As training camps kick off across the landscape of the NFL, the fantasy football community begins a training camp of their own — in the form of mock drafting. What better way is there to kick off the season and shake off the rust than by meticulously drafting tens, hundreds, or maybe even thousands of teams to get in shape?
There are few tools more efficient during the offseason than mock drafting — it keeps the mind sharp and allows drafters to get their heads back in the game as the summer dwindles. And what better way to practice for your drafts than using our FREE mock draft simulator? Now, let’s dive into our latest fantasy football mock draft.
Fantasy Football Mock Draft
Using the FantasyPros FREE Mock Draft Simulator, you can compile an endless supply of drafts at your convenience and in a timely fashion. And that is just what I am about to break down right now. Earlier today, I ran a mock simulation out of the 11-hole in a full point per reception (PPR) league format. These are the results, with some analysis as to why I took specific players and when.
ESPN PPR Late Draft Position (11th selection) in a 12-Team Format
*Note we will be skipping D/ST and kicker picks for this mock
With the top options on the board containing one RB (Barkley) and three WRs (Davante Adams, A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown), I decided to go with the ball carrier since we would be able to circle back to these other guys following the turn. Barkley was actually a no-brainer pick for me here, as he is a do-it-all back that thrives in a PPR-formatted setting.
Despite early offseason concern that Barkley could hold out as he sought out a new contract, all of those worries were put to rest last week when he signed an incentive-ladened one-year deal. He will now resume his workhorse role in the Giants’ offense and should be a good bet to duplicate his 2022 numbers when he ran for 1312 yards with 10 TDs and hauled in another 57 passes for 338 yards.
This was good for the number five overall finish at RB with 284 fantasy points. Positive receiving touchdown regression should even be in store for the sixth-year back this season after concluding the last campaign with no scores through the air. I love this pick at the end of the first round through and through.
2.02 Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR – DET)
As mentioned, taking Barkley at the end of the first allowed one of the three listed stud receivers to fall to us in the second. For similar reasons to the Saquon selection, St. Brown is an auto-click at the 2.02 here. While I likely would have gone Jaylen Waddle or Garrett Wilson in a standard or half-point-per-reception scoring format, there are few guys capable of what St. Brown does in terms of receptions.
St. Brown ranked fifth in the NFL with 106 receptions in 2022, good for a WR7 overall finish in ESPN PPR leagues, even despite just six scores through the air. Now headed into his first professional campaign, there is little reason that ARSB won’t be able to hit that reception figure again, and he is another prime candidate for positive touchdown regression in the Detroit offense.
St. Brown has very little target competition around him, and he is QB Jared Goff‘s first look on nearly every passing down. St. Brown needs to be recognized among the elite receivers in the NFL at this point in his career, as he has earned that right already.
There is a case to be made here to take an elite QB in Jalen Hurts, who was sitting at the top of the board, but I am content with doubling down on receiver early in PPR leagues. I am also a huge believer in the bounceback for WR Calvin Ridley. Pairing him with our two earlier picks is fitting, as Ridley has a target-hog track record and nearly topped the century mark in receptions in his last full season.
At 28 years old, fully healthy, and in a strong offensive system down in Jacksonville, I am betting on the talent returning for the former Falcon superstar. Some people may have forgotten, but at one point back in 2020, there were arguments being made that Calvin Ridley was the best wide receiver in the National Football League. That type of talent doesn’t just disappear, even when time off is taken.
To support this notion, early training camp reports out of Jacksonville have been touting Ridley and noting that he is looking crisp and impressive early on.
What I felt to be the best value on the board in the fourth round, Lamar Jackson joined the team as our QB1. Jackson’s price tag is slightly deflated compared to the elite QBs getting drafted above him, but the market may very well be wrong on that front. Jackson has a strong chance to rebound in a brand new 2023 offense, surrounded by new and proven weapons at his disposal.
In a lost 2022 season in which Jackson appeared in just 12 games, he still managed to throw for over 2200 yards with a 17:7 TD-to-interception ratio while rushing for over 750 yards as well. Now fully healthy, the 26-year-old former MVP figures to see a dramatic improvement in Baltimore’s offense under new OC Todd Monken.
Add in the fact that the Ravens finally added some legit playmaking receivers in rookie Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham Jr., and we could be looking at one of the league’s more explosive offenses. I’m willing to take the stab on L-Jax in the fourth round of drafts, given the upside of him duplicating his 2019 MVP-caliber numbers.
WRs continue to (and should) reign supreme as the draft moves along, allowing me to select Diontae Johnson with the 5.11. A letdown 2022 campaign has severely deflated Johnson’s average draft position (ADP) this offseason, but I see him as a value in this spot. He has been a reception machine over the past three seasons, and he still managed to haul in 86 balls last year.
Johnson’s fantasy totals were low due to his stunningly bad luck in the red zone. The fourth-year man did not catch a single touchdown last season after scoring 20 over the prior three years combined. Johnson is another prime example of a guy that should see positive regression in that department this year, especially given the expectation of QB Kenny Pickett‘s year two improvements.
The Steelers passing attack revolves around three guys: Johnson, George Pickens, and Pat Freiermuth. Johnson is the clearcut number one option for Pickett in that group, and that will not change this season. 80-plus catches are a virtual guarantee, which, again, is crucial given the scoring format.
