Welcome to part 12, the FINAL article of this 12-part series where I will go through a completed mock draft on the Sleeper app. In this edition, I started the draft with the 12th overall pick. The draft is 15 rounds, and it’s full PPR. I’m going to go through every selection I made and explain why I made it. Keep in mind, this is a three-flex league with no defenses nor kickers. To give you a more clear outline, check out the final roster at the bottom of this article. Hopefully you can get an idea of how you want to draft your team after reading through this series. We only have a few weeks until the regular season starts. You want to be as ready as possible when you draft your team! Check out the other parts of the series under the fantasy tab.
1.12 – RB) Austin Ekeler – L.A. Chargers
In a recent post from a couple of days ago, Austin Ekeler tweeted that if you draft him, start him, win your fantasy matchup, and post a screenshot to IG or Twitter showing your victory while tagging him, the RB will give out a personal signed jersey to a lucky weekly winner throughout the season. Well, I shot my shot and drafted him here at the 1.12 spot. In all seriousness, he has a really good chance at earning a top-5 RB spot this season in PPR leagues. The last time we saw him play a full season (2019), he finished as the RB4. Last season, his 16-game pace calculated out to about 848 rushing yards, 86 receptions, 645 receiving yards, and five total touchdowns.
2.01 – WR) Davante Adams – Green Bay Packers
Drafting Adams here in the second round is a dream come true. I obviously like taking him over Ekeler, but I had the turn and rewarded the RB with a first round selection instead. Not only did I draft a high-volume RB, but I also drafted my WR1 according to my WR rankings. We saw what he did last season in just 14 games played. He easily served as the WR1 while hauling in a career high in touchdown receptions (18). Even if his touchdown totals dip this season, I’m more than happy selecting him at the 2.01 spot.
3.12 – RB) David Montgomery – Chicago Bears
What else is there to say at this point? If I haven’t convinced you by now, maybe you should watch some highlights from David Montgomery’s second half of last season. He’s simply a player who will touch the ball nearly 20 times a game each and every week. Last year’s RB4 should be just as dominant this season, due to the fact that Chicago will attempt to run the ball more than they pass it.
4.01 – QB) Kyler Murray – Arizona Cardinals
I don’t like doing this, but I wanted to see how my team would look if I drafted a QB in the first four rounds. So at 4.01, I selected Kyler Murray, the QB1 through Week 16 last season. Outside of playing hurt through the last several weeks of 2020, Murray was the most dominant QB in fantasy. He put together five 30-plus performances, 11 20-plus performances, and he finished inside the top-5 eight times last year. I have him as my QB2 in my QB rankings behind Patrick Mahomes. Because he is projected to go nearly two full rounds behind Mahomes, Murray is the better value pick.
5.12 – WR) Kenny Golladay – New York Giants
Grabbing a guy in Golladay’s stature with the last pick in the fifth round pumps me up. New York brought him in to be their top pass-catching option, and if healthy, he’s undoubtedly just that. Stacking him as my WR2 with Adams creates a huge positional advantage at WR, and I’ve now set the foundation for that position early in this draft. Now I would like to add some pieces behind him that I would feel comfortable subbing in as my WR2 if needed.
6.01 – RB) Myles Gaskin – Miami Dolphins
I have a plan to draft back-to-back WRs on the next turn. If I were to wait on selecting another RB, I would need to draft a player who I feel is a tier lower than Myles Gaskin. Gaskin has an opportunity to finish inside that RB1 range of RBs if he receives enough receiving work. Based off last season’s success, there’s no question that he will be heavily involved as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. The only issue is his health at this point. When he’s on the field, Gaskin can produce RB10 numbers or better. In the 10 games he played in 2020, the 24-year-old produced double-digit point performances all but one time.
7.12 – WR) Deebo Samuel – San Francisco 49ers
I am higher on Brandon Aiyuk this season than I am with Deebo Samuel. That doesn’t take away that Samuel is a high-volume receiver who can turn any game into a 10-reception performance. Although he was a major disappointment last season, we saw flashes of WR1 potential. His best performance came in Week 12 when he caught 11 of his 13 targets for 133 yards, equating to 24.3 PPR points. If I can get a steady five receptions per game (averaged 4.7 last season), he will serve exceptionally well as my WR3.
8.01 – WR) Robby Anderson – Carolina Panthers
Just a few days ago, the Carolina Panthers and Robby Anderson agreed on a two-year $29.5M extension. He’s also reunited with his former QB from the Jets, Sam Darnold. Because the two have such a strong connection, Anderson could take over as the team’s WR1 ahead of D.J. Moore. The 28-year-old is coming off his best season as a pro last season, hauling in 95 receptions for 1,096 yards and three touchdowns. Expect his touchdown totals to bump up this season as well.
