Wednesday, August 12, 2020

2020 Fantasy Football PPR Mock Draft

The best way to become good at something is to practice. So, what should you do if you want to draft a better fantasy football team?

Practice, of course!

Leading up to the start of the 2020 NFL season, we will use the 2020 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator (powered by FantasyPros) to complete fantasy football mock drafts.

We will use a variety of scoring formats -- PPR, half-PPR, standard scoring and even 2-QB leagues, league sizes and draft slots. The goal is to give you a good representation of the team that you may be able to construct given your league settings and the rationale of why we made the picks we did.

+ Our mocks will be tracked here: Fantasy Football Mock Drafts.

That said, nothing beats practicing yourself so (check out the simulator) and complete a mock in a matter of minutes.

Without further ado, here are the picks of our 12-team 2020 fantasy football mock draft using PPR scoring with the first pick:

1.01 - Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers

Almost never coming off the field, McCaffrey joined Roger Craig (1985) and Marshall Faulk (1999) as one of only three backs to record 1,000/1,000 seasons in NFL history. The do-it-all back led the league in touches (403), yards from scrimmage (2,392) and touchdowns (19). The gap between him and the RB2 (Aaron Jones) was 122.9 fantasy points (half-PPR), or larger than the gap (122.2) between Jones (RB2) and Devonta Freeman (RB21). Another season of 400-plus touches seems unlikely, but his prolific work in the passing game gives him as high of a floor and ceiling as any back in the league.

2.12 - Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers

Missing four games apiece in his first two seasons, Jones played a full 16-game slate and delivered for fantasy owners as only Christian McCaffrey scored more fantasy points at the position in 2019. While Jamaal Williams remained involved, Jones racked up 1,558 scrimmage yards and scored 19 total touchdowns. Instead of drafting help for Aaron Rodgers and the passing offense, the Packers invested a high pick (second-rounder) in a 247-pound running back that will likely steal a few (and especially valuable goal-line) carries from Jones.

3.01 - Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Teammate Chris Godwin ranked second in fantasy points per game; Evans ranked third. The dynamic duo gets a new (or old?) quarterback and the only thing that may hold back the passing game is the likelihood that Tampa plays with more leads, which in turn leads to fewer pass attempts in 2020.

4.12 - Melvin Gordon, RB, Denver Broncos

It was a surprising move for Gordon to stay in the division as the Broncos already had a back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher that is also a capable receiver out of the backfield. Even so, "the belief" is that MG3 will be the team's "bell cow." Before his holdout-shortened season, Gordon was a top-10 fantasy back in three consecutive seasons.

5.01 - T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts

Injuries derailed what could have been another productive season for Hilton, who missed a total of six games and played with a calf tear down the stretch. When healthy, however, Hilton is a WR2 with upside. Offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni has said that he "expect(s) the 2018 version" of Hilton.

6.12 - Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

Frank Reich says that he will use Taylor and Marlon Mack as a "one-two punch," but expectations are that Taylor will be the 1A of that duo. The most prolific collegiate running back ever over a three-year span, Taylor has shown the ability and durability to handle a workhorse role and possesses a rare combination of speed (sub-4.4) for his size (226 pounds).

7.01 - Devin Singletary, RB, Buffalo Bills

Over his final nine games including the playoffs, Singletary averaged 16.0/73.4 rushing and 2.9/23.6 receiving. With the Bills using another third-round pick on a running back (Zack Moss), Singletary is unlikely to maintain his late-season averages of 18.9 touches and 97.0 yards from scrimmage.

8.12 - Sterling Shepard, WR, New York Giants

Missing six games in 2019, Shepard has now missed at least five games in two of the past three seasons. With Odell Beckham traded to Cleveland, Shepard was the recipient of a career-high 8.3 targets per game, but he averaged a career-low 10.1 yards per catch and a mediocre 57.6 yards per game. If Shepard stays healthy for a full season, it's hard to trust him as anything more than a flex option.

9.01 - Golden Tate, WR, New York Giants

Serving a four-game PED suspension to begin the year, Tate performed as fantasy's WR28 from Weeks 5 to 17. Tate averaged 7.7 targets, 4.5 receptions and 61.5 yards per game and scored six touchdowns, tied for the second-most in his career.

10.12 - Carson Wentz, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles have a dynamic one-two punch at tight end with Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, but their receiving corps was decimated by injuries last season. Wentz became the league's first 4,000-yard passer without a 500-yard (wide) receiver. The front office turbo-charged the receiving corps with the addition of speed and lots of it this offseason.

11.01 - Jared Cook, TE, New Orleans Saints

In his first season in New Orleans, Cook averaged a career-best 16.4 yards per reception and scored a career-high nine touchdowns on just 43 receptions. The addition of Emmanuel Sanders in free agency bumps Cook down a notch on the targets pecking order and it's unlikely that he maintains his unreal efficiency levels from 2019, but he remains a top-10 option heading into 2020.

12.12 - Curtis Samuel, WR, Carolina Panthers

Finishing as a top-36 fantasy receiver in 2019, Samuel posted career-best per-game numbers in receiving yards (39.2), targets (6.56) and receptions (3.38) while adding 19/130/1 rushing as well. His 2020 projection of roughly 700 YFS and six scores are not far off of last year's numbers (757/7).

13.01 - DeSean Jackson, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

Jackson opened the 2019 season and his return to Philly with a bang (8/154/2 in Week 1), but he got hurt in Week 2 and managed just one five-yard reception the rest of the year. The team has loaded up on fast receivers that will likely lead to even more week-to-week volatility in Jackson's output.

14.12 - Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams

Goff posted the worst non-rookie ratios of his career in 2019 in Y/A (7.4), TD% (3.5) and INT% (2.6), but he closed the season on a positive note. Over his final five games, Goff threw multiple touchdowns every week, averaged 328.6 passing yards per game and compiled an 11-to-four TD-INT ratio.

15.01 - New England Patriots DST

- View Full Mock Draft Results

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