Welcome to part six 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 sixth 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 this series under the fantasy tab.
1.06 – RB) Saquon Barkley – New York Giants
Starting out with the sixth pick in this draft was a tough spot. I missed out on elite talents in McCaffery, Cook, Henry, Elliott, and Kamara. I had a chance at drafting Davante Adams here, but I decided to go with a star RB that’s coming off a big injury. Barkley’s workload isn’t expected to be huge right out the gate, but if he continues to get healthier, the sky’s the limit for him. There’s no question that he has the opportunity to be the top fantasy player this season if he stays completely healthy.
2.07 – RB) Najee Harris – Pittsburgh Steelers
Because Barkley is such a risk for my first-round pick, I decided to draft Najee Harris here, a player that should easily see a ton of work as a rookie. This is who Pittsburgh wanted to draft all along, and it’s almost a guarantee that he will serve as the every down back for this team. He can also catch out the backfield, which will serve nicely in a PPR league.
3.06 – TE) Darren Waller – Las Vegas Raiders
This is the third time I’ve drafted Waller in this series thus far, and it’s safe to say that he should be targeted in the middle of the third round in your drafts. If you don’t want to draft Kelce in the first, or Kittle in the late-second, Waller is a “must target” in the third if you want to have a positional advantage at the TE position. Outside of Mark Andrews, there isn’t a FOR SURE locked in TE that will give you very consistent numbers throughout the season (Kyle Pitts is uncertain at this point).
4.07 – RB) Darrell Henderson – L.A. Rams
I like my two starting RBs, Barkley and Harris, but like I keep mentioning, Barkley scares me. So I decided to draft Darrell Henderson here. He has RB1 upside, and without Cam Akers this season, the Rams should use him heavily throughout. We saw stretches last season of fantasy greatness. He served as the RB11 in PPR leagues between Weeks 2-5, and he produced over 18 PPR points in three out of those four weeks. Now I have three solid RBs, but I really need to add some solid receivers to my roster.
5.06 – WR) Tyler Lockett – Seattle Seahawks
Tyler Lockett’s ADP is one of my favorites going into this fantasy season. He finished as the WR8 last season, and he’s falling behind players he really shouldn’t be. In this mock draft, Ja’Marr Chase and Robert Woods were selected before him, which helped me in my decision making. Lockett isn’t someone I go into drafts targeting as my WR1, but I can work with the it and add a ton of talent around him at the WR position.
6.07 – WR) JuJu Smith-Schuster – Pittsburgh Steelers
Since my last pick, I watched Kenny Golladay, Michael Thomas, and Tee Higgins go off the board. I really needed another receiver, so I drafted Smith-Schuster here over Devonta Smith, Brandon Aiyuk, and Diontae Johnson. Those three receivers are all great options as well, but I took the Pittsburgh receiver who finished as the WR16 last season. He’s a safe pick, and his ceiling isn’t as low as the other three.
7.06 – WR) Jerry Jeudy – Denver Broncos
I went with another WR here in the seventh round, relying on a breakout season from Jerry Jeudy. When you read the tweets from the Denver beat writers, it’s usually all great. He’s an exceptional talent who dealt with some drop issues last season and poor QB play. I’m not taking a huge chance selecting him here in the seventh, but if he breaks out, this pick could serve as one of my best moves so far.
8.07 – QB) Tom Brady – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I waited until the eighth round to select the best QB to ever play the game. Who cares how old he is, we all watched what he did last season. He finished as the QB8 in 2020, and the QB5 during the last four weeks of the season. Waiting this long to draft a player I wanted all along allowed me to add key pieces at the other positions on my team. Now that I have my QB, I can focus on adding the best players available at the RB and WR positions.
9.06 – RB) Damien Harris – New England Patriots
Anytime you can draft a starting RB in the middle rounds, DO IT. Harris is expected to lead the Patriots in carries, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns this season. The only thing he doesn’t do well is catch the ball out of the backfield. That’s why he’s being selected here in the middle of the ninth round. He’s a great RB to have behind Barkley, Harris, and Henderson for my team.
