2014, plus don’t forget about his ability to run the ball too.

36. Montee Ball- Ball is going to be a nice sleeper pick in 2014. The reason that Denver didn’t start Ball wasn’t because he couldn’t run or catch, it was because he couldn’t block in the passing game. He has improved in that department and is set to take the NFL by storm in 2014.

37. Roddy White- Roddy was the number one option in the ATL, but those days have changed, but he is still going to put up good fantasy numbers. White is older than most would like but he can still get the job done, that is, if he doesn’t get injured.

38. Andre Johnson- Johnson is old, he is going to be 33 next season and he struggles to find the endzone, he only had 5 TD grabs in all of 2013, and those 5 TD grabs came in back to back games. Sure, he wasn’t really catching balls from the best QB’s in the league, so his stats don’t really do him justice, but he will need to improve in many areas to have a sustainable 2014 season.

39. Alfred Morris- A new coach isn’t what Morris wanted. Morris is a power runner, he is going to want to run the ball right at the defense, but I don’t think that is what is going to happen in Washington with new coach Jay Gruden.

40. Vincent Jackson- Jackson is going to love the addition of new QB Josh McCown. McCown loves throwing it up to bigger receivers in the endzone, and Jackson is just that. This is going to be Jackson best season in Tampa Bay yet, and even though he is older, he is really going to produce.

Round 5

41. Wes Welker- Welker is getting old, and he seems to find ways to always get hurt, but still in round 5 if you can find a guy with the type of numbers that he can put up, then it’s worth the risk. Welker was Manning’s favorite target at the beginning of 2013, but then came Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker to ruin his party.

42. DeSean Jackson- I’m really taking a shot in the dark here, Jackson probably isn’t going to be back with the Eagles in 2014, so until then we really don’t know what type of role he is going to play, but one thing is for sure, Jackson has talent and if you can get him to focus on football he can be an elite receiver on any team.

43. Julius Thomas- Orange Julius had a crazy 2013, the first game of the season he came out of know where, but the even crazier thing is that he remained consistent with his production throughout 2013, he is a really safe pick, and the only tight end I’d take over him is Jimmy Graham.

44. Nick Foles- Foles is a very safe pick, not a guy that is going to force anything, he rarely throws INT’s, but the Eagles are a running team so is potential for points is going to be limited. Normally you can expect about 15+ points from him a week which is a solid number for a QB is late in the draft. Plus this is going to be his first offseason working with the number one group in Philly, that will also give him a chance to build up more chemistry with guys.

45. CJ Spiller- I know, Spiller was a huge bust in 2013, I drafted him in one league and I was kicking myself for it each and every Sunday, but the Bills can only ride Fred Jackson for so long, and Spiller is a freak athlete, if he keeps getting opportunists he is going to find ways to help himself and the Bills offense out. He is a big play guy, so if you need a flex play, here is your guy.

46. Eric Decker- Decker is a risky pick, he is on a new team, with a defensive minded coach, and now that team is going to have a QB controversy with the signing of Michael Vick. I don’t think that Decker is a number one wide receiver, he was a great second option in Denver, but now that he is going to have guys like Revis and Sherman on him it is going to be really hard for him to repeat the amount of success he had in 2013.

47. Rob Gronkowski- Gronk is a great player, when he is healthy. He seems to always find away to get injured, and I’m sure that he’ll find a way to do it again in 2014, but when he plays he puts up huge numbers. He is by far Tom Brady’s favorite redzone target, so he is worth a pick this late in the draft, just make sure to take a back up tight end along with him.

48. Frank Gore- It is going to be hard to pass up a starting running back this late in the draft. I’m going to keep drafting Gore until he totally falls apart. he may be old, but he proved that he can still put up some fantasy points when given the opportunity, sure the wheels are going to fall off the bus sometime, but he’s worth the pick in round 5.

49. Andre Ellington- With the early retirement of Rashard Mendenhall, Andre Ellington is going to be the starting running back for the Cardinals in 2014. I would have to say that the Cardinals are going to have multiple running backs, similar to what they had last year and that will cut into Ellington’s carries, but I’d still expect him to get about 70% of the touches in Arizona.

50. T.Y. Hilton- T.Y. stepped up when Reggie Wayne went down with an ACL on Sunday Night Football. Hilton and Luck have an uncanny way of hooking up for deep bombs and make secondaries look foolish. Hilton keeps getting better and better, and with Wayne nearing the end of his career his production should increase even more, also the signing of Nicks is really going to help him out.

If you want to chat about fantasy football with me at anytime feel free to hit me up on twitter @ThaFantasyBros I will answer any questions you have.