With just over a week to go until the NFL season kicks off, it’s time to do final fantasy football mock drafts with the FantasyPros fantasy football mock draft simulator. The great thing about the simulator is that it moves fast, allowing you to try out every possible strategy with your league’s settings.

Today, I will be doing a mock draft for a 12-team, half-PPR league, using a streaming defense strategy. Roster settings for this mock draft will be one QB, two RBs, three WRs, one TE, one flex, one DST, and one kicker, with six bench slots; I was randomly assigned the eighth pick. You can check out the whole draft board here but read on for a breakdown of each pick.

• 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
• 2024 Fantasy Football Rankings
• 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
• Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator

Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Streaming Defense Strategy (2024)

1.08: Justin Jefferson (WR — MIN)

This was a no-brainer for me. Jefferson is the most talented receiver in the league. His ADP is lower because he’s playing with Sam Darnold, but he averaged 18.4 half-PPR points per game with Nick Mullens under center in 2023. He will dominate no matter who is throwing him the ball, and we may all look back at the end of the season and wonder how we let him fall to the back half of the first round.

2.05: Kyren Williams (RB — LAR)

Last year, Williams was the only running back who even came close to keeping pace with Christian McCaffrey, scoring 19.9 half-PPR points per game. His massive 2023 workload is likely to shrink some with the Rams’ addition of Blake Corum, but he’s still one of the very few backs who will see a true three-down role. That’s enough for me to take him as a Hero RB on this team. 

3.08: Brandon Aiyuk (WR — SF)

If we ignore all the noise that has surrounded Brandon Aiyuk this offseason, one thing is true: The 26-year-old is one of the league’s best receivers. He finished the 2023 season second in PFF Receiving Grade, third in yards per route run, and first in ESPN’s Receiver Tracking Metrics. Yes, his historic 12.8 yards per target is essentially guaranteed to regress. Yes, he will either stay in a crowded situation in San Francisco or get a QB and offensive downgrade with a new team. Yes, it’s a bit concerning that he has yet to return to practice and could start the season slow as a result. But putting aside all the red flags, I’m happy to bet on a truly elite talent here near the end of the third round.

4.05: DeVonta Smith (WR — PHI)

This pick was a tough decision, as I debated taking either Smith or Michael Pittman. Pittman, who was fifth in the league in receptions in 2023 and is the undisputed top target on the Colts, is probably a safer pick than Smith. But Anthony Richardson’s preseason outings did nothing to calm fears that he might not be an NFL-ready passer. Meanwhile, Smith, even as the No. 2, will see a huge target share in what should be a revamped Philadelphia offense. He also comes with contingent upside (if A.J. Brown is injured) that Pittman doesn’t, which was ultimately the tiebreaker between two great options to have as my WR3.

5.08: Mark Andrews (TE — BAL)

My favorite way to approach the tight end position this season has been to take the last of the big four elite tight ends, all of whom have very similar value in my eyes. As a result, I’ve ended up with a ton of Andrews. In this draft, I got Andrews over a round after Trey McBride and two full rounds after Travis Kelce and Sam LaPorta — I’ll take that any day. After all, Andrews still led the TE position in points per healthy game in 2023.

6.05: Raheem Mostert (RB — MIA)

I love De’Von Achane and Jaylen Wright as much as the next guy, but the fantasy community may be overthinking things a bit when it comes to Mostert. He was the RB2 overall in 2023 and is in essentially the same situation heading into 2024 but consistently falls to the middle rounds of drafts. His age and injury history are concerning, but he still posted one of the 10 fastest runs of any player last season. Mike McDaniel will make use of that speed, and we know Mostert has insane TD upside. He’s my favorite RB2 value pick for Hero-RB builds.

7.08: Diontae Johnson (WR — CAR)

I was unhealthily high on Diontae Johnson last year, and it backfired. However, I am ready to be hurt again in 2024. Johnson is one of the league’s best route runners and should thrive as a security blanket for Bryce Young in his second year. 

