The key to any fantasy football season is preparation. Whether you have the first overall pick or the last of the first round, having a sense of who will be available in each round is key.
I’ll be doing mock drafts throughout the summer while offering scenarios and feedback for each position. The point of these mocks is to prepare for the unexpected.
The mock drafts will assume that 12 teams are in the league with the following roster construction: quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, tight end, a flex (running back, wide receiver or tight end) defense, kicker and seven bench spots. It is a 16-round snake draft in a half-point-per-reception (half-PPR) league.
If you read my draft guide, you know I’m not a fan of drafting kickers and defense if it’s not necessary. I’d rather add a few running backs who could end up being a starter in the event of an injury. However, for the sake of this exercise, I’ll round out each draft by doing so. Remember, do not draft either before your final two picks!
Most important of all, be creative with your mock drafts. Don’t take the same players in every mock. Your favorite sleeper is probably someone else’s too. I’m guilty of this myself — see Rashod Bateman — but I will try to go with different approaches in many of these mock drafts.
The draft is just the start of the season. If you are drafting early, work the waiver wire to your advantage if any major injuries arise. If you’re a fantasy nerd like me, turn on notifications from your favorite NFL insider for breaking news around the league. But the draft is where you build the foundation of your roster, and the goal is to have as deep a roster as possible.
This is scenario No. 10, in which we move onto the No. 8 pick. (See also: No. 1 pick – 3 RBs, No. 1 pick – 2 RBs/1 WR, No. 2 pick, No. 3 pick, No. 4 pick, No. 5 pick, No. 6 pick, No. 7 pick, 16-team league). We’ll mix in a 10-team draft at some point as well as a Superflex, non-PPR draft and auction.
Let’s get started with the latest mock draft of the 2022 season.
Here is my roster:
Round 1, Pick 8: Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Round 2, Pick 5: Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
Round 3, Pick 8: DJ Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers
Round 4, Pick 5: Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos
Round 5, Pick 8: Darren Waller, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
Round 6, Pick 5: Darnell Mooney, WR, Chicago Bears
Round 7, Pick 8: Rashaad Penny, RB, Seattle Seahawks
Round 8, Pick 5: Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots
Round 9, Pick 8: Darrell Henderson, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Round 10, Pick 5: James Robinson, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Round 11, Pick 8: Tyler Allgeier, RB, Atlanta Falcons
Round 12, Pick 5: Jamaal Williams, RB, Detroit Lions
Round 13, Pick 8: Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Round 14, Pick 5: Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Round 15, Pick 8: Green Bay Packers DST
Round 16, Pick 5: Evan McPherson, K, Cincinnati Bengals
Observations:
I was extra aggressive at going for running backs in this mock draft, finishing with nine total. After selecting a pair with my first two picks, I take a running back with seven straight picks from Rounds 7 to 13. It wasn’t planned entering the mock, but that’s how it played out.
Najee Harris should not be there at the eighth pick, but there he was just waiting for me to rush to put the pick in. I’ve bumped him ahead of Dalvin Cook to No. 4 in my recent player rankings, as the second-year pro figures to be one of the league leaders in touches once again. There are few running backs you can feel safe to expect a 1,500-yard season with double-digit touchdowns, and Harris is one of the select few.
This is a common theme in this mock, but Alvin Kamara is moving up my draft board. It was speculated that Kamara could miss time this season because of an off-the-field issue at the Pro Bowl, but recent news is that any suspension likely wouldn’t take place until next season. Kamara has been one of fantasy football’s most consistent performers when healthy, as he’s shown he can do capable of putting up points both as a runner and a receiver. It also wasn’t that long ago when he scored six touchdowns in one game, costing a certain someone a fantasy championship.
DJ Moore is underrated because of poor quarterback play. He has eclipsed 1,100 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons in the NFL but has finished each year with just four touchdowns. If the former Maryland star can get somewhere between eight to 10 scores, he’s more than returned his value.
Courtland Sutton has made several appearances on these mock drafts as he continues to be one of my favorite targets this summer. He is reportedly Russell Wilson’s “go-to receiver” and a matchup nightmare for cornerbacks with his size and speed.
Darren Waller fell a bit than usual, so I had to scoop him up in the fifth round. He’s not going to see the bulk of the targets with Devante Adams now in the picture, but you can make an argument that Adams’ arrival opens up more room for the Raiders tight end. He only found the end zone twice last season despite seeing 10 end-zone targets. He’s the last of the elite tight ends. There is a huge drop-off once the top five players at the position have been selected.
Sometimes you just want a receiver on a bad offense, and that is exactly what you are getting with Darnell Mooney. The Chicago Bears figure to be trailing often this season and are going to be passing it a ton. Give me Mooney, hands down the best offensive playmaker on the Bears’ roster, to have another 1,000-yard receiving year.
This is the point where I go on the massive run of running backs. Rashaad Penny is another running back rising on the draft board as his teammate Ken Walker is dealing with a hernia issue that will require him to miss time. He was terrific when given the lead back role to close out last year, and there isn’t much competition behind him with Walker out. Rhamondre Stevenson has seen his ranking skyrocket throughout training camp, as he’s been rumored to take over the pass-catching duties in addition to being a thumper on the ground.
Darrell Henderson and James Robinson carried a lot of teams to the fantasy playoffs last year. Now, they are inexcusably going in Rounds 9 and 10. Both players have averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry when called upon the last two seasons. Both will still have a big enough role to potentially garner FLEX status, and they’ll become instant starters in the event of injury to their running back teammates.
It is the 11th round and I’m still without a quarterback. I have Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Derek Carr all staring at me. I also know that everyone else already has drafted their quarterback, so I decide to wait. And at this point, out of spite, I wanted to see who would still be around with my final pick so I kept going for best player available, which happened to be more running backs.
Tyler Allgeier is my favorite sleeper heading into the season. Cordarrelle Patterson is not going to carry the ball nearly as many times and Allgeier can handle the workload. Jamaal Williams is going to get touches even with D’Andre Swift on the roster. Isiah Pacheco is the hottest name in fantasy football at the moment, so it felt only fitting to select him right before my quarterback.
Getting Brady in Round 14 just feels dirty. He’s got the best receiving corps of his career with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones and Russell Gage a year after leading the league in pass attempts. He was QB3 in fantasy points per game in 2021 and I landed him this late. Rodgers was still available at this pick, too. This is why you can wait at quarterback if you play your cards right.
I am putting a lot of hope into three receivers who do have some question marks, but I have plenty of trade ammunition if I need to upgrade. It’s a sure thing one, if not more, of the running backs drafted in the middle rounds becomes a starter in some shape or form, with Penny and Stevenson potentially beginning the year as the lead back. There is plenty of upside at running back to make up for the deficiency at receiver.
What do you think of this roster? Let’s discuss on Twitter @JoeSerp.
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Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox