FGT 2019 Fantasy Football Mock Draft – Rounds 1 & 2

By the Football Garbage Time Staff

As I mention every year, we here at Football Garbage Time are all about helping out our readers.  And with football season less than a month away, we all know what that means…FANTASY FOOTBALL season is ALSO less than a month away!

So as everyone gets ready to root for their favorite NFL team and commit entire Sunday afternoons to eating tons of junk food and yelling at the TV screen when refs inevitably make yet another bad call on the field, some of us, including you I suspect, will be furiously tinkering with our fantasy football lineups and eventually wondering why the fantasy gods hate us when we end up losing by 0.01 fantasy points because Aaron Rodgers took one too many knees at the end of the game.  Phew, that was a ridiculously long sentence.

Say what you will about whether Fantasy Football is “good” for the NFL or not.  One thing we all agree on here is that playing Fantasy Football is a lot of fun…but much more so if you’re winning.

So, as we do every year, we conducted a live Mock Fantasy Football Draft on Twitter (just check out #FGTMockDraft) for a mock PPR standard scoring Yahoo 10-team league (1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 K & 1 DEF with standard scoring) so that all of you can get some insight as to who we like for the upcoming 2019 season, and hopefully help all of you with your drafts.

This year, ten different writers & podcasters from five different sites participated, including:

Each one took part and conducted the mock draft live over several days on Twitter (feel free to check out the back and forth on Twitter by searching for #FGTMockDraft).  A few trends became clear and we certainly had more than a few surprises.

Below are the results of the first two rounds along with some comments from those who made the picks.  We also include the Average Draft Position (ADP) as of August 16th as per Fantasy Pros so you can see how we differ from how they’re currently being drafted in PPR leagues.

If you want to the see the complete four round draft results, check it out HERE.

Don’t agree?  Well, it’s a free country, so sound off in the comments!  And don’t forget to come back to check out Rounds 3 and 4 of the mock draft!

– Ha Kung Wong, Editor-In-Chief

Scott King

Christian McCaffrey – USA Today Sports

1st Round – Pick 1 – Christian McCaffrey (RB) [Current ADP: 2.0]

2nd Round – Pick 20 – Patrick Mahomes (QB) [Current ADP: 21.0]

This is what Scott had to say about his picks:

With the first pick in the draft I had the entire league to choose from.  I don’t like sitting in top half of the draft because I have to wait so long for my next pick.  Fantasy is coming back around to taking RB in the first round, which fell out for several years.  For me, I didn’t want to mess with Zeke and his hold out or Barkley and their terrible offense.  That left McCaffrey and Kamara and I trust CMC more with Cam.  My plan taking a RB early was to be in position to take WR when it comes back around seeing how deep that position is this season.

When my second pick came around a week later (literally) I had a couple options.  I could go RB/WR, WR/WR or I could grab a QB. Looking at the board I decided to jump on Mahomes and take the top QB in fantasy.  If I passed on Mahomes there’s no telling what would be available at the end of the 4th round.

Christian McCaffrey Rushing & Receiving Stats
Game Game Rush Rush Rush Rece Rece Rece Rece
Year G GS Rush Yds TD Tgt Rec Yds TD
2017 16 10 117 435 2 113 80 651 5
2018 16 16 219 1098 7 124 107 867 6
Care 32 26 336 1533 9 237 187 1518 11

Joey Alibro

Saquon Barkley – Getty Images

1st Round – Pick 2 – Saquon Barkley (RB) [Current ADP: 1.0]

2nd Round – Pick 19 – Tyreek Hill (WR) [Current ADP: 15.0]

This is what Joey had to say about his picks:

Coming Soon!

