Staff Mock Draft: No. 2 Spot

Steve DeAngelo @FantasySavvy

I recently joined the FF Faceoff team and I’m excited to work with these guys during the 2021 fantasy football season. We recently had a staff mock draft hosted on Sleeper and I picked second overall. I honestly don’t think it matters where you pick, whether it’s a normal snake draft, third-round reversal, or some other format that you might be into. There are pros and cons to any draft spot and you can win from anywhere. Just remain confident, be prepared, have fun, and expect to dominate your draft and league. Have a winning attitude from the jump and keep that attitude no matter what happens during the draft and season. Check out my recap in Staff Mock Draft: No. 2 Spot.

Check out the whole podcast episode here where our hosts break the entire draft down!

PPR: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 Flex.  15 Rounds. The full draft can be found here

1st Round: Dalvin Cook

Dalvin Cook was my first pick at two overall, obviously, it’s a no-brainer pick. No need to analyze this pick much, Cook is a stud, can do it all, and plays in a solid offense led by the capable veteran Kirk Cousins. Even though master run designer Gary Kubiak retired, his son Klint Kubiak is the new offensive coordinator, and I don’t think the apple is going to fall too far from the tree here. I actually prefer Cook to Christian McCaffrey, because Cook is playing in a better offense. I don’t trust Sam Darnold.

2nd Round: Joe Mixon

A lot of people don’t like Joe Mixon. I don’t really understand why, other than they may have it out for him because of his past transgressions. Or maybe they are concerned about his foot injury from last year? I believe both of those things are behind him as does the coaching staff. Offensive Coordinator Brian Callahan said of Mixon, “I don’t want Joe to leave the field, personally, and I think he’s up to that challenge.” Time to forgive Mixon and realize he’s playing in a potentially explosive offense, even if their offensive line isn’t ranked highly. With Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tyler Boyd, this team is going to be moving the ball and putting up points. Mixon is going to be a major beneficiary as a result. Especially now with Giovani Bernard out of the way, Mixon is going to see a lot more work in the passing game. There are few workhorse running backs in the NFL anymore and Mixon looks to be one of the few, with him getting the vast majority of the work in this backfield. If you are fading him, it’s probably because of bias.

 

3rd Round: George Kittle

I could have gone wide receiver here, but wide receiver is the deepest position, so why not grab one of the top three tight ends? George Kittle was banged up last year but is ready to go this season and should return to stardom. I am not opposed to waiting on tight end and grabbing guys like Dallas Goedert, Robert Tonyan, or another late-round tight end, but I figured why not grab a stud and try to separate myself a bit here.

4th Round: Tee Higgins

Another Bengal? Again, a talented offense that is going to put up points. Higgins is also no slouch, he had a very productive rookie year (67-908-6) playing with insurance salesman at quarterback in the second half of the season.  Higgins is extremely talented, has unique size and speed, creates separation, and comes down with balls in traffic. His upside is tremendous. I have a ton of confidence in him.

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5th round: Myles Gaskin

I drafted Myles Gaskin before the Dolphins first preseason game after we saw Malcolm Brown get more carries than him. Salvon Ahmed also performed well and now Brian Flores has come out and said that they will use all three guys. Gaskin is still the most talented back in this backfield, although I do think it drops his ADP back a round or so. Two guys I would consider taking over Gaskin in this 5th/6th round are Kareem Hunt and Javonte Williams. A lot more remains to be seen and determined and if Gaskin starts dropping in drafts, he’s going to turn into a value pick. Gaskin progressed as a player last year. He is quick, breaks tackles, has soft hands, and also has the ability to break off big runs.  I like having running back depth, you can never have enough backs in fantasy football. I’m still buying him, here is a quick refresher of Gaskin in Weeks 16 & 17 last season. Watch here. 

6th round: Devonta Smith

Rookie Devonta Smith has been out with an MCL injury but is recovering quickly, as yesterday the Eagles said he was “day to day”, indicating he should return very soon. His stock is only going up from here. This kid was born to play receiver and looks like a legend in the making.  He makes it look easy. Speed, route running, and contested balls, he can do everything. I love Smith, don’t pass on this kid, don’t be scared off by Hurts either, Hurts can play the quarterback position. The situation and talent line up nicely.

7th Round: Trey Sermon

Trey Sermon is a great athlete, an underrated receiver, runs with patience, can break tackles, and also has enough speed to separate. Sermon had the second-fastest 10 yard split among rookie running backs and his tape definitely shows it. It’s going to be him and Raheem Mostert with a little Wayne Gallman sprinkled in. It will be up to Sermon to separate and grab that 1A position in this backfield, but I am betting he can. I like Mostert, but Sermon fits this offense well, coming from Ohio State who ran a similar zone run scheme. In fact, when Sermon was going from Oklahoma to Ohio State, he watched tape of the 49ers, because the scheme was so similar.

8th Round: DJ Chark

Even with his finger injury that will likely keep him out the entire preseason, I believe this is good value for DJ Chark. He is fully expected to be ready for Week 1. People have been doubting Chark with most on the Laviska Shenault Jr. hype train, while the others are betting on Marvin Jones to be a quiet producer in this offense. Shenault is more of a gadget player to me, rather than a true wide receiver. I see a lot of four catches, for 50-yard type games from him. I don’t see him putting up double-digit touchdowns. Jones seems more likely to be the Jaguars leading wide receiver rather than Shenault. Jones has always been undervalued and is certainly a good player, who has a track record of success in this league. However, I still think Chark has the most upside. He is the fastest of these guys and he fits Trevor Lawrence’s skillset perfectly, as Trevor has the arm to get him the ball deep. Lawrence will also let his receivers go up and make a play and that is right up Chark’s alley. Chark has excellent hands, in his breakout 2019 season, he had only had four drops. With speed, size, and hands, in a much-improved offense with a quarterback who is more than capable of getting him the ball, things are lining up for Chark to have a bounceback year.

9th Round: AJ Dillon

I think everyone should be drafting AJ Dillon this year. Why? You don’t have to pay a pretty penny by any means. Jamaal Williams is gone and he’s playing in a very good offense that is led by a Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. Dillon’s size is extremely unique. He’s got great size at 6’0 247 pounds. He’s built to play running back and he can break tackles and move the piles. He can wear defenses out and moves well for his size. Williams averaged 10.3 touches last year, so we should expect the same if not a bit more for Dillon. Again, I love RB depth,  especially in the age of covid. I think Dillion can give me flex value even with Aaron Jones starting and if Jones misses anytime, Dillon is going to be in prime position for high-level fantasy productivity.

10th Round: Curtis Samuel

Curtis Samuel continues to develop as a wider receiver year after year and moves into a better situation in Washington where he is now the clear number WR2 in this offense. He also gets a quarterback upgrade with Ryan Fitzpatrick, rather than Teddy Bridgewater, Kyle Allen, and an injured Cam Newton. Samuel has been out of camp with a groin injury and more recently hit the Covid-19 list, but he just returned to practice and will be eased in. Samuel had 77 catches with 1,000+ total yards last season and five touchdowns. I think Samuel can repeat those numbers and has the potential for more.

11th Round: Matthew Stafford

I was the last team to take a quarterback in this draft, but I am fine with rolling out Matthew Stafford every week. I will say most times I am trying to get a top quarterback, but I mixed it up and took one late. Another quarterback I would want late would be Jalen Hurts, but he went shortly before I could get him. Had this draft went longer I may have taken another quarterback like Zach Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, or Trevor Lawrence. Stafford moves into a better situation playing with the Rams and their two talented wide receivers in Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. I think Stafford will throw for 4,000+ yards, 30-35 touchdowns, and finish as a top-10 fantasy quarterback this year. I can win with that.

12th Round: TY Hilton 

TY Hilton, 31 years of age, has had five 1,000+ yard seasons, his last one back in 2018. In 2019 he struggled with injuries and was playing with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. In 2020 he started extremely slow and didn’t have a good season overall, (56-762-5), but he did finish the season strong. Eventually developing a rapport with an aging Philip Rivers, Hilton finished with 435 yards and five touchdowns over the final six games. Now he gets a quarterback that plays more to Hilton’s strengths in Carson Wentz, who has a strong arm and who is mobile and can extend plays. This is something Hilton excels at, coming back to his quarterback and finding soft spots in zone defenses. Wentz should be back very early in the season. I feel good about drafting Hilton, a solid veteran, who clearly knows how to play the position.

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13th-15th Rounds: Jalen Reagor, Bryan Edwards, Tevin Coleman

Jalen Reagor and Bryan Edwards were two of my favorite rookie wide receivers last season. Reagor reminds me of Steve Smith and Edwards of Anquan Boldin. Both struggled with injuries and did not have productive rookie seasons, especially Edwards. I have been guilty of loving rookies, them not doing much, and then fading them only to have them go off in their sophomore seasons. Trying to avoid that here, I am sticking with my original guns and going back to Reagor and Edwards. If one of them pays off, I will be happy this late in the draft.

Right now Tevin Coleman is the Jets 1B running back, playing in a system he fully identifies with as former 49er assistant Mike LaFleur is now the Jets offensive coordinator. Not to mention former 49ers Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh, is the Head Coach. I was never really a Coleman guy, I always liked Devonta Freeman over him when they played at Atlanta, but in a much improved Jets offense led by Zach Wilson, I’m willing to invest late on him. Plus, how many potential starting running backs are you drafting in the 15th round?

Recap:

I built my running back depth early with Cook, Mixon, Gaskin, and Sermon. Even though I waited on my wide receivers, I still came away with a solid group in Tee Higgins, DeVonta Smith, Curtis Samuel, DJ Chark, TY Hilton, Jalen Reagor, and Bryan Edwards. George Kittle helps solidify that wide receiver core. I waited on my quarterback also, but Stafford is a proven veteran in this league. I came in confident and I left even more confident. I really like this squad and I will be drafting a lot of these same players on all my teams. If it looks crappy by Week 5, then I will keep grinding and keep a winning attitude, while having fun doing it. That’s what it’s all about.

Thanks for reading, you can follow me on Twitter @FantasySavvy.