8.05: Dak Prescott (QB — DAL)

Prescott finished 2023 as the fantasy QB3, as well as the QB4 in points per game. His 6.2% TD rate does make him a prime candidate for regression, but it might not be as dramatic as many expect: He has maintained at least a 5.8% rate in each of the last three seasons. He’s a very solid bet to provide top-10 QB production, with a chance for another season of top-five numbers if things bounce his way again.

9.08: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR — SEA)

Given the level of hype with which he entered the league, JSN’s rookie year was hugely disappointing. He finished as just the WR60 in points per game, playing a low-ADOT role as the Seahawks’ third WR. But the 22-year-old had that hype for a reason, and Seattle has a new OC in town in Ryan Grubb. Especially given that Tyler Lockett has shown some signs of age, this could be a year for Smith-Njigba to assert himself as the Seahawks’ WR2 and a true fantasy option.

10.05: Romeo Doubs (WR — GB)

I love throwing darts at Green Bay’s ambiguous WR room, and Doubs in particular has become a more and more appealing pick as we get closer to the season. All reports coming out of Green Bay indicate that he is the Packers’ WR1 and Jordan Love’s favorite target. Even if he doesn’t have the efficiency numbers of some of his teammates, playing full-time snaps on what should be a very productive offense gives him a great floor/ceiling combo for the double-digit rounds.

11.08: J.K. Dobbins (RB — LAC)

All indications out of Los Angeles are that Dobbins will, at least, split carries with Gus Edwards to start the season. It remains to be seen whether Dobbins is anywhere near the player he once was, or whether he can even stay healthy. But, especially in a run-heavy Greg Roman offense, he does have RB2 upside if everything breaks right. That’s enough for him to be worth throwing a dart at this late in drafts.

12.05: Caleb Williams (QB — CHI)

I don’t normally like drafting two quarterbacks, but I couldn’t pass on Williams in the 12th round. In his preseason outings, he flashed the playmaking ability that made him the consensus first-overall pick in the NFL Draft, as well as some rushing chops that hint at fantasy upside. With plenty of weapons around him, he should push Dak for the QB1 spot on this team by the end of the season.

13.08: Ray Davis (RB — BUF)

A fourth-round pick out of Kentucky, Davis is a pure handcuff. This team’s weakest position is definitely running back, so he is worth stashing in case of an injury to James Cook.

14.05: Taysom Hill (TE — NO)

This may seem like a strange pick given that I spent high draft capital on Andrews, but I have a plan. Because of his unique, RB-like usage, Taysom has one huge advantage over a traditional late-round tight end: We will know immediately if he is going to hit his ceiling. New Saints’ OC Klint Kubiak used Hill in a variety of ways in the preseason — if that continues, he could provide TE1 numbers. Alternatively, if Hill comes out of Week 1 with just a handful of touches, he’s an obvious drop. That makes him a low-risk, high-reward pick in a round where the vast majority of players will end up on waivers eventually.

.@Saints @T_Hill4 with an expanded role. Add FB; HB; TB; and playmaker to his repetoire. #whodat #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/5t7fQFcK5i

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 20, 2024

15.08: Cincinnati Bengals DST

Here, we finally get to the streaming defense portion of this article. If you’re planning on streaming defenses, you should take your DST in the second-to-last round of your draft. There’s no point drafting a defense earlier if they aren’t long for your roster, but there’s also never any point in taking a kicker before you absolutely have to.

Additionally, if you’re planning to stream defenses, I recommend not using traditional draft rankings to pick your team. Instead, use FantasyPros’ consensus Week 1 fantasy football rankings. Week 1 (and maybe Week 2) is all that matters if your long-term plan is to stream the position. With that in mind, I drafted the Bengals, who are ranked as the second-best defense in Week 1’s consensus rankings thanks to a juicy matchup with the Patriots. They have a terrifying date with Kansas City in Week 2, but that’s the great thing about streaming defenses: That’s not my problem.

16.05: Ka’imi Fairbairn (K — HOU)

Kickers are kickers. The top kickers rarely separate themselves meaningfully from the pack, and it’s essentially impossible to predict who those top options will be anyway. Last year’s eventual K1, Brandon Aubrey, went undrafted as the K24 in preseason ADP. The best thing to do is grab a kicker on a top offense; Fairbairn fits the bill.

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