Welcome to The Fantasy Football Universe Rookie Mock Draft 4.0. This mock draft was Superflex and tight-end premium. It was a 12-team draft and featured four managers who each drafted three players per round for a total of 36 rookie picks. The number after the team signifies that players have risen or fallen in ADP since our last superflex mock draft.
The draft featured Aaron St. Denis drafting 8th, Jesse Moeller drafting 6th, and SC Romero drafting 11th.
Draftboard via Sleeper.com
Round 1
1.01- Caleb Williams, QB (USC) EVEN
1.02- Marvin Harrison Jr, WR (Ohio St) EVEN
1.03- Malik Nabers, WR (LSU) +1
1.04- Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU) -1
1.05- Drake Maye, QB (UNC) EVEN
1.06- Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia) -2
1.07- Rome Odunze, WR (Washington) EVEN
1.08- JJ McCarthy, QB (Michigan) +3
1.09- Troy Franklin, WR (Oregon) -1
1.10- Bo Nix QB (Oregon) +3
1.11- Brian Thomas Jr, WR (LSU) -2
1.12- Keon Coleman, WR (Florida St) +3
Round 1 Recap
Again, we have a consensus top-7 picks that are just subject to preference for their ordering, before I threw a curveball and selected JJ McCarthy at 1.08 rather than selecting Troy Franklin who had fallen. I expect this to be a fairly consensus first nine picks once the NFL Draft rolls around.
The end of Round 1 is where things get interesting as two of my least favorite picks of the entire draft land there. Brian Thomas Jr is going to fall squarely in this range and I have no issue with that, but I am at least a half of a round lower on Keon Coleman and possibly an entire round lower on Bo Nix. Nix was likely to be available with his next pick and I think was a wasted pick even in a superflex league.
Keon Coleman has been the second-tier receiver that typically falls to the late second round in our mock drafts, so to see him as the receiver that moves up the board is interesting. This is the variance you should expect to see. As league-mates differ, so will their preference in this range.
Round 1 Winners & Losers
The best pick of Round 1 was Troy Franklin. Franklin has been going in the top 6 in most rookie mock drafts, the combination of Brock Bowers and JJ McCarthy going in front of him helped that manager score a bargain on him. I would consider it very unlikely that you get Franklin this late in a draft unless you have a manager in your league who likes McCarthy as much as I do, then he may fall in your lap.
The worst pick of Round 1 was Bo Nix. As I stated above, Bo Nix is a second-round pick. If he gets decent draft capital, he could be an early second-round pick, but to take the QB5 off the board in Round 1 is far too high. The only situation where this pick would be acceptable is if he were to secure top-12 NFL Draft capital like I expect McCarthy, Williams, Daniels, and Maye too.
Round 2
2.01- Blake Corum, RB (Michigan) +4
2.02- Xavier Worthy, WR (Texas) -4
2.03- Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE (Texas) +7
2.04- Trey Benson, RB (Florida St) EVEN
2.05- Adonai Mithcell, WR (Texas) -5
2.06- Bucky Irving, RB (Oregon) +1
2.07- Ladd McConkey, WR (Georgia) -1
2.08- Jonathon Brooks, RB (Texas) -6
2.09- Marshawn Lloyd, RB (USC) +2
2.10- Ja’Lynn Polk, WR (Washington) +14
2.11- Braelon Allen, RB (Wisconsin) -2
2.12- Spencer Rattler, QB (South Carolina) +4
Round 2 Recap
There are some big movers in Round 2. After dropping to the end of Round 2 in our last mock, Ja’Tavion Sanders jumps right back up to the start of the round, which seems particularly odd as we see other tight-end options emerging in this class. At this point, I may be passing on Bowers in the first, Sanders in the second, and waiting on Sinnott or Stover in the later rounds.
Despite likely being the worst of the two draft-worthy Washington wide receivers, Ja’Lynn Polk sees himself skyrocket from being undrafted in our previous mock draft to a second-round pick here. This is confusing, if you were going to select a Huskies receiver, Jalen McMillan would have been the one to choose. I don’t expect Polk to go anywhere near this high in most drafts. He is a back-end third-round-level player.
As the hype builds around certainly players who got pushed up, like Spencer Rattler, we see guys like Adonai Mitchell and Jonathon Brooks. I chose Brooks at 2.08 and I can tell you there is not going to be a draft where I will let either player fall out of my second round. I will acquire an additional last-second-round pick and draft them both if that scenario presents itself. They could both find themselves pushed into the first round, in fact, Mitchell has gone in the first round in our mock drafts previously.
Round 2 Winners & Losers
The best pick of Round 2 was Ladd McConkey. At one point not too long ago, McConkey was in the race to be selected at the end of Round 1, so getting him in the middle of Round 2 seems like a steal. McConkey is falling because he doesn’t possess Alpha size or blistering speed, but he has the potential to be an excellent slot receiver and a high-volume target.
The worst pick of Round 2 was Ja’Lynn Polk. This pick was terrible. To pass on McMillan for his teammate Polk made no sense. Polk was an after-thought until McMillan was injured. McMillan is clearly the more talented of the duo and should go far earlier. This pick is at least 10 spots too high for my liking. At this cost, I will acquire no share of Ja’Lynn Polk this offseason.
Round 3
3.01- Jermaine Burton, WR (Alabama) +14
3.02- Roman Wilson, WR (Michigan) +6
3.03- Michael Penix Jr. QB (Washington) -7
3.04- Javon Baker, WR (UCF) +10
3.05- Will Shipley, RB (Clemson) +4
3.06- Jalen McMillan, WR (Washington) -7
3.07- Brenden Rice, WR (USC) +3
3.08- Audric Estime, RB (Notre Dame) -8
3.09- Ben Sinnott, TE (Kansas St) -8
3.10- Ray Davis, RB (Kentucky) -2
3.11- Malachi Corley, WR (Western Kentucky) -9
3.12- Xavier Legette, WR (South Carolina) +4
Round 3 Recap
Round 3 is the usual dart-throwing time. We see two huge risers, one I understand, and one I don’t. Javon Baker out of UCF has received a ton of hype lately and was finally added to the Sleeper platform, so it’s no surprise to see him finally crack the top 36 players. The confusing one is Jermaine Burton. Burton has done little to warrant a sudden spike in ADP, and for a player who has never been selected in any of our rookie mock drafts to suddenly be a top-25 rookie pick is confusing.
Roman Wilson is a riser and is going to keep rising the closer we get to the NFL Draft. There’s nothing more to add there, get him cheap while you can.
The late third round appears to have a solid value pick at three separate positions. Audric Estime is a great running back who should be a second-round pick. Malachi Corley has dropped almost a full round and should not be available this late and Ben Sinnott is a great value at tight end. After a brief lull in the draft, the third round seems like a great place for potential value picks.
Round 3 Winners & Losers
The best pick of Round 3 was Roman Wilson. Plain and simple, Roman Wilson is going to be at least a second-round pick by the time the offseason is over. Every time there is another rookie event, he seems to move up five spots. Expect him to continue rising. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for him to catapult into the second tier of rookie wide receivers.
The worst pick of Round 3 was Jermaine Burton. I have no idea why Jermaine Burton was second in a three-round mock draft period, let alone at the start of Round 3. If you want to take a flyer on him in a draft that goes four or five rounds, that’s your prerogative. Drafting him to begin the third round is a wasted pick.
This draft was held on Saturday, February 17/2024 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!
