Fantasy Football 2016: 10-Round Mock Draft, Team Names and More

Don't overreact to every preseason play when preparing for a 2016 fantasy football draft.

Remember when Sam Bradford went bonkers last August, prompting everyone to praise the Philadelphia Eagles as a juggernaut offense? Or when Ameer Abdullah turned heads in exhibition contests? Or when Brandon Coleman was going to morph into the New Orleans Saints' top target?

One week of games that actually count often mislead, so drafters should turn the volume down on most preseason chatter. Not everything is meaningless; this is a good time to monitor playing-time battles and guys returning from injuries. Pay no mind, however, to exhibition stats.

The best ways to get ready for draft day? Form personal rankings unique from the host site's default order. Also practice with as many mock drafts as possible. After looking at position-by-position rankings, let's train by breaking down a 12-team mock draft conducted with FantasyPros' Draft Wizard simulator. 

Rankings

Rank	QB	RB	WR	TE
1	Aaron Rodgers, GB	Todd Gurley, LA	Antonio Brown, PIT	Rob Gronkowski, NE
2	Cam Newton, CAR	David Johnson, ARI	Julio Jones, ATL	Jordan Reed, WAS
3	Russell Wilson, SEA	Adrian Peterson, MIN	Odell Beckham Jr., NYG	Greg Olsen, CAR
4	Drew Brees, NO	Lamar Miller, HOU	A.J. Green, CIN	Travis Kelce, KC
5	Andrew Luck, IND	Ezekiel Elliott, DAL	DeAndre Hopkins, HOU	Delanie Walker, TEN
6	Carson Palmer, ARI	Le'Veon Bell, PIT	Dez Bryant, DAL	Coby Fleener, NO
7	Ben Roethlisberger, PIT	Jamaal Charles, KC	Allen Robinson, JAC	Gary Barnidge, CLE
8	Tom Brady, NE	Mark Ingram, NO	Jordy Nelson, GB	Tyler Eifert, CIN
9	Eli Manning, NYG	Devonta Freeman, ATL	Brandon Marshall, NYJ	Zach Ertz, PHI
10	Philip Rivers, SD	LeSean McCoy, BUF	Brandin Cooks, NO	Antonio Gates, SD
11	Blake Bortles, JAC	Doug Martin, TB	Demaryius Thomas, DEN	Julius Thomas, JAC
12	Tony Romo, DAL	C.J. Anderson, DEN	Alshon Jeffery, CHI	Zach Miller, CHI
13	Kirk Cousins, WAS	Eddie Lacy, GB	Keenan Allen, SD	Dwayne Allen, IND
14	Matthew Stafford, DET	Carlos Hyde, SF	Mike Evans, TB	Martellus Bennett, NE
15	Tyrod Taylor, BUF	Matt Forte, NYJ	Randall Cobb, WR, GB	Jimmy Graham, SEA

Mock Draft

Round	No.	Pick	Notes
1	10	Rob Gronkowski, TE, NE	A "let's see what happens" pick.
2	15	Le'Veon Bell, RB, PIT	Risky, but he's a top-five fantasy player when active and healthy.
3	34	Demaryius Thomas, WR, DEN	Has averaged 100 catches, 1,446 yards and 10 touchdowns over each of the last four seasons.
4	39	Randall Cobb, WR, GB	Jordy Nelson's return should spark a bounce-back year.
5	58	Donte Moncrief, WR, IND	Scored a touchdown in five of seven games with Andrew Luck last year.
6	63	Matt Jones, RB, WAS	Has the talent and role to deliver value as a No. 2 RB.
7	82	DeAngelo Williams, RB, PIT	Will perform as a No. 1 RB in four games without Bell, who is no guarantee to stay healthy all year.
8	87	Tyler Lockett, WR, SEA	Flashed major upside during Seattle's late-season passing explosion.
9	106	Charles Sims, RB, TB	Averaged 4.9 YPC and caught 51 passes last year. A potential star if Doug Martin goes down.
10	111	Tony Romo, QB, DAL	Could have waited longer if doing more rounds. Should pair with Carr/Stafford/Cousins/Taylor for insurance.

