Fantasy Football Mock Draft, 12-team PPR: Calvin Ridley starts WR run

Fantasy Football Mock Draft 2021: Round 4

• Team 12 (4.01): Amari Cooper, WR, DAL
• Team 11 (4.02): Darrell Henderson, RB, LAR
• Team 10 (4.03): Josh Allen, QB, BUF
• Team 9 (4.04): Kyler Murray, QB, ARZ
• Team 8 (4.05): D’Andre Swift, RB, DET
• Team 7 (4.06): Mike Davis, RB, ATL
• Team 6 (4.07): Mike Evans, WR, TB
• Team 5* (4.08): Cooper Kupp, WR, LAR
• Team 4 (4.09): Myles Gaskin, RB, MIA
• Team 3 (4.10): Julio Jones, WR, TEN
• Team 2 (4.11): Tyler Lockett, WR, SEA
• Team 1 (4.12): Diontae Johnson, WR, PIT

A theme of this mock was getting sniped just before coming back on the clock. In this case, I was looking hard at Mike Davis, a player who is the clear lead back in Atlanta, a team now coached by Arthur Smith, he of giving Derrick Henry a billion carries in Tennessee fame. Davis may not be a superstar but he’s being undervalued.

Again, though: My goal in any fantasy football draft is not to reach for need — running back in this case — and instead try to secure the best value possible, especially so early in the draft still. So I passed on Myles Gaskin at 4.08 in favor of Cooper Kupp.

Kupp finished last season as the WR26 but he actually played much better than that overall. In 15 games, he had 124 targets that resulted in 92 catches for 974 yards but only three touchdowns, which came after a season in which he scored 10 times. That has to positively regress in the 2021 season and now he also has Matthew Stafford instead of Jared Goff throwing to him.

With better quarterback play coupled with improved touchdown luck, Kupp is a terrific player that should be a solid WR2 when the year is done. So again, being able to slot him into the FLEX spot makes a ton of sense.