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Fantasy football draft season is upon us, so we know what that means. It's time to do some mock drafts to prepare us for the drafts that really matter, and can put cash in our pockets. I wrote this column last year and it seemed to get a lot of good feedback, so why mess with a good thing?
Here's how this works. Each week I will draft a different fantasy team and I will change my draft position to highlight the types of teams one can build depending on where they are drafting. If you missed my last couple articles, you can read them below. One draft I selected from No. 1 overall (edition 1) and the other from No.7 (edition 2). You can also check out my PPR fantasy ranks.
I always advise people to participate in as many mocks as they can before drafting, but not everyone has the time. If that's the case for you, I'll do all the leg work participating in dozens of mock drafts, and you can sit back and learn the positives and negatives of each draft slot. These are PPR drafts, by the way. Let's get started.
For this week's exercise, I participated in a mock draft in which I drafted with the No. 12 overall pick. Keep in mind I get two picks every time the draft snakes back to me. One popular way to approach drafting from No. 12. is to draft two stud receivers right out of the gate. If I had done that, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster and WR Tyreek Hill would have been my picks. Instead, I opted for balance. I took J. Smith-Schuster and RB Nick Chubb. I really like this start. Le'Veon Bell was already gone, and I considered taking James Connor, but I like N. Chubb a lot this year, so he was my pick at RB. As far as WR, Tyreek Hill was tempting, but his off-field stuff makes me a little nervous. Odell Beckham was another player I considered, but since I had decided to draft Chubb, I didn't want to have too many Browns on my roster.
I had to wait awhile before I got to pick again and I selected one of my favorite draft targets, Chiefs RB Damien Williams. I was surprised he was still there at the back of the third round, so I was thrilled. If you've read my other draft content, you know how much I love RBs that play in Andy Reid's offenses. The guy knows how to get his backs involved in the passing game.
After the Williams pick, I wanted to add a receiver and Robert Woods was a no-brainer for me in the fourth round. I have to say, I really like this start to a team. I have 4 really good players and great balance with two RBs and two WRs. Also, notice that all four of my players are on terrific offenses. I always try to keep that in mind.
With my next pick, once again I had another long wait before I got to draft again, and I was looking for another guy I have been drafting a lot, 49ers RB Tevin Coleman. Kyle Shanahan gets the most from his RBs and Coleman has looked good so far in the preseason. Plus, Coleman is familiar with Shanahan's system since they were both together in Atlanta a few years ago.
Round 6 is where I decided to take my TE. In my last couple articles I drafted TE early with Travis Kelce in Round 2 and Zach Ertz in Round 3. This time, I wanted to wait a little longer and load up on RBs and WRs. I got TE O.J. Howard in Round 6 and I feel like that was great value. I think he'll have a big year, and TE turns into a wasteland after the Top 6 guys go off the board.
I don't think I could be any happier with the start to my team, and I have all my starters locked down except for QB. I have waited until the double digit rounds to take a QB in every mock draft I have written up, and this one is no different. My approach for the next four rounds is to add depth at RB and WR. Since I didn't love the RBs available to me in Rounds 7 and 8, I added WRs.
Panthers WR Curtis Samuel and Broncos WR Emmanuel Sanders were my next two picks. Samuel is one of my favorite sleepers this year, and Sanders has looked explosive in the preseason despite coming off an Achilles injury. My next pick I used the same strategy, grabbing another sleeper WR I think can turn back the clock in WR DeSean Jackson. With my 10th round pick, I added some insurance when I drafted Chiefs RB Darwin Thompson. If Damien Williams falters, I think Thompson will be the guy for Andy Reid.
In Round 11 I finally added my QB when I selected Lamar Jackson. I love his rushing potential and I also added another QB later just in case Jackson struggles. Round 12 I took a shot on Dolphins RB Kalen Ballage. He could have a significant role in the offense, and that's good value in the 12th round.
Round 13 I grabbed Chargers RB Justin Jackson. I think he could take over the main RB job and get some goal line work if Melvin Gordon holds out all season. Finally, I drafted Bucs QB Jameis Winston in Round 14, giving me some depth behind Lamar Jackson. You won't typically see Winston go this late, but it happened in this mock.
Takeaways
I think this is the best team I have drafted. Picking from the No.12 spot allowed me to load up on RB and WR early, but also still come away with a TE that I'm excited about.
Here's a look at my starters.
