Fantasy Football Mock Draft: First-Round Receivers, an Early Running Back Run, Quarterbacks Fall

Mock drafts never go quite like the real thing, but they're a great exercise to keep your fantasy skills nimble.

Your season isn't made just by having a good-on-paper draft, and starting off poorly isn't the end of your season, but there's no reason not to get in some practice reps before the real thing.

It can also help just to view mock drafts done by other people to see how they're approaching their roster construction in a similar format to what you'll be drafting. Heck, sometimes it's just fun to see what other players come up with in a draft.

So I gathered up 11 other writers and editors for the site for a 12-team, half-PPR draft with one quarterback and one tight end, two running backs and two receivers, and one flex position (running back, wide receiver, or tight end). Here's what happened.

Draft Order

1. Neil Dutton, @ndutton13
2. Jim Sannes, @JimSannes
3. Kenyatta Storin, @KenyattaStorin
4. Austan Kas, @AustanKas
5. Tom Vecchio, @DFS_Tom
6. Sam Hoppen, @SamHoppen
7. Ryan McCrystal, @Ryan_McCrystal
8. Eli Weiner, @EWeinerFantasy
9. Jason Schandl, @JasonSchandl
10. Aidan McGrath, @ffaidanmcgrath
11. JJ Zachariason, @LateRoundQB
12. Brandon Gdula, @gdula13

Round 1

- The first round went about as expected, with the big four running backs going first off the board. The difficult decision always comes at pick five, and Tom Vecchio went with David Johnson in a bounce-back spot in 2019. With the top five backs off the board, just one other running back went: Le'Veon Bell to Jason Schandl. Jason is on record as a believer in Bell with the New York Jets.

- The back half of the first round is filled receivers, which is to be expected. Everyone has their preference. Even at pick 12 and after DeAndre Hopkins and some other studs went off the board, I was more than fine getting JuJu Smith-Schuster as my first pick. JuJu is my WR5.

Round 2

- Joe Mixon is really the only back outside the top six I feel confident in to maintain a full workhorse role, so pairing him with Smith-Schuster was kind of a no-brainer. Not taking him here meant a ZeroRB construction, which I'm never opposed to at the back half of the first round.

- JJ taking Travis Kelce might be surprising -- it's probably the most surprising pick in the second round -- but he's our consensus top tight end for a reason.

- Jason, Austan, and Tom each have two running backs through two rounds. Ryan has two receivers.

Round 3

- Derrick Henry's half-PPR ADP is currently 32nd overall on FantasyFootballCalculator, but clearly, Neil is buying into the hype this season. Todd Gurley could be a huge value, as his ADP is 15th overall. Kenyatta snared him 27th.

- The first quarterback (Patrick Mahomes) and the other two top-three tight ends (Zach Ertz and George Kittle) all went in the third round, as expected.

Round 4

- I'm a fan of both Amari Cooper and Julian Edelman this season, so the turn was an easy one for me. Sniping JJ was also a fun time, but he added Kerryon Johnson to the mix. Even if Johnson doesn't take the next step, he grades out as a firm RB2. In this case, he's JJ's RB1 on a team with two stud receivers and Kelce.

- With the draft underway before the update on Tyreek Hill, he fell to Eli at 41st overall, compared to a current half-PPR ADP of 17th.

Round 5

- Kenyatta keeps soaking up value, taking Mark Ingram 51st. His ADP is 42nd right now, and our algorithm puts him 45th overall.

- Two more tight ends came off the board in the fifth, and JJ planted his flag in Allen Robinson at 59th overall. Robinson's ADP is currently 77th. JJ has him ranked 51st overall, and Jim Sannes is even higher at 38th overall.

Round 6

- Typically someone who waits long on quarterback,I went with Deshaun Watson to kick off the sixth round. To me, Watson has legitimate QB1 upside, which shouldn't surprise anyone. I'd stake my claim on Watson being this year's QB1 overall, an in the sixth round, I can live with the opportunity cost.

- The best value pick relative to ADP here is Mike Williams to Tom at 68th overall. Williams is being taken 10 spots earlier, on average. However, our algorithm ranks him 75th overall.

Round 7

- Corey Davis is a polarizing pick, going 100th overall on average. Aidan jumped 18 spots overall from that ADP to select the Tennessee Titans' wide receiver. Davis actually ranks 82nd overall in our projections. Further, JJ, Jim, and I all have Davis 81st or better in our rankings.

Round 8

- Curtis Samuel has breakout appeal this season, and JJ took advantage of it, taking Samuel 86th (his ADP is 115th). Both JJ and I have Samuel in our top 90 overall.

- Similar to Samuel, Ryan took Dede Westbrook well ahead of his ADP (116th). Westbrook ranks top-90 for JJ, Jim and I, and he's 104th per numberFire's algorithm.

- Neil may have gotten a steal with Austin Ekeler 96th overall. Given the uncertain status of Melvin Gordon, Ekeler's ADP has climbed a full round over the past week.

Round 9

- Kenyatta got Eric Ebron 99th overall, yet his ADP is 73rd. Our algorithm puts him 105th, more in line with where Kenyatta drafted him but well off the pace of his ADP. He was a value in this draft by being taken at his more correct cost.

- Drew Brees and Carson Wentz both have top-90 ADPs but were taken a full round later, typical of a mock draft with a de-emphasis on quarterbacks.

- I reached for Ito Smith, but to this point, I had just Mixon and Lamar Miller. I like Ito as a spell back, and in the off chance Devonta Freeman gets hurt, Smith could handle a full workload. However, he's not the type of "handcuff" who should only have value in case of an injury. I could be wrong there, but Ito has standalone merit to me.

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Team-by-Team Results