Fantasy Football 2018: 1st-Round Mock Draft Tips and Latest Consensus Rankings

When preparing for your NFL fantasy football mock draft, it's vital to understand what your opponents are thinking.

If you have been in the same league with your co-workers for five years or more, you may understand how your opponents think and prepare. You may know the player they will select before the name comes out of their mouth.

While many of us enjoy these leagues and hope to earn bragging rights around the office or in the neighborhood, it is also vital to know how the consensus views NFL skill-position personnel.

Anyone who participates in a daily game or any computer-driven league has to understand how others view the fantasy football landscape.

With that in mind, we present Fantasy Pros' consensus rankings of the top-40 players. The sharp player will go with his or her own selections, but it is important to know how the experts view the NFL and fantasy football. 

We follow with first-round tips that may help you get to the top of your league.

Tier 1

1. RB Todd Gurley, LAR
2. RB Le'Veon Bell, PIT
3. RB Ezekiel Elliott, DAL
4. RB David Johnson, ARI
5. WR Antonio Brown, PIT

Tier 2

6. RB Alvin Kamara, NO
7. WR DeAndre Hopkins, HOU
8. RB Saquon Barkley, NYG
9. WR Odell Beckham Jr., NYG
10. RB Melvin Gordon, LAC
11. RB Leonard Fournette, JAC
12. RB Kareem Hunt, KC
13. WR Julio Jones, ATL
14. WR Michael Thomas, NO

Tier 3

15. RB Dalvin Cook, MIN
16. WR Keenan Allen, LAC
17. WR A.J. Green, CIN
18. WR Davante Adams, GB
19. WR Devonta Freeman, ATL
20. RB Jordan Howard, CHI
21. RB Christian McCaffrey, CAR
22. TE Rob Gronkowski, NE
23. WR Mike Evans, TB
24. RB Joe Mixon, CIN
25. WR T.Y. Hilton IND

Tier 4

26. RB Jerick McKinnon, SF
27. WR Doug Baldwin, SEA
28. TE Travis Kelce, KC
29. WR Stefon Diggs, MIN
30. WR Tyreek Hill, KC
31. WR Adam Thielen, MIN
32. RB LeSean McCoy, BUF
33. RB Alex Collins, BAL
34. WR Amari Cooper, OAK
35. WR Larry Fitzgerald, ARI
36. RB Jay Ajayi, PHI
37. RB Kenyan Drake, MIA
38. RB Derrick Henry, TEN
39. TE Zach Ertz, PHI
40. WR Demaryius Thomas, DEN

First-Round Tips

Start off with the No. 1 pick. The consensus tells us that Todd Gurley is the selection over Le'Veon Bell, and a compelling argument can be made because Bell is still involved in a training-camp holdout as this is being written. The likelihood is that Bell will continue his holdout until days before the final preseason game or days before the season opener.

However, our recommendation is to go with Bell over Gurley in any season-long fantasy football league. Gurley is coming off a tremendous 2017 season in which he scored 13 rushing touchdowns and added six more as a receiver. However, that TD total was just six in the 2016 season. You may want to check the consistency box on Gurley, but you can't at this point.

That's something you can do with Bell, whether he is holding out or not. Bell has scored 42 touchdowns in 62 career games, and he will find the end zone regularly once he is in the lineup, no matter how long he holds out. 

If you are playing a cash game in Week 1, feel free to ignore Bell. However, he needs to be your choice in any season-long league, no matter what the consensus says.

Among the other Tier 1 players, you can feel confident over the selection of either Ezekiel Elliott or Antonio Brown. Elliott is a workhorse running back who is approaching the prime of his career as he starts his third season. He should come close to 1,300 rushing yards and score at least 12 touchdowns.

Brown is simply the best receiver in the game, and he is often at his best when the game or the season is on the line. He is a brilliant pass-pattern runner who displays courage and excellent hands on a consistent basis. He has averaged 116.4 receptions, 1,570 receiving yards and 10.4 receiving touchdowns over the last five years.

While all the Tier 1 players are sure things—although David Johnson is playing for a new head coach in Steve Wilks and in a new system—that is not the case in Tier 2.

We see Alvin Kamara, DeAndre Hopkins, Saquon Barkley, Julio Jones and Michael Thomas as the best bets to meet or exceed expectations. Odell Beckham Jr. has had injury problems in the past, and it's hard to believe he won't again, so that may impact his points-scoring potential.

Harry How/Getty Images

Melvin Gordon should be a dominant player, but his career yards-per-carry mark is less than four. That seems incongruous for a player with eye-catching speed, but his 3.8 career average is reality.

Leonard Fournette is a something of a paradox because he looks like a prototypical power back as he checks in at 6'0" and 228 pounds. Nevertheless, durability is a concern because he had hand, foot, ankle and toe problems during his college career at Louisiana State.

Kareem Hunt had a brilliant rookie year with 1,327 rushing yards and 455 more as a receiver, but he went through a midseason slump in which he failed to score in five straight games. That's a concern.

Third-tier players like Keenan Allen, Devonta Freeman and Rob Gronkowski are all capable of spectacular play, but we have fears about A.J. Green, Jordan Howard and T.Y. Hilton.

If the Bengals struggle out of the gate, we don't see Green as a consistent force in the lineup. Meanwhile, the Bears want to push a faster-paced passing attack that may lessen Howard's impact, and Hilton's production is quite dependent on Andrew Luck's health and presence in the lineup.

Our overall first-round advice is to take a running back in the first round of any 12-team draft unless you can get Brown. We understand if you feel compelled to select Hopkins or give the explosive Beckham strong consideration, but running backs are just too valuable to bypass.

Going forward, fill your roster with running backs and wideouts, and don't take a quarterback before the sixth round. There are simply too many productive quarterbacks, and while you may want to spend an early-round pick on Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees or Tom Brady, don't fall into that trap.