Fantasy Football Expert Mock Draft

Doing actual work is dumb.

Please don't snitch to my boss.

But when you can do a fantasy football mock draft with co-workers and call it work?

We've got ourselves a loophole, friends.

That's exactly what the FanDuel Research staff did earlier this week. It was definitely so you could see where each of our minds are at entering the 2024 fantasy football season and not so I could skip out on doing something productive.

Here are the results of that mock below. It was a 10-team, half point per reception (PPR), single quarterback mock -- pretty basic stuff. Let's dig into who went where and any insights on why that may have been the case.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft

Round 1 Mock Draft Picks

The top eight or so picks here seem pretty cut-and-dry. It's the final couple slots where things get wonky

With both Jahmyr Gibbs and Puka Nacua dealing with injuries, guys who could -- in theory -- push to be the 9th or 10th pick lose appeal. Everyone in this range has some sort of blemish.

Thus, if I had my choice, I'd want one of those top eight picks, guaranteeing me either an every-down back or a receiver who could push for a 30% target market share.

Round 2 Mock Draft Picks

Round 2 is where the running backs started to fly off the board, and you should likely expect something similar in your home leagues.

All six running backs drafted in the second round of this mock have an average draft position (ADP) between 9th and 21st overall in half-PPR leagues, according to FantasyPros' data. None of them were reaches relative to consensus.

This could provide extra incentive to target a back in the first round, allowing you to bypass this troublesome tier. Guys like Christian McCaffrey, Breece Hall, and Bijan Robinson have fewer red flags than the backs going in the latter half of the second round.

I'd never argue against drafting Tyreek Hill or CeeDee Lamb, but the second-round run on flawed backs should play into our decision-making early on.

Round 3 Mock Draft Picks

The run on backs continued in the third.

By pick 25, there were already 13 running backs off the board. But again, most of them weren't reaches.

Aidan and Austan were actually able to get Kyren Williams and Derrick Henry below their ADP (15th and 18th overall, respectively).

Those two also grade out well in FanDuel Research's season-long fantasy football projections, powered by numberFire. They're the RB9 and RB10 there. With how RB-heavy the draft was up to that point, taking a discount on those two definitely did make sense, at least in my eyes.

Round 4 Mock Draft Picks

At long last, we get some quarterbacks.

I decided to pull the trigger on Josh Allen at pick 34 because, quite frankly, all the alternatives were just underwhelming. It didn't hurt matters that he ran for 15 touchdowns last year and FanDuel Research's projections have him down for another 8.84 across 17 games this year.

Three other quarterbacks followed in the round, two of which were also values relative to ADP.

It's very possible quarterbacks don't fall this far in your home league, but if they do, the reduced opportunity cost makes them fully worth the investment.

Round 5 Mock Draft Picks

This is where the depth at receiver shined brightest.

All five receivers in this round are guys who have at some point earned meaty target shares in their respective offenses, and in the case of Tee Higgins, that comes with bunches of high-leverage looks.

This is the part of the draft where I think it's advantageous to target receivers. That may sound hypocritical, given you can see I went with James Cook, but the receivers in this range are super attractive relative to cost.

Round 6 Mock Draft Picks

If the last round highlighted depth at receiver, this one highlighted depth at tight end.

The two tight ends to go in this round -- Mark Andrews and Kyle Pitts -- are projected for 185.32 and 182.69 half-PPR points, respectively, across 17 games. That puts both of them within 26 points of the TE1 in FanDuel Research's projections, and the TE6 in those projections is a full 25.2 points behind Pitts. These two are the bottom of a tier.

I definitely don't mind Travis Kelce where he's going, and the others do carry higher projections than Andrews and Pitts. But if I don't get one of those top four, I do think it's wise to give strong consideration to taking either Andrews or Pitts before the top tier falls off.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft Takeaways

After doing this draft, I do think there are ideal spots to target certain positions.

Early in the first, I would love to snag a running back, allowing me to avoid the messiness that lies in the second through fourth rounds.

If quarterbacks fall like they did here, pulling the trigger in the fourth and getting an elite guy is attractive.

Then, as mentioned, I love targeting the depth at receiver and tight end in the fifth and sixth rounds. You'll have to be reactive to your specific draft room, but this overall mindset could allow us to avoid dead zones at certain positions while buying into strengths at others.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.