Welcome to the second Fantasy Friday of the preseason here at The Draft Network. Each Friday from July 17th until September 4th will include a fantasy mock draft with its own theme. Most will be three-round mocks, some for PPR formats and some for standard formats. The majority of these mocks will be done by Jaime Eisner, with guest mocks from Paige Dimakos, Jake Arians, and our TDN Premium members sprinkled in. Be sure to check in every Friday to see the latest mock and come back each day to check out the Fantasy section of TheDraftNetwork.com as you prepare for your draft.
It’s been about a month since I tackled the early rounds of a PPR mock and a couple weeks since I followed up with rounds 4-6. Now that players are fully participating in training camp, has anything changed? Let’s find out below as I reveal my entire 12-team, 16-round PPR mock below, with a breakdown of each team.
Positional breakdown: QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, FLEX, K, DEF, 7 BN
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TEAM 1
Remember the little cheat code I mentioned at the bottom of my drafting from the No. 1 spot article? This is it in action. If you play in a sharp league, the top quarterbacks won’t fly off the board during the early portion of Round 2. If you can secure a solid RB2 with pick No. 24, I’m all for waiting on a deep receiver class and taking the top quarterback off the board here. What a weekly advantage it is to have the (presumed) QB1 and RB1 on your roster.
Following up on a strong first three rounds with a trio of sophomore sensations is the perfect way to complement the safety you get from having Christian McCaffrey and Patrick Mahomes. Even if the hype of A.J. Brown, Terry McLaurin, and D.K. Metcalf pushes them up draft boards, there will still be plenty of quality receiver options for your WR1, WR2, and flex spots. Matt Breida, Emmanuel Sanders, and Boston Scott are all solid top-of-the-bench options, and the injury risk Hunter Henry presents can be mitigated by the opportunity Blake Jarwin will be afforded this season.
Overall, this is a very solid team that should contend for a playoff bye if McCaffrey and Josh Jacobs stay healthy.
TEAM 2
This is a pretty balanced team throughout. They have the RB2, WR9, TE4, and QB3 all on the team with Leonard Fournette, D.J. Moore, and Stefon Diggs sprinkled in. There’s also some running back protection baked in with the two non-rookie Colts backs and Phillip Lindsay should something happen to Fournette. One flaw might be that this team lacks true bench upside coming out of the draft, so being aggressive on the waiver wire for the next DeVante Parker, D.J. Chark, etc. would be advised.
TEAM 3
I love this running back room—this team walks away with three of my top 22 at the position. Alvin Kamara and Le’Veon Bell should both benefit greatly from positive touchdown regression and Kareem Hunt is an RB2-caliber player in a flex spot. There is some small concern with the receivers if things go wrong. The upside is undoubtedly there—Odell Beckham Jr. has been a WR1 before, Henry Ruggs III and Parris Campbell are firecrackers, and a healthy Sterling Shepard could be a steal—but there is plenty of injury risk. Beckham is a mid-level WR2 for me because of injury risk and an expected run-heavy offense in Cleveland. If something happens to him and Shepard, this team will be starting essentially a rookie or waiver-wire option at WR2. Still, the running backs at the top and bottom of the roster should allow this team to only really need to start two wide receivers any given week. Plus, Russell Wilson provides some stability at quarterback.
TEAM 4
Like Team 2, this group has a high floor throughout. I’m a bit lower on Nick Chubb than most in PPR (despite believing he’ll lead the league in rushing), but starting with him and Ezekiel Elliott in the two starting spots is #goals. Mike Evans (WR1) and Tyler Lockett (WR2) both assume their roles as mid-level players in their tier, while Darren Waller ends the second tier of top tight ends. Flex will be an early battle between veteran Julian Edelman and Adrian Peterson with the potential to be pushed by some young guys (Antonio Gibson, CeeDee Lamb, Curtis Samuel, and Tee Higgins) later in the season. Alshon Jeffery could be an X-factor when he’s active. Tom Brady should have a strong season with plenty of quality weapons around him, but if he falters, this team will be playing the streaming game.
TEAM 5
This team followed a similar strategy to Team 1. They secured their top two backs (Aaron Jones and Miles Sanders) early and grabbed a top quarterback (Lamar Jackson) in Round 3. The Jones hate has gone way too far in the fantasy community for my taste. He’s a top-five running back for me, even factoring in some touchdown regression. Sanders was injured in practice earlier this week but isn’t expected to miss any game action. Considering the entire Philadelphia Eagles offense will run through him and tight end Zach Ertz (who’s on Team 11), it’s worth the risk. Jackson has plenty of room to regress from 2019 and still finish as the QB1—the battle between him and Mahomes at the top of the leaderboard will likely flip-flop throughout the season.
The concern for this team comes at wide receiver. They’ll have to hope that DeVante Parker and D.J. Chark can replicate their 2019 success, or at least come close. Will Fuller will be a starting-caliber player when healthy, but that may only be for 10-11 games. Deebo Samuel is selected at a value here (under the assumption he misses three games), but long-term pre-season injuries tend to be unpredictable. Devin Singletary could be a reliable flex in the meantime, assuming the Buffalo Bills still let him play near the goal line.
