Last year, during rookie draft season, I started the habit of putting together rookie mock drafts with followers on social media or listeners to Fantasy Football Today Dynasty. It is a different process than trying to organize 12 Fantasy analysts and doing what many refer to as an expert mock. One of the things I like about it is that we get a lot more variety in the order. And that gives me more to talk about.
One of the reasons some are skeptical of this approach is that you can get some really wild picks, some may even call them mistakes, in these types of mocks. I think that is a feature, not a bug. For example, in this one QB mock I did below, Fernando Mendoza was the first overall pick. That is, in my opinion, a mistake in this format. I would not take him before pick eight in this format. But it is also helpful for people who may be mostly consuming Superflex content but play in one-QB leagues. Here are the full results, along with my thoughts on each round:
Round 1
1. Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
2. Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame
3. Makai Lemon, WR, USC
4. Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State
5. Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State
6. KC Concepcion, WR, Texas A&M
7. Omar Cooper, WR, Indiana
8. Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon
9. Jadarian Price, RB, Notre Dame
10. Denzel Boston, WR, Washington
11. Mike Washington, RB, Arkansas
12. Jonah Coleman, RB, Washington
Other than Mendoza, there really isn’t much surprising about the first eight picks. And I am not sure you could really say anything surprising about the last four either, if only because there is absolutely no consensus around these picks. I do not have Washington or Coleman in my top 12 as of mid-April, but that could certainly change once we see how the NFL values these guys.
Round 2
1. Antonio Williams, WR, Clemson
2. Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt
3. Nicholas Singleton, RB, Penn State
4. Emmett Johnson, RB, Nebraska
5. Max Klare, TE, Ohio State
6. Ted Hurst, WR, Georgia State
7. Chris Bell, WR, Louisville
8. Chris Brazzell, WR, Tennessee
9. Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama
10. Malachi Fields, WR, Notre Dame
11. Elijah Sarratt, WR, Indiana
12. Germie Bernard, WR, Alabama
This is the far more interesting round from my perspective. Johnson was my pick and my favorite running back value in the draft. But Sarratt may have been an even better value at the end of Round 2. I have Rich Cooling from Dynasty League Football on FFT Dynasty last week, and he prefers Sarratt over teammate Omar Cooper. You can see why here:
Round 3
1. Kaytron Allen, RB, Penn State
2. Zachariah Branch, WR, Georgia
3. Skyler Bell, WR, Connecticut
4. Demond Claiborne, RB, Wake Forest
5. Bryce Lance, WR, North Dakota State
6. Ja’Kobi Lance, WR, USC
7. De’Zhaun Stribling, WR, Mississippi
8. Cole Payton, QB, North Dakota State
9. Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU
10. Adam Randall, RB, Clemson
11. Michael Trigg, TE, Baylor
12. Le’Veon Moss, RB, Texas A&M
The further we get into rookie draft prep, the more appealing I am finding Round 3 picks. The problem is that the guys I really like, Allen, Bell, Claiborne, and Trigg, will not be available in Round 3 if they sneak into Day 2 of the NFL Draft. And if they don’t, they won’t be as appealing. That is less true for the running backs than it is for the pass catchers.
