Fantasy Football 2020: 4-Round Mock Draft, Top Keeper Players and Team Names

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The first NFL Sunday of 2020 is just two weeks away. This means that another fantasy football season will soon be upon us, and countless hours are about to be spent agonizing over quandaries like whether to pick up a second tight end off the waiver wire.

Every fantasy journey begins with a single draft pick. And ideally, your early ones will be of the home run variety.

Here we'll run through a four-round points-per-reception (PPR) mock draft, examine some of the most interesting early selections and dive into some top candidates for keeper formats. We'll also examine some top team names based on said keepers because, well, Team 11 just isn't that interesting.

Picks are made based on the following roster format: 1 QB, 2RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 D/ST, 1 K.

2020 Fantasy Football Mock Draft

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Round 1

1. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers

2. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants

3. Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints

4. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys

5. Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints

6. Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans

7. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs

8. Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota Vikings

9. Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers

10. Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

11. Miles Sanders, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

12. Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns

Round 2

1. Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons

2. Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers

3. Josh Jacobs, RB, Las Vegas Raiders

4. Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

5. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Arizona Cardinals

6. Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

7. Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

8. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

9. George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers

10. Kenyan Drake, RB, Arizona Cardinals

11. Allen Robinson, WR, Chicago Bears

12. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

Round 3

1. Kenny Golladay, WR, Detroit Lions

2. Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

3. Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Ras

4. Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

5. Todd Gurley, RB, Atlanta Falcons

6. D.J. Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers

7. Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys

8. Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings

9. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

10. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Cleveland Browns

11. Calvin Ridley, WR, Atlanta Falcons

12. James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Round 4

1. A.J. Brown, WR, Tennessee Titans

2. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

3. Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

4. Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks

5. Robert Woods, WR, Los Angeles Rams

6. Le'Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

7. Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens

8. Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

9. Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos

10. Darren Waller, TE, Las Vegas Raiders

11. Melvin Gordon III, RB, Denver Broncos

12. DJ Chark Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

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When approaching the first round, you want to target every-down running backs and target-dominant wide receivers. Essentially, your first pick should rarely come off the field. Guys like Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley are obvious candidates here, but high-volume players like Nick Chubb also fit the bill.

While Chubb will be splitting time with Kareem Hunt, he should still see a hefty workload. New Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski utilized both Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison last season with the Minnesota Vikings. Cook still logged 250 carries and 53 receptions. Chubb will be worth leaving in the lineup whenever he is healthy.

Speaking of Cook, he is the one risk in the first round of this mock. His upside is going to make him a first-round pick in most formats, but it's worth noting that he has an extensive injury history and has missed 18 games in three seasons.

If you draft Cook, know that he might not be available for all 16 games.

The receivers we see going in Round 1 and early Round 1 are true No. 1 options and high-volume pass-catchers. Michael Thomas, for example, caught a whopping 149 catches last season. Julio Jones has topped 1,390 yards in each of the past six seasons.

The same players worth targeting in Round 1 are the ones worth hanging on to in keeper leagues. If you have two every-down backs and/or two legit No. 1 receivers—for example, Chubb and Jones—it's worth retaining both. There's no guarantee that you will land an elite player if you go back into the draft pool.

While quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson are likely to sneak into the second round of some drafts, they are not worth a keeper spot. No other quarterbacks are getting kept, so you can likely land the No. 3 quarterback in Round 3 or later. If, say, 10 running backs are kept, you're looking at the 11th best back when you're next on the clock.

Keeper spots should only be used on players virtually guaranteed to be unavailable in Round 3—guys like McCaffrey, Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott, Josh Jacobs and DeAndre Hopkins.

Keeper-Themed Fantasy Team Names

• Barkley Up the Wrong Tree
• Hot Chubb Time Machine
• Zeke and Destroy
• Me and Julio
• Dalvin and the Chipmunks
• Golladay Inn Express
• Davante's Inferno
• Oh, Henry
• Miles Ahead of the Competition
• Mixon It Up