Welcome to part four 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 fourth 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 exciting 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 parts one, two, and three before you read below. Enjoy!
1.04 – RB) Derrick Henry – Tennessee Titans
King Henry gets the nod at 1.04 after watching Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, and Alvin Kamara go 1, 2, 3. Although he doesn’t provide much pass-catching production (19 receptions for 114 yards last season), he brings consistency and dominance at the RB spot. Why not take a player who rushed for over 2,000 yards last season fourth overall?
2.09 – WR) Calvin Ridley – Atlanta Falcons
I had a lot of different options here with my second-round pick. Ridley was selected over players like Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, and Antonio Gibson. Without Julio Jones on the same field as him this season, the fourth-year pro can continue to grow as his team’s top receiving option. In 2020, he finished with the most air yards in the league with 2,063. Imagine what he could turn that into this season without Jones.
3.04 – TE) Darren Waller – Las Vegas Raiders
Creating positional advantages is key to constructing a great fantasy roster. Darren Waller does just that for my team. He’s clearly a top-three pick at the TE spot, and now that he’s secured on my team, there isn’t a reason to target anyone else at his position. Barring injuries, I won’t need to think about another TE on my team until his bye week in Week 8.
4.09 – RB) Travis Etienne – Jacksonville Jaguars
As of now, I’m feeling really confident in my first three picks. I wouldn’t necessarily target Etienne this early, but since my last pick, Chris Carson, Josh Jacobs, Miles Sanders, David Montgomery, and Darrell Henderson were drafted. Etienne was the next best choice at RB because guys like Kareem Hunt, Myles Gaskin, and Javonte Williams were the next projected RBs to go. I went ahead and secured my RB2 position by grabbing the rookie, who has tremendous upside and an opportunity to become a great dual-threat back in Jacksonville’s offense.
5.04 – WR) Adam Thielen – Minnesota Vikings
Now that I have two RBs, a TE, and only one WR, I decided to draft Thielen here over Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Lockett. The 30-year-old is coming off a career-high in touchdown receptions (14), and Justin Jefferson’s health is uncertain as of right now. As a fifth-round selection, Thielen is safe, and he should still put together great fantasy numbers for at least one more season.
6.09 – WR) Diontae Johnson – Pittsburgh Steelers
At 6.09, I took my time deciding between Diontae Johnson, Aaron Rodgers, Tee Higgins, and Raheem Mostert. Ultimately, this is a PPR league where reception totals will play a huge factor for my point totals. Johnson was a target machine last season, as he led the Steelers with targets (144) and receiving yards (923) finishing as the WR21 in PPR leagues. He’s also only 25 years old, and he could take another step forward this season with check-down QB Ben Roethlisberger.
7.04 – RB) Chase Edmonds – Arizona Cardinals
For the third consecutive mock draft, I ended up taking Chase Edmonds in the middle rounds. This is the latest I’ve drafted him thus far, and he brings exceptional value as a seventh-round pick. The pass-catching back may take over as Arizona’s lead back while producing great receiving numbers at the same time. In 2020, Edmonds finished with 150 touches (53 being receptions), 850 scrimmage yards, and five total touchdowns. That effort was good enough to land him as the RB25 in PPR leagues while playing behind Kenyan Drake the majority of the time.
8.09 – QB) Ryan Tannehill – Tennessee Titans
Sometimes, you can find great talent at the QB position if you wait until the middle rounds. I had my eye on Tom Brady after selecting Edmonds last round, but he was picked right before I was cleared to make my selection. As a result, I pivoted and drafted Ryan Tannehill here at the 8.09 spot. Grabbing the QB7 from last season in the eighth round is still a great value pick, even though I’m stacking him with his All-Pro RB.
9.04 – WR) Antonio Brown – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Projected as one of the greatest value picks in this year’s drafts, Antonio Brown was an easy selection here at 9.04. In my opinion, he has a higher upside this season over players like Will Fuller, David Johnson, and Zack Moss (the three drafted right after Brown in this draft). His 16-game pace last season calculated out to 90 receptions for 966 yards and eight touchdowns. Even though the pass-catchers surrounding him in Tampa Bay’s offense pose a threat to his fantasy value, he provided a large enough sample size last season to show that he can produce with those players on the same field as him.
