2022 Fantasy Football: Mock Draft With Fantasy SP's Simulator!
The fantasy football season has officially kicked off now that we are into July. Games aren’t being played yet but managers are beginning to draft their squads. At Fantasy SP, we like to make sure that you are fully prepared by offering our slick Mock Draft Simulator tool.
Simply select the number of teams, choose a draft position or stick with random, determine your roster and scoring settings and you are in business. Since I have a 12-team PPR draft coming up next month and I already know that I have the third pick, I checked off my settings and clicked “Start Mock.” For this league, I need one quarterback, two running backs, three receivers, one tight end, one flex, a kicker, a defense, and six bench players.
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Round 1: RB Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers
With Johnathan Taylor and Cooper Kupp off the board, the two players I went back and forth between were Austin Ekeler and Christian McCaffrey. I love CMC as much as the next guy does but his injury history along with his questionable quarterback play in Baker Mayfield made me hesitate. That moment of hesitation helped me realize that Ekeler was the guy I wanted. The Chargers are going to be much improved with Justin Herbert under center and Ekeler will continue to perform as one of the most versatile PPR running backs in fantasy football. I couldn’t go wrong either way.
Round 2: TE Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
Although I was tempted to snag a wide receiver with this pick, neither CeeDee Lamb nor Tyreek Hill fell to me in this spot. I could have taken A.J. Brown or Mike Evans but I believe Lamar Jackson’s go-to target is going to have a monster season now that Hollywood Brown is in Arizona. Last year, Andrew secured a league-high 107 receptions on his way to 1,361 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He finished as the TE2 behind Travis Kelce. However, with Baltimore’s top receiving weapon Rashod Bateman, Andrews is going to be peppered with targets all season. I’m anticipating a career year across the board.
Round 3: RB Leonard Fournette, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Yet again, I was tempted to select my first wide receiver and I was close to pulling the trigger on Keenan Allen. However, I’m not a huge fan of having a team’s best wideout and running back on my fantasy squad. I also could have snagged Tee Higgins but I think Fournette is in for an absolute monster of a season.
The former Jaguar rushed for 812 yards and eight touchdowns while also chipping in 454 receiving yards and two more scores through the air last year for the Bucs. Tom Brady targeted Fournette at least six times in Fournette’s last six games of the regular season. He can catch the ball, but also run it powerfully. Anytime Fournette got 15 or more carries in a game last season, he rushed for at least 80 yards. In the last four games of his regular season, Fournette recorded six total touchdowns, had two games with 100+ rushing yards, and three with at least 90 all-purpose yards. Through this stretch of four games, Fournette averaged 25.8 PPR points per game. Furthermore, he averaged an NFL career-high 4.5 yards per carry in 2021, demonstrating that Fournette is growing and not regressing as a player heading into his sixth season in the league. Don’t forget that Ronald Jones II has left the Buccaneers to join the Kansas City Chiefs. Over the last two seasons, Jones and Fournette have worked in a time-share, which Fournette broke free of late in 2021. Without Jones on the field, Fournette should be seeing even more carries than he did last season. While third-down specialist and veteran Giovani Bernard could see some touches alongside RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Fournette will be rushing the ball heavily this upcoming season.
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Round 4: WR Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders
Finally, I pulled the trigger and selected my first wide receiver. McLaurin hasn’t played with talented quarterbacks yet always finds a way to produce big plays in big moments. This year, McLaurin will get to play with the best signal-caller he’s ever suited up next to in Carson Wentz. After producing just shy of 1,000 receiving yards his rookie year, “Scary Terry” has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in two straight seasons. McLaurin hasn’t been a huge touchdown scorer but he’s a solid wideout for fantasy purposes. I’d be more comfortable with him as my WR2 but considering my immense strength at the running back and tight end position, it’s fine if my WR1 isn’t quite as strong as he should be.
Round 5: WR D.J. Moore, Carolina Panthers
My wide receiver corps is an interesting bunch as Moore is another player who has yet to play with a decent quarterback. Last season, he was stuck with Teddy Bridgewater, Cam Newton, and PJ Walker. However, Carolina just acquired Baker Mayfield from the Cleveland Browns, which should bode well for the fourth-year wide receiver. Moore has posted between 1,157 and 1,193 receiving yards each of the last three seasons and has posted exactly four touchdowns each season. That said, he did have one season in which he caught 93 passes yet he had another season in which he only hauled in 66 receptions. He’ll need to get that volatility under control and he’ll need to find a way to get into the end zone more often. However, as the WR1 in this offense, this could be Moore’s best season yet with a competent quarterback under center.
Round 6: WR Jerry Jeudy, Denver Broncos
To fill out my starting three wide receivers, I decided to go with a guy who has yet to live up to the hype. Jeudy is entering his third season, the year when most NFL receivers either put up or shut up. Like McLaurin and Moore, Jeudy has had to find a way to compete despite some pretty atrocious quarterback play. But now Russell Wilson will be taking over for Drew Lock in Denver, which means Jeudy should have a career third year.
Round 7: WR Marquise Brown, Arizona Cardinals
I considered Matthew Stafford since I had yet to select a quarterback but I decided I thought I could get away with waiting an additional round. That gamble paid off big time as I was able to secure a solid flex option in Hollywood Brown (who will serve as Arizona’s WR1 until DeAndre Hopkins returns from his six-game suspension). Brown corralled 91 receptions for over 1,000 yards and six touchdowns. With Kyler Murray at quarterback, expect Brown to be the most targeted Cardinal through the first six weeks of the season.
Round 8: QB Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I tend to wait on drafting my quarterbacks but once I filled all my skill positions, there weren’t many quarterbacks I was willing to start remaining on the board. Brady was the 12th quarterback selected and he’s probably the last one I feel comfortable starting… but I do feel comfortable starting him.
So my starting lineup looks like this:
I rounded out my draft with RB Cordarelle Patterson, WR Jarvis Landry, RB Isaiah Spiller (handcuff to Ekeler), QB Deshaun Watson, TE Robert Tonyan, RB James White, DEF/ST Buffalo Bills, and K Evan McPherson.
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