Welcome to part EIGHT 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 eighth 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 couple 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.
1.08 – TE) Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs
How early is too early when drafting Travis Kelce? If you can get him later than this pick, take it, but for this mock draft, he’s my first-round selection. I can focus on adding a ton of depth around him, and if healthy, he’s nearly automatic when it comes to finishing as the season’s TE1. He’s only finished in that spot FIVE YEARS IN A ROW! Don’t be scared of selecting him this high, as he may be one of the safest picks in the entire draft.
2.05 – WR) Calvin Ridley – Atlanta Falcons
Like Kelce above, Ridley is a very safe pick here in the second round. I typically don’t advise fantasy owners to wait for a RB in the third round, but I didn’t like the players left on the board at the position this early (Antonio Gibson, Joe Mixon, J.K. Dobbins, etc.). Pairing Ridley with Kelce brings sure firepower right off the bat.
3.08 – RB) David Montgomery – Chicago Bears
I am a Chicago Bears fan, but there’s no denying that Montgomery is a top-15 fantasy RB entering this season. If he’s lower on your list, you might have watched Bears games blindfolded last season. He finished as the RB6 on the season, and the RB1 during the last three weeks. He finished with six straight weeks of over 18 PPR points. If you can draft a player of his talent in the third round, give yourself a proud pat on the back.
4.05 – WR) Chris Godwin – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Godwin may be Tampa Bay’s WR1, and he certainly has a chance at finishing inside the top-10 amongst fantasy WRs this season. Sure, Mike Evans, Antonio Brown, and company will eat into his targets. But he’s only two seasons removed from finishing as the league’s WR2, and he battled injuries during last season for most of the year. Expect a huge bounce back season this year from the 25-year-old. Ridley and Godwin as my top two WRs set my team up for great success, and now I can focus on adding an RB2.
5.08 – RB) Myles Gaskin- Miami Dolphins
Gaskin isn’t the ideal RB2 I was looking for when entering this mock draft. But because I selected Travis Kelce with my first pick, I was bound to see a setback at one of my positions. He still brings excellent value for my team, as he’s coming off a season where he averaged 16.4 PPR points per game. There are concerns surrounding Malcolm Brown’s role with the Dolphins, but Gaskin should undoubtedly out-touch him both on the ground and as a receiver out of the backfield. In a PPR league, Gaskin still has a low end RB1 ceiling.
6.05 – QB) Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers
I (Jordan) LOVE selecting Aaron Rodgers in the sixth round in these mock drafts. It’s not like he is going to regress in a huge way this season. He’s coming off a regular season MVP award for crying out loud. He may not wow you in the fantasy world, but there’s no doubt in my mind that he can finish as the QB5 or better. Keep in mind, we saw how he played last season when he wasn’t happy with his organization. We may see the same QB this season again.
7.08 – RB) Melvin Gordon – Denver Broncos
All this talk about Javonte Williams starting the season as Denver’s RB1 makes me giggle. Unless he’s hurt, why would the Broncos throw their rookie in there and use him as a workhorse right away? They’re paying Gordon star RB money, and they might as well run the wheels off the veteran during his contract season. If he receives three quarters of the workload he did last season, this pick turned out great for me.
8.05 – WR) Antonio Brown – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Remember the days when we argued about Antonio Brown being THE WR1 in redraft leagues? Now he is nearly an afterthought as he continues to slip into the middle rounds. If you can get your hands on him in the eighth round or later, DO IT. He averaged 14.6 PPR points per game while serving as the WR22 during the eighth games he played in last season.
9.08 – WR) Robby Anderson – Carolina Panthers
Snatching Robby Anderson in the ninth round is another value pick for my team. This is a WR who finished with more than 1,000 yards receiving last season as the WR19. His biggest downfall was that he only reached the end zone three times. Expect him to haul in more touchdowns than last season as he reunites with his former QB Sam Darnold.
10.05 – RB) Devin Singletary – Buffalo Bills
Coming into this season, there are a lot of questions surrounding the Bills’ RB room. Is Zack Moss going to take over as their RB1? Is Devin Singletary going to have a larger role in the receiving game? Honestly, who knows at this point. In Buffalo’s Week 2 win over Chicago, Singletary looked to have the edge as he carried the ball two times for 21 yards and a touchdown, while also hauling in one reception for five yards. On the other hand, Moss received more carries, as he turned four attempts into 21 yards as well. In the tenth round, I’m willing to take a chance on Singletary as my RB4.
11.08 – RB) Phillip Lindsay – Houston Texans
I mentioned it in my last mock draft, Lindsay may be Houston’s RB1 this season. Mark Ingram and him have been named co-starters, but Lindsay brings more versatility to the offense, as he shows decent receiving skills out of the backfield. I’m drafting him for depth, and if he can serve as a viable plug in RB when needed, this pick turned out great for me.
12.05 – RB) Jamaal Williams – Detroit Lions
Here’s an interesting sequence of events. I went back-to-back-to-back RBs in the mid-to-late rounds. Jamaal Williams will certainly catch a decent amount of passes this season for Detroit. He may fill in as that Theo Riddick type of player Detroit likes using in their offense. D’Andre Swift will easily top him in rushing attempts, but if he goes down at any point this season, Williams will be on everyone’s radar. You might as well be ready for when that day comes just in case.
13.08 – WR) Amon-Ra St. Brown – Detroit Lions
At this point in the draft, I decided that I’m going to use my last three picks on WRs with a ton of upside. Here in the 13th round, I selected the rookie wide-out from USC. St. Brown joins a very weak WR room in Detroit that features Tyrell Williams, Quintez Cephus, and Breshad Perriman. Outside of T.J. Hockenson, there isn’t a go-to guy for Jared Goff this year. Taking a chance at St. Brown here in the draft could turn into a very good pick for my team.
14.05 – WR) Tre’Quan Smith – New Orleans Saints
Like St. Brown above, Tre’Quan Smith has an opportunity this season to light up the fantasy world. Michael Thomas is set to miss extended time recovering from ankle surgery. Aside from Alvin Kamara, who is going to consistently produce as a pass-catcher in New Orleans’ offense? This pick is a low risk, high reward type of pick. If he doesn’t pan out, I can always drop him and add up someone else without hurting my team overall.
15.08 – WR) Parris Campbell – Indianapolis Colts
Before suffering a season-ending injury last season in Week 2, Campbell looked on track to serve as the Colts’ top receiver in 2020. Indianapolis has a lot of faith in this young WR, and they could really use Campbell this season. T.Y. Hilton is getting older, and Michael Pittman Jr. was very disappointing during his 2020 rookie campaign. If healthy, Campbell has an opportunity to serve as the Colts’ WR1 this season. That’s a big gamble, but it’s one I’m willing to take with my last pick in this mock draft. I finished with seven WRs, six RBs, one TE, and one QB. Take a look below at my final roster.
QB) Aaron Rodgers (6.05)
RB) David Montgomery (3.08)
RB) Myles Gaskin (5.08)
WR) Calvin Ridley (2.05)
WR) Chris Godwin (4.05)
TE) Travis Kelce (1.08)
FLEX) Melvin Gordon (7.08)
FLEX) Antonio Brown (8.05)
FLEX) Robby Anderson (9.08)
BN) Devin Singletary (10.05)
BN) Phillip Lindsay (11.08)
BN) Jamaal Williams (12.05)
BN) Amon-Ra St. Brown (13.08)
BN) Tre’Quan Smith (14.05)
BN) Parris Campbell (15.08)
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!