Ha Kung Wong

Alvin Kamara – USA Today

1st Round – Pick 3 – Alvin Kamara (RB) [Current ADP: 3.0]

2nd Round – Pick 18 – Le’Veon Bell (RB) [Current ADP: 7.0]

This is what Ha Kung had to say about his picks:

Hey, all, the RB shortage is for real.  Just sayin’, I don’t want to be without two mostly workhorse RBs coming out of my first three rounds this year.  So with that said, why in the world was Le’Veon Bell available at 18th overall?

Before I get to that, though, let me discuss Alvin Kamara.  As the ESPN fantasy crew mentioned, only 3 RBs in NFL history have ever had consecutive seasons with 700 rush yards and 700 receiving yards — Marshall Faulk, Hershell Walker and Alvin Kamara.  That’s some top notch company.  In 2018, according to Football Outsiders, Kamara had the 2nd highest rushing DYAR and 2nd highest Success Rate, which roughly translates to be the RB with 2nd highest rushing value and 2nd highest consistency in the league.  On top of that he had the 2nd highest receiving DYAR among RBs with the 4th most catches among RBs during the regular season.  Kamara totaled 1,605 total yards from scrimmage in 2018 with the second most rushing TDs among RBs (14), and with Mark Ingram out of town, I don’t see why he doesn’t build on that.  Sure, Latavius Murray is there, but he doesn’t concern me, not with his track record in Minnesota.  I’m not looking to catch lightening in a bottle, I’m looking for consistency and value with my early picks.  And Kamara is the epitome of consistency and value.  Plus, I just didn’t trust that Zeke would get re-signed in time for the season to start.

So, back to Bell.  He’s one of the top pass catching backs in the NFL, and the Jets aren’t great, but they’re certainly on the upswing having found what appears to be their franchise QB in Sam Darnold.  In 2017, Bell has the 3rd must rush yards in the NFL (1291), with the 2nd most receptions among RBs (106) for 655 receiving yards.  He’s good, and although there may be a bit of rust, the Jets offense will flow through him.  You can’t say that for many RBs, and definitely none available at pick 18.  Getting him here I felt was a huge value.

Andrew Erickson

This is what Andrew had to say about his picks:

1st Round – Pick 4 – Ezekiel Elliott (RB) [Current ADP: 4.0]

2nd Round – Pick 17 – Odell Beckham Jr. (WR) [Current ADP: 12.0]

For Elliott at pick 1.04, I am not afraid of Elliott holding out.  Jerry is going to pay his man and now that Amari Cooper is dealing with an injury it just highlights the idea that he needs to surround Dak with playmakers.  He is easily the 1.01 if not for a pending holdout.

For Odell Beckham Jr. at 2.7, he was my overall number 1 upside pick with Baker Mayfield as his QB. We saw what he could do with a subpar QB like Eli. His upside is just too high to not take in the second round.

 

Joanne Kong

1st Round – Pick 5 – DeAndre Hopkins (WR) [Current ADP: 6.0]

2nd Round – Pick 16 – Travis Kelce (TE) [Current ADP: 14.0]

This is what Joanne had to say about her picks:

Getting a middle pick, in my opinion, is probably the hardest position in fantasy drafts.  The potential for top scoring running backs are scarce this season with several teams having backs sharing the role.  Fortunately, there are some clear must draft running backs in the 2019 season, but if you miss out on one of these backs…Christian McCaffery, Saquon Barkley or Alvin Kamara…what do you do?  Go for a top end wide receiver.

ROUND 1: PICK 5 – DEANDRE HOPKINS

If your not among the top three draft picks, it might not be worth going for a second tier running back.  With Ezekiel Elliott waiting for a new contract, and not to mention his off-the-field antics, a safer bet would be to draft another top ranked position.  In my case, wide receiver.  DeAndre Hopkins has been among the top scoring fantasy wide receivers for years.  In 2018, he caught a career-high 70% of his targets.  In 2017, Hopkins was the 2nd highest scoring fantasy wide receiver.  Although his production might go down with a healthy Will Fuller, having Deshaun Watson at quarterback (who was the quarterback with the 4th most fantasy points in 2018), both should see a fair amount of targets.

