Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Drafting with the 8th Pick Based off Awesemo’s Projections

In this series, we’ll look at a mock draft conducted from each draft slot and break down the best choice and some alternatives at each selection. We’ll look at the individual player selection and how each player fits into the overall roster construction of the team, and then look at what selection Awesemo’s rankings would have made. The mock is for a three-receiver, two-back, half-PPR league. Here we look at winning your fantasy football draft with the eighth overall pick in my latest fantasy football mock draft.


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Fantasy Football Mock Draft from the Eighth Overall Pick

Mock Draft 1.08 Selection: Miles Sanders

Alternative: Lamar Jackson 

Sanders’ ADP has been strapped to the back of a rocket ship this offseason, but Awesemo’s rankings don’t think that’s a bad thing. Sanders’ rookie campaign was historic in a specific way; he was used effectively in all facets of the game. Sanders posted 819 rushing yards and 509 receiving yards last year. Only Saquon Barkley has done that since the year 2000.

Awesemo’s rankings have Jackson as the pick here, but based on hundreds of real drafts, he is available with the 17th pick in 60% of drafts. No need to reach for him this early and miss out on the league’s next elite back.

Mock Draft 2.05 Selection: Lamar Jackson

Alternative: None

The Ravens finished the season with an average scoring margin of 13.7 points. That mark is the highest since New England in 2007. That made it easy for the team to not lean on Jackson at times. When Baltimore isn’t winning every game by two scores, so Jackson will be unleashed. In their only loss since September, Jackson threw for 365 yards and rushed for 143 versus the Titans.

Jackson did make it here, but only on the back of someone drafting Patrick Mahomes ahead of him. Jackson’s combination of RB1-level rushing and QB1-level passing make him the obvious choice as the first overall passer.

Mock Draft 3.08 Selection: Todd Gurley

Alternative: Leonard Fournette

Drafting Gurley is simply a bet on volume being the biggest predictor of fantasy success. Devonta Freeman left behind 184 rushes and, most importantly, a whopping 70 targets while playing in just 14 games. Opportunity is the reason to draft Gurley, and him potentially regaining some efficiency is the upside.

Gurley sits behind a few other backs in Awesemo’s rankings, but those backs all go in the fourth round or later. Taking Gurley, who has the earliest ADP of the lot, allows this team to get two of them.

Mock Draft 4.05 Selection: Calvin Ridley

Alternative: James Conner, Leonard Fournette

At the age of 30, Julio Jones just posted his worst season by yards (1,394) in the past six years. Ridley, on the other hand, improved his yards per game (66.6) and yards per target (9.3) and is only 25 to start the year. He will overtake Jones eventually, and even if that doesn’t happen this year Ridley, will continue to siphon away targets from him.

The projections have a few running backs and receivers ahead of Ridley, but they can wait as this team builds a Falcons stack. Ridley is also still a value in his own right at this spot in the draft.

Mock Draft 5.08 Selection: James Conner

Alternative: David Johnson

Conner’s 2019 season should be wiped from the collective fantasy football consciousness. The Steelers offense was horrid and does us no good in projecting their 2020 season. In 2018, Conner was 11th in carries (215) and 13th in targets (71) while playing just 13 games.

Conner and Johnson are ranked similarly by Awesemo, but Conner goes earlier in drafts. Taking him first gives this team the upside of having both without sacrificing much in terms of raw fantasy points.

Mock Draft 6.05 Selection: Terry McLaurin

Alternative: Will Fuller

McLaurin made the most out of a bad situation in 2019, posting 919 yards and seven scores on 58 catches. He accomplished this while playing on a Washington offense that averaged 175.8 passing yards per game, 32nd in the league with a 10-yard gap to 31st. If Dwayne Haskins takes a modest step forward toward mediocrity in his second season, McLaurin will be a tremendous value in drafts.

Johnson didn’t make it back here, but that’s OK because he’s the most popular back in this mock draft series. It’s good to mix up some of these picks anyways.


More Fantasy Football Mock Drafts


Mock Draft 7.08 Selection: Devin Singletary

Alternative: Kareem Hunt, Mark Ingram

Josh Allen was often used as a goal line back, but so was Frank Gore, who is no longer with the team. Gore finished 12th in the league with 11 carries inside the five. Singletary isn’t guaranteed that role, though; the team brought in Zack Moss via the third round of the draft. However, he is the incumbent coming off a rookie season that saw him display incredible tackle-breaking skills. If he does net more goal line work, Singletary will crush his current ADP.

This team still needs one more receiver to start, but there will be viable third receivers in the ensuing rounds. Singletary is a good player to have on the bench in week 1 to see his role before firing him into the flex.

Mock Draft 8.05 Selection: Tyler Higbee

Alternative: Emmanuel Sanders

In Weeks 13 through 17, Higbee posted 43 catches for 522 yards. That pace would be good for 138 receptions and 1,670 yards on a full season. He will come down to earth compared to that stretch, but even if you cut that production in half, he would still be a TE1 based on last year’s finishes.

This team got caught in a dead zone for wide receiver. Awesemo’s rankings have two receivers from rank 65 to 76. Secure production at wideout from rounds 3 to 6 and wait until deep into the double-digits to try anymore.

Mock Draft 9.08 Selection: Marvin Jones

Alternative: Emmanuel Sanders, Jamison Crowder

Jones played eight games with Matthew Stafford (and Kenny Golladay) in 2019. He averaged 5.3 catches, 66.9 receiving yards and 0.8 scores per game during that stretch. The Lions’ defense has crumbled and they can’t assemble a rushing game to save Ameer Abdullah‘s career. As long as they’re an Air Raid-Lite team, Jones is a steal this late.

The final few picks in this round have to be receivers given how little the team has invested in them so far. That’s not an ideal situation, per Awesemo’s rankings, but there are a handful of values that work in this range.

Mock Draft 10.05 Selection: Emmanuel Sanders

Alternative: Jamison Crowder

Fantasy players should be looking to get talented players on offensive powerhouses. Sanders averaged 9.5 yards per target with the 49ers and now gets to play with Drew Brees on a Saints team that is without a second receiver. This doesn’t have to be complicated.

This team has a middle-round tight end and the best fantasy quarterback in the history of the game. That allows it to only go after receivers and high-upside backs in the double-digit rounds, a luxury few other teams can afford.

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Author
If you like fantasy football and care about data, there's a 50/50 chance I've written for your favorite site. In a few short years I've covered, season-long, dynasty, best ball, and DFS for football. I used to be watching games and pretend to know what I was talking about but now I just spew numbers that forecast outcomes better than any scout. Come for the numbers, stay for the bad jokes and Zach Zenner references. RIP XFL.

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