2020 FGT 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 although it’s unclear when the football season will start, everything is still on track for September, so we all know what that means…the FANTASY FOOTBALL season is ALSO on track for September!

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) so that all of you can get some insight as to who we like for the upcoming 2020 season, and hopefully help all of you with your drafts.

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

Each one is taking part in a mock draft live over the next several days on Twitter (feel free to check out the back and forth on Twitter by searching for #FGTMockDraft).  What trends and surprises did we see?

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 June 7th as per Fantasy Pros so you can see how we differ from how they’re currently being drafted in PPR leagues.

You can see the complete six round draft results 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 & 4 and 5 & 6 of the mock draft!

– Ha Kung Wong, Editor-In-Chief

Joanne Kong

Christian McCaffrey – USA Today Sports

1st Round – Pick 1 – Christian McCaffrey (RB) [Current ADP: 1.0]

2nd Round – Pick 20 – Chris Godwin (WR) [Current ADP: 16.5]

This is what Joanne had to say about her picks:

In a dominant 2019 season, Christian McCaffrey played 93% of the offensive snaps of Carolina’s offense.  With 1,387 rush yards, 15 rushing TDs, 1,005 receiving yards and 4 receiving TD’s, in McCaffrey outscored the next closest running back by 156 fantasy points.  I’ll let that sink in for a minute, because it’s ridiculous.

Christian McCaffrey Rushing & Receiving Stats
Game Rush Rush Rush Rush Rush Rush Rece Rece Rece Rece
Year G Rush Yds TD Y/A Y/G A/G Tgt Rec Yds TD
2017 16 117 435 2 3.7 27.2 7.3 113 80 651 5
2018 16 219 1098 7 5.0 68.6 13.7 124 107 867 6
2019*+ 16 287 1387 15 4.8 86.7 17.9 142 116 1005 4
Care 48 623 2920 24 4.7 60.8 13.0 379 303 2523 15

There’s no guarantee that McCaffrey will put up the same numbers in the 2020 season, especially during an uncertain time for sports and the nation due to COVID-19, but there is no doubt that McCaffrey will continue to be the backbone of the Carolina Panthers even with incoming scrambling quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater.  Although I’m not a Carolina Panther’s fan, I’m all in on Christian McCaffery, and predict he’ll break 1,000 rushing yards for a third straight year.

And just for fun, here’s a flashback to McCaffrey at the 2016 Rose Bowl. Not much has changed.

First let me clarify, I did not select Chris Godwin because Tom Brady is the new quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  I selected Chris Godwin in spite of it.  With 1,333 receiving yards and 9 TDs, Godwin was the top scorer for the Buccaneers in 2019. ESPN predicts Godwin to put up similar number in the upcoming season.  Of course, you never know how the team will change with Tom Brady behind center and Rob Gronkowski as one of his favorite targets on the field, but Godwin’s upside is too high to ignore at the end of the 2nd round.

Scott King

1st Round – Pick 2 – Saquon Barkley (RB) [Current ADP: 2.3]

2nd Round – Pick 19 – Aaron Jones (RB) [Current ADP: 16.5]

This is what Scott had to say about his picks:

We continue to see fantasy football drafts going back in time with RBs dominating early. Our draft is right in line with the trend. I grabbed Barkley with the 2nd pick, easy call when CMC comes off the board. I followed up with Aaron Jones as the best available at the time and was the 5th ranked RB in 2019 per Pro Football Focus (81.3).

Dan Thury

Ezekiel Elliott

1st Round – Pick 3 – Ezekiel Elliot (RB) [Current ADP: 3.5]

2nd Round – Pick 18 – Miles Sanders (RB) [Current ADP: 18.5]

This is what Dan had to say about his picks:

First two picks were pretty on point with what you’ll see in most drafts. Double RB is my ideal start, and getting Zeke/Sanders as my start is perfect. Zeke has the RB1 upside, while Sanders presents real upside as a top 5 RB when 2020 is all said and done.

Andrew Erickson

1st Round – Pick 4 – Dalvin Cook (RB) [Current ADP: 5.3]

2nd Round – Pick 17 – Davante Adams (WR) [Current ADP: 8.8]

This is what Andrew had to say about his picks:

At the time I was thrilled to grab Dalvin Cook at four, but now with a potential holdout I am not nearly as thrilled.  Davante Adams thought was a steal at the back end of the second round. Could easily be the WR1 overall.

