Draft Board Here
Welcome to our FIRST mock draft of 2020. You’ll notice that we started our YouTube channel where you can find our mock draft recorded with live commentary and reactions! Below we’ll be highlighting some picks from our teams and the thought process behind them.
Kyle – Drafting 3rd
Alvin Kamara – 1.03
In PPR drafts this season there seems to be a trend of three common top picks– Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley and Ezekiel Elliott. Behind those three it’s almost a random combo of Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Dalvin Cook and a handful of others. Point being, there seems to be a tier break past the top three players. I don’t see it stopping at those three.
That’s why I went with Alvin Kamara. I find myself loving Kamara more and more every time I look into his potential, which is huge. He’s in an insanely productive offense, sees consistent work in the passing game (almost too consistent, he’s finished each of the past three seasons with 81 receptions) and has finished each season of his career in the top ten in PPR leagues.
Allen Robinson – 3.03
Allen Robinson saw a HUGE 2019 season. He had a career high in targets (154) and receptions (98) while also finishing the season as the WR8. Heading into 2020 he has the potential to lead his team in targets again and duplicate his 2019 season. Another big bonus is that if Nick Foles wins the starting job in Chicago, Robinson could be playing with the best QB of his career, including college!
Kareem Hunt – 4.10
Kareem Hunt is still a top tier running back. When I was looking to add a second RB to my roster, Hunt was a target. When he returned from suspension last season he was the highest scoring RB in PPR on the Browns in six of eight games while being out-touched by Nick Chubb 155 to 80. But that’s without the improved line and new coaching scheme.
New HC Kevin Stefanski will introduce his rushing scheme in Cleveland which will in turn see enough rushing volume to support both Chubb and Hunt. It’s also not crazy to think two backs in the same backfield could finish as RB1s, just look at Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram in 2017.
Cam Newton/Ryan Tannehill – 10.10/12.10
In my opinion, this QB combo is lethal. Cam Newton could potentially be as dangerous as he always has been in New England. In 2018, his last full-ish season (he played 14 games), he was only behind Lamar Jackson in rushing attempts with 101. He finished the season as QB13 and was QB8 in PPG. I’d prefer to pair Cam with another QB gives me a safety net in case he doesn’t pan out, but if he flourishes you’re set.
Ryan Tannehill is being slept on. I took him as the 18th QB off the board and he was ranked even lower in the draft system. I have Tannehill ranked and projected as the QB10 and to get him any cheaper than that is a steal. From weeks 7-17, the weeks he started, he was the QB3 while finishing eight of those ten weeks as a QB1. Sure he could take a step back in 2020 but to risk so little on that gamble is something I’m happy to do.
Favorite Pick – Ryan Tannehill – 12.10 (Cheapest QB with high ceiling)
Least Favorite Pick – Jack Doyle – 11.3
I’m not in love with Jack Doyle this season but he’s a guy I’d be happy to get. The reason this is my least favorite pick is mostly because I sort of wish I had landed a guy like Hunter Henry or Hayden Hurst a few rounds earlier.
Favorite Team – Team #2
The starting team that was put together from the second pick was *chefs kiss*. To be able to get McCaffrey and a capable RB2 in Gurley, three receivers with extremely high ceilings in 2020 (Mike Evans, Calvin Ridley and DeVante Parker) while also getting a top tight end in Ertz? Add in Deshaun Watson at QB and I think this is the best starting team by far. The depth could use some work, they seemes to take any scrap they could at bench RBs but to finish with Christian Kirk and N’Keal Harry gives solid WR options.
Mike – Drafting 8th
Kenyan Drake – 1.08
In PPR drafts I expected more Wide Receivers to go in the first round. My Tier 1 running backs include CMC , Barkley, Elliott, Kamara, and Cook. Outside of those RB’s I expected to see 4-5 receivers go but that wasn’t the case and led me to make a decision on my RB. Kenyan Drake is in a Kliff Kingsbury system that features one back and I expect a top ten PPR season from Drake in 2020. To be safe I targeted Chase Edmonds in the 9th to lock up that backfield for at least the majority of the season.
Aaron Jones – 2.05
On the turn around I noticed that WR’s were going slower than usual and decided I could wait on getting my WR’s until later in the draft. The drop off in PPR points based on my rankings from the RB’s that were left was a larger margin than the drop off from the WR’s left. This lead me to take the #2 PPR RB from 2020, Aaron Jones. In Matt Lefleur’s 2nd season as the Head Coach/Play Caller for the Green Bay Packers, I expect the offense to run much smoother than it did early in the season last year and avoid that early slow start of getting used to the playbook.
JuJu Smith-Schuster – 3.08
In 2019 JuJu Smith-Schuster was being drafted in the late 1st round – early 2nd round in PPR fantasy drafts and it was for a very good reason. Ben Roethlisberger since 2008 has not finished outside of the top ten fantasy QB’s on a full season since 2008. Ben has a way to get receivers the ball and since 2013, Ben has had a 1,000-yard WR in each season he’s played. I’m expecting James Washington, Dionte Johnson, and Eric Ebron to help open up the field for a lot of 1 on 1 opportunities for JuJu in 2020.