TEAM 6
This team went a very interesting route. Unable to secure the depth at running back they would’ve liked after spending a second-round pick on superstar tight end George Kittle, they opted to essentially handcuff their top two backs in an effort to secure production from the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens’ backfields. That might be a “safe” move, but really limits the upside of this team. A bounce-back season from JuJu Smith-Schuster, coupled with a potential breakout for Courtland Sutton and the supremely underrated Golden Tate makes the receiver room perfectly fine for the upcoming season. Deshaun Watson is a solid selection as well as he ranks in the top-half of QB1 territory. If everyone lives up to potential this could be a dangerous squad, but it’s not in a great position to take advantage of fliers or top in-season waiver acquisitions.
TEAM 7
Although I believe he’s going too high in most leagues, getting Michael Thomas at pick No. 7 is a value. Pairing him with Amari Cooper and Calvin Ridley in Rounds 3 and 4 gives this team a major advantage at wide receiver and flex positions. The question marks come at running back because after Kenyan Drake they’ll be relying on a question mark (David Johnson), a rookie not yet starting (D’Andre Swift), and a situational back with a new quarterback (James White) to fill out the starting RB2 spot. There are three additional potentially high-upside receivers on the bench (Michael Pittman Jr., Anthony Miller, and Mecole Hardman), but not much in the way of additional running back help. Swift might be a steady RB2 in the back-half of the season, but until then that position may be a struggle. Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford at quarterback puts this team in a great position to play the matchups with QB1-type talent.
TEAM 8
This is the only squad that went WR-WR to begin the draft, scooping up Davante Adams and DeAndre Hopkins. Between this and going wide receiver-heavy in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft, this team has already decided that it’ll be playing three wide receivers each week. This team does have two former first-rounders at running back in Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon, but they won’t provide RB1 production this year even if healthy. Behind them is David Montgomery, who will get a ton of work but is a low-ceiling player, and Kerryon Johnson, who’s talented, oft-injured, and likely about to lose his job. Aaron Rodgers and Carson Wentz is a good duo at quarterback and Jared Cook can be a matchup-winner any given week, but this team’s playoff hopes ride on the shoulders of Gurley and Gordon providing at least RB2 value.
TEAM 9
Going WR-TE is a very unconventional way to start a draft, even if both Julio Jones and Travis Kelce are elite options at their positions. Like Team 8, they had to correct and add back-to-back running backs in the next two rounds. This squad went with Chris Carson and James Conner. While both can/should provide RB2 value, they come with plenty of injury risk. Grabbing Ronald Jones a few rounds later is OK insurance, but this team could be in major trouble if injuries occur—notice how they try to strike gold later on by taking Zack Moss and Tony Pollard in hopes the player in front of them on the depth chart gets injured. Matt Ryan is a solid option at quarterback and Marvin Jones Jr. and Michael Gallup are both underrated, but the success and failure of this team will be about the health of its running backs.
TEAM 10
This might be the most boom-or-bust team in the league. Tyreek Hill, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Adam Thielen, Keenan Allen, Tarik Cohen, Jonathan Taylor, Evan Engram, and Kyler Murray all have tremendous upside. Each comes with some level of concern, however. Hill is a dynamo but has some injury risk. Edwards-Helaire has the upside and offensive situation to finish as a top-five overall running back, but he’s a rookie in an abridged preseason that’s learning on the fly. Thielen, without Diggs, could blossom into a surefire fantasy WR1, but if he rarely plays the slot in 2020 then he won’t be at his most productive. Allen is a former no-doubt WR1 but has a new quarterback who won’t be as aggressive as Philip Rivers was. Cohen should get the target volume to be a PPR threat, but he must improve his efficiency. Taylor may be a weekly RB2 by mid-season, but is also a rookie finding his way in a semi-crowded backfield. Engram is a top-five tight end when healthy, which is rarely. Murray doesn’t have much downside, but some believe his upside could be as high as QB3. In a best-case scenario situation, this team is in the finals.
TEAM 11
One of only three teams in this league to go RB-RB to start, this unit comes out pretty solid overall. Derrick Henry and Austin Ekeler are a great pairing at the top, T.Y. Hilton and Zach Ertz will both be very productive when on the field, and Jarvis Landry and Jamison Crowder are under-the-radar players who convert target volume into PPR production. There are some wide receiver upside plays in Brandin Cooks, Jerry Jeudy, and Breshad Perriman, plus Duke Johnson and Justin Jackson will be used more often in their respective offenses than many are accounting for. Ben Roethlisberger will provide QB1 production as long as he’s healthy. A very stout squad all around, but keep an eye on Hilton’s health.
TEAM 12
Drafting from the 12th spot can be very difficult, but this team did a pretty good job accumulating talent. RB2 may be an issue if anything happens to Raheem Mostert, but Joe Mixon is a cornerstone as an RB1 and the talent of Chris Godwin, Allen Robinson, and Robert Woods at WR1, WR2, and flex is nearly unmatched in the league. A.J. Green is an upside play that can rest at the top of the bench until healthy. Josh Allen and Rob Gronkowski can be matchup-winners any given week, but the running back depth is lacking. Grabbing two-thirds of the Los Angeles Rams’ backfield in hopes one of them becomes the guy is smart, as is handcuffing Mixon since he’s the only top-24 back on the roster. This team is set at wide receiver top to bottom. Some prudent waiver wire work on running backs will be needed.
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