When Heath Cummings of CBS Fantasy Sports asked me if I’d be willing to participate in his 20 round industry dynasty superflex startup mock draft, I had to check my schedule. My Kerryon Johnson stalking schedule that is. Between that and working up my 2020 fantasy football rankings I was booked solid. Fortunately, the bushes outside Kerryon’s house are pretty comfortable and I cracked the Johnson’s wifi password months ago. So it was all systems go for this 12 team PPR dynasty superflex startup mock draft, see the full results here. Anyway, here’s the team I came away with:
QB: Patrick Mahomes (1, 1)
RB: Nick Chubb (2, 24)
RB: Jonathan Taylor (3, 25)
WR: D.K. Metcalf (4, 48)
WR: Justin Jefferson (8, 96)
TE: T.J. Hockenson (11, 121)
FLEX: David Montgomery (6, 72)
FLEX: Kerryon Johnson (7, 73)
SFLEX: Sam Darnold (5, 49)
BENCH: Gardner Minshew (9, 97), Denzel Mims (10, 120), Rob Gronkowski (12, 144), Curtis Samuel (13, 145), John Brown (14, 168), Jacob Eason (15, 169), Ryan Fitzpatrick (16, 192), Duke Johnson (17, 193), Benny Snell (18, 216), Eno Benjamin (19, 217), Darwin Thompson (20, 240)
QUARTERBACKS
Taking Patrick Mahomes, a 24 year old pure passer, at 1.01 was a no-brainer for me in dynasty superflex. Sure, Christian McCaffrey is enticing for the couple more elite seasons we’ll see from him, but with Mahomes you’re buying a stable asset who should hold his value for the better part of a decade. When I took Sam Darnold in the 5th round at pick 49 I ran into some software issues. I actually wanted Tyler Lockett, but for some reason the robot wouldn’t let me take him (Lockett went the very next pick at 50th overall) so I panic pivoted to my 2nd QB in Darnold which turned out to be a bit of a blessing as 8 other QBs were taken before the draft got back to me in the 6th round.
I was psyched to land Gardner Minshew as my 3rd passer in the 9th round; the market is fading Uncle Rico this offseason but I’m buying headband over fist. Colts rookie Jacob Eason and Dolphins placeholder Ryan Fitzpatrick round out my quarterback room, giving me one gamble for the future and one crusty vet to fall back on for the present. Very happy to leave a superflex startup dynasty with 5 valuable quarterbacks, you can never have too many.
RUNNING BACKS
After starting with Mahomes at number one overall, I couldn’t have been much happier with the running back options that made it back to me. Nick Chubb and Jonathan Taylor are my 7th and 8th ranked running backs in my top 20 dynasty running back rankings and I snagged them as the 11th and 12th backs off the board. Adding 21 and 24 year old stud RBs on top of my 24 year old top QB sets me up to contend for at least the next few seasons.Â
Sometimes I like to play chicken with Kerryon Johnson in mock drafts because I’m always the high man in the room—not just on drugs—and I like to see where the market sets his price. But at the 6/7 round turn I decided to keep pushing the youth movement, pairing Johnson with fellow 23 year old RB David Montgomery who stands to dominate the Bears backfield for at least one more season. In retrospect this was an error as I missed that Leonard Fournette, who I love for 2020 and have ranked a few spots higher than Johnson and Montgomery in dynasty, was still on the board. Yes, I’m stupid. Also, I think there’s a decent chance Kerryon makes it back to me at pick 96 if I wait; I would’ve at least liked to find out.Â
I spent my final four picks of the draft on RB fliers in Houston PPR specialist Duke Johnson, my favorite Steelers runner Benny Snell, upside Cardinals rookie Eno Benjamin and forgotten Chief—probably for good reason—Darwin Thompson.
By the way, The Boof and I discussed when to buy and sell dynasty running backs on our new YouTube show last week:Â
WIDE RECEIVERS
This fake fake league only starts two wide receivers so I had the luxury of waiting a little longer than normal on the position after taking big sexy, D.K. Metcalf, in the 4th round. I’m not sure he’ll come close to reaching his ceiling, but I don’t think there’s another other wide-out in the league who can match his upside based on raw talent, upside and bulging biceps.
In the 8th and 10th rounds I came back with two of my favorite rookie receivers in Vikings’ Justin Jefferson and the Jets’ Denzel Mims. I went over both in my top 10 and top 20 dynasty rookie rankings. In the moment I didn’t realize just how young of a roster I was building with an average starting lineup age of 16 years old. Might need to double check that math.Â
Later I brought in another youngster for long term depth in Curtis Samuel, I’ve talked quite bit this spring about my optimism for the new Matt Rhule/Teddy Bridgewater led Panthers’ offensive. The wide receiver room is rounded out by one token veteran, John Brown, for locker room leadership.
TIGHT ENDS
I couldn’t believe the bargains I found at tight end, scoring sophomore post-hype investment T.J. Hockenson in the 11th round. The Hock could easily make the leap into the elite fantasy TE group with a full healthy season for both himself and Matthew Stafford in 2020. Plus, at 23 years old he’ll bring up the average age of my starting lineup. Lastly, I added a little more fun to the team with Rob Gronkowski in the 12th round. He’ll be the glue that holds this Pop-Warner squad together. It’s true we might only get one season out of Gronk, and who knows how he’ll perform after a season off, but I’m not being against the Gronkman.
