SI/4for4 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 12-Team, Half-PPR, Superflex
The SI.com and 4for4 Football teams got together in late June to conduct a 12-team, half-PPR, superflex mock draft. The draft board is below, and each of the 12 drafters gave their impressions after the draft once it was finished.
Individual recaps are listed in draft order.
Justin Edwards: I went against the typical wait on a quarterback mantra to take two of them at the second/third-round turn. Grabbing Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck sets me up to dominate the position, but left me struggling to fill in depth at running back and wide receiver. In a real league, I would need to be very active on the waiver wire to bolster the running back slot, headed by Saquon Barkley but supported by less than stellar pieces. A solid collection of WR2s should help keep my weekly scoring steady, and tying both Jack Doyle and Eric Ebron to Luck should lead to some “boom” weeks."
Greg Smith: It might surprise some to see how aggressively I drafted my QB3, even though only one quarterback must start in any given week. I always want a passer in my superflex spot, though, so I value having depth at the position. After I took Mitchell Trubisky as my QB2 in the eighth round, the landscape of the draft dictated I take another signal-caller three picks later. Other owners with two were sure to be considering a third quarterback, and three opponents only had one. Sure enough, after I selected Josh Allen at 9.02, six of the next 15 picks were quarterbacks, and the position was depleted well before my next pick at 10.11. Don’t be afraid to double-tap quarterback in the middle rounds, especially if you’re drafting near one of the turns.
John Paulsen: Since this is a superflex league, I knew I wanted to start two quarterbacks, which is why I took a pair in the fourth and fifth rounds. Things started to get pretty thin at the position by the sixth round, so I’m glad I pulled the trigger on Carson Wentz and Kyler Murray. Since I took two running backs and a tight end in the first three rounds, I wasn’t able to draft my first receiver until the sixth, but I like the upside in my receiving corps with Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd, Christian Kirk and Keke Coutee. Good receivers tend to fall in superflex leagues, and that’s what happened here.
Michael Beller: I knew my draft would start with whichever of the big four backs was still on the board. From there, I wasn’t locked in to any position, preferring to go the best available route. You can get an elite receiver late in the second round of superflex drafts, which I was able to do with Antonio Brown here. I was the second person to have three quarterbacks, which is crucial in a superflex league. You absolutely want to come out of a draft with three starters, and that’s not something everyone can do in a 12-team league. This team has plenty of depth across the board, especially if David Montgomery, Dante Pettis, Michael Gallup, and DaeSean Hamilton are the players I expect them to be this season.
Bennie Contrino: With the fifth overall pick I wanted to take the best RB available, and felt Melvin Gordon was a safer pick than David Johnson. I then was fine taking Deshaun Watson in the second round of a superflex format since he is my QB1 for 2019. I’m not huge on Fournette or Henry at their ADPs, but was surprised to them fall to me in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively. Backing up Tyreek Hill with Mecole Hardman guaranteed me a major presence in the Chiefs’ offense at an affordable price.
Alex Hampl: Go ahead and call this team the High Variance All-Stars. Damien Williams, Todd Gurley and Sony Michel could all finish as top-six backs, or they could all finish outside the top 12 at the position...and in Gurley’s case, well outside. Overall, I love my strategy of waiting on QB, even in a superflex league. I maybe just don’t love my execution. It looks like I waited a round too late to grab my second QB. I’d feel much better if I had someone someone in that Josh Allen/Sam Darnold/Matthew Stafford/Marcus Mariota tier. My favorite pick was Tyler Lockett, who’s a steal in the fifth round. He was one of the most efficient receivers in the NFL last year, and this season he’ll be the clear-cut no. 1 option for an elite QB.
Kevin Zatloukal: My draft strategy was to go quarterback and running early, and I was pleased with the results. My QBs are great: Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees. Le’Veon Bell, Aaron Jones, Kenyan Drake and Latavius Murray should cover the running back position and a flex spot well. At receiver, I was still able to get Cooper Kupp, Allen Robinson, Larry Fitzgerald, Curtis Samuel, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The first four are fairly safe bets for WR2/3 production, and MVS has a good shot at WR3, as well. My tight ends are a bit sketchy, but everyone who doesn't get Travis Kelce, George Kittle, or Zach Ertz could be scrambling at the position. I also have two great defenses. Overall, I'm happy going into the contest with this team.
Chris Allen: I tried a different strategy, but the results didn’t match the intent. The concept was based on a modified ZeroRB strategy applied to quarterbacks. By anchoring the position early, other positional needs could be filled. The first three rounds should have been the time to implement the strategy, but I assumed most of the league would apply a late-round approach to quarterbacks. I’d have preferably acquired any of the first four quarterbacks selected and found a second quarterback at least four or five rounds later.
Bennie Contrino (fifth pick) executed the strategy perfectly. A Watson/Garoppolo duo is an excellent pairing from a cost and risk perspective. Both the running back and wide receiver position weren’t critically affected by Watson’s opportunity cost, and the weekly floor at quarterback is well above average. It’s an approach I’ll try to implement in future drafts.
Jen Eakins: One thing that's always so interesting about industry drafts is that each person tends to approach roster construction so differently, and this mock was no different. With it being a superflex format, the only consistency we saw was that all but two teams had multiple quarterbacks by round eight. For me personally, I usually don't grab a tight end early in superflex unless it is tight end premium scoring, but I could not pass on Travis Kelce at 2.04. I really was hoping to pair my first-rounder Odell Beckham with Baker Mayfield in the third round, but was sniped by Beller before getting the chance.
I really like what both Justin Edwards and Brandon Niles did on each end. They had different approaches, but impressive results. Overall I feel that my team isn't the spiciest at first glance, but is a decent balance of solid, go-to players with some risky upside guys.
Denny Carter: My goal was to create a volatile team by hammering receiver early (four wideouts I could plug in every week, no questions asked) and picking up running backs who might fall into opportunity due to injury or anything else we can't predict. I drafted Mark Ingram as a back who should be a plugged-in option in an offense that will run as much or more than any in the league. I regret taking Dak Prescott as early as I did, but getting too cute in superflex can leave you with a single startable quarterback when every other team has at least two. I took Fitzpatrick just in case he goes Full Fitz in Miami.
T.J. Hernandez: Being near the first turn has a lot of value in 2019, but drafting in a superflex league adds another layer to drafting at the tails of rounds. With running backs flying off the board in the first round, owners at the turn have a chance to double down on a group of receivers that all have the potential to lead non-quarterbacks in fantasy scoring. It didn’t work out here, but I’m almost always targeting Odell Beckham when I’m drafting in this area—Beckham is my favorite to finish as this year’s WR1. As for quarterbacks, when I’m at the turn in a superflex league, it’s just too risky to wait on a run. I always want two reliable starters and I planted my flag on Jared Goff before I missed out on a top-12 signal caller. My team gives me confidence that I can get out of the first two rounds without a running back and still fill out that position with a solid group of players.
Brandon Niles: My strategy was best player available and to draft away from the trend. I went with two backs early because DeAndre Hopkins was off the board at 12. I was surprised how fast the quarterbacks went, even in a superflex. I targeted Dede Westbrook at the back of the ninth, but he got sniped. I still like the receivers I drafted. If DeVante Parker or Jamison Crowder can be a WR3, they’ll be value picks at the 13/14 turn. Damien Williams ahead of Nick Chubb (both in the second) was a surprise, and those two are my bust and steal picks for this draft.
