We’re well into rookie draft season here at FantasyPros, so instead of the usual mock draft where an analyst basically lays out their rankings which may or may not have changed much since the last time, I thought I’d take a slightly more creative approach. I decided to use FantasyPros Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator to run through a mock draft of my own and comment on each round. I got the seventh pick in this 1QB half-PPR mock, so here we go!
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Round 1
1.01 – RB Najee Harris
1.02 – TE Kyle Pitts
1.03 – WR Ja’Marr Chase
1.04 – RB Travis Etienne
1.05 – QB Trevor Lawrence
1.06 – WR Devonta Smith
1.07 – RB Javonte Williams
1.08 – WR Rashod Bateman
1.09 – QB Trey Lance
1.10 – RB Trey Sermon
1.11 – WR Jaylen Waddle
1.12 – WR Rondale Moore
No real surprise with RB Najee Harris going off the board first, but in this non-TE premium draft, I was a little surprised to see TE Kyle Pitts go off the board second. Sure, his talent is off the charts, but historically tight ends take some time to adjust to their new professional surroundings, meaning it could be a year or two until he’s a stud. I still think Pitts is more likely to be a hit than a miss, even in his first year, but taking him that early feels like a reach to me.
Some familiar faces follow Pitts, and I’m up at 1.07. In any sort of PPR format, I tend to lean WR in the rookie draft, especially before we know the landing spot and team situation. But with this year’s class, there’s a definite tier break at the RB position for me here. RB Javonte Williams has been rising up draft boards in the last few months, and after Williams, the RB position gets ugly fast. There are plenty of valuable WR options left in the later rounds, but if I can grab Williams at 1.07, I’m happy with it based on the options available.
WR Rashod Bateman goes immediately after my pick. I’d considered him instead of Williams, but as I said, the RB depth falls off a cliff here, making Williams a little more valuable. I was surprised to see Waddle and Moore both wrap up the first round, though, as both have top-three pick upside on the right teams. It just goes to show how crazy rookie drafts can sometimes be and how much WR value there is left on the board at those later first-round picks.
Round 2
2.01 – RB Kenny Gainwell
2.02 – RB Chuba Hubbard
2.03 – RB Michael Carter
2.04 – QB Justin Fields
2.05 – QB Zach Wilson
2.06 – WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
2.07 – WR Terrace Marshall
2.08 – WR Tylan Wallace
2.09 – QB Mac Jones
2.10 – RB Jermar Jefferson
2.11 – WR Elijah Moore
2.12 – WR Dyami Brown
Round 2 starts with three solid RB options in Kenneth Gainwell, Chuba Hubbard, and Michael Carter. Along with Trey Sermon, this is my second tier at the RB position. Carter may end up on a better team and in a better situation than his UNC teammate Javonte Williams but overall, I just like the burst from Williams more. We also see two more QBs and a WR go before my 2.07 pick, which thins out the options at those positions a little more.
There are still a couple of rookies I really like left on the board, but I think Terrace Marshall is the surest thing of those remaining. I know it’s hard to pick based on floors and ceilings in April, but I just think Marshall has the overall talent and skillset to make him a solid WR in the NFL, making him the obvious choice for me at 2.07.
Another QB, an RB, and three WRs finish the round. The only real surprise for me is that Pitts is still the only TE off the board through two rounds. Like I mentioned earlier, TEs can struggle out of the gate, but there is still some solid talent at the position that might fall back to me at 3.07 if I’m lucky.
Round 3
3.01 – TE Pat Freiermuth
3.02 – WR Kadarius Toney
3.03 – WR D’Wayne Eskridge
3.04 – TE Brevin Jordan
3.05 – RB Kylin Hill
3.06 – WR Seth Williams
3.07 – WR Tamorrion Terry
3.08 – WR Amari Rodgers
3.09 – RB Jaret Patterson
3.10 – WR Sage Surratt
3.11 – QB Kyle Trask
3.12 – WR Shi Smith
I definitely jinxed it. TEs Pat Freiermuth and Brevin Jordan both go before my next pick. Those two make up my second tier at the TE position at the moment. We also see three WRs, and my sleeper candidate RB Kylin Hill all go before my next pick here. A lot of these guys will see their fantasy value depend on the NFL team that drafts them, but there’s still plenty of talent left for me at 3.07.
