I was invited earlier in the week to be a guest and participate in Mock Draft Monday, hosted by Spencer the Guru on YouTube. Here is the link to watch the entire mock draft.
This mock draft was a PPR Superflex draft, and here is a summary of my draft picks:
1.4—Jalen Hurts, QB PHI—This mock got off to an unexpected start. CMC went at the 1.1, and Lamb went at the 1.3, so Hurts fell to me. I was happy to take the consensus QB2 at this spot, as quarterbacks come off the board early and often in Superflex, since you have to start two of them.
2.9 — Jordan Love, QB GB — Felt like Love fell to me here, and while his WRs are still working thru their determined pecking order, Love is coming off a season where he finished 5th in fantasy points scored, 6th in TD Rate, and 9th in Big Time Throw Rate amongst all QBs.
3.4 — Chris Olave, WR NO — For me, it’s always Chris Olave time, and I was ecstatic to land my ace WR here in Olave, who I view as one of the last true WR1s to come off the board. According to PFF, Olave finished 8th amongst all WRs with an 89.1 grade vs Man Defense. The Saints also have a pretty solid strength of schedule vs. opposing secondaries, which they’ll face and play in many dome games. The target competition around Olave isn’t great either, and he’s firmly set for a big year.
4.9 — Jaylen Waddle, WR MIA — Happy to get a piece of the Dolphins passing game and grab another WR in Waddle. Waddle was 7th amongst all WRs in YPRR and shreds zone defenses second to only his teammate Tyreek Hill in his grade vs zone defenses at 91.4, according to PFF.
5.4 — Alvin Kamara, RB NO — Took my first RB. Kamara has been rising up draft boards a bit with Kendre Miller sustaining another injury this training camp. I could go off on a tangent about Miller, but I’ll stay on script and talk about Kamara, who is still one of our league’s elite pass-catching running backs. He graded 7th amongst all RBs in his pass route grade of 78.4, and what’s nice about him is that he typically has a pretty safe floor. He only busts 28% of the time in games. He plays a full complement of snaps, which is 10th best amongst all RBs in terms of bust rate.
6.9—Tank Dell, WR HOU—It was good to see Tank back on the field last night in the Preseason. He picked up right where he left off, catching a 32-yard TD pass from CJ Stroud and breaking several tackles before finding pay dirt. Dell is one of my favorite targets in this range. Unfortunately, his ADP is going to continue to rise, and you’re not going to get him at this price for much longer.
7.4 — Kyle Pitts, TE ATL — Solidified my TE position here with Pitts, who has been a disappointment thus far in his career but is going to take the shot on an improvement in the offense with Kirk Cousins coming to town. Pitts did grade a 94.0 in route rate according to PFF, which was second best amongst all TEs and was 4th in Yds/Rec at 12.6 even with awful QB play. He also is one of the best blocking TEs, which will keep him on the field most of the time and warrant more opportunities. He graded 8th amongst all TEs at 77.6.
8.9 — Zamir White, RB LV — Grabbed my RB2 in White. There was a run on RBs, and I thought it was the perfect time to take the new lead back, taking over in Las Vegas. I feel like White’s skillset as the tackles grinder fits exactly what HC Antonio Pierce wants to do: run the ball and play good defense. Pierce came out last season and said they won when the Raiders got Josh Jacobs to 100 yards. While this clearly isn’t the way to win football games in the NFL, we know this league has developed, and you need to be able to throw the ball; the point is that White should get plenty of work in an offense that probably won’t have good QB play. Now that caps White’s ceiling because the TDs won’t be there. We’ve also seen the training camp photos of White, who has bulked up and put on a lot of muscle to take on the workhorse load.
9.4 — Rashee Rice, WR KC — I had my choice of the litter at this pick between all three Chiefs WRs with Rice, Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy all on the board, and I elected to go with Rice. We’ve all read the reports that the suspension doesn’t seem imminent until probably next year, so you’re getting him at a discount right now. What an incredible rookie season Rice had! He’s one of the best separators at the position with 4.2 yds on average per route was #2 amongst all WRs, one of the best with the ball in his hands with 8.3 yards after catch, which was #2 only behind Deebo Samuel, and #10 in YPRR, he checks all the analytical boxes and is tied to one of the goats in Patty Mahomes, this pick as my WR4 just feels like it can go nuclear.
10.9 — Chase Brown, RB CIN — Added RB depth with my next pick and took Brown, who according to training camp reports, has been operating as the lead back with the 1’s. Now, the Bengals recently released their depth chart and had Zack Moss as the first string back, so that did simmer the steam on Brown a bit, but he’s done enough to carve out a role in what should be a very good offense in Cincinnati. Brown showed us he was explosive and made big plays in his rookie year. He was 3rd amongst all RBs in Yds Created/Att at 5.63, 3rd in Breakaway % at 49.7, 11th in Elusive rating at 84.6, 12th in Juke rating at 24.1, and graded as one of the best route runners at the position was 5th best with a grade of 81.1 according to PFF.
11.4 — DeAndre Hopkins, WR TEN — I decided to end the draft slide on Hopkins, which is obviously due to his knee injury in training camp not long ago. It sounds like a 4-5 week injury, and if he misses week 1, it would be okay with this build as he’s my WR5. I like what I have heard thus far about this Brian Callahan offense opening things up that should benefit all the skill players. D-Hop was 8th amongst all WRs in WOPR at 71.4, which is the Weighted Opportunity Rating. It takes air yards and target share and shows that he’s still a big target earner even at this point in his career.
12.9 — Daniel Jones, QB NYG — I had to plug my nose and make this pick of my 3rd QB, which you need in Superflex and grabbed Danny Pennies, as I like to call him. He’s not worthy of Dimes, given how his play has been in his last couple of seasons. I do like Brian Daboll as a player caller and as the “Quarterback Whisperer,” and now the G-Men have the elite of the elite prospects in rookie WR Malik Nabers to get the ball to. I’m betting more on those surrounding factors than Jones as a player now. I also like that the betting markets had a 425.5 rushing prop (7th best amongst all QBs) for Jones, who can run when healthy and looks healthy in camp.
13.4 — Jaylen Wright, RB MIA — I think at this point in the draft, you have to start looking at upside rookie RBs, and I landed one of my favorites in the former Tennessee RB Wright, now in the perfect situation in Miami Mike’s zone one-cut-and-go scheme. While Wright, a size-speed combo (5’11”, 209 lbs 4.38-40), on the surface, doesn’t appear to have landed in the greatest of spots 3rd on the depth chart behind Devon Achane and Raheem Mostert, it’s the fragility of both of the backs ahead of him. He could see time if either were to miss. If that were to happen, he would be a top 15-20 RB for the week, even in a committee with one of the other Phins’ RBs. The combination of the system and the player is too good not to get a few shares.
14.9 — Dontayvion Wicks, WR GB — With my last pick in this mock draft, I went with one of the fantasy communities’ favorite sleepers and took Wicks. There is some uncertainty in the pecking order of WRs in Green Bay. Is Christian Watson going to return after getting some new age treatment method on his hamstrings? Is Jayden Reed going to ascend in his 2nd year? Is it Romeo Doubs, who seems to be Jordan Love’s favorite and is getting a lot of buzz out of training camp? Then we have Wicks, just a 5th-round pick, but he put together a nice rookie season in which he was 2nd amongst all rookie WRs in yards per catch, 23rd in YPRR amongst all WRs, 20th in separation at 3.2 yds per route, had many impressive advanced stats and it has shown up on many folks radar because of it.
