Welcome to The Fantasy Football Universe Rookie Mock Draft 2.0. This mock draft was 1QB and tight-end premium. It was a 12-team draft and featured five managers who each drafted two players per round for a total of 48 rookie picks.
The draft featured Aaron St. Denis drafting, SC Romero drafting 8th, and Jesse Moeller 9th. The rest of the draft board was filled out by our listeners.
Draftboard via Sleeper.com
Round 1
1.01- Marvin Harrison Jr, WR (Ohio St)
1.02- Malik Nabers, WR (LSU)
1.03- Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia)
1.04- Rome Odunze, WR (Washington)
1.05- Brian Thomas Jr, WR (LSU)
1.06- Troy Franklin, WR (Oregon)
1.07- Xavier Worthy, WR (Texas)
1.08- Caleb Williams, QB (USC)
1.09- Keon Coleman, WR (Florida St)
1.10- Drake Maye, QB (UNC)
1.11- Ladd McConkey, WR (Georgia)
1.12- Adonai Mitchell, WR (Texas)
Round 1 Recap
Round 1 is the round of the wide receivers in single-quarterback leagues, with nine being selected here. The top tier of Harrison Jr and Nabers is certain to be the first off the board in all drafts, after that things get interesting.
We see Bowers going off the board, followed by the second tier of receivers. Once that tier was depleted the draft shifted and the first quarterback was selected. It’s easy to see why Williams went here. The options were a potentially elite quarterback or a large third-tier of receivers. Williams was the safe pick.
We see the round conclude with another run of receivers, and the second quarterback. The selection of Drake Maye was an interesting one. The issue here isn’t going quarterback, it’s taking Maye over Jayden Daniels who was still on the board. This was perhaps the result of Sleepers rookie ADP still being unreliable at best.
Round 1 Winners & Losers
The best pick of Round 1 was Caleb Williams. He was selected at 1.08, and even in a 1QB league, that is excellent value for a potentially elite quarterback. This was the right pick to make here as the wide receiver well had essentially dried up and was down to the third-tier receivers.
The worst pick of Round 1 was Drake Maye. As I stated above, this may have been an issue with Sleeper’s unreliable ADP. Regardless, it was a bad pick. I don’t mind taking a quarterback at this point in the draft instead of gambling on a receiver, but passing on Daniels for Maye was not the right move. This is why you prepare when you’re in a real draft, don’t just blindly follow the site’s ADP.
Round 2
2.01- Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)
2.02- Jonathon Brooks, RB (Texas)
2.03- Blake Corum, RB (Michigan)
2.04- Bucky Irving, RB (Oregon)
2.05- Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE (Texas)
2.06- Devontez Walker, WR (UNC)
2.07- Trey Benson, RB (Florida St)
2.08- Marshawn Lloyd, RB (USC)
2.09- Jalen McMillan, WR (Washington)
2.10- Xavier Legette, WR (South Carolina)
2.11- Audric Estime, RB (Notre Dame)
2.12- Michael Penix Jr, QB (Washington)
Round 2 Recap
Once the top three tiers of wide receivers have gone off the board, we see the running backs start to go. Jayden Daniels kicked off this round after a discussion in the chat about how someone could have drafted Maye over him.
Next, we see the running back run that features half of the second round being running backs. This is going to be a common theme in 1QB. Whichever running back(s) get Day 2 draft capital or a decent landing spot are going to find themselves in the first tier of running backs at the beginning of this round, while the ones who don’t get capital or land in a bad situation are going to slip to the end of the second round. So be prepared to see two mini-runs on running backs at some point in this round.
No surprise here that we also see the TE2 go off the board early. Sanders is much better value than Bowers and will be gone by the mid-point of the second round in all formats.
We also see the second round bookended by quarterbacks, although Daniels at the start is a far more appealing pick than Penix Jr at the end.
Round 2 Winners & Losers
The best pick of Round 2 was Ja’Tavion Sanders. Sanders was great value in this spot of the draft. He is a decent value early in the second round in superflex drafts, so to get him here in a 1QB draft is stealing. I will take this every time.
The worst pick of Round 2 was Devontez Walker. Walker has looked terrible at the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl and barring some insane change in his current profile, I want nothing to do with him anywhere before the fourth round of the draft. He may find his way into the third round at times, but the second round is considerably too early for him at this time.
Round 3
3.01- Braelon Allen, RB (Wisconsin)
3.02- Malachi Corley, WR (Western Kentucky)
3.03- Roman Wilson, WR (Michigan)
3.04- Ja’Lynn Polk, WR (Washington)
3.05- Ricky Pearsall, WR (Florida)
3.06- Ray Davis, RB (Kentucky)
3.07- Johnny Wilson, WR (Florida St)
3.08- Brenden Rice, WR (USC)
3.09- Jacob Cowing, WR (Arizona)
3.10- AJ Barner, TE (Michigan)
3.11- JJ McCarthy, QB (Michigan)
3.12- Will Shipley, RB (Clemson)
Round 3 Recap
Round 3 is easy. It’s time to clean up what’s left of the usable wide receivers and running backs. There are still a handful of both positions left and they are the best options at this point in the draft.
There are no perfect prospects left at this point and the best options are some of the running backs that feel out of the second round. As far as the receivers go, they have plenty of potential but all of them have at least one red flag or major flaw.
The round concludes with a tight end and quarterback from Michigan and while neither is considered a can’t-miss prospect, they are both decent value and full of potential.
Round 3 Winners & Losers
The best pick of Round 3 was Braelon Allen. Braelon Allen is easily the best pick of the third round. He could easily be the RB1 in this class and for some reason is the running back that fell. At this point whichever running back falls in the main tier, is the one to draft.
The worst pick of Round 3 was AJ Barner. Barner lacks any real upside in the passing game and is not a great prospect. Add in that there were three tight ends left on the board that are considerably better than him and I want no part of Barner as the TE3 off the board.
Round 4 (Summary)
We won’t go through the entirety of Round 4, since by this point, it’s largely dart-throws. At this point in the draft, I think it’s easy to see that the best value at this point is either the tight ends or quarterbacks who have fallen. None are sure options, but they all have potential.
My entire second tier of tight ends went in this round (Sinnott, Bell and Stover), as did the last remaining options at quarterback (Rattler and Nix). Nix is exceptional value should he hit.
Aside from the above options, it’s a case of picking a receiver or running back and praying they are the Day 3 diamond in the rough.
This draft was held on Sunday, February 3/2024 at 2:00 PM EST. If you would like to watch the entire draft live, check it out on The Fantasy Football Universe YouTube channel. Don’t forget to Like & Subscribe!
