Fantasy football is now a year-round activity. There have been best ball drafts available since before last year’s playoffs even ended. But August is the true start of the fantasy draft season. Training camp is underway, fantasy football rankings have settled and casual players are beginning to come out of hibernation. Now is an excellent time to do your first (or 50th) fantasy football mock draft to get an idea of this year’s fantasy landscape.
Thankfully, FantasyPros’ fantasy football mock draft simulator makes it super easy to perform a mock with exactly your league’s settings. Today, I will be mock drafting a 12-team PPR league from the 11th pick. Roster settings are 1-QB, 2-RB, 2-WR, 1-Flex and six bench slots. To check out the full draft board for this mock, click here (please ignore the projected standings that have my team in seventh). For a full breakdown of each pick, read on.
- Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2025 Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football ADP
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football Mock Draft
1.11: Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF)
Thanks to my imaginary opponent in the 10 slot reaching for Derrick Henry, I was faced with a very tough decision at this pick, with both Christian McCaffrey and Malik Nabers still on the board. But if we’re being honest with ourselves, I didn’t think too hard about this one.
If it were guaranteed that every player in the NFL would be 100% healthy for 17 weeks, McCaffrey would be closer to the 1.01 than the 1.11. And, as of right now, the owner of the second-best running back fantasy season of all time is healthy. This is riskier than picking Nabers, but we play to win championships, and McCaffrey is a championship-winning player.
2.02: Ashton Jeanty (RB – LV)
With Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. both snapped up by the algorithm at the turn, suddenly the best wide receiver on the board was A.J. Brown. I do love Brown, who has immense upside if the Eagles simply pass the ball a little bit more this season. But he’s also half a round behind Jeanty in my overall rankings.
Starting a PPR draft with two running backs is risky, but both of these players have the upside to be the RB1 overall. This Double Hero RB approach is exactly the kind of interesting strategy I love testing out in mocks, so let’s see if we can land this plane.
3.11: Davante Adams (WR – LAR)
After starting with two straight running backs, I essentially needed to select a receiver in the third round, and I didn’t love my options. Davante Adams and Mike Evans were the top two receivers on my board. Both veterans are still capable of providing very valuable seasons, but it’s hard to see either of them providing the upside to truly fill this roster’s currently vacant WR1 slot.
Still, I needed some receiver scoring here, and beggars can’t be choosers. Between Adams and Evans, I prefer Adams in a full PPR format. Sean McVay’s offense funnels targets to receivers, so Adams can rack up volume even alongside Puka Nacua. He’s not his old All-Pro self, but he’s less washed than Cooper Kupp, who still averaged 15.1 PPR points in his 10 healthy games for Los Angeles last season.
4.02: Jalen Hurts (QB – PHI)
If you remove Week 16, in which he only played 12 snaps, Jalen Hurts averaged 22.5 points per game last season. The only players to beat that mark for the season were Lamar Jackson (25.6) and Josh Allen (22.6).
Those former MVPs were both selected at the turn between rounds two and three in this draft. With that in mind, I will happily take Hurts in the fourth round, even if it puts me even further behind at receiver. Hurts also has the same upside I mentioned earlier with A.J. Brown if the Eagles regress toward the mean from their absurdly low 44% pass rate in 2024.
5.11: Xavier Worthy (WR – KC)
Once again, I felt essentially forced to take a receiver at this pick. This isn’t a position you normally want to put yourself in, but there were some solid options available, thankfully. In the end, I found myself deciding between Xavier Worthy and DeVonta Smith. I was tempted by the idea of stacking Smith with Hurts, but what my receiver room needed at this point was upside. And nobody has more upside in the late fifth round than Worthy.
Over the last six games of his rookie season, playoffs included, the fastest man in NFL history averaged 21.6 PPR points per game. He got it done in multiple ways, racking up targets underneath and finally hitting on a few deep balls. The return of Rashee Rice could cut into those underneath targets, but it now appears as though the third-year receiver will be suspended to start the season. That means the runway is clear for Worthy to pick up where he left off.
6.02: Chris Olave (WR – NO)
If I were sticking with my “upside at all costs” guns, I probably should’ve taken Jameson Williams here. But, especially in full PPR, I couldn’t pass on Chris Olave to fill my Flex spot. Since being drafted in 2022, Olave has consistently been one of the best target earners in the league.
I’m not worried about his concussions, but I am worried about his quarterback play. According to recent reports, Jake Haener is getting run with the Saints’ starters in training camp, a fact I will let speak for itself. But we know that volume is king, and Olave should see plenty of volume on a team that will be playing from behind constantly in 2025.
7.11: Travis Hunter (WR – JAX)
If you pass on a core position early in your fantasy football draft, there are two main ways to address it later on. You can attempt to load up on high-floor options, ensuring that your team has respectable production. Or, you can swing for the fences with high-upside picks, trying to match the firepower of teams in your league that invested heavily. So far, I’ve mixed both approaches to address my lack of wide receivers, with two high-floor picks (hopefully) in Davante Adams and Chris Olave and one high-upside bet on Xavier Worthy.
