Fantasy football mock draft: A high-risk, high-reward lineup in 2023

Fantasy football mock draft: Picking 8th overall

3rd round: Amari Cooper, WR, Browns
4th round: Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jaguars
5th round: Aaron Jones, RB, Packers

Once again, I wanted to go after guys that I thought teams would really lean on heavily in this next stretch as we really built out the meat of our roster. I feel like we got some great top-end talent taking Jonathan Taylor and Davante Adams in rounds one and two, and then I went for a pretty big risk/reach in round three with Amari Cooper.

I think Amari Cooper is one of the most underrated receivers in the NFL, but that doesn’t always translate to fantasy football viability. Cooper had one of the best seasons of his NFL career last year with over 1,100 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns. Even with the addition of Elijah Moore to the Browns’ offense, I think Cooper will be heavily targeted and if Deshaun Watson can re-emerge, this risk could be well worth the reward.

Travis Etienne Jr. really emerged in the middle of last season as one of the most dynamic weapons at the RB position in the NFL. He finished the season with over 1,400 yards from scrimmage and five total touchdowns, and to me, he’s merely scratching the surface of what he can be. I love him as a RB2 this coming season.

To raise the floor at the RB position, I took Aaron Jones in the fifth round. The Packers lost Aaron Rodgers in the offseason when they traded him to the New York Jets. Breaking in a young QB, who do you think is going to bear the biggest weight of responsibility? That’s going to be Aaron Jones.

Jones should be an automatic 1,500 yards from scrimmage and somewhere around 8-12 touchdowns this coming season.