Hyped up this offseason as a true workhorse back with three-down potential, Miles Sanders is getting a new opportunity as the RB1 down in Carolina. He will be leaned on early and often as rookie QB Bryce Young gets up to speed, and Sanders could find himself with sufficient volume from day one. Despite what many would consider a down year in 2022, Sanders still finished as the RB15 in PPR formats as he rushed for 1269 yards and 11 scores.
While he only caught 20 passes, there is a good chance he eclipses that number significantly in 2023, especially if the rumors that he will be on the field on third downs are true. That right there is enough reason for me to happily plug him into the RB2 spot on this team.
Give me all the David Montgomery shares, and give me them now. I normally would not go back-to-back running backs in the middle rounds, but my affinity for D-Mont was too much to overcome. Likely to fill in the new “Jamaal Williams role” in Detroit, the former Bears’ RB is an absolute steal at the end of the seventh round, regardless of format.
Montgomery is going to get the majority of the goal line work for the exceptional Lions’ offense, and he has underrated pass-catching ability at the same time. If rookie Jahmyr Gibbs ever misses time as well, Montgomery automatically thrusts into the RB1 tier on any given week.
This pick is surely a sore subject for many readers out there, as the formerly great Michael Thomas has let many people down (including myself) over the past few years. Nevertheless, the bet on Thomas in the eighth round is that he can at least somewhat return to the version of himself that once caught 125-plus passes in back-to-back seasons.
By all accounts, the now 30-year-old has a clean bill of health entering training camp, and he will have an automatic upgrade at QB this year in Derek Carr. Carr has historically been a competent passer in short quick throws (see 2021 Hunter Renfrow), which is an area Thomas is known to thrive in.
Speaking of Raiders receivers, and in the spirit of continuing to load up at the position, Jakobi Meyers is a fantastic pick in this area of the draft where WR starts to run thin. Meyers is set to debut in Las Vegas this season, where he will most likely have a short throwing specialist in Jimmy Garoppolo slinging him the rock. Meyers is a slot-receiving specialist that should see ample targets while playing a majority of the snaps in both two and three-wide receiver sets.
The Raiders will be trailing in most games they play this year, forcing them to pass continuously whether they like it or not. Meyers should be able to have multiple high-reception games in 2023.
Still on the board well past his ADP (79), I had to scoop Engram up here as a true value pick. The second-year Jaguar is coming off career marks in both receptions and yards, and he will operate as the number-one tight end for Trevor Lawrence again this season. Jacksonville is expected to throw early and often in 2023, and Engram should be in a position to post solid numbers once again.
He finished as the PPR TE5 in 2022, and he should be right up in that area for the second consecutive campaign.
While I could have double-dipped on tight end here and taken another guy I like in Tyler Higbee, I tend to stay away from multiple tight ends in redraft fantasy leagues on draft day. For that reason, the pick here was Saints’ rookie RB Kendre Miller. Miller is an ideal redraft candidate bench option with a huge contingency upside down the road. Miller is an explosive 22-year-old rookie that could easily end up as the Saints’ starting running back later on in the 2023 season. His third-round draft pedigree gives him a really strong shot of producing in his inaugural campaign.
At this point in the draft, I am content with taking upside hitters, with Skyy Moore being a prime selection here. Having any association with the potent Kansas City offense is always a good thing, and Moore is in line for way more playing time in his sophomore season. With Kadarius Toney‘s health in flux, Moore actually theoretically has a chance to be the de facto WR1 for the Chiefs. He’s off to a strong start in training camp by all reports, yet his current ADP does not reflect all of his possible outcomes.
To me, he was easily the best option on the board at this point.
Finally, we concluded with Dalton Kincaid, a rookie tight end who I more so consider a wide receiver (so technically, I did not go back on my word of not selecting multiple tight ends in redraft). The market has fluctuated on Kincaid’s fantasy value, but he was an auto-click for me in the final round of this mock.
All signs point to Kincaid working as a slot receiver for Buffalo in his rookie season, and he should be the third passing option for the Bills behind WRs Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. There was no need to get cute with this pick in the final round — Kincaid is the perfect backup “tight end” to hang onto at the end of the bench to kick off the season.
Conclusion
The final mock draft grade this team was given was a “B” (86 out of 100), with the expectation that the team would finish in fifth place out of 12 with just under 1,000 total points scored. I do feel like this team has significant upside and would make a deep push in the playoffs led by top-tier talent and combined with some rookies that could take off towards the end of the year.
Regardless, this type of mock was a great way for me to get my feet wet and get back into the fantasy spirit as August commences.
More Fantasy Football Mock Drafts
- PPR: 12-Team, Early Pick (v2, v3)
- PPR: 12-Team, Middle Pick (v2, v3, v4)
- PPR: 12-Team, Late Pick (v2, v3)
- PPR: 12-Team Superflex Early Pick
- PPR: 12-Team Superflex Late Pick
- PPR: 10-Team Superflex
- PPR: 12-Team 2QB
- Half-PPR: 12-Team, Superflex
- Half-PPR: 12-Team, Early Pick (v2)
- Half-PPR: 12-Team, Middle Pick (v2)
- Half-PPR: 12-Team, Late Pick
- Standard: 12-Team, Middle Pick (v2)
- Standard: 12-Team, Late Pick
- Standard: 10-Team, Middle Pick
- FFPC: Middle Pick
- FFPC: Late Pick
- FFPC Expert Mock Draft
- 2QB Mock Draft
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