We are just weeks away from the start of the 2023 fantasy football season and with NFL training camps winding down and preseason games being played your fantasy football draft prep should be underway. The Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Football Draft Guide is loaded with everything you could possibly need from updated fantasy football player rankings and fantasy football player projections to offensive line breakdowns; from top sleepers and busts to the fantasy football cheat sheet.

Our analysts are tirelessly working around the clock to help you win a fantasy football championship this year and one of the best ways we can do that is by sharing our draft thoughts in a fantasy football mock draft. You can study the fantasy football ADP all you want, but until you see it in action, it’s nothing more than a list of numbers. A strong roster build is paramount to your success, but where and when you draft a player is just as important as why you are drafting that player. 

 

Welcome to the Fantasy Alarm Staff Mock Draft 3.0

Let’s start off by sharing the draft board with you. We’ll paste it here into the article, but you can also click here to open the board in a new window so you can easily reference it as you are reading.

The Draft Specs:

  • 12-teams, 16 rounds, snake-draft
  • Full-point PPR scoring with the usual touchdown and yardage scoring (no bonuses)
  • Starting Rosters: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, 2 Flex (R/W/T)
  • Bench: 6 players 

The Players (in draft order):

2023 Mock Draft: Fantasy Football Breakdown

Ivar Anderson's take on his team..

Drafting first made the initial pick easy, as WR is a primary position I want to fill this season, and Justin Jefferson is easily my favorite receiver in football. I started the QB “run” with Josh Allen but picking at the turn, I wanted a top three QB and knew that if I did not act at 3.1, I was looking at second tier quarterback talent-not bad, but not among the potential elite. Would have preferred a different Lion other that Montgomery (St. Brown, Gibbs) but the new addition to the Detroit RB crew could fill the role Jamaