Fantasy Football 2014: Mock Draft Tips, Strategy and Cheat Sheet

You asked for it—actually, I don't think anyone specifically requested this article—and now you have it: Timothy (call me Tim, please) Rapp's ultimate cheat sheet, strategy and mock draft guide. We probably could have crammed a few more enticing phrases in the title, but I'm pretty sure we have your attention. 

Below, I'm going to slap you in the face with a flurry of fantasy information. Sleepers? We've got sleepers. Rankings? I've got some of those, too. Links to other fantasy articles I've written? You better believe it. Random thoughts? More than you would either want or need.

This is the real deal, folks. So kick back, have a beer (or a cup of tea, whatever floats your boat) and get your knowledge on. 

Notes: Average draft position were determined by using the Fantasy Pros' aggregate ranking of average draft position from ESPN, CBS, NFL.com and Yahoo leagues. The following content is for standard-scoring leagues only, because I have serious philosophical issues with PPR leagues. Sorry, not sorry.

Top 30 Players

Draft Slot	Player	Team	Position
1	LeSean McCoy	Philadelphia Eagles	RB
2	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings	RB
3	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs	RB
4	Matt Forte	Chicago Bears	RB
5	Peyton Manning	Denver Broncos	QB
6	Marshawn Lynch	Seattle Seahawks	RB
7	Jimmy Graham	New Orleans Saints	TE
8	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions	WR
9	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers	RB
10	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints	QB
11	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers	QB
12	Arian Foster	Houston Texans	RB
13	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals	WR
14	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos	WR
15	Doug Martin	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	RB
16	Zac Stacy	St. Louis Rams	RB
17	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys	WR
18	Brandon Marshall	Chicago Bears	WR
19	DeMarco Murray	Dallas Cowboys	RB
20	Alfred Morris	Washington	RB
21	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons	WR
22	Matt Stafford	Detroit Lions	QB
23	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers	QB
24	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers	RB
25	Jordy Nelson	Green Bay Packers	WR
26	Montee Ball	Denver Broncos	RB
27	Randall Cobb	Green Bay Packers	WR
28	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers	WR
29	Julius Thomas	Denver Broncos	TE
30	Alshon Jeffery	Chicago Bears	WR

Favorite Value Sleepers

Player	Position	Team	ADP
Cam Newton	QB	Carolina Panthers	52
Robert Griffin III	QB	Washington	55
Ryan Mathews	RB	San Diego Chargers	37
Rashad Jennings	RB	New York Giants	50
Ray Rice	RB	Baltimore Ravens	69
Trent Richardson	RB	Indianapolis Colts	72
Stevan Ridley	RB	New England Patriots	81
Wes Welker	WR	Denver Broncos	41
Victor Cruz	WR	New York Giants	43
Jeremy Maclin	WR	Philadelphia Eagles	76
Jordan Cameron	TE	Cleveland Browns	60

Favorite Breakout Sleepers

Player	Position	Team	ADP
Johnny Manziel	QB	Cleveland Browns	134
Toby Gerhart	RB	Jacksonville Jaguars	48
Bishop Sankey	RB	Tennessee Titans	58
Ben Tate	RB	Cleveland Browns	63
Michael Floyd	WR	Arizona Cardinals	62
T.Y. Hilton	WR	Indianapolis Colts	68
Kendall Wright	WR	Tennessee Titans	85
Terrance Williams	WR	Dallas Cowboys	97
Jordan Reed	TE	Washington	88
Zach Ertz	TE	Philadelphia Eagles	123

Favorite Deep Sleepers 

Player	Position	Team
Latavius Murray	RB	Oakland Raiders
John Brown	WR	Arizona Cardinals
Markus Wheaton	WR	Pittsburgh Steelers
Kelvin Benjamin	WR	Carolina Panthers
Ladarius Green	TE	San Diego Chargers
Devonta Freeman	RB	Atlanta Falcons
Teddy Bridgewater	QB	Minnesota Vikings

Don't stress over ADP here, save these players for late in your draft or even the waiver wire.

And Now, My Blatant Self-Promotion Section

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

For my full take on evaluating sleepers and how you should approach this staple of fantasy drafting, click here. 

For my article identifying one sleeper per every round of fantasy drafts (minus the first three rounds in 10-team leagues), click here.

For my general draft strategy for this season, click here.

For the way I generally feel after shamelessly plugging my own work, click here.

Random Thoughts

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

You've got quite the cheat sheet lined up thus far, I'd say. Now, I'll hit you with some random thoughts about fantasy (and probably some other things, too) that hopefully will help you this season. 

If ever there was a year to draft running backs with your first two picks, this is the year. There is a ton of depth at quarterback and wide receiver, but there is uncertainty at running back after last year was such a fickle season for the position and more and more teams take the running-back-by-committee approach. I'm not saying you should reach for a running back in those rounds, but don't be afraid to go RB-RB to start your draft.

If you are more in favor of drafting players who maximize value over others at their position, Jimmy Graham should absolutely be a top-six pick. In 12-man leagues last year, Graham averaged 8.1 more points per week than the best bench player at his position, Coby Fleener (here, "bench player" is defined as the 13th-best tight end in fantasy, since that player ideally wouldn't be started in fantasy leagues). Only Jamaal Charles (11.7), Peyton Manning (10.3), LeSean McCoy (9.7) and Matt Forte (9.0) had higher marks in 2013. 

Guardians of the Galaxy was the most fun I've had going to the movies in a long time. It managed to pull off the rare feat of poking fun at the superhero genre while being an entertaining film in its own right. If you haven't seen it, please do—I'm guessing you'll find it quite refreshing, too.

There are a lot of players that either suffered injuries or had down seasons last year who could really make your fantasy team strong this year. I'm really intrigued to see how Arian Foster, Doug Martin, Victor Cruz, Robert Griffin III, Jeremy Maclin, Julio Jones and C.J. Spiller respond. Most of them can be had at really good values.

Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

I don't know if the Arizona Cardinals can realistically get Andre Ellington 20 touches a game, but I love him as one of the biggest breakout candidates this season.

Is anybody else really hyped for the release of Destiny? Or FIFA 15? Or, course, Madden 15? Where my gamers at?

I think Marshawn Lynch's production will regress this year. He scares me as a top-10 pick. At some point, the wear and tear catches up to running backs.

Why would I take Julius Thomas over Rob Gronkowski? Because I no longer trust that the Gronk can consistently stay healthy. He's fast becoming the Darren McFadden of tight ends.

Preseason football is the worst. And yet I can't help but watch. This is a rough reenactment of what I look like while I do.

If all of the rookie quarterbacks ended up as their team's starters, this is the order I would put them in for fantasy purposes:

1. Johnny Manziel
2. Teddy Bridgewater
3. Blake Bortles
4. Derek Carr
5. There is no No. 5 you need to be concerning yourselves with.

Bishop Sankey will be the Fantasy Football Rookie of the Year.

Latavius Murray, a running back with the Oakland Raiders, will be the Waiver Wire MVP. 

LeSean McCoy will be the Fantasy Football MVP. I mean, the man eats, sleeps and dreams of football:

I don't know about you, but I'm still heartbroken about Robin Williams. He was the very definition of unique, the very definition of talented, the very definition of brilliant. He'll be sorely missed.

Andy Dalton will not be a top-five fantasy quarterback this season. He won't be a QB1 at all, in fact. The addition of Hue Jackson as offensive coordinator will make the team more balanced and they'll lean on the running game more than they did a year ago. Oh, and the following tweet from Peter Schrager of Fox Sports doesn't help:

It's always safer to draft players from consistently prominent offenses than teams who are generally poor. If you have a stockpile of Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints (just not the running backs!), Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and New England Patriots, you should be just fine.

No, I don't have any thoughts on coffee I'd like to share with you.

Have fantasy questions? Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer them and make some corny jokes, too. It's more fun than the ice-bucket challenge (but not not as rewarding).