From now on, though, I’m going all upside, all the time. And you don’t need me to tell you that this year’s second-overall pick has upside in buckets, even if that upside is counterbalanced by unique downside. However, I think we may be overstating just how bad Travis Hunter’s downside is compared to other players. Yes, Hunter is entirely useless if he ends up playing receiver in a very limited role. But, even if we don’t want to admit it, “totally useless” is a solid part of the range of outcomes of any pick this late in the draft.
The next few receivers selected were Jauan Jennings, Stefon Diggs and Chris Godwin. That’s a fourth-year breakout in a crowded situation and two aging receivers coming off major injuries — all three of them could easily end up contributing nothing to your fantasy roster. With that in mind, I’ll happily take Hunter, a potentially generational talent if he simply plays on the right side of the ball.
8.02: Chris Godwin (WR – TB)
Yes, I just insulted Chris Godwin. But my point wasn’t that those other receivers were bad picks (I love Jauan Jennings). My point was just that every mid-to-late-round fantasy pick has risk. Godwin, coming off a broken ankle, certainly isn’t a safe pick.
We have to remember that Godwin was having a career year before suffering that injury, averaging over 19 PPR points per game. Between him, Hunter, and Worthy, I now have three players with a realistic shot to provide legit WR1 numbers, even after passing on receivers in the first two rounds of the draft.
9.11: Tank Bigsby (RB – JAX)
Those of you who have been paying attention may have noticed I haven’t taken a running back since Ashton Jeanty, nearly 100 picks ago. My reasoning was simple: This team is going to live or die on the backs of its two Hero RBs. If McCaffrey or Jeanty aren’t producing, this roster is probably dead. And in full PPR, I’d rather fill my Flex with receivers. That means there’s no room in this lineup for another running back.
With that said, I couldn’t have only two running backs on my roster. Enter Tank Bigsby, who appears to be the Jaguars’ starting running back so far in training camp. His lack of pass-catching ability is definitely a concern in a PPR format, but hopefully, all I’ll need from him is to fill in during McCaffrey’s bye week (he shares a bye with Jeanty, which is unfortunate but not something worth drafting around).
10.02: Mark Andrews (TE – BAL)
In my rush to catch up at receiver, I neglected the tight end position. However, this wasn’t entirely an oversight. I was keeping an eye on the remaining tight ends, waiting for the right time to strike. So were my computerized opponents. After Travis Kelce, T.J. Hockenson and Sam LaPorta went off the board in round six, no tight ends were selected for over three rounds. David Njoku went right before this with the final pick of the ninth round, which I figured was a good sign to make my move.
Of the remaining tight ends, Mark Andrews was my favorite, as I’m buying into the narrative that his slow start to last season was injury-related. I consider Andrews to be very comparable to his fellow elder statesman Kelce, so I’m very happy to take him four rounds later. The timing of this pick also turned out to be excellent, as four more tight ends were snapped up in the remainder of Round 10.
11.11: Tyler Allgeier (RB – ATL)
With just three running backs and three rounds to go, it was time to add to my running back room. Of course, pickings were slim. I did consider Dylan Sampson, who might be the Browns’ starting running back if fellow rookie Quinshon Judkins never signs.
Sampson will probably still split work with Jerome Ford, and it’s hard to see a committee member on what projects to be a miserable Cleveland offense making much of a fantasy impact. Instead, I took Allgeier as a pure contingent bet. Allgeier is one of my favorite handcuffs for the 2025 season, as he is a talented rusher who will be a must-start if Bijan Robinson misses time.
12.02: Will Shipley (RB – PHI)
Here’s another premium handcuff, although I’m not as confident in Will Shipley as I am in Tyler Allgeier. The 2024 fourth-rounder didn’t do much as a rookie, and there’s no guarantee he would dominate touches if Saquon Barkley were sidelined. But the upside of anyone seeing work in this Philadelphia offense is massive, so I’m willing to take a swing with my second-to-last pick of the draft.
13.11: Luther Burden III (WR – CHI)
High-upside receivers were the theme of this draft, so I’ll finish things out with one more. Luther Burden has landed in a very crowded situation in Chicago, on an offense that was flat-out bad in 2024. But the 21-year-old was a very impressive prospect and received quality draft capital as the 39th overall pick. Right now, he’s a few hypotheticals away from fantasy usability.
First, Burden needs to beat out at least one of Rome Odunze or DJ Moore (not to mention first-round tight end Colston Loveland). Then, he needs Ben Johnson to help Caleb Williams take a step forward. But an NFL season is long and full of twists and turns. I’m willing to take a shot on a potentially talented young player in a situation that could be elite if we squint.
Final Thoughts
I’m honestly very happy with how this Double Hero RB approach worked out. This team is a bit of a glass cannon, with a glaring hole at RB3 behind Christian McCaffrey and Ashton Jeanty. But I managed to fill my wide receiver room with a solid combination of bankable points and elite upside. Having one of the big four quarterbacks always feels great, especially when you get to snag the last one (usually Hurts) off the board.
Tight end is a weakness, with Andrews and no backup, but there are still some intriguing options on the waiver wire if things go south for the veteran early in the season. Hopefully, I get a chance to build a similar team in one of my real late-pick drafts coming up this month.
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Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter and Bluesky @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.
