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Fantasy Football 2019: Breaking Down Updated Mock Draft and Mobile Cheat Sheet
August 14, 2019
If mock-draft exhaustion was an actual condition, this is when most of us would be at its mercy.
Luckily, there is no such thing as overindulgence when it comes to mock drafts. The best fantasy football players are typically the most informed, so it's in your best interest to soak up as many opinions as possible.
Hence why you're here.
We'll play our part in your mid-August cram session by laying out our top-40 cheat sheet for points-per-reception rankings and examining the first three rounds of an updated, 12-team PPR mock draft by using average draft position data from Fantasy Football Calculator.
PPR Top-40 Cheat Sheet
1. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
2. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers
3. Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
4. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys
5. David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals
6. Le'Veon Bell, RB, New York Jets
7. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans
8. Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons
9. Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers
10. Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints
11. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Cleveland Browns
12. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
13. Todd Gurley II, RB, Los Angeles Rams
14. Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
15. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
16. Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns
17. Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
18. Josh Jacobs, RB, Oakland Raiders
19. James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
20. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
21. Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota Vikings
22. T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts
23. Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
24. Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
25. Devonta Freeman, RB, Atlanta Falcons
26. Kerryon Johnson, RB, Detroit Lions
27. Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots
28. Damien Williams, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
29. Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings
30. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
31. Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
32. Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers
33. David Montgomery, RB, Chicago Bears
34. George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers
35. Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
36. Antonio Brown, WR, Oakland Raiders
37. Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys
38. Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks
39. Marlon Mack, RB, Indianapolis Colts
40. Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Updated PPR Mock Draft by ADP
Round 1
1. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
2. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers
3. Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
4. David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals
5. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys
6. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans
7. Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers
8. Le'Veon Bell, RB, New York Jets
9. Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints
10. Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons
11. James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
12. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Cleveland Browns
Round 2
13. Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
14. Todd Gurley II, RB, Los Angeles Rams
15. Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns
16. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
17. Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota Vikings
18. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
19. Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
20. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
21. Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
22. Damien Williams, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
23. Kerryon Johnson, RB, Detroit Lions
24. Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Round 3
25. Antonio Brown, WR, Oakland Raiders
26. T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts
27. Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
28. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
29. Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
30. Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers
31. Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys
32. Devonta Freeman, RB, Atlanta Falcons
33. Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
34. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
35. Marlon Mack, RB, Indianapolis Colts
36. David Montgomery, RB, Chicago Bears
Since these selections are made based on ADP and not roster need, the formula yields a few funky results. It's unlikely you would see this many teams starting with three players at the same position.
That said, this does give you a good snapshot of the possibilities from each draft slot.
For instance, say you scored the top overall pick, did the smart thing and spent it on Saquon Barkley. Well, if your board breaks as above, you could leave the second and third rounds with Adam Thielen and Antonio Brown.
Provided Brown unearths his helmet of choice, this could be an elite foundation. Barkley was a rookie last season and still finished behind only Patrick Mahomes in NFL.com's fantasy scoring. Thielen and Brown, meanwhile, were both top-seven fantasy wideouts.
Dropping down the draft board, the No. 4 slot delivered David Johnson. That's a modest gamble, since he finished only ninth among fantasy backs last season. But with Kyler Murray and (maybe more importantly) Kliff Kingsbury in town, Johnson's stock has boom potential.
Of course, the same could be said of the No. 5 pick Ezekiel Elliott, who skipped a game last season and still rushed for a league-best 1,434 yards. But the bust potential is arguably higher given the uncertainty surrounding his holdout.
Elliott was recently the No. 4 pick in a CBS Sports 12-team, non-PPR draft, and their expert, Jamey Eisenberg, had no qualms with the value—for now:
"Prior to his contract holdout, Elliott was a potential option as the No. 1 overall pick in any format, especially non-PPR leagues. He fell to No. 4 overall here, and we'll see if he continues to slide the longer he stays away from the Cowboys. I'm still comfortable with him in the first four overall picks for at least another week, and hopefully his contract situation will be resolved soon."
For the above mock draft, the fourth spot yielded a trio of Johnson, Keenan Allen and Patrick Mahomes. That should be three elite players, with Mahomes the favorite to pace quarterbacks in fantasy points and Johnson a possibility to do the same at running back.
Mahomes is such an outlier that, despite being the first player at his position, he doesn't really set the quarterback market. In his first season as an NFL starter, he passed for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns. Even in a pass-happy league, Kansas City's signal-caller might be a cut above. His ADP (28) is less than half of the second-highest quarterback, Aaron Rodgers (59).
Moving to the end of the round, the 12th slot produced one of my favorite triads.
It starts with Odell Beckham Jr., the top offensive weapon on a Cleveland team suddenly overflowing with them. He only played 12 games last season, spent them catching pass from Eli Manning and still wound up with 1,052 yards and six scores.
With a clean bill of health, Beckham's numbers could skyrocket now that he has Baker Mayfield under center and a beefed-up Browns supporting cast around him.
On the back end of the turn, the 13th pick produced Tyreek Hill, who is as explosive as any player in the NFL. He's a featured part of Kansas City's electric offense and a scoring threat whenever he gets a touch. He averaged a league-leading 15.0 yards per touch and found the end zone 13 times in 2018.
Finally, rookie Bears rusher David Montgomery rounded out the trio as the 36th pick. He arrived in Chicago as a polished and productive back, turning 695 touches into 3,507 yards and 26 touchdowns over two seasons at Iowa State. The way ESPN Bears reporter Jeff Dickerson sees it, he has a chance to separate himself from his talented costars:
"It's a stacked Bears backfield with Tarik Cohen and Mike Davis, but Montgomery is the only one that [someday soon] projects as a true three-down back. Montgomery is known for his tackle-breaking ability, but he's also displayed good hands out of the backfield—a must for any running back in Matt Nagy's offense."
This all goes to show there is talent to be mined from any spot on the draft board. Just make sure you do the necessary preparation to have a plan in place for wherever you land.