Fantasy Football 2023: Preseason Mock Draft Strategy, Rankings and Analysis

Mike ChiariAug 24, 2023

The start of the 2023 NFL regular season is just a couple of weeks away, meaning fantasy football managers are kicking their preparations into overdrive.

While there is undoubtedly merit to studying cheat sheets and reading as much analysis on players as possible, there is no better way to prepare for a fantasy football draft than by taking part in mock drafts.

Although it isn't a perfect exercise, a mock draft is helpful in simulating scenarios you could see in your actual fantasy draft, and that is why doing as many of them as possible will have you prepared for all situations.

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Here is a rundown of the top tips you should follow during your mock draft preparations, along with some rankings to consider as the regular season approaches.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft Tips to Follow

Try Every Spot in Draft Order

Fantasy football leagues use many different ways to determine the draft order, including random draw, reverse standings from the previous season, a lottery system and much more.

If you don't know ahead of time which spot you are going to draft from in your home league or main league, then the only way to account for all scenarios is by drafting from each position in mocks.

During your mock draft preparation, choose to pick from No. 1 all the way through to the last pick in the first round since it will give you a basic idea of what your roster could look like no matter which pick you end up with.

There is a great deal of value in picking first and seeing which players could potentially fall back to you at the second- and third-round turn, as is there value in surveying who could be available at the first- and second-round turn, and everything in between.

Of course, something isn't necessarily going to happen in your actual fantasy football league just because it happened in mocks, but the mock drafts at least provide a frame of reference.

Doing mocks from every spot lessens the likelihood of getting surprised in your league draft, and it should help give you the foresight needed to know what players could be available at your spot multiple rounds down the line.

Test Numerous Different Roster Constructions

Every fantasy football manager has their biases, whether it is preferring to start with two stud running backs, loading up early on wide receivers with a zero-RB strategy, getting a quarterback in the first few rounds or any number of other blueprints.

The beauty of a mock draft is it allows you to stray from the norm and test other paths without the penalty of getting stuck with a team you don't like if it doesn't work out.

Since your mock draft team simply gets deleted once the team is over, there is no reason not to get creative and do things you wouldn't normally do just to see if it yields better results than expected.

As long as you have the time, testing out RB-RB, WR-WR, RB-WR, WR-QB and TE-anything starts is worth it just to see if any of those strategies give you a better chance of filling out the rest of your roster to your liking than the others.

Even if you're typically strongly against the idea of coming out of the first two rounds without a running back or wide receiver, go for that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes stack and see if you can still come away with a strong overall team.

You never know if an unconventional path might be the best way to go, and testing it out in mocks will give you the confidence to try it in an actual draft.

Test the ADP Limits

ADP (average draft position) is an incredibly useful tool, both in mock drafts and in your legitimate fantasy football draft.

ADP tells you where other fantasy players are drafting players on average, and there typically isn't a huge amount of fluctuation between ADP and where a player gets taken.

With that said, ignoring ADP to some degree and taking players earlier than projected in mock drafts can help give an idea of whether doing so in a real draft is worth the risk.

Two of the best examples for this idea are Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor and Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs.

Taylor was a first-team All-Pro two seasons ago and Jacobs was a first-team All-Pro last season. If they are healthy and in their teams' lineup in Week 1, then they should be slam dunk first-round fantasy picks.

Both players are in uncertain situations, though, as Taylor has been given permission to seek a trade, and Jacobs is holding out and has yet to sign his franchise tender.

Per Yahoo, Taylor and Jacobs have an ADP of 14.1 and 19.2, respectively, due to the question marks surrounding them, meaning they are risks, but also potential steals.

If you believe they will get things worked out and play in Week 1, use a first-round pick on one of them and see how that might impact the rest of your picks so you'll be ready if a similar scenario arises in your actual draft.

2023 Fantasy Football PPR Top 50 Rankings

1. Justin Jefferson, WR, MIN

2. Christian McCaffrey, RB, SF

3. Ja'Marr Chase, WR, CIN

4. Cooper Kupp, WR, LAR

5. Travis Kelce, TE, KC

6. Austin Ekeler, RB, LAC

7. Tyreek Hill, WR, MIA

8. Tony Pollard, RB, DAL

9. Stefon Diggs, WR, BUF

10. Nick Chubb, RB, CLE

11. Saquon Barkley, RB, NYG