Fantasy football: The ideal mock draft for the 2019 NFL season
By Chris Wilson
Round 3: WR Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers
None of the available running backs look overly appealing compared to Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen and fellow wideout T.Y. Hilton of the Indianapolis Colts. Hilton can be an exciting big-play threat, but given quarterback Andrew Luck‘s questionable injury situation, Allen’s is our pick at the beginning of the third round.
Allen is far from a home run hitter, but he’s an excellent route runner who averaged approximately 100 receptions for 1,300 yards and six scores over his past two Pro Bowl seasons. If Allen stays healthy — the wide receiver played just a total of nine games in the prior two years — we’ve grabbed a backend WR1 with our third pick of the draft.
Allen is more of a second-round talent, and often goes at the end of the second round in drafts. His lowered draft stock is likely a product of his lackluster end to the 2018 season, which included a fantasy semi-final goose egg after the wideout left the Week-14 game due to an early injury.
We’ve been burnt by Allen before, including last season, as well as in 2016. Hopefully, we’ll benefit from our poor short-term memory combined by fellow drafters’ anger toward the consistent-when-healthy wide receiver.
Update: At the time of this writing, news broke that Allen’s ankle injury will likely keep him out for the remainder of the preseason. Although the squeamish could potentially pivot to Minnesota Vikings WR Adam Thielen, we’re sticking with Allen, who is likely to fall even further in upcoming drafts.