Our fantasy football experts have been taking part in mock drafts all summer, and one thing that has stood out during the past month is how much risk people are willing or not willing to take when it comes to players with contract or injury situations.
It’s become increasingly clear as we near the start of the regular season that our experts feel fairly comfortable about the likelihood of Ezekiel Elliott signing a contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys sooner than later. In this mock — a 10-team PPR format — Elliott was the fourth player off the board.
On the other hand, Melvin Gordon‘s holdout has left our experts far more concerned about the odds of him contributing early this season. The Los Angeles Chargers running back slid all the way to the end of the fourth round, with 37 players being picked before him.
Meanwhile, Andrew Luck‘s health didn’t stop Tristan Cockcroft from taking him as the No. 5 quarterback, though he was able to wait until the Round 11-12 turn. Antonio Brown‘s helmet/feet issues combined with a change in teams during the offseason saw him slip down to early in Round 3.
The bottom line with each of these players is that the questions surrounding them present risk, but if they slide down your draft board, they also could provide terrific value if things break the right way.
Check out the rest of our mocks to see how player value has changed in recent weeks and from one format to another:
10-team, 2-QB
10-team PPR
10-team non-PPR
12-team PPR
The participants for this 10-team PPR mock, in order of draft position, were: Mike Triplett, Jim McCormick, Tom Carpenter, Kyle Soppe, Eric Karabell, Field Yates, KC Joyner, Stephania Bell, André Snellings and Tristan H. Cockcroft