Nason’s Fantasy Football Mock Draft

Until told otherwise, we will have football in 2020, and that means we will have fantasy football in 2020. With that, now is the time to start figuring out your leagues, deciding on draft orders, and running mocks so you are ready when the time finally comes to make that first pick. For this exercise, I acted as the owner of 10 teams in a PPR league and drafted 4 rounds for each team. Check out my mock below and my breakdown of each team. Hopefully this helps you with your draft.

Round 1

1. RB Christian McCaffrey, Carolina
2. RB Saquon Barkley, NY Giants
3. RB Ezekiel Elliot, Dallas
4. WR Michael Thomas, New Orleans
5. RB Dalvin Cook, Minnesota
6. RB Alvin Kamara, New Orleans
7. WR Davante Adams, Green Bay
8. RB Derrick Henry, Tennessee
9. WR DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona
10. RB Joe Mixon, Cincinnati

Round 2

1. WR Julio Jones, Atlanta
2. RB Austin Ekeler, LA Charger
3. WR Tyreek Hill, Kansas City
4. WR Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay
5. RB Kenyan Drake, Arizona
6. RB Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas
7. RB Nick Chubb, Cleveland
8. RB Miles Sanders, Philadelphia
9. TE Travis Kelce, Kansas City
10. WR Mike Evans, Tampa Bay

Round 3

1. TE George Kittle, San Francisco
2. WR Juju Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh
3. WR Kenny Golladay, Detroit
4. RB Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville
5. WR Amari Cooper, Dallas
6. QB Lamar Jackson, Baltimore
7. RB Aaron Jones, Green Bay
8. WR Odell Beckham Jr, Cleveland
9. RB Le’Veon Bell, NY Jets
10. QB Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City

Round 4

1. WR Adam Thielen, Minnesota
2. WR DJ Moore, Carolina
3. WR Cooper Kupp, LA Rams
4. WR Calvin Ridley, Atlanta
5. WR Keenan Allen, LA Chargers
6. WR Courtland Sutton, Denver
7. WR Robert Woods, LA Rams
8. WR AJ Brown, Tennessee
9. RB Todd Gurley, Atlanta
10. RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City

Team by Team Breakdown

Team 1: McCaffrey, Evans, Kittle, Edwards-Helaire

You can’t go wrong taking McCaffrey 1^st overall this year, especially since he will have more consistent quarterback play with Teddy Bridgewater under center. With back to back picks at 20 and 21, Evans offers a high upside for touchdowns with Tom Brady throwing to him, and Kittle gives you a consistent weapon at tight end, a rarity in fantasy. Edwards-Helaire was a 1^st round pick this year, so he is going to play, and with his pass catching ability, he should find success early in the KC offense and catch 50-60 balls out of the backfield.

Team 2: Barkley, Kelce, Smith-Schuster, Gurley

The Giants addressed the offensive line by taking Andrew Thomas with the 4^th overall pick, and assuming Saquon can stay healthy this year, Thomas should open up more running lanes for the 3^rd year running back. Kelce is arguably the best tight end in football and Patrick Mahomes’s top target, so he’s a no brainer. Smith-Schuster was a let down last year, but it’s hard to produce when you have backups throwing to you. With Big Ben back, he should see production similar to his rookie year. I had a really hard time taking Gurley, especially considering his health issues, but in the late 4^th round, his upside in that Atlanta offense that has tons of weapons on the outside, a talented quarterback and an offensive line they have invested a lot in the last few years, the upside is very intriguing. Can he be what he was a few years ago? Probably not, but he can be a very solid RB2.

Team 3: Elliot, Sanders, Golladay, Brown

I thought about Thomas here, but i feel safer taking Zeke, who’s offense added CeeDee Lamb, which should keep defenses more spread out, allowing him to have more running lanes and be a pass catching threat out of the backfield. Sanders is set to take over as the starting running back in Philadelphia after a strong 2nd half of his rookie season, and like the backs taken to start this draft, offers a pass catching threat out of the backfield. Golladay is still the top target for Matthew Stafford in Detroit, and is a high volume touchdown target who can put you over the top. After a fantastic rookie year, Brown comes into the year as the top pass catching option in Tennessee and is stellar in the open field with the ball.

Team 4: Thomas, Chubb, Fournette, Woods

Drew Brees is still the Saints quarterback, so Thomas will still see a high volume of passes, and well, he basically catches everything. Chubb is on the cusp of superstardom, and with the improved Cleveland offensive line, he should have a career year. Fournette is still the lead dog in Jacksonville and the Jags will want to get the most out of him, especially to take the pressure of Gardner Minshew. The Rams offense took a major step back last year, but Robert Woods is still one of Jared Goff’s top targets and can bring in 10 balls at any time.

Team 5: Cook, Jacobs, Cooper, Sutton

Cook has so much upside and had a great year last season, but he falls to 5, below his ADP of 3, because he has yet to stay healthy. If he is on the field, he’s a stud. Jacobs had a strong rookie season and should build on that for Vegas, who added more pass catchers in the draft which should open up the offense. Some will say Cooper will see less targets in Dallas with Lamb and Michael Gallup demanding the ball, but I see it as Cooper will see more single coverage, thus opening up opportunities for him. Sutton came on strong at the end of last year and proved to be a favorite target of quarterback Drew Lock, and you should expect to see that relationship get even stronger this season.

Team 6: Kamara, Drake, Jackson, Allen

A healthy Kamara behind an improved Saints offensive line is a scary thing, and the addition of Emmanuel Sanders should open up the offense even more for the star running back. We all saw how Drake exploded onto the fantasy scene after being traded to Arizona, and he may only continue to get better going into his 1st full season with Kliff Kingsbury. The reigning MVP comes off the board in the 3rd round, and while the rushing numbers may not be what they were last year, he’s still a force and should end up being QB1 this season. Keenan Allen is a consistent wideout who would normally be a late 2nd or early 3rd rounder, but with questions about who will be throwing him the ball, he falls, but he will still be the number 1 option for the Chargers. 

Team 7: Adams, Godwin, Jones, Ridley

Never a bad idea to take Aaron Rodgers top target with your 1st pick, so Adams comes off the board at 7. Godwin won a lot of people their leagues last year, and now, Tom Brady is throwing to him. Expect another big season from him. I’m not convinced Aaron Jones will be what he was last year, but in the 3rd round, when this squad had no running backs, he makes a lot of sense. Ridley may be a steal in the 4th and be this years Godwin. 3 strong wideouts to start a draft is a solid strategy.

Team 8: Henry, Hill, Beckham Jr, Kupp

The Titans offense will lean on Henry and he will get the red zone carries. Should be a top 5 running back. Hill was solid when healthy last year, so if he stays on the field he is a stud. OBJ had an extremely disappointing 2019 season, but the Browns have an improved offensive line, and another weapon in Austin Hooper who should allow for OBJ to click better with Baker Mayfield. Kupp remains Jared Goff’s top target and should have another strong year in Sean McVay’s system.

Team 9: Hopkins, Ekeler, Bell, Moore

Will it hurt Hopkins’ fantasy stock going from Deshaun Watson throwing him the ball to Kyler Murray? We will see, but in Kingsbury’s offense he should still see a high volume of targets, and continue to be a reliable WR1. Ekeler burst onto the scene last year as a pass catching back, racking up nearly 1,000 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns through the air. With Melvin Gordon off to Denver, Ekeler will have a chance to shine as the featured back. Bell disappointed a lot of fantasy owners last season, but that can’t be put on him. Sam Darnold missed time, and the offensive line was one of the worst in football. With the additions on the offense this offseason, Bell should be much more productive. In the 3rd round, he’s a steal. Moore is a great WR2 option, as he will be the top target in Carolina’s offense.

Team 10: Mixon, Jones, Mahomes, Thielen

With Joe Burrow under center, AJ Green back and an improved offensive line, Mixon is primed to return to being a fantasy stud as a pass catching running back this year. Jones is always a good WR1, and hopefully he and Matt Ryan will be able to get on the same page in the end zone this year. Mahomes benefits fantasy wise from having a not particularly great defense, so he will be throwing late in games, and thus should put up video game passing numbers. Thielen becomes the undisputed number 1 wideout in Minnesota after Stefon Diggs was shipped to Buffalo. He should see a higher workload and be a high end WR2.

Image: (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images/AFP)