QB (BAL) Lamar Jackson/ (TB) Jameis Winston
RB (CLE) Nick Chubb
RB (KC) Damien Williams
WR (PIT) JuJu Smith-Schuster
WR (LAR) Robert Woods
TE (TB) O.J. Howard
FLEX (SF) Tevin Coleman
Bench
WR (CAR) Curtis Samuel
WR (DEN) Emmanuel Sanders
WR (PHI) DeSean Jackson
RB (KC) Darwin Thompson
RB (MIA) Kalen Ballage
RB (LAC) Justin Jackson
Final thoughts
My QBs are a little shaky, but Lamar Jackson has a great chance to surprise this year with Greg Roman as the offensive coordinator. Roman was the OC in San Francisco when Kaepernick was the QB, so this guy knows how to work with a running QB. Winston should get a ridiculous amount of pass attempts, so he could easily be a Top 10 QB. This was one of those drafts where the player I wanted fell to me almost every time. There's not much I would change if I had to do it again. You might notice that I didn't draft Kareem Hunt to lockup the Browns backfield. I did that on purpose. With Hunt serving an 8-game suspension, I didn't want to waste a roster spot on him for half the fantasy season. Most fantasy owners will end up dropping him after two or three weeks, so I don't feel like he's a priority as the handcuff to Chubb. I hope these mock drafts help you with your drafts this season.
If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on Twitter or listen to my radio show with Jerry Bo Sundays from 10-noon on ESPN 97.5 FM. We talk all things fantasy football and NFL gambling getting you ready for kickoff every Sunday. Also, we'll be drafting at Twin Peaks 290 this Friday night (8/23) from 7-9pm if you want to come out and grab a beer.
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Winning consecutive series over last place teams does not mean all is well again in Astroworld, but taking five of seven games from the Orioles and Rockies stopped the bleeding which saw the Astros stumble through an awful 14-23 stretch. The regular season is now in its final month, the Astros are in the middle of three different playoff races. The high-end goal is finishing with one of the two best records in the American League to secure a bye past the two out of three lightning round Major League Baseball calls the Wild Card Series. Entering the holiday weekend the Astros sit four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays, three and a half back of the Detroit Tigers. If the Astros can’t overtake either the Jays or Tigers, they at least want to hold off Seattle to win the American League West. Winning the division for an eighth consecutive full season would be its own accomplishment, for the postseason it would at least assure the Astros of homefield advantage in a best-of-three. The race the Astros hope to need to pay little attention to is holding off Kansas City for the final wild card spot. That would be necessary should the Astros lose out on the division title to the Mariners, and finish behind both the second and third place finishers in the AL East in the wild card race, presently the Red Sox and Yankees. The M’s, Bosox, and Yanks all finishing ahead of the Astros is a clear possibility. The good news on that front is the Astros holding a five game lead over the Royals with 28 games to go, though Kansas City does win the tiebreaker should it come to that. The Astros have a significantly easier closing schedule than do the Royals. The Astros have just six games left against teams that would currently qualify for the postseason. The Royals have 12. So to miss the playoffs entirely the Astros basically have to fold, and/or the Royals need to play four weeks of spectacular baseball.
Yordan Alvarez’s looooong awaited return is a big boost to the lineup. Even if he isn't peak Yordan, his presence matters. His missile of a home run to centerfield was the wow moment of his return series, but Alvarez drawing five walks in nine plate appearances speaks to what opponents think of him. Still, offense remains an Astro struggle all too often. The Rockies have the worst pitching staff in MLB. The Astros managed nine runs in three games against it. At least that was enough to win two out of three. 67 times this season the Astros have scored three or fewer runs, equaling their three or fewer total of the entire 2024 season. For a good while this year the Astros were winning an amazing percentage of their games where the offense did little. At one point the Astros were 19-27 when scoring three or fewer, which was stunning success and as I wrote at the time, wholly unsustainable. Since then, the Astros have lost 20 of the last 21 games in which they failed to score four.
Christian Walker’s power surge has been a boon, of late helping offset Jose Altuve’s slump (just 10 hits in his last 60 at bats heading into the Angels series) and Carlos Correa’s lack of thump (just two extra base hits and a sub-.700 OPS over his last 15 games). Over 46 games played from July 1 through Thursday, Walker has been very good hitting .279 with an .859 OPS. That doesn't undo his being wretched through June, but credit where credit is due.
Alvarez is the big bopper (remember the ex-Astro who had that nickname?) addition to Joe Espada's lineup cards, but Jake Meyers could be a lower key big return as well next week. To call Chas McCormick and Jacob Melton poor offensive players this season would be an understatement along the lines of saying Yao Ming is above average in height. When Meyers blew out his right calf it short-circuited what was his breakout big league season. Even if Meyers can't regain that form, by accident he'll still be better than what McCormick and Melton have provided.
After finishing up with the Angels on Labor Day, the Astros get the Yankees for three big games at Daikin Park starting Tuesday. Hunter Brown starting Sunday means he will not pitch against the Yankees. That's not a mistake, it's just how the rotation falls. It will be a mistake if the Astros' brain trust doesn't properly map out starting pitching ahead of the massive matchups against the Mariners September 19, 20, 21 and make sure both Brown and Framber Valdez start games in that series. After this homestand wraps, the Astro have only six home games remaining versus 15 on the road.
Oh yeah. Glenn Davis was "The Big Bopper."
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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