Welcome to part 10 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 10th 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.
1.10 – RB) Nick Chubb – Cleveland Browns
With the 10th pick in the draft, I had an opportunity to select Aaron Jones, Austin Ekeler, or Nick Chubb to start things off. I also had a ton of great WRs available, but I knew I would get a chance to draft one with my next pick. Chubb became my selection here, and although he doesn’t produce as good of receiving numbers than the other two do, he’s a more dominant ball-carrier overall. There’s no denying that he is one of the best pure RBs in the game. In just 12 games played last season, he still managed to top 1,000 yards on the ground, averaging 5.6 yards per carry and producing 12 rushing touchdowns on the year. Imagine what he could do if he played all 17 games this season.
2.03 – WR) Stefon Diggs – Buffalo Bills
Like I predicted, I ended up selecting a top-tier WR here in the second round. Diggs finished as the WR3 in PPR leagues last season. And he has all the talent in the world to finish even higher this season. I’m not saying that will be the case, but his connection with Josh Allen last season was eye-popping to watch. Now in their second season as teammates, their chemistry could improve even more. I love my pick here with Diggs, and I don’t think I will regret taking him over D.K. Metcalf or A.J. Brown.
3.10 – RB) Chris Carson – Seattle Seahawks
This may have been a little bit of a reach here, but right before my pick, I watched D’Andre Swift, Josh Jacobs, and David Montgomery all be selected. This was sort of a panic selection because I didn’t want to miss out on the next wave of RBs. Carson will still work out for me, and he’s easily the most talented back on the Seahawks. He’s the veteran back for that team, and he has respectively finished inside the top-20 amongst fantasy RBs three seasons in a row. If healthy, he has a high floor but a low ceiling.
4.03 – RB) Miles Sanders – Philadelphia Eagles
Like I mentioned above, the RBs have been dropping like flies at this point. The next tier of RBs largely drops off after drafting Miles Sanders here. So I’m glad I went with my gut here because Sanders has an opportunity to be the Eagles’ workhorse, every down back. He should get the short-yardage carries. He should receive a large amount of targets out of the backfield. And he should receive first and second down opportunities as well. Sanders may not be the most enticing option as a fourth-rounder, but his value should outproduce any stigmatization we carry from last season.
5.10 – WR) Tyler Lockett – Seattle Seahawks
This is the lowest I’ve ever drafted Tyler Lockett in mock drafts. This is a player who finished as the WR8 last season. Just because he had an up-and-down second half of last year doesn’t mean he should be punished as a middle-round pick. I’m happy to draft him as my WR2 alongside Diggs. I’m also thinking that this is the best value pick I’ve mocked so far in this series. Now that I have three RBs and two WRs, I’m going to need to target a QB and a TE soon.
6.03 – QB) Justin Herbert – L.A. Chargers
Well, I targeted a QB, and I was targeting Aaron Rodgers here, but he was selected right before my pick. Instead, I came away with the QB who shattered both the rookie passing touchdown (31) and rookie completion (396) records last season. I’m obviously thrilled with my pick, and who knows, maybe he improves like most second-year QBs do. In that case, this pick may turn my team into a title favorite right off the bat.
7.10 – TE) Dallas Goedert – Philadelphia Eagles
Drafting here near the end of the seventh, I had my eyes on players like Deebo Samuel, Jaylen Waddle, and Robby Anderson, but I went with the need and drafted Dallas Goedert as my TE1. I like Goedert, but I’m not in love with him this season. I think he’s going to be a great streaming option who can easily finish as the Eagles’ top receiver. But what does that exactly entail? He may finish inside the top-10 amongst TEs, but even that isn’t saying much these days. Taking a chance on him near the eighth round is worth a shot, and I’m going to need to select a back-up later in the draft.
8.03 – RB) Ronald Jones Jr. – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
You can never have too many RBs. I think everyone knows that by now if you’ve read this far into this series. Ronald Jones Jr. has a chance at finally emerging as Tampa Bay’s clear RB1 over Leonard Fournette. We saw flashes last season, but injuries and inconsistent play allowed Fournette to stay involved in the rotation. Jones Jr. finished as the RB20 in PPR leagues last season, and he finished with 10 double-digit point performances as well. As my RB4, I’m totally fine with that kind of production.
