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Fantasy Football First-Round Mock Draft (Redraft, PPR)

Fantasy Football First-Round Mock Draft (Redraft, PPR)

While the NFL Draft hasn’t been completed yet, it’s never too early to mock draft ahead of your fantasy football season. And it’s easier than ever with our free mock draft simulator.

Our writers conducted a mock draft of their own, this a one-round mock for redraft fantasy football leagues. This is a 1QB, PPR snake draft with 12 commissioners. We asked our writers for their pick as well as the reasoning behind it. Here’s what they had to say.

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1) Saquon Barkley (RB – NYG)
“I’m going chalk here, and it’s for good reason. Barkley completely crushed his rookie season, compiling 2,028 yards from scrimmage and 15 total TDs and winning Offensive Rookie of the Year. His scrimmage yards led the NFL, and he finished with an excellent 5.0 yards per carry average. Barkley also caught an incredible 91 passes in his first year in the league. His unique size and speed mixed with his ability to make defenders miss in the open field and break tackles at will give him an incredibly high ceiling. Playing with a QB in Eli Manning who is content to constantly dump the ball off, Barkley has a very safe floor in PPR leagues as a pass-catcher who will likely push for 80+ receptions in his second year. For those reasons, I don’t envision a sophomore slump from the Penn State alum. Big red flags on Todd Gurley (stem cell treatment on his knee) eliminate any debate as to who will be my pick at number one. I like Barkley’s upside more than that of Zeke, Kamara, and C-Mac.”
– Zak Hanshew (@ZaktheMonster)

2) Ezekiel Elliott (RB – DAL)
“This was a very tough decision for me between Ezekiel Elliott and Christian McCaffrey. I have no interest in dealing with Todd Gurley and his arthritic knee, which could flare up at any moment. The debate between Zeke and CMC was so close, that ultimately, it came down to me simply believing Ron Rivera. I don’t think CMC will touch the ball as much as he did last season. It is not what the Panthers want to do. Elliott, on the other hand, is a lock for 300 carries. Elliott has a clear edge over CMC in the touchdown department, but CMC is obviously a far superior receiver. With that being said, Zeke still caught 77 balls last year on 95 targets. I am almost certain that both of those numbers will decrease, but even Zeke only catches 50 balls, I have a hard time envisioning him only rushing for six scores again. Zeke has a super high floor and a guaranteed workload. He is also not coming off the field on third downs. With the Cowboys lacking playmakers outside of Amari Cooper, Elliott narrowly edged out McCaffrey for me.”
– Jason Katz (@jasonkatz13)

3) Christian McCaffrey (RB – CAR)
“McCaffrey is my pick at 1.03. I, of course, considered Todd Gurley here, but with news of arthritis in his knees, on top of reports of the Rams interviewing day two backs at the combine, CMC is the safer pick here. The Panthers will likely add a change-of-pace back this offseason, but coming off of a year with 107 receptions and 1,098 rushing yards, CMC is a high-floor option even if he loses some volume. McCaffrey will likely see close to 200 carries again and should push for close to 100 targets regardless of who they bring in to the running back room. McCaffrey is destined for another top-five PPR finish and is arguably the safest pick after Saquon Barkley is off the board.”
– Raju Byfield (@FantasyContext)

4) Alvin Kamara (RB – NO)
“I had to think hard about whether I should go with Los Angeles Rams RB Todd Gurley or New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara. The big concern for me with Gurley was his health. His knee did not look right after the Week 15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and he was not able to handle a normal workload in the NFL Playoffs. There is also speculation that the Rams will have to scale his workload due to arthritis in his knee to increase his odds that he is available for the entire season. That made me go with Kamara, one of the most explosive and versatile backs in the NFL. In the four games he played without RB Mark Ingram in the rotation, Kamara had 275 yards rushing, 336 yards receiving, and six touchdowns. Ingram is a free agent that will likely not be returning to New Orleans. Kamara is going to see an increased workload this year and he is a candidate to have both 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in 2019. He also has scored 31 rushing/receiving touchdowns in 31 career games. Kamara should be a slam-dunk RB1, he is one of the most versatile running backs in the NFL and his high reception totals, explosive plays, and double-digit touchdowns in a season make him a PPR monster. It also helps that he is only 24 years old, and he should have the stamina and health to put up big numbers for the entire season and not break down at the end of the year.”
– Derek Lofland (@DerekLofland)

5) Davante Adams (WR – GB)
“My original selection with this pick was Todd Gurley. Then an old adage came to mind. You can’t win a draft in the first round, but you can certainly lose it. While the dread surrounding Gurley’s knee may end up being nothing more than white noise until I hear otherwise I’m not willing to risk a first-round draft pick on him. Instead, I decided to go with the much safer option in Adams. After finishing the 2016 season as the WR14 in points per game, Adams finished as the WR9 in 2017 and finished as the WR1 with 22 points per game in the 2018 season. He’s far and away Aaron Rodgers’ No. 1 target and an absolute touchdown machine, scoring between 10 and 13 touchdowns the last three season. The scariest thing about Adams, at least to those who don’t have him rostered, is that he will play his sixth campaign in his age-26 season, meaning he’s now just hitting his prime. With no other established receiving weapons on the Packers roster, Adams has a legitimate shot to lead the league in targets and finish as the WR1 again in 2019.”
– Shane Manila (@DFF_Shane)

6) James Conner (RB – PIT)
“Sitting sixth feels like no man’s land. The top tier RBs are most likely gone, and Gurley’s knee injury is too mysterious, so it was either take a top-tier WR or the next tier of RBs. IMO, in a PPR draft, I can find good WR value later on in the draft and would rather take an RB with a high floor and indubious workload. Alvin Kamara would be my first choice since it appears he’ll get a workload increase with Ingram being a FA, but since Kamara was taken, Conner was next, and I feel good about the selection. Some will be skeptical about injury history or that his production last year was more a result of being on a good team. Despite those concerns, I think his role is defined and 300 total touches is a safe assumption so long as he stays relatively healthy. He averaged nearly 21 touches/game over 13 games last year which was fourth among qualified RBs with over 60% share of the team’s carries. Extrapolate that over 16 games and that gets you in the Zeke, McCaffrey, and Kamara range. Plus, his O-line is one of the best in the league and AB won’t be walking through those doors any longer, so Connor should be more of a focal point in the offense. I’m not going to buy into the sophomore slump superstition and bank on the Big Ben/Steelers offensive MO of feeding the running back. Here’s to Connor’s health.”
– Chuck Gioffre (@cgioffre34)

7) DeAndre Hopkins (WR – HOU)
“Like above, Gurley was a consideration but we don’t need yet another explanation. Hopkins is the best receiver left and has a strong case for being the WR1 (though I agree with Shane and personally have Adams there) because of both his insane floor and ceiling. His 21 PPR ppg over the last two seasons combined is otherworldly. The Texans don’t pass as much as I’d like, but with a massive 32% target share from an ascending quarterback that’s splitting hairs. I considered Melvin Gordon here and a lot of people will try to claim you must have a stud running back, but I have an easier time projecting usage of running backs than I do wide receivers when it comes to in-season moves. In the early portion of the draft I want a guy to anchor my team and Hopkins does that perfectly.”
– Ryan Melosi (@rtmelos)

8) Todd Gurley (RB – LAR)
“It was ultimate family man Clark W. Griswold who, after a financially unpredictable trip to Las Vegas, reminded his son “Gambling is what made America great.” Based on the number of times Todd Gurley was passed over by my fellow FantasyPros writers, I’m taking a “gamble” by using the eighth selection on the second-ranked overall player for PPR leagues. Fortune favors the bold, and I’ll gladly select a player who’s averaged 26 PPR points per game over the last two seasons. Yes, the arthritis in Gurley’s knee is concerning, but I’ll take his top-three upside in the back half of the first round. The Georgia product has scored over 20 FP in 21 of 29 games over the last two seasons. Plus, training camp is starting in four months and not next week. While the Rams may scale back his workload somewhat, the concerns of him being trapped in a true timeshare are overblown.”
– Josh Brickner (@joshbrickner)

9) Joe Mixon (RB – CIN)
“With Zac Taylor in charge of an already productive running game, Joe Mixon stands to benefit even more from a coach that at last was on a staff that had no issues running the wheels off of Todd Gurley. Even in less than ideal circumstances last year, Mixon was plenty efficient as he was able to accumulate 54 evaded tackles (18th NFL), 449 yards created (7th NFL), and 20 breakaway runs (2nd NFL). Per FootballOutsiders, his 154 defense-adjusted yards above replacement (DYAR) was good enough for eighth leaguewide and this was all achieved despite having to work behind the 22nd ranked RBK O-line. Mixon is a stud breathing rare air right now and needs to be selected in a position befitting of his talent level. I’m astounded he fell this far.”
– Etan Mozia (@FF_Wonderkid)

10) Melvin Gordon (RB – LAC)
“Melvin Gordon finished the 2018 season a little banged up, which could mean fantasy players get him at a slight discount heading into next season. Still, we shouldn’t forget how dominant he was when healthy last year. In his 12 games, Gordon totaled 1,375 yards and scored 14 touchdowns while averaging a career-high 5.1 yards per carry. Helping Gordon’s case is the fact that he’s not game-script dependent. The Chargers have no problem using him as a pass catcher, which boosts both his fantasy ceiling and floor. Gordon won’t turn 26 until April, which means he’s still squarely in his prime. Had we extended this mock draft into the second round I likely would have looked to pair him with a stud receiver.”
– Brendan Tuma (@toomuchtuma)

11) Antonio Brown (WR – OAK)
I know Antonio Brown seems to have lost his mind this offseason, and now a move to Oakland has a lot of people pumping the brakes. While I understand the worries there, this is still Antonio Brown we are talking about. Brown has been basically a lock as the consensus WR1 in fantasy for years. He hasn’t finished worse than WR4 over the last four seasons in half PPR leagues and has averaged 18.3 PPG during that span. He’s managed over 100 receptions and 1,200 yards in each of the last six seasons while averaging 11 TDs per season. There are still a ton of changes coming to this Raiders’ offense before the season starts, and we could see a QB upgrade be part of that. Even if not, Derek Carr is due for a boost in TDs this season. As Gridiron Experts writer Seth Keller noted, Carr was one of only 12 QBs with over 4,000 passing yards but under 20 TDs last season. Knowing it will be a quick turnaround at this point in the draft and with many of the elite options already gone at RB, I’ll still take AB all day as a late first-round pick.
– John Ferguson (@FantasyFerguson)

12) Nick Chubb (RB – CLE)
“Being at the turn, I had a lot of choices to go with here. I considered Le’Veon Bell, but, he was unsigned at this point and I didn’t have confidence in his situation. I also could have gone with a top WR like Odell Beckham Jr. or Julio Jones. Any of those picks would have been good at the 1.12, and I would have taken one of them with the 2.01 if this were a real draft. I went with Nick Chubb for the sake of being able to write him up to show how little I think the Kareem Hunt signing will hurt him. First, we have no idea how long Hunt will be suspended. Second, if and when Hunt comes back, he will need time to acclimate himself to his new team. Chubb will have plenty of time to be the alpha in this offense, and even if there ends up being some type of split, I expect this Browns’ offense to be good enough to support both.”
– Geoff Lambert (@GeoffLambert77)

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