9.12 – RB) Zack Moss – Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills don’t know who their RB1 will be heading into Week 1 of this new season, whether it’s Devin Singletary or Zack Moss. Moss has the potential to lead the two in carries and rushing touchdowns, but Singletary certainly has the upper hand as the pass-catching back out of the backfield. We saw glimpses of greatness from Moss at times during the 2020 season, but it seemed like any time he got on a roll, he suffered a setback and never retained that RB1 status. Because he has a chance at becoming the team’s lead back, I took a chance on him here at the end of the ninth round.
10.01 – TE) Tyler Higbee – L.A. Rams
I have a rule that pertains to QBs and TEs. If you are going to draft one of the positions within the first four rounds, you need to wait until later to select your starter at the other position. In this case, I drafted Murray with my fourth-round pick. In return, I waited until the 10th round to grab my TE1, Tyler Higbee. Now that Gerald Everrett is out of town, the level of opportunity for Higbee has skyrocketed. He may be someone I will look to replace later down the line, but for now, he’s a streaming TE who I will feel comfortable with starting during most weeks.
11.12 – RB) J.D. McKissic – Washington Football Team
Antonio Gibson is expected to see a larger role in Washington’s offense this season. There have been rumors stating that the team wants to use him more on third down, and they plan to utilize him the way Carolina utilizes Christian McCaffrey. BUT J.D. McKissic is still on the team. There’s no way the RB17 from last season, who hauled in 80 receptions, won’t have a huge role again this year. Because this is a PPR league, I’m willing to grab him at the end of the 11th round as my RB5.
12.01 – WR) Cole Beasley – Buffalo Bills
Speaking of high-volume receivers, Cole Beasley produced 82 receptions for 967 yards and four touchdowns, finishing as last season’s WR27. With Buffalo adding Emmanuel Sanders, expect the All-Pro receiver’s production to dip a little this season. Nonetheless, he should still receive plenty of targets and opportunities in Buffalo’s pass-happy offense.
13.12 – RB) Giovani Bernard – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Before I end my draft with back-to-back receivers, I wanted to grab one more RB that I think has a great chance at staying on my roster the entire season. Giovani Bernard finished as the RB30 last season in PPR leagues, producing 695 rushing yards, 56 receptions, 514 receiving yards, and eight total touchdowns. He did all of this while serving as a back-up to Joe Mixon for six of the 16 games. In Tampa Bay, he has a chance at carving out a prominent role as well, but it’s expected to be less of one from his Cincinnati days. Nonetheless, Tom Brady loves having a pass-catching back out of the backfield. Maybe Bernard could turn into Brady’s James White from his New England days.
14.01 – WR) A.J. Green – Arizona Cardinals
A.J. Green’s ADP has slightly gone up throughout this series. Even as a 14th-round pick, he brings great depth to my WR position. For the first time in his career, he won’t be defended like the best pass-catching option on his team. Surrounded by DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk, Rondale Moore, and Andy Isabella, Green could shine as the afterthought for Arizona this season. As long as he’s a capable streaming option on a week-to-week basis, this pick earns a high grade.
15.12 – WR) Marquez Callaway – New Orleans Saints
With the FINAL pick in the FINAL mock draft, I went ahead and grabbed the most productive WR for the Saints this preseason. Many had their eyes on Tre’Quan Smith and Adam Trautman as the two names that could step into a larger role this season. But what we’ve seen from Callaway in two preseason games (eight receptions for 165 yards and two touchdowns) has convinced me enough to draft him at 15.12. Jameis Winston is the team’s starting QB, and he isn’t shy about slinging the rock all over the field. Given the time period of Michael Thomas’ return (at least five more weeks), Callaway should start out as the team’s WR1 to start the 2021 season. I finished with seven WRs, six RBs, one TE, and one QB. Take a look below at my final roster.
QB) Kyler Murray (4.01)
RB) Austin Ekeler (1.12)
RB) David Montgomery (3.12)
WR) Davante Adams (2.01)
WR) Kenny Golladay (5.12)
TE) Tyler Higbee (10.01)
FLEX) Myles Gaskin (6.01)
FLEX) Deebo Samuel (7.12)
FLEX) Robby Anderson (8.01)
BN) Zack Moss (9.12)
BN) J.D. McKissic (11.12)
BN) Cole Beasley (12.01)
BN) Giovani Bernard (13.12)
BN) A.J. Green (14.01)
BN) Marquez Callaway (15.12)
Did you enjoy this article and want more fantasy content? Make sure to check out my recent posts, and stay tuned for other positional rankings in the future. You can also follow me on Twitter @dirrim23, where I love talking about all things fantasy football!
