4 weeks ago
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We held our first mock draft to benefit the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital as part of our Draft-A-Thon on Tuesday night, and it was awesome. This was a 12-team, PPR league, and you should study the results to prepare for your Draft Day.
We will be doing these mock drafts throughout August, and you can participate by making a donation to St. Jude. There are other ways you can support our Draft-A-Thon as well, and you can find all the information by clicking here.
Several things stood out in this mock draft, including Derrick Henry at No. 12 overall, George Pickens selected before CeeDee Lamb, A.J. Brown drafted ahead of Justin Jefferson and Rome Odunze over Luther Burden III. Christian McCaffrey also fell to No. 11 overall, which was a surprise to Fantasy manager Andrew Gottfried.
"I definitely wanted one running back near the turn, and I am a CMC truther," Gottfried said. "I'm not concerned at all about him missing practice this week, and I am willing to take the risk that I may have drafted the best player in Fantasy."
Gottfried also benefited when Lamb fell to No. 14 overall, and Gottfried loved the beginning of his draft.
"Lamb was too good a value to pass on," Gottfried said. "My strategy was to leave Round 2 with at least one running back and wasn't opposed to starting RB-RB, but seeing Lamb available in PPR, I was satisfied with the start."
Gottfried filled out his starting lineup with Caleb Williams at quarterback, McCaffrey and Josh Jacobs at running back, Lamb and Ladd McConkey at receiver and Kyle Pitts at tight end. His two flex options are Christian Watson and Bhayshul Tuten, and his bench features Blake Corum, Alvin Kamara, Makai Lemon, Khalil Shakir, Jauan Jennings and Omar Cooper Jr.
As long as McCaffrey (tightness) and Jacobs (groin) are healthy -- both missed practice this week -- then this team should be in playoff contention.
Three managers started their draft with a RB-RB approach -- Eddie Cook at No. 7 with James Cook and Saquon Barkley, Gert Ojeda at No. 9 with Chase Brown and Omarion Hampton and Frank Neill at No. 10 with Ashton Jeanty and De'Von Achane -- and you should check out how they filled out their rosters. Of these teams, I like what Eddie Cook and Ojeda did throughout the draft.
Cook got Jaylen Waddle, Terry McLaurin, Parker Washington and Chris Godwin for his starting receivers and flex, and Trey McBride is at tight end. Cook also has Jalen Hurts at quarterback. And the bench is solid with Rachaad White, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Ray Davis, Jayden Higgins, Denzel Boston and Zachariah Branch.
Ojeda's starting receivers and flex are Chris Olave, Tee Higgins, Odunze and Josh Downs, and Ojeda has Drake Maye at quarterback and George Kittle at tight end. The bench is J.K. Dobbins, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Jonah Coleman, Deebo Samuel, Tyler Shough and Greg Dulcich.
Both of those rosters should be competitive. And I like my roster as well, which featured a Hero-RB build after picking Bijan Robinson at No. 2 overall.
I didn't draft my second running back until Jordan Mason in Round 8, and he could be a nice surprise as the starter in Minnesota. I also drafted Aaron Jones in Round 10 as insurance, but I like my running back corps with Robinson, Mason, Jones, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, MarShawn Lloyd and George Holani. As long as Robinson is healthy, my No. 2 running back just needs to be average for this team to compete for a playoff spot.
The rest of my roster is excellent with Jayden Daniels and Kyler Murray at quarterback, DeVonta Smith, Garrett Wilson, D.J. Moore, Brian Thomas Jr. and Matthew Golden at receiver and Brock Bowers at tight end. I should have the best group of pass catchers in this league, and Daniels has top-five upside if he stays healthy this year.
As a reference point for this mock draft, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award one point for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE and 2 FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.
Our draft order is as follows:
1. Trevor Stahly, St. Jude donor
2. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer
3. Joshua Hammond, St. Jude donor
4. Nick Fox, St. Jude donor
5. Jack Grzenia, St. Jude donor
6. G.K. Trusty, St. Jude donor
7. Eddie Cook, St. Jude donor
8. JonPaul Crichton, St. Jude donor
9. Gert Ojeda, St. Jude donor
10. Frank Neill, St. Jude donor
11. Andrew Gottfried, St. Jude donor
12. Ked King, St. Jude donor
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