By Matt Papiernik, @Matt_Papiernik on Twitter
SteelerNation.com
In case you missed it, I am writing a series of articles revolving around Fantasy Football and the teams I end up with in various mocks. Each mock I do, I will be moving down the draft order, starting at the first overall pick, down to pick 10. These mocks will be taking place on sleeper.app
If you didn't see the first article in this series, here is a link to check it out! First Overall Pick Fantasy Mock Draft.
We are also tweeting out links on Twitter for all of our followers to take part in these mocks. These will be posted on our official SteelerNation Twitter account (@SteelerNation).
Similar to the first two in the series, this mock draft also included two of our other writers. Both Zach Herbaugh and Sean McGeown were part of this mock yet again. Below are the results from this week, let's see how it played out.
Like the other mocks, both Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley go 1 and 2. No surprises there. Being 3rd with them gone isn't easy, and it is a tricky spot. There are a lot of options. I went with Alvin Kamara. Kamara isn't the sexy pick anymore, but he is definitely going to get the lion share of touches and be a huge contributor out of the backfield for the New Orleans Saints.
With my second pick, I saw Kenyan Drake sliding down and I was ready to pluck him away, but he was grabbed one spot before me (damnit Zach). However, I'll have zero complaints grabbing Tyreek Hill at 18th overall.
Todd Gurley II is someone I am very torn on this season. I think he has a high TD potential with the capability of eclipsing 1,000 yards as the workhorse, but man his knees scare me. Considering I have a very consistent RB1, I took a risk on Gurley in the 3rd.
I am a strong proponent of waiting on a quarterback in fantasy. Because of this, picking Patrick Mahomes at 11th is very questionable in my opinion. For reference, I got him in the third round in my last mock.
I also think Miles Sanders is a bit of a reach at #9. I like Sanders, and think he can be a solid back in fantasy. But with an iffy offensive line in front of him, I don't trust him as my RB1.
Coming into my 4th and 5th round picks, I wasn't sure how it was going to shake out. With only 8 WR's in the first three rounds and 18 RB's in that same span, I assumed I'd be snagging some falling WR's.
I had my eyes set on Odell Beckham Jr. at 38, but yet again Zach stole someone out from under me. In a rush, I grabbed my third RB in David Johnson. I like Johnson a lot, I just don't trust anyone in Houston due to their coaching. Luckily I was able to still snag a WR I was happy with 5 picks later after missing out on OBJ.
Allen Robinson is someone that a lot of people aren't high on this year, mainly to his QB play. However, in a PPR (points per reception) league, Robinson is going to be solid as he is going to be force fed the ball whether he is open or not.
I was hoping to catch a falling Robert Woods in the 6th, as I snagged him in the 5th last time. However, for a third time now, Zach robbed me. I was happy being able to snag David Montgomery though, especially with the question marks I currently have for my 2nd and 3rd RB's. Like Robinson who I selected before him, Montgomery is going to have the benefit of being force fed the ball on early downs, whether he has success or not. That usually leads to some fantasy success.
With so many RB's early, it wasn't a surprise to see 8 out of the 10 picks in round 5 being WR's. Wide Receiver is very deep, so round 4-8 are great rounds to grab a solid WR2 and maybe even a falling WR1.
Aaron Rodgers in the 4th really surprised me, but other than that, there weren't any head scratching picks in this section.
Going into the 7th with 4 RB's and 2 WR's, I knew I couldn't wait on drafting another WR. I would've been happy with either Tyler Boyd or DeVante Parker here, so grabbing the former worked well for me. Boyd does most of his work out of the slot, and Joe Burrow loves throwing to the slot which should lead to a lot of success.
In the 8th, I grabbed a familiar face for my teams in these mocks with James White. White is always a solid PPR option.
Not going to lie, I was shocked to see Diontae Johnson last into the 9th round of a draft consisting of Steelers fans. Depending on my team, I'd consider snagging Johnson in the 8th round, so getting him in the 9th round is very solid value.
Both QB's and TE's are starting to come off the board more frequently by this point, but there just isn't a big enough gap in value between the guys going now and the guys that will go in 2-3 rounds in order to pass on the current value at RB/WR.
I got a little lucky here. Hunter Henry was the last TE available that I would consider drafting in this stage, so having him left was a big win. If I didn't get him, I would've probably waited another couple rounds to grab someone like Noah Fant.
Grabbing Carson Wentz here is exactly what I am talking about when I am saying it is worth waiting on a QB. Would you rather have a combo similar to Matt Ryan and Tony Pollard, or Carson Wentz and Diontae Johnson? Sign me up for Wentz and Johnson 10 ways to Sunday.
With most players who can contribute on their own now gone, I took a swing by drafting Alexander Mattison. Worst case, he is a handcuff I keep on my bench for a couple weeks then cut. Best case, Dalvin Cook holds out and he immediately becomes a solid RB2.
I think people must be reading my articles and seeing how frustrated I get by people drafting kickers before the last two rounds, as this is the first draft it didn't happen. The other drafts were even more frustrating because people were drafting kickers as early as round 12!
There are a few dart throws I like by myself and others in these rounds. Grabbing Bradon Aiyuk is by no means a surefire home run, but the 49ers passed on an opportunity to grab CeeDee Lamb or Jerry Jeudy to wait and grab Aiyuk, so they must have plans for him.
Like you may see in several of my other mocks, I snagged Cam Newton as my backup QB. Newton is in a great spot to breakout this year being in New England.
Some others being picked this late that I liked were Alshon Jeffrey and Sterling Shepard. Both should have opportunity to prove themselves early in the season.
With only four defenses and zero kickers going before the last two rounds, I will refrain from kicking and screaming about how troublesome some people's thought process may be.
Overall, this is the team I have drafted so far that has the highest upside, but also the lowest floor. I have question marks from my RB's 2-4, but if one or two of them breakout, watch out as my team is going to coast to the playoffs.
I have very little concerns on my wide receivers, as they all should be solid contributors to their team.
Let us know below what you think of this mock draft, and look out next Monday for our tweets so you can potentially draft with us!
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