ROUND 2: PICK 16 – TRAVIS KELCE

Having a top rated tight end is invaluable as you expand your fantasy teams’ receiving core, it is like having two top wide receivers in terms of replacement value.  Travis Kelce has been the top scoring fantasy tight end in 2018 and 2016, and 2nd in 2017 to Rob Gronkowski.  With Gronk retired, Kelce is the undisputed head of the pack and can boost any fantasy team.

With the Kansas City Chiefs coming off a 12-4 season, losing the Conference Championship to the New England Patriots, 31-37, the Chiefs are looking to get back for round 2 to and the conference and the Super Bowl…and they might just do it.

Dan Thury

1st Round – Pick 6 – David Johnson (RB) [Current ADP: 5.0]

2nd Round – Pick 15 – JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR) [Current ADP: 16.0]

This is what Dan had to say about his picks:

My draft went pretty chalk for me, DJ is my RB5 so getting him as the RB5 is fine.  JuJu is my WR3 so getting him as the WR6 is good value in my eyes.  JuJu is also my highest projected WR, so I fully buy into his upside this season.

Mike Wallace

Davante Adams – Getty Images

1st Round – Pick 7 –  Davante Adams (WR) [Current ADP: 8.0]

2nd Round – Pick 14 – Joe Mixon (RB) [Current ADP: 17.0]

This is what Mike had to say about his picks:

1.07 Davante Adams, WR Green Bay

Adams has scored double digits TDs for 3 consecutive seasons. As the top target for Aaron Rodgers I am confident in his consistency to anchor the WR position on my fantasy team. Looking at the questions around some of the RBs available here, starting a team with Adams is the safest bet. He is coming off of his best season and has firmly solidified himself as a top end fantasy player.

2.04 Joe Mixon, RB Cincinnati

There are concerns around Mixon because of the Bengals offense, but last year Mixon led all AFC RBs in yards while playing in only 14 games. He did this with Andy Dalton and AJ Green missing multiple weeks. Green is already dealing with injury, but having Dalton back will help create a little more room for Mixon. The Bengals also brought in Zac Taylor from the Rams as Head Coach, having an offensive minded coach replacing Marvin Lewis should provide a boost to the entire offense.

Wally Akinso

Todd Gurley – Getty Images

1st Round – Pick 8 – Todd Gurley (RB) [Current ADP: 13.0]

2nd Round – Pick 17 – James Conner (RB) [Current ADP: 11.0]

 

Victor Rogers

1st Round – Pick 9 – Mike Evans (WR) [Current ADP: 19.0]

2nd Round – Pick 12 – Melvin Gordon (RB) [Current ADP: 23.0]

This is what Victor had to say about his picks:

I decided to take a WR that I felt has high TD upside with my 1st pick (Mike Evans) and pair him with another potential TD monster (Gordon).  I‘m more than happy to benefit from the contract scares people have with Gordon.  If all goes well I secured a great foundation with my 1st 2 picks.

Ryan Whitfield

Michael Thomas – USA Today Sports Photo

1st Round – Pick 10 – Michael Thomas (WR) [Current ADP: 9.0]

2nd Round – Pick 11 – Julio Jones (WR) [Current ADP: 10.0]

This is what Ryan had to say about his picks:

Drafting at the 1-2 turn is a spot that I am familiar with at this point and one that I actually prefer. It allows me to go WR-WR early, get two studs, and then I can go RB-RB at the next turn and still get guys I like.

I went Mike Thomas and Julio Jones in my first two selections. There was a mini-run of running backs went right after my selection in the form of Melvin Gordon, James Conner, and Joe Mixon. I’d rather take these two WR1’s out of the NFC South and cash in on the RB’s with my next picks.

Don’t forget to follow #FGTMockDraft for more draft picks and check back for our analysis of our 3rd and 4th Round picks of our Twitter Fantasy Football Mock Draft!

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