Fantasy football: The ideal mock draft for the 2019 NFL season
By Chris Wilson
Round 5: WR Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks
In 2018, the Seattle Seahawks’ No. 2 receiver Tyler Lockett had an unsustainable season at the wideout position. Lockett was targeted just 70 times over the course of the year, yet managed to score 10 touchdowns while tallying nearly 1,000 receiving yards.
Don’t expect Seattle’s speedy receiver to maintain this level of efficiency, from his 13.8 yards-per-target to his 81-percent completion percentage, and he certainly won’t score on over 14 percent of his targets in 2019.
However, Lockett should see a lot more passes thrown his way this season, as he takes over as the Seahawks’ top wideout due to the retirement of 30-year-old WR Doug Baldwin:
At the age of 30, Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin might be unable to play again due to the cumulative effect of multiple injuries, per sources. There is a real chance that Baldwin, one of the Seahawks’ best and most popular players, has played his last NFL down, a source said Friday.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 27, 2019
In the three seasons before injuries brought Baldwin’s career to a premature end, the wide receiver averaged WR1 fantasy output. With Baldwin gone, expect Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson to lean heavily on Lockett, who has little veteran competition at the position.
Lockett’s upcoming increases in snaps and targets should outweigh the regression we are sure to see in his overall receiving efficiency. After posting high-end WR2 numbers in 2018, a healthy Lockett should maintain his fantasy relevance during the 2019 season.
Now that we’re a third of the way through our 2019 ideal fantasy football draft, let’s recap our first five selections:
Round 1: RB Christian McCaffrey
Round 2: RB Kerryon Johnson,
Round 3: WR Keenan Allen
Round 4: WR Chris Godwin
Round 5: WR Tyler Lockett