10.09 – RB) Nyheim Hines – Indianapolis Colts
Yes, Jonathan Taylor is one of the best fantasy RBs in your drafts this season, but with Nyheim Hines in the same RB room as him, he won’t pose a threat to Hines’ receiving totals. While the two played together last season, Hines managed to haul in 63 of his 76 targets for 482 yards and four touchdowns. He’s a “must target” RB in PPR leagues in the later rounds. As he sits behind Henry, Etienne, and Chase Edmonds, adding the pass-catching back here serves me well at my RB position so far in this draft.
11.04 – WR) DeVante Parker – Miami Dolphins
Just two seasons ago, DeVante Parker posted career highs in targets (128), receptions (72), receiving yards (1,202), and receiving touchdowns (nine). Last season, he was considered a “bust” because he only hauled in 63 receptions for 793 yards and four touchdowns. He still managed to finish as the WR40, and selecting him this late could turn out to be a steal if Tua Tagovailoa improves this season. I also love his ADP (WR53) compared to his teammates Jaylen Waddle (WR43) and Will Fuller (WR40).
12.09 – WR) Marvin Jones – Jacksonville Jaguars
Now my WR position consists of Ridley, Thielen, Johnson, Brown, and Parker, but I want to add even more depth to the position. Even though there is a ton of hype surrounding second-year pro Leviska Shenault Jr. out of Jacksonville, Marvin Jones could lead the Jaguars in receiving numbers. He finished as the WR18 last season, and his ADP projects him as the WR52 this season. It’s hard to imagine his numbers slipping so much that he drops that far in WR rankings. This was an easy decision as I’m getting an already established WR who could turn into an every week favorite for rookie QB Trevor Lawrence.
13.04 – WR) Nelson Agholor – New England Patriots
You can’t get enough WRs on your fantasy team(s). There are so many valuable receivers in the later rounds of drafts, and so many could turn out great. Selecting a player in the 13th round doesn’t lock in the fact that they will stay rostered on your team the entire season. That’s why I took the chance at drafting the Patriots’ projected WR1 Nelson Agholor. He’s coming off a career season where he hauled in 48 receptions for 896 yards and eight touchdowns (WR34). New England paid him a lot of money to leave Las Vegas, and this pick could turn into a steal if he improves from last season.
14.09 – RB) Tevin Coleman – New York Jets
Even though there are more WR options to choose from here in the 14th round, I need to add at least one more RB to my team. I currently have Henry, Etienne, Edmonds, and Hines. I don’t want to leave this draft with only four RBs, so I took the best back available, Tevin Coleman. The veteran joins a very thin New York Jets backfield consisting of mediocre talents, La’Mical Perine, Ty Johnson, and rookie Michael Carter Jr. Coleman is expected to be the Jets RB1 to start the season, and at some point, he could lose his role. But for right now, he’s slated as the starter, and I can use him until his role diminishes.
15.04 – WR) Bryan Edwards – Las Vegas Raiders
With the last pick of this mock draft, I chose another WR who has a lot of buzz surrounding him this offseason. The Raiders’ media team has been highlighting that Bryan Edwards looks like the best receiver at camp thus far. If he does end up as this team’s WR1, he may turn out to be one of the best 15th-round selections in a long time. I end my draft with a complete team that is well balanced and full of potential. I finished with eight WRs, five RBs, one TE, and one QB. Take a look below at my final roster.
QB) Ryan Tannehill (8.09)
RB) Derrick Henry (1.04)
RB) Travis Etienne (4.09)
WR) Calvin Ridley (2.09)
WR) Adam Thielen (5.04)
TE) Darren Waller (3.04)
FLEX) Diontae Johnson (6.09)
FLEX) Chase Edmonds (7.04)
FLEX) Antonio Brown (9.04)
BN) Nyheim Hines (10.09)
BN) DeVante Parker (11.04)
BN) Marvin Jones (12.09)
BN) Nelson Agholor (13.04)
BN) Tevin Coleman (14.09)
BN) Bryan Edwards (15.04)
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!