9.10 – RB) Damien Harris – New England Patriots
This RB room on my team is VERY deep. Harris joins Chubb, Carson, Sanders, and Jones Jr. as my RB5. This is great value, especially now that Sony Michel has been traded to the L.A. Rams. The move clearly indicates that Harris is the clear RB1 for the Patriots this season. Finding a team’s starting RB at the end of the ninth round will serve my team well right off the bat. My problem is that I will have a hard time benching some of these RBs, which is a very good problem to have.
10.03 – WR) Corey Davis – New York Jets
How many times have I drafted Corey Davis in the 10th round in this series!?! The answer is more than half of the time. I’m still baffled that I can wait to draft a team’s WR1 this late. He’s going to lead the Jets in receiving numbers if he stays healthy this season. I’m adding him to an already impressive group that features Diggs and Lockett. Now it’s time to add depth pieces the rest of the way.
11.10 – RB) Phillip Lindsay – Houston Texans
This is also a common one for me. Drafting Phillip Lindsay in the later part of the 11th round allows me to add very solid depth at my RB position. Although we aren’t expecting crazy numbers from him this season, he came out and said that “Houston’s offense is a RBs dream.” He may very much become the team’s RB1 this season, and if he does, that means I will have six starting RBs on my team, which is almost unheard of for fantasy rosters.
12.03 – WR) DeVante Parker – Miami Dolphins
At this point, I only have three WRs, so I’m going to need to find receivers who have high ceilings and great opportunities. Why not go with the Miami Dolphins’ leading receiver during the last two seasons. Sure, Waddle and Will Fuller are now on the team, but Parker is that big X receiver that Tua Tagovailoa needs to rely on this season. If he does, this will turn out in a big way.
13.10 – WR) Terrace Marshall Jr. – Carolina Panthers
This pick is more a shot in the dark. We’ve seen Marshall Jr. flash a ton during these preseason games, but he has both Anderson and D.J. Moore lining up on the same field as him. Here’s the thing, I can easily drop him if I see that he’s not working out early. As a 13th-round pick, I have no obligation keeping him on my team if he doesn’t produce. BUT he could turn into a star right away, and he’s playing in the right system to do so. Remember, Carolina produced three 1,000-yard (Curtis Samuel topped 1,000 combined rushing and receiving) receivers last season with Teddy Bridgewater as their QB.
14.03 – TE) Austin Hooper – Cleveland Browns
Earlier in the draft, I selected Goedert at the end of the seventh round. Although I believe in his opportunity this season, I don’t believe in him enough to disregard drafting a back-up TE just in case. That’s why I went with Austin Hooper here in the 14th round. He’s only two seasons removed from finishing as the TE6 in Atlanta. No, I don’t think he can finish that high with Cleveland this season, but he could be a great streaming TE2 for my team.
15.10 – QB) Derek Carr – Las Vegas Raiders
This pick was made simply to be different from my other mock drafts. In nearly every one of them, I selected a WR with the last pick of the draft. This time, I grabbed a back-up QB who I think can finish as a top-15 fantasy QB this season. Derek Carr is going into the 2021 campaign after quietly putting together his best statistical season as a pro last year. If he can improve, or even duplicate what he did in 2020, I won’t have to think about my QB position during the entire fantasy season. I finished with six RBs, five WRs, two TEs, and two QBs. Take a look below at my final roster.
QB) Justin Herbert (6.03)
RB) Nick Chubb (1.10)
RB) Chris Carson (3.10)
WR) Stefon Diggs (2.03)
WR) Tyler Lockett (5.10)
TE) Dallas Goedert (7.10)
FLEX) Miles Sanders (4.03)
FLEX) Ronald Jones Jr. (8.03)
FLEX) Damien Harris (9.10)
BN) Corey Davis (10.03)
BN) Phillip Lindsay (11.10)
BN) DeVante Parker (12.03)
BN) Terrace Marshall Jr. (13.10)
BN) Austin Hooper (14.03)
BN) Derek Carr (15.10)
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!
