Fantasy Football: Staff Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft

Round 2

Best Value: TE Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins

Tight ends are often volatile picks in dynasty rookie drafts, as their production tends to take a few years to materialize and unheralded options seem to always emerge at lower costs. Gesicki, though, is a different story and is a tremendous value at pick 22. Often compared to Jimmy Graham due to his red-zone ability and large frame, Gesicki was very productive in his time at Penn State (14 touchdowns over the last 2 seasons) and showed out as a metrics darling at the NFL Combine. With the offseason departures of Jarvis Landry and Julius Thomas, Miami will be looking to replace a whopping 263 (43.9%) combined targets.

My Pick: WR Tre'Quan Smith, New Orleans Saints

The rookie from Central Florida doesn't project to have a huge role out of the gate, but he seems like a logical replacement for the now 33-year-old Ted Ginn Jr. The New Orleans Saints have always been able to sustain production from two wideouts, and Ginn's 53/787/4 receiving line in 2017 should serve as a good barometer of Smith's future impact. There are question marks about his ability to beat press coverage at the next level, but Sean Payton has always been adept at maximizing the speed of his skill players. I liked Smith's ceiling a bit more than that of Dante Pettis, who was taken with the next pick.