Is Rob Gronkowski in Round 1 the right call? Maybe, maybe not, but it's not something this writer has done before. Mock drafts are for experimentation, and the New England Patriots stud doesn't always last to No. 10.

Why not see what happens?

He's not just the best tight end. He's the best tight end by a mile. ESPN Stats & Info highlighted the massive scoring difference between him and the position's next top scorers:

The choice lifted the burden of rummaging through the pile of interchangeable options late in the draft, but it also took away an opportunity to snag a star rusher or wideout. This made selecting the suspended Le'Veon Bell especially risky, and that daring choice necessitated purchasing expensive handcuff DeAngelo Williams in Round 7.

Yet the active one is a worthy top rusher. Bell registered 692 total yards and 83 ESPN.com fantasy points in six games last year. Over 16 games, he would have finished second in scoring among running backs behind Devonta Freeman.

Williams, meanwhile, placed fourth despite returning to an afterthought when Bell played. In 10 games without the 24-year-old starter, the veteran understudy recorded 1,121 of his 1,274 total yards and all 11 touchdowns.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press/Associated Press

In an alternative universe where Bell was suspended or injured for the entire season, Williams is a late-first, early-second round target.

Waiting until Round 3 for a wide receiver is risky these days, but there's depth to absorb even without a top-10 stud. For a guy who caught 105 passes for 1,304 yards last season, Demaryius Thomas isn't getting much attention. He's the No. 16 wideout in FantasyPros' expert consensus rankings.

He has now caught over 90 passes for more than 1,300 yards in each of the last four seasons. However, his double-digit touchdown streak was snapped last year, and drafters are probably concerned over the Denver Broncos' shaky quarterback situation.

ESPN.com's Tristan H. Cockcroft assuaged those worries by illuminating Thomas' consistency despite last season's turmoil under center:

"

Demaryius Thomas reminder: Denver QBs had the 4th-fewest FPTS of any team in 2015; Thomas 10-of-16 in WR top 25 & was WR13 for the season.

— Tristan H. Cockcroft (@SultanofStat) August 14, 2016"

Randall Cobb also has an outside chance of returning to top-10 receiver status. Miscast as the Green Bay Packers' No. 1 receiver last year, he'll return to the slot with Jordy Nelson back as Aaron Rodgers' deep target. 

During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, courtesy of its Twitter account, Cobb expressed his eagerness to bounce back:

In 2014, he caught 91 passes for 1,287 yards and a dozen touchdowns. At the least, gamers can enjoy a high workload from someone targeted 255 times over the past two years.

Perhaps the real key to this unit shining, Donte Moncrief scored five touchdowns in seven games with Andrew Luck last season. He floundered once the star quarterback went down, but the 23-year-old has a golden opportunity to break out as the Indianapolis Colts' No. 2 receiver.

Everyone else knows this, so he won't come cheap on draft day.

Team Names

Mama Said Gronk You Out	A Team Has No Name
Mean Gurleys	Les Cousins Dangereux
Hurns to You, Allen Robinson	Mr. Peanut Butter Tillman
Free Lamar Miller	Don't Go Chasin' Watt or Foles

Look, you wouldn't choose your baby's name based on something a stranger wrote online, right? Every fantasy football team is your baby. It's a precious gift and the center of your attention, but nobody else wants to hear you talk about it.

Nothing bad will happen if you call a team Turn Down for Watt, Stafford Infection or Scooby Drew Brees Do. Just know those names are as common as James, Michael and Emily. 

No matter how much your friends, family and significant other nod politely, nobody else truly cares about your fantasy football team. It's your baby, so the name should mean something to you. Without knowing what makes you tick, you won't find the best answer on a list someone else crafted.

But if you're looking for a clever football pun, this Reddit thread has some good ideas floating around in between some vulgar suggestions. (Also way too many "Make Fantasy Football Great Again" pitches. Nope. It already is.)

Some of the suggestions above come from there. Another in an obscure Arrested Development reference for Kirk Cousins supporters already tired of "You like that." Another comes from a bitter manager who got eliminated from the playoffs because the Miami Dolphins suddenly forgot they had Lamar Miller on their team after a dominant first half in Week 14.

Sorry, nobody cares about what happened to someone else's fantasy team.