Ryan Whitfield

1st Round – Pick 5 – Michael Thomas (WR) [Current ADP: 3.8]

2nd Round – Pick 16 – Travis Kelce (TE) [Current ADP: 18.3]

This is what Ryan had to say about her picks:

Look, I’m the zero RB guy around here, so I held up my reputation in this mock. Sure, I’ll mock out some RB early and often scenarios prior to the real draft season, but for this exercise, I decided to hold true to form. Let’s look at my picks.

Pick 1.5 – Michael Thomas – With 4 straight running backs taken, my propensity to take wide receivers, and going best available here, it was hard to look at anyone but Michael Thomas. In his four seasons, he has continued to total more receptions and yards in each subsequent season. He’s also posted 9 touchdowns in 3 out of his 4 seasons including the last two. Even if the addition of Emmanuel Sanders takes away some of his target share, it’s not like his 185 targets in 2019 will be cut in half. Even if we should expect a regression, he’s still primed to be the best WR in fantasy in 2020.

Pick 2.6 – Travis Kelce – The only guy I considered here more than Kelce was Chris Godwin but here’s why I stuck with Kelce. I like to avoid unknowns and instability early in a draft. This is not a referendum on Godwin but more of his situation. With the infusion of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski there are some fresh faces in Tampa Bay. Look, old quarterbacks eventually decline and when it happens it happens fast. I’m not betting against Tom, but he wasn’t good in 2019 and maybe the bottom falls out in 2020. Next, does Mike Evans bounce back this season? What will Gronkowski’s role be? What will the Brady-to-Godwin chemistry look like? See, I have too many questions for this spot. On the other hand, in two seasons with Mahomes as his QB, Kelce has seen 286 targets which he has turned into 200 receptions for 2,565 yards and 15 touchdowns. He has the same QB, same head coach, and the same OC in Eric Bieniemy. That’s a much safer bet in my book.

Kris Hopper

1st Round – Pick 6 – Alvin Kamara (RB) [Current ADP: 5.5]

2nd Round – Pick 15 – Kenyan Drake (RB) [Current ADP: 15.5]

This is what Kris had to say about his picks:

Things get a little dicey after the first 4 picks go off the board as question marks start to show up this year.  Alvin Kamara had a bit of a down year last year with Brees missing time and Ingram out of town, but a rebound is not out of the question and he figures to be a solid option at RB. The value of RB’s made him the choice over Julio Jones here

Staying on the RB train I’m going to grab a guy in Kenyan Drake with top 7 upside who absolutely went off after the trade to Arizona.  Drake can be explosive in the running and passing game and AZ runs an up-tempo offense that figures to see plenty of offensive snaps in 2021, meaning plenty of volume for Drake.

FXP Jr.

Derrick Henry – USA Today

1st Round – Pick 7 –  Derrick Henry (RB) [Current ADP: 7.0]

2nd Round – Pick 14 – Patrick Mahomes (QB) [Current ADP: 22.0]

Wole Akinso

Julio Jones

1st Round – Pick 8 – Julio Jones (WR) [Current ADP: 13.0]

2nd Round – Pick 17 – Joe Mixon (RB) [Current ADP: 13.3]

Victor Rogers

1st Round – Pick 9 – Josh Jacobs (RB) [Current ADP: 16.8]

2nd Round – Pick 12 – Nick Chubb (RB) [Current ADP: 16.5]

This is what Victor had to say about his picks:

This year is projected to be a throwback to traditional fantasy drafting with RBs being the trend.  To that end, you can’t miss out when picking from the turn, which explains my selection of Nick Chubb and Josh Jacobs.  Both are young RBs that should dominate the lions share of snaps.  In conjunction with this approach, I’ve noticed decent caliber WRs have tended to fall in my early best ball drafts allowing for me to recover from leaning RB-heavy early, and I expect to be able to do the same thing in regular PPR drafts.

Adam Aniba

Tyreek Hill – USA TODAY Sports

1st Round – Pick 10 – Tyreek Hill (WR) [Current ADP: 12.5]

2nd Round – Pick 11 – DeAndre Hopkins (WR) [Current ADP: 9.8]

This is what Adam had to say about his picks:

With the Chiefs coming off a Super Bowl win behind the arm of Pat Mahomes, wide receiver Tyreek Hill should have a big year Fantasy-wise. Look for Hill to gain 2K all-purpose yards.

With DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona seems to have found the heir apparent to Larry Fitzgerald and go-to weapon for second year QB Kyler Murray.  The Cardinals will face top level defenses within their division and although Hopkins will be challenged, he’s in line for a big year.

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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