D’Andre Swift/Kerryon Johnson – 6.08/11.08
This combo was definitely my favorite two picks in this mock draft. Now it’s very concerning that Rookie RB’s won’t have the luxury of a preseason to experience that true NFL game speed but Swift out of all of the Rookie RB’s taken in the 2020 NFL Draft was easily the most NFL ready to me. D’Andre Swift should be heavily featured in the passing game this year while splitting time with Kerryon Johnson. Getting Johnson at the 11.08 was a surprise to me especially because he is not a handcuff RB. Johnson and Swift will reportedly split time in 2020 and having both makes me very confident in the production I will get from my #3 RB/Flex spot.
Favorite Pick- D’Andre Swift 6.05 (Great Value/Most NFL ready rookie RB)
Least Favorite Pick – Hunter Henry 8.05 (Love Hunter Henry but TEs available in next few rounds were in the same tier as Henry and I should’ve waited longer and increased my depth)
Favorite Team – Team # 5
I loved that this team filled a complete lineup by round 8. Great value picks in Godwin/Theilen in rounds 2 and 3 and a great Dak/Gronk combo in the 6th and 7th rounds. After completing the full lineup, this team went ahead and added 3 more young WR’s at the end of the draft who will be very important for the long term success of this team. This team’s 3rd WR Deebo Samuel will be out for the first few games of the season which makes him a great value pick for later on and makes this team’s decision to take 3 late WR’s for depth that much more important.
Zach – Drafting 12th
Josh Jacobs/Miles Sanders – 1.12/2.01
I was pleasantly surprised to see both of these players available at the end of round 1 turn. I think that both players present massive upside in the 2020 NFL season with their receiving potential. I think that both running backs have also established a very noteworthy rapport with both their coaches and their quarterbacks as being reliable check down options. So, for a PPR format, I think that these two players provide great value at the round 1/round 2 turn.
Also of note, my other targets at this general area of the draft had already been selected. Guys like Joe Mixon, Kenyan Drake, and Tyreek Hill are some of my favorite players in fantasy this year, but had gone just a few picks before my selection. I probably would have chosen one of those three over Josh Jacobs (which I will explain in my Darren Waller breakdown), but I still would have rolled with Miles Sanders as one of my two picks.
Darren Waller – 5.12
I don’t think that Darren Waller was a one-hit wonder in 2019 and I also don’t think that we have seen his ceiling or his full potential. In 2019, Waller racked up 90 receptions on 117 targets, a massive amount for the tight end position. Only Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Darren Waller had over 1000 yards receiving at the tight end position last year. The only aspect of Waller’s game that was lackluster in 2019 were his touchdowns. Waller only caught 3 touchdowns in 2019 which made for a ridiculously low 3.3% TD rate. To put that in perspective, the position average TD rate for the top 20 TE’s in 2019 was 7.9%. If Waller regresses even just to that average number, he will add on 4 more touchdowns this season, as well as 24 extra fantasy points.
I am buying into Waller seeing a jump in his touchdown total. I also believe that getting a player like Waller, a positional difference maker, in the 5th round is a great value. I expect Waller to be on a lot more of my fantasy teams this season.
As I mentioned earlier, I would “explain something later.” After looking over my mock after the fact, I noticed that I selected three Las Vegas Raiders. I took Jacobs, Waller, and Henry Ruggs III – RB, TE, WR. Now, there are few teams where I would not mind having all three of those positions from the same team. Teams like the Chiefs, Saints, and Ravens come to mind. However, I don’t think that the Raiders’ offense is one that I would like to be tied to that heavily. It’s not something that I am going to actively avoid in my drafts, but it certainly isn’t the most desirable outcome.
Ronald Jones II – 6.01
With the way that my mock drafts have been going for much of this offseason, I have found myself with Ronald Jones on a lot of my teams. And quite frankly, I was very happy with that! I thought that in the 6th round, a running back tied to a high-powered offense was almost a guaranteed RB2. Sure, Jones isn’t a sexy pick by any stretch, but he was just about the only option the Bucs had at running back. This was all until this week’s news broke. The Buccaneers signed veteran running back LeSean McCoy to a one-year deal.
Now normally, I wouldn’t bat much of an eyelash at the news of a team signing an old, broken down running back like McCoy. But in the case of the Bucs and RoJo, I am very concerned. For whatever reason, Bruce Arians has never completely thrown his trust into Ronald Jones, and this move only further supports that argument. It feels like the Bucs are doing anything they can to keep RoJo off the field. I will certainly be fading Ronald Jones in my projections and will likely be staying away from him in mocks from here on out.
Favorite Pick – D.K. Metcalf 4.1 (Massive upside, Seahawks increased pass game)
Least Favorite Pick – Ronald Jones II 5.12 (LeSean McCoy signing decreased value)
Favorite Team – Team #4
There’s just something about starting super RB heavy that I love. I think that it allows for so much depth at the position and gives you an advantage at a scarce position. The combo of Zeke, Ekeler, and Conner has potential to provide three RB1s which is massive to me. I love that this team also followed up in round 4 with Mark Andrews, a top-tier tight end. Sure, after DJ Chark the receiving corps gets a little weak, but wide receiver tends to be the most replaceable position in fantasy. Russell Wilson is just the cherry on top for me too. Overall, I think this is a really solid team top to bottom.
