It’s fantasy football mock draft season and time to prepare for your leagues in 2023, if you haven’t been already. The NFL season is quickly approaching which means you’re going to need your ducks in a row come late August when draft season begins to really ramp up.
The best way to get ready is obviously by conducting a fantasy football mock draft (or 1,000) to find out what kind of strategy you might employ this season.
We’re going to take a look at a fantasy football mock draft drafting in the 8th overall position, going snake style, and planning to play in a PPR league. Obviously picking later in the first round, you’re looking for the best possible value at the turn, and in a PPR league, you want to make sure you’re getting players who will receive a hefty bulk of the team’s touches offensively.
Battling against the CPU, here’s what we came up with for a 15-round fantasy football mock draft.
15-round fantasy football mock draft, picking 8th overall
Top two picks: Jonathan Taylor, RB, Colts; Davante Adams, WR, Raiders
We started off this fantasy football mock draft with two of the most successful fantasy football assets over the last couple of seasons in Jonathan Taylor (our first-round pick) and Davante Adams, a surprise second-round pick.
Jonathan Taylor represents a relatively high-risk selection in round one given he missed a bunch of time last year to injury, but there’s also a high potential for reward there with a rookie quarterback in the building (Anthony Richardson) and a massive commitment to the running game forthcoming. Despite missing time last season, I feel good enough about Jonathan Taylor’s floor to still pick him in the 1st round at 8th overall.
Then at the turn, we landed Davante Adams. No wide receiver in the NFL has been targeted more over the last three years than Davante Adams. He’s been an absolute machine.
With your top two picks, you’re obviously relying heavily on these guys to carry you week-to-week. I think Jonathan Taylor and Davante Adams can do exactly that.
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.
Fantasy football mock draft: Rounds 6-8
Round 6: Diontae Johnson, WR, Steelers
Round 7: Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys
Round 8: Courtland Sutton, WR, Broncos
My goal in the sixth round was to get the best value possible, and I think it’s safe to say that Diontae Johnson presents that.
There are very few wide receivers who receive the type of target share that Diontae Johnson gets in the Steelers’ offense. Even if you have questions about Kenny Pickett going forward, Johnson should be a relatively safe bet. He has 552 total targets in his first four NFL seasons, and last year was a tough year in terms of fantasy because the Steelers’ offense struggled, and Johnson didn’t have any touchdowns.
I think he’ll bounce back this year.
Dak Prescott is a bit of a risk as your QB1 in fantasy football because he threw so many INTs last year. I can’t say I love that pick, but I also think Dak has a great chance to be under-drafted when it comes to fantasy football in 2023.
In round eight, I went after Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton. That pick came down to either Sutton or Brandin Cooks, and I think under Sean Payton, Sutton (and the rest of the Broncos’ offense) is going to surprise in 2023.
These three rounds filled out some important parts of the starting lineup and raised the floor of the WR group, but still represent the potential for high risk, high reward.
Fantasy Football mock draft: Rounds 9-11
Round 9: Brian Robinson Jr., RB, Commanders
Round 10: Evan Engram, TE, Jaguars
Round 11: Greg Dulcich, TE, Broncos
In round 9, the opportunity came about to draft Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr., and I thought with the Commanders breaking in a young QB this coming season, that decision could pay huge dividends. I’m not overly high on Antonio Gibson, even in Eric Bieniemy’s offense, but I think Robinson could end up thriving. Either way, in the 9th round, it was a risk worth taking.
In round 10, it was finally time to take a tight end. After passing on the initial waves at the position, I was pleased to see Evan Engram still sitting there on the board in the 10th round. Engram caught 73 passes last year for the Jaguars, making him yet another high-volume option on this fantasy roster. The potential for more touchdowns is undoubtedly there in 2023 as well.
Then in round 11, I doubled up at the tight end position by taking Denver Broncos tight end Greg Dulcich, a player who has recently been given the “joker” label by head coach Sean Payton. It sounds like the Broncos are extremely impressed with the rookie who racked up over 400 receiving yards on just 33 receptions in his rookie season.
Dulcich could emerge as a fantasy football TE1 this coming season, and with a high floor player in Evan Engram, I was comfortable taking the risk on Dulcich.
Fantasy Football mock draft: Rounds 12-15
Round 12: Anthony Richardson, QB, Colts
Round 13: Cordarrelle Patterson, RB, Falcons
Round 14: Justin Tucker, K, Ravens
Round 15: Steelers D/ST
It’s in the later rounds that I typically like to take a chance on some of my favorite rookie options for the coming season. This is where paying attention to local reports about what rookies are getting the most run with the starting lineup is crucial.
I think Anthony Richardson is kind of an obvious option in fantasy this year thanks to his potential as a runner as well. The ability to potentially double-up with Richardson and Jonathan Taylor in this scenario is a bonus.
Cordarrelle Patterson being available in Round 13 felt like a pretty “safe” pick but what is Patterson even going to contribute? The Falcons have certainly maximized him in recent years but there’s a logjam there now with Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier.
Final Roster
QB: Dak Prescott, Anthony Richardson
RB: Jonathan Taylor, Brian Robinson Jr.
RB: Travis Etienne Jr., Aaron Jones, Cordarrelle Patterson
WR: Davante Adams, Courtland Sutton
WR: Amari Cooper, Diontae Johnson
TE: Evan Engram, Greg Dulcich
FLEX: Aaron Jones/Diontae Johnson
K: Justin Tucker
D/ST: Steelers
Overall, this roster looks solid. There’s potential here to hit big on some picks but this team could also completely tank if guys who need to bounce back don’t, or if guys who weren’t healthy last year aren’t healthy again this year.
Overall, I think the weakest areas of this roster are at QB and depth at wide receiver. The biggest strength looks like running back. Would this roster win you a fantasy championship? If you could hit on the running back position, it has the potential to be a tough out every single week.