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Fantasy football mock draft, Rounds 7-9: Old dudes, including Gore, get the call
National Draft Day is almost upon us, everyone. Time to get seriously serious about your prep. Beginning today, the Yahoo Sports fantasy crew is going to mock draft a 12-team, 9-round league for 2016. Consider this your answer key to the opening rounds. Assume a traditional one-QB, one-flex lineup with 0.5 PPR scoring. Let the mocking commence…
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ROUND 7
1. Frank Gore, Ind, RB – Broke in during leather-helmet era, but there’s little pushing him. He’s also noted for his physical workouts and seasonal prep. –Scott Pianowski
2. Gio Bernard, Cin, RB – Not the touchdown guy in Cincinnati, but still likely to see some positive TD regression after unlucky 2015. Efficiency rates are just fine. –Pianowski
3. Delanie Walker, Ten, TE – He’s the Titans’ No. 1 option in the passing game. Marcus Mariota could make a leap–Dalton Del Don
4. Coby Fleener, NO, TE – Hardly a sure thing but plenty of upside now in New Orleans –Del Don
5. Gary Barnidge, Cle, TE – True shocker special last year will undergo numbers reduction, but don’t expect a harsh slide. Still top-10. –Brad Evans
6. Arian Foster, Mia, RB – As the lead horse in Miami backfield, he could be spectacular … for seven games. –Evans
7. DeSean Jackson, Was, WR – D-Jax has been roasting Norman in practices, for what it’s worth. He’s still clearly capable of a 65-1000-8 season. –Andy Behrens
8. LeGarrette Blount, NE, RB – Dion Lewis’ ongoing knee issues are enough to bounce him from my draft board. Blount and James White are the Pats backs to target. –Behrens
9. Tom Brady, NE, QB – I’d draft Brady for Week 5 @ CLE alone. A top-five producer four of the past six years, I’m not worried about Brady’s age or suspension. –Liz Loza
10. Julius Thomas, Jax, TE – After shaking off rust and building chemistry with Bortles, Thomas scored in four consecutive outings last year. More of that expected in 2016. –Loza
11. Stefon Diggs, Min, WR – He’s got some Antonio Brown to his game, unfortunately he doesn’t have Big Ben as a QB – was a WR3 value in PPR leagues as a rookie and should only get better –Brandon Funston
12. Travis Benjmain, SD, WR – Was a top 30 WR in ’15 despite the Browns’ QB dung pile – now in pass-loving San Diego paired with QB Rivers, easy to paint another top 30 picture–Funston
ROUND 8
1. Matt Jones, Was, RB – Shoulder injury caused his fall in this mock, but he’s fully expected to be ready for Week 1 and there’s little competition for his featured role in WAS –Funston
2. Josh Gordon, Cle, WR – Will take some time to work the rust off, but 2013’s top fantasy WR is still just 25 and will be paired with the deep ball artistry of RG3 –Funston
3. Eli Manning, NYG, QB – Ultra-durable, throwing to one of the best wideouts in the game, and in offense that continually pushes the pace… this is great value. –Loza
4. Tyler Eifert, Cin, TE – The ankle is an obvious concern and a TD regression is expected, but those factors are baked into his price. –Loza
5. Torrey Smith, SF, WR – There’s a wide range of outcomes for Torrey, no doubt, but he’s the presumptive top target in Chip Kelly’s offense. –Behrens
6. Chris Ivory, Jax, RB – Even in a job-share situation with Yeldon, my expectation is that Ivory will own the inside-the-10 touches. –Behrens
7. Zach Ertz, Phi, TE – PHI offense butt of jokes, but Ertz in line for another 70-plus catches. –Evans
8. Bilal Powell, NYJ, RB – When he logged 40-plus percent of opportunity share last year (six times), averaged 15.5 fantasy ppg. Very underrated. –Evans
9. Carson Palmer, Ari, QB – Was an MVP candidate last season –Del Don
10. Philip Rivers, SD, QB – Just wait on QB. Look at the options still available at this point in the draft –Del Don
11. Kamar Aiken, Bal, WR– All sorts of problems with the surrounding pieces. Meanwhile, Aiken was outstanding in the second half. –Pianowski
12. Antonio Gates, SD, TE – Welcome to the Ibanez All-Stars. And Philip Rivers will make sure Gates gets those eight touchdowns. –Pianowski
ROUND 9
1. Blake Bortles, Jax, QB – I like his receivers, so I can’t come down too hard on Bortles. Much better in fantasy than real life, of course. –Pianowski
2. DeAngelo Williams, Pit, RB – A play-for-today pick. Give me a strong push, I’ll deal with Week 4 when it comes along. –Pianowski
3. Kevin White, Chi, WR – Still raw but should see a bunch of targets this season, especially with Alshon Jeffery so injury prone –Del Don
4. Derrick Henry, Ten, RB – Could easily emerge as the team’s top back over the second half of the season. –Del Don
5. Tavon Austin, LA, WR – Jeff Fisher’s declaration he’ll catch 100 balls is far fetched, but he’s really the only game in town. –Evans
6. Corey Coleman, Cle, WR – Cleared for Preseason takeoff, the rookie will likely sprint out of the gates. Fringe WR3 in 12-team formats, for now. –Evans
7. Devin Funchess, Car, WR – An obvious candidate to make a leap in value, and he’s tied to the league’s highest-scoring offense. –Behrens
8. Vincent Jackson, TB, WR – Basically a forgotten man in drafts, but he’s still in line for triple-digit targets. If you like Jameis, it’s hard not to kinda like V-Jax. –Behrens
9. T.J. Yeldon, Jax, RB – Not a Yeldon truther, but believe he’ll lead JAX’s backfield in touches and produce RB3 numbers, especially after Ivory inevitably goes down mid-season. –Loza
10. Mohamed Sanu, Atl, WR – Notched two 100+ yard performances and 3 TDs between Weeks 5 and 9 when Green and Jones were banged up in 2014. He’s reliable and playing opposite Julio. –Loza
11. Danny Woodhead, SD, RB – Catch machine hauled in 81 passes last year. Plus, he’s still a prominent figure inside the red zone. –Funston
12. Sammie Coates, Pit, WR – Advanced dramatically from Year 1 to Year 2. Is he the new Martavis Bryant? –Funston
FINAL ROUND-BY-ROUND BREAKDOWN – WHO WON?
Follow the Yahoo fantasy crew on Twitter: Brandon Funston, Brad Evans, Andy Behrens, Scott Pianowski, Dalton Del Don, Liz Loza
