2017 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: Picking at No. 9 overall in standard leagues

Heath Cummings was pleased to have Mike Evans fall in his lap at No. 9, but he's not so sure about his group of running backs.

This is the first edition of our annual pick-by-pick series, and we changed it up a little this season. I'm joining Dave Richard and Jamey Eisenberg to offer my take on a third of the picks.

For those of you reading this series for the first time, this is an exercise we have done for the past several years at CBS Sports to give you a guide on how to draft from a particular draft slot in a 12-team league. Our first edition is for a standard league, and our PPR format will come out shortly. We'll also do another version of both formats during training camp.

We don't expect you to follow these teams exactly. I mean, you can if you like the rosters that much, but replicating them player for player is likely difficult. But you can see what players and, more importantly, what positions could be available in each round, depending on how you start your team.

For this piece we're talking about No. 9 overall, and to my surprise Mike Evans landed in my lap. I generally despise the No. 9 pick because of the clear top eight in my opinion, but Dave Richard took Melvin Gordon at No. 8, so who am I to complain?

Evans could easily take a step back in targets (due to the addition of DeSean Jackson), but I would expect more efficiency on a per target basis. Even without an increase in efficiency, he was the No. 2 WR in this format in 2016, and he has some room to fall off. 

Evans took a leap last year because of an increase in targets and a rebound in the area of touchdowns. I'm hoping the same happens for my second-round pick, Amari Cooper.

Cooper had the catches (82) and yards (1,149) of a top-five WR in 2016 but his touchdowns (5) made him more of a No. 2. Sounds a lot like 2015 Mike Evans to me. Derek Carr has raved about Cooper this offseason, and there is no doubt he has top-five potential. It's very likely I drafted the best 1-2 punch at WR in this draft.

Here's the rest of my team at No. 9 overall:

• 1.9 Mike Evans, WR, TB
  
• 2.16 Amari Cooper, WR, OAK
  
• 3.33 Carlos Hyde, RB, SF
  
• 4.40 Drew Brees, QB, NO
  
• 5.57 Tevin Coleman, RB, ATL
  
• 6.64 DeSean Jackson, WR, TB
  
• 7.81 LeGarrette Blount, RB, PHI
  
• 8.88 Delanie Walker, TE, TEN
  
• 9.105 Jordan Matthews, WR, PHI
  
• 10.112 Breshad Perriman, WR, BAL
  
• 11.129 Jamaal Charles, RB, DEN
  
• 12.136 Broncos DST
  
• 13.153 Giovani Bernard, RB, CIN
  
• 14.160 Mason Crosby, K, GB
  

This is a team that is almost devoid of guaranteed production at running back but there's plenty of upside there. I'll talk more about Hyde below, but Coleman, Blount, Charles and Bernard could all give No. 2 RB production if things work out their way. In fact, two of them did that or better in 2016.

Besides, it's not like I'm counting on running backs to carry this team. Besides the Evans-Cooper duo I have an elite QB (Brees), arguably a top 5 TE (Walker) and a sneaky good flex (Jackson). If any team can afford to piece together production at RB, it's this one.

Favorite pick: DeSean Jackson

I view Jackson as a borderline No. 2 WR, so landing him as the 29th receiver off the board felt pretty good here. In a lot of your drafts, he'll fall even further. 

I suppose some people are worried about Jackson's targets, playing second fiddle to Mike Evans. Just know that he's only had more than 102 targets twice in the past eight years years, and he's still managed a top 30 ranking in every season he's played at least 15 games. I also expect his catch rate to improve marginally with so much of the defense's attention going to Evans. 

Pick you might regret: Breshad Perriman

Before the Ravens signed Jeremy Maclin I thought Perriman could break out based on volume alone. Now he's going to have to earn it, and that may be a problem. Perriman was pretty awful in 2016, catching just 50 percent of his targets and showing far less than a full command of the route tree. And that's not even why I might regret this pick.

I love Carlos Hyde, but there's been a lot of talk about how the 49ers new staff may not. They drafted Joe Williams, and Dave Richard drafted Williams right after I took Perriman. Camp reports will determine how high you have to reach for Williams in your drafts, but there's a good chance you could be regretting any pick you make that causes you to miss out on this handcuff.

Player who could make or break your team: Carlos Hyde

As I said above, I love Carlos Hyde. How much? I think he has the talent to be as good as any back not drafted in the first three picks in Fantasy. I also love Kyle Shanahan's offensive mind and can see a marriage between the two that leads to Hyde finally reaching his potential. 

But Hyde has to stay healthy, and it sounds like he needs to win Shanahan over as well. 

The best place for Hyde on your roster is as a No. 2 RB who has the potential to be a No. 1. On this team I obviously don't have that luxury. It's a risky proposition with a RB who has never played 16 games and has this many leaks from his coaching staff doubting his ability.

I'll just say this: If Hyde stays healthy Joe Williams isn't going to keep him from reaching his potential.