WR Tamorrion Terry is my slam dunk pick here. I’ve seen some fantasy rookie mock drafts that have him as a mid-second round candidate, making this pick a steal for many people smarter than me. He has question marks both in terms of talent and character, but at this stage of the draft, that’s pretty common. He could be a stud on the right team, and with the right coaching, so he’s the best choice for my team right now.
Kyle Trask, the last QB on my list for 1QB leagues, goes in the later part of the 3rd round. While other QBs could land somewhere relevant in the 1QB format, you just don’t need to take that risk and draft an NFL backup QB to sit on your bench for a year. You can leave them on waivers and likely grab them as we get closer to the season. Behind Trask is a tier of unknowns, and before we know landing spots and opportunities, I’m pretty much avoiding them all outside of the top five players.
Read all of our 2021 NFL Draft coverage here
Round 4
4.01 – WR Tutu Atwell
4.02 – RB Javian Hawkins
4.03 – RB Khalil Herbert
4.04 – WR Marquez Stevenson
4.05 – RB Rhamondre Stevenson
4.06 – RB Larry Rountree
4.07 – RB Elijah Mitchell
4.08 – WR Demetric Felton
4.09 – WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette
4.10 – WR Marlon Williams
4.11 – WR Nico Collins
4.12 – WR Anthony Schwartz
Some solid WRs are still available and get picked to start the 4th round. Personally, I like what I’ve heard about and seen from two of the smaller but speedier pass catchers in WR Tutu Atwell and WR Marquez Stevenson. Stevenson is really starting to get some attention from fantasy analysts for his ability to blow past defenders. While undersized, Stevenson has some insane speed. I’m not calling him the next Tyreek Hill or anything, but he could be a monster for fantasy managers in the coming years if he goes to the right team.
I’m up at 4.07 and really don’t like my options. I had planned on snagging either of the two speedier options I just mentioned, but apparently, the simulator had similar plans. Instead, I end up drafting who the expert consensus said I should take in RB Elijah Mitchell. He’s a former WR with some real talent with the ball in his hands, but it feels like he’s going under the radar due to him attending a smaller college. At this stage, I like his upside more than anything and feel good making the choice that the experts recommended that I make.
Round 5
5.01 – TE Hunter Long
5.02 – WR Dazz Newsome
5.03 – WR Jaelon Darden
5.04 – RB Rakeem Boyd
5.05 – QB Jamie Newman
5.06 – WR Trevon Grimes
5.07 – RB Pooka Williams
5.08 – RB CJ Verdell
5.09 – WR T.J. Vasher
5.10 – RB Deon Jackson
5.11 – QB Kellen Mond
5.12 – RB Master Teague
At long last, the final round. In most rookie drafts, these are the players that are the first to get cut when someone else on waivers that you’ve never heard of breaks off a 50-yard TD run in Week 2 of the preseason. In April, it’s tough to really know who will make it on the team, let alone be fantasy relevant while doing so, but again I try to pay attention to talent above all else and see if the cream rises to the top in training camp.
I like what I’ve seen from TE Hunter Long and WR Dazz Newsome, so it was no shock to see them go at 5.01 and 5.02, respectively. The other guy I like late was the player I selected in RB Pooka Williams. If you’ve been a fan of college football at all over the last three years, you likely have heard the name of this Kansas running back, but when he opted out of the rest of the 2020 season in October, it felt like he’d hit his peak and was declining in talent already. As a late-round flier, Williams is a fine option at a weak RB position, but he’s going to need many things to fall his way to see my lineup in fantasy.
Rounding out the draft, we get a couple of familiar names, not the least of which is OSU RB Master Teague. He’s similar to Williams for me: someone I’ve heard of that has enough talent to make an NFL roster, but is he talented ENOUGH to make the starting lineup for whoever drafts him? Not quite sure, but in April, he’s another option worth looking at later in drafts.
Recap
Looking back, I really like the balance I achieved in this draft. Getting the last of my top-tier RBs with the 7th overall pick is pretty nice, and adding some solid WR options in the second and third round feels good too. Overall I wouldn’t say this was the best draft I’ve ever done, but it should be solid enough to help my team in 2021 and beyond as I vie for a chance at the title, and that’s exactly what a rookie draft is all about.
Let me know how I did on Twitter, @AndrewHallFF, and stick with FantasyPros through the draft and the rest of the offseason leading up to Week 1. There is plenty of analysis, rankings, and ADP data to check out, and it’s always updated with the latest to help you win your title and dominate your own league!
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Andrew Hall is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, follow him @AndrewHallFF.