10.07 – WR) Corey Davis – New York Jets
Here’s another rule for you. Anytime you can draft a team’s WR1 in the middle rounds, DO IT. New York paid Davis a pretty penny to serve as the team’s top pass-catcher. He’s also going to be a great receiver for rookie QB Zach Wilson to rely on. The duo connected four times for 70 yards in yesterday’s preseason matchup against the Packers. As my team’s WR4, I can’t complain. Davis has the potential to finish inside the top-25 amongst fantasy WRs this season.
11.06 – RB) Gus Edwards – Baltimore Ravens
There are always great receivers you can draft in the last five rounds of your drafts, but the amount of productive RBs dwindles fast. That’s why I went ahead and drafted Gus Edwards here. He will serve as J.K. Dobbins’ back-up this season, but he will still be heavily involved in Baltimore’s run-first offense. He’s finished with three consecutive 700-yard campaigns, and if Dobbins were to miss anytime, Edwards could be a locked in “must start” for your team.
12.07 – RB) Phillip Lindsay – Houston Texans
Like we saw in the last mock draft, I drafted Phillip Lindsay right after drafting Edwards. The 27-year-old is still a very gifted RB in this league, and he has the opportunity to really excel this season. Houston listed him as a co-starter with Mark Ingram in their first released depth chart, ahead of both David Johnson and Rex Burkhead. If Lindsay earns the RB1 spot for this team, this pick will pan out for at least the beginning of the season. If it doesn’t, oh well. It won’t hurt to drop a 12th-round pick.
13.06 – WR) Tre’Quan Smith – New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints need to answer a ton of questions before the season starts in a couple of weeks. The biggest question is: who is going to start at QB? The other big question is: who’s going to take over as this team’s top receiving target with Michael Thomas out? Alvin Kamara is certainly going to demand a ton of targets, but when it comes to a WR on this team, Smith seems like the top option to soak in a large amount of targets. Why not take a chance on him this late in the draft?
14.07 – WR) Jalen Reagor – Philadelphia Eagles
Reagor is coming off a very disappointing Year 1 as a pro. He only played in 11 games, hauling in 31 of his 54 targets for 396 yards and one touchdown. It doesn’t always click right away for rookie WRs. There have been plenty who have broken out during their second season after disappointing in their first. For example, Antonio Brown’s rookie season consisted of just 16 receptions for 167 yards. During the next season, he went off for 69 receptions, 1,108 receiving yards, and two touchdowns. I’m not saying he’s the same player as Brown, but Reagor has a chance to be great this season. We can’t totally cut him off just yet.
15.06 – WR) A.J. Green – Arizona Cardinals
This is one of my favorite late-round draft picks. It’s amazing to think a player of Green’s caliber could slip all the way into the last round of this mock draft. Sure, he was pretty hard to watch last season, but anyone who takes a full season and a half off isn’t going to be the same. Now that he has had more time to get used to the NFL game speed, Green could bounce back in a big way. It also helps that he’s playing for a new team, catching passes from an improved QB on a better team, and lining up on the opposite side of DeAndre Hopkins. Green should produce decent enough numbers this season to stay rostered in fantasy leagues. I end my draft with a complete team that is well balanced and full of potential. I finished with seven WRs, six RBs, one TE, and one QB. Take a look below at my final roster.
QB) Tom Brady (8.07)
RB) Saquon Barkley (1.06)
RB) Najee Harris (2.07)
WR) Tyler Lockett (5.06)
WR) JuJu Smith-Schuster (6.07)
TE) Darren Waller (3.06)
FLEX) Darrell Henderson (4.07)
FLEX) Jerry Jeudy (7.06)
FLEX) Damien Harris (9.06)
BN) Corey Davis (10.07)
BN) Gus Edwards (11.06)
BN) Phillip Lindsay (12.07)
BN) Tre’Quan Smith (13.06)
BN) Jalen Reagor (14.07)
BN) A.J. Green (15.06)
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!
