Leo Howell, ESPN Staff
Close Daily fantasy contributor
Aug 8, 2016, 01:50 PM The ESPN Fantasy staff named a wide receiver as fantasy's top overall player for 2016, but when it comes to the rest of the early rounds, there's little-to-no shift in focus from the running back position among our experts, who continue to load up on the position early in mock drafts.
Our most recent mock draft was based on a 12-team standard format, and 12 of the first 24 picks were running backs. One tight end joined 11 wideouts to round out the first two rounds.
You're likely see a quarterback or two thrown in when drafting in a mock draft or live draft lobby on ESPN, but it's unlikely that the focus on running backs will fade, no matter who is drafting. Running backs make up 13 of the top 25 picks in our live draft results , along with two quarterbacks, nine wide receivers and a tight end.
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Only two of our mock drafters (Tristan H. Cockcroft and I) opted for two running backs in the first two rounds, and Tristan took things further by selecting a third back in the fourth round. Although it might not be popular or standard to go RB-RB in the first two rounds at this point, fantasy is certainly still an RB-centric game.
So who were the first running backs to go? How did our drafters build their teams? And, perhaps most importantly, who rose and fell the most in this deeper format?
Here's the full recap of our draft, conducted by (in drafting order): Jim McCormick, Mike Clay, Field Yates, Kyle Soppe, Keith Lipscomb, Stephania Bell, Leo Howell, Eric Karabell, Tristan H. Cockcroft, Tom Carpenter, Matt Bowen and KC Joyner.
Round 1 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 1 McCormick Antonio Brown , WR, PitWR 1 2 2 Clay Odell Beckham Jr ., WR, NYGWR 2 3 3 Yates Julio Jones , WR, AtlWR 3 4 4 Soppe Adrian Peterson , RB, MinRB 1 5 5 Lipscomb DeAndre Hopkins , WR, HouWR 4 6 6 Bell Todd Gurley , RB, LARB 2 7 7 Howell Le'Veon Bell , RB, PitRB 3 8 8 Karabell David Johnson , RB, AriRB 4 9 9 Cockcroft Lamar Miller , RB, HouRB 5 10 10 Carpenter Ezekiel Elliott , RB, DalRB 6 11 11 Bowen Rob Gronkowski , TE, NETE 1 12 12 Joyner Devonta Freeman , RB, AtlRB 7
Round 2 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 13 Joyner A.J. Green , WR, CinWR 5 2 14 Bowen Dez Bryant , WR, DalWR 6 3 15 Carpenter Allen Robinson , WR, JaxWR 7 4 16 Cockcroft Mark Ingram , RB, NORB 8 5 17 Karabell Jordy Nelson , WR, GBWR 8 6 18 Howell Jamaal Charles , RB, KCRB 9 7 19 Bell Brandon Marshall , WR, NYJWR 9 8 20 Lipscomb LeSean McCoy , RB, BufRB 10 9 21 Soppe Brandin Cooks , WR, NOWR 10 10 22 Yates Doug Martin , RB, TBRB 11 11 23 Clay Alshon Jeffery , WR, ChiWR 11 12 24 McCormick Eddie Lacy , RB, GBRB 12
Round 3 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 25 McCormick Mike Evans , WR, TBWR 12 2 26 Clay Sammy Watkins , WR, BufWR 13 3 27 Yates Keenan Allen , WR, SDWR 14 4 28 Soppe Thomas Rawls , RB, SeaRB 13 5 29 Lipscomb Amari Cooper , WR, OakWR 15 6 30 Bell Kelvin Benjamin , WR, CarWR 16 7 31 Howell Demaryius Thomas , WR, DenWR 17 8 32 Karabell C.J. Anderson , RB, DenRB 14 9 33 Cockcroft T.Y. Hilton , WR, IndWR 18 10 34 Carpenter Carlos Hyde , RB, SFRB 15 11 35 Bowen Jonathan Stewart , RB, CarRB 16 12 36 Joyner Jeremy Hill , RB, CinRB 17
Round 4 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 37 Joyner John Brown , WR, AriWR 19 2 38 Bowen Doug Baldwin , WR, SeaWR 20 3 39 Carpenter Jordan Reed , TE, WshTE 2 4 40 Cockcroft Dion Lewis , RB, NERB 18 5 41 Karabell Matt Forte , RB, NYJRB 19 6 42 Howell Eric Decker , WR, NYJWR 21 7 43 Bell Julian Edelman , WR, NEWR 22 8 44 Lipscomb Jeremy Maclin , WR, KCWR 23 9 45 Soppe Randall Cobb , WR, GBWR 24 10 46 Yates Golden Tate , WR, DetWR 25 11 47 Clay Cam Newton , QB, CarQB 1 12 48 McCormick Donte Moncrief , WR, IndWR 26
Round 5 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 49 McCormick Aaron Rodgers , QB, GBQB 2 2 50 Clay Jarvis Landry , WR, MiaWR 27 3 51 Yates Emmanuel Sanders , WR, DenWR 28 4 52 Soppe Greg Olsen , TE, CarTE 3 5 53 Lipscomb Latavius Murray , RB, OakRB 20 6 54 Bell Matt Jones , RB, WshRB 21 7 55 Howell Jeremy Langford , RB, ChiRB 22 8 56 Karabell Larry Fitzgerald , WR, AriWR 29 9 57 Cockcroft DeVante Parker , WR, MiaWR 30 10 58 Carpenter Melvin Gordon , RB, SDRB 23 11 59 Bowen DeMarco Murray , RB, TenRB 24 12 60 Joyner Rashad Jennings , RB, NYGRB 25
Round 6 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 61 Joyner Zach Ertz , TE, PhiTE 4 2 62 Bowen Michael Floyd , WR, AriWR 31 3 63 Carpenter Russell Wilson , QB, SeaQB 3 4 64 Cockcroft Tyler Lockett , WR, SeaWR 32 5 65 Karabell Josh Gordon , WR, CleWR 33 6 66 Howell Allen Hurns , WR, JaxWR 34 7 67 Bell DeAngelo Williams , RB, PitRB 26 8 68 Lipscomb Duke Johnson Jr ., RB, CleRB 27 9 69 Soppe Andrew Luck , QB, IndQB 4 10 70 Yates Frank Gore , RB, IndRB 28 11 71 Clay Ryan Mathews , RB, PhiRB 29 12 72 McCormick Giovani Bernard , RB, CinRB 30
Round 7 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 73 McCormick Ameer Abdullah , RB, DetRB 31 2 74 Clay Arian Foster , RB, MiaRB 32 3 75 Yates Sterling Shepard , WR, NYGWR 35 4 76 Soppe Jordan Matthews , WR, PhiWR 36 5 77 Lipscomb Tom Brady , QB, NEQB 5 6 78 Bell Drew Brees , QB, NOQB 6 7 79 Howell DeSean Jackson , WR, WshWR 37 8 80 Karabell Justin Forsett , RB, BalRB 33 9 81 Cockcroft Ben Roethlisberger , QB, PitQB 7 10 82 Carpenter Kevin White , WR, ChiWR 38 11 83 Bowen Carson Palmer , QB, AriQB 8 12 84 Joyner Blake Bortles , QB, JaxQB 9
Round 8 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 85 Joyner Michael Crabtree , WR, OakWR 39 2 86 Bowen Danny Woodhead , RB, SDRB 34 3 87 Carpenter Coby Fleener , TE, NOTE 5 4 88 Cockcroft Delanie Walker , TE, TenTE 6 5 89 Karabell Marvin Jones , WR, DetWR 40 6 90 Howell Stefon Diggs , WR, MinWR 41 7 91 Bell Gary Barnidge , TE, CleTE 7 8 92 Lipscomb Chris Ivory , RB, JaxRB 35 9 93 Soppe Jay Ajayi , RB, MiaRB 36 10 94 Yates Torrey Smith , WR, SFWR 42 11 95 Clay Tyler Eifert , TE, CinTE 8 12 96 McCormick Travis Kelce , TE, KCTE 9
Round 9 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 97 McCormick Corey Coleman , WR, CleWR 43 2 98 Clay T.J. Yeldon , RB, JaxRB 37 3 99 Yates Bilal Powell , RB, NYJRB 38 4 100 Soppe Michael Thomas , WR, NOWR 44 5 101 Lipscomb Willie Snead , WR, NOWR 45 6 102 Bell Travis Benjamin , WR, SDWR 46 7 103 Howell LeGarrette Blount , RB, NERB 39 8 104 Karabell Phillip Dorsett , WR, IndWR 47 9 105 Cockcroft Derrick Henry , RB, TenRB 40 10 106 Carpenter Sammie Coates , WR, PitWR 48 11 107 Bowen Vincent Jackson , WR, TBWR 49 12 108 Joyner Tevin Coleman , RB, AtlRB 41
Round 10 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 109 Joyner Markus Wheaton , WR, PitWR 50 2 110 Bowen Theo Riddick , RB, DetRB 42 3 111 Carpenter C.J. Prosise , RB, SeaRB 43 4 112 Cockcroft Laquon Treadwell , WR, MinWR 51 5 113 Karabell Eli Manning , QB, NYGQB 10 6 114 Howell Philip Rivers , QB, SDQB 11 7 115 Bell Dorial Green-Beckham , WR, TenWR 52 8 116 Lipscomb Julius Thomas , TE, JaxTE 10 9 117 Soppe Charles Sims , RB, TBRB 44 10 118 Yates Ladarius Green , TE, PitTE 11 11 119 Clay Tavon Austin , WR, LAWR 53 12 120 McCormick Devontae Booker , RB, DenRB 45
Round 11 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 121 McCormick DeAndre Washington , RB, OakRB 46 2 122 Clay Devin Funchess , WR, CarWR 54 3 123 Yates Matthew Stafford , QB, DetQB 12 4 124 Soppe Zach Miller , TE, ChiTE 12 5 125 Lipscomb Tyrod Taylor , QB, BufQB 13 6 126 Bell Antonio Gates , TE, SDTE 13 7 127 Howell Spencer Ware , RB, KCRB 47 8 128 Karabell Kenneth Dixon , RB, BalRB 48 9 129 Cockcroft Isaiah Crowell , RB, CleRB 49 10 130 Carpenter Jordan Howard , RB, ChiRB 50 11 131 Bowen Will Fuller , WR, HouWR 55 12 132 Joyner Paul Perkins , RB, NYGRB 51
Round 12 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 133 Joyner Charcandrick West , RB, KCRB 52 2 134 Bowen Mohamed Sanu , WR, AtlWR 56 3 135 Carpenter Josh Doctson , WR, WshWR 57 4 136 Cockcroft Nelson Agholor , WR, PhiWR 58 5 137 Karabell Eric Ebron , TE, DetTE 14 6 138 Howell James Starks , RB, GBRB 53 7 139 Bell Kenyan Drake , RB, MiaRB 54 8 140 Lipscomb Jerick McKinnon , RB, MinRB 55 9 141 Soppe Tyler Boyd , WR, CinWR 59 10 142 Yates Chris Hogan , WR, NEWR 60 11 143 Clay Wendell Smallwood , RB, PhiRB 56 12 144 McCormick Kamar Aiken , WR, BalWR 61
Round 13 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 145 McCormick Seahawks, D/ST, Sea D/ST 1 2 146 Clay Martellus Bennett , TE, NETE 15 3 147 Yates Tyler Ervin , RB, HouRB 57 4 148 Soppe Andy Dalton , QB, CinQB 14 5 149 Lipscomb Jaelen Strong , WR, HouWR 62 6 150 Bell Derek Carr , QB, OakQB 15 7 151 Howell Dwayne Allen , TE, IndTE 16 8 152 Karabell Kirk Cousins , QB, WshQB 16 9 153 Cockcroft Keith Marshall , RB, WshRB 58 10 154 Carpenter Breshad Perriman , WR, BalWR 63 11 155 Bowen Panthers, D/ST, Car D/ST 2 12 156 Joyner Tony Romo , QB, DalQB 17
Round 14 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 157 Joyner Terrance Williams , WR, DalWR 64 2 158 Bowen Darren Sproles , RB, PhiRB 59 3 159 Carpenter Austin Seferian-Jenkins , TE, TBTE 17 4 160 Cockcroft Jameis Winston , QB, TBQB 18 5 161 Karabell Bengals, D/ST, Cin D/ST 3 6 162 Howell Chris Johnson , RB, AriRB 60 7 163 Bell Jets, D/ST, NYJ D/ST 4 8 164 Lipscomb Tim Hightower , RB, NORB 61 9 165 Soppe Stephen Gostkowski , K, NEK 1 10 166 Yates Josh Ferguson , RB, IndRB 62 11 167 Clay Broncos, D/ST, Den D/ST 5 12 168 McCormick Terrance West , RB, BalRB 63
Round 15 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 169 McCormick Alex Collins , RB, SeaRB 64 2 170 Clay Steve Smith Sr ., WR, BalWR 65 3 171 Yates Chiefs, D/ST, KC D/ST 6 4 172 Soppe Shaun Draughn , RB, SFRB 65 5 173 Lipscomb Cardinals, D/ST, Ari D/ST 7 6 174 Bell Alfred Morris , RB, DalRB 66 7 175 Howell Texans, D/ST, Hou D/ST 8 8 176 Karabell Jimmy Graham , TE, SeaTE 18 9 177 Cockcroft Raiders, D/ST, Oak D/ST 9 10 178 Carpenter Packers, D/ST, GB D/ST 10 11 179 Bowen Pierre Garcon , WR, WshWR 66 12 180 Joyner Vikings, D/ST, Min D/ST 11
Round 16 Pick Overall By Player Pos Rank 1 181 Joyner Graham Gano , K, CarK 2 2 182 Bowen Steven Hauschka , K, SeaK 3 3 183 Carpenter Adam Vinatieri , K, IndK 4 4 184 Cockcroft Justin Tucker , K, BalK 5 5 185 Karabell Dan Bailey , K, DalK 6 6 186 Howell Chandler Catanzaro , K, AriK 7 7 187 Bell Mason Crosby , K, GBK 8 8 188 Lipscomb Josh Brown , K, NYGK 9 9 189 Soppe Rams, D/ST, LA D/ST 12 10 190 Yates Blair Walsh , K, MinK 10 11 191 Clay Chris Boswell , K, PitK 11 12 192 McCormick Matt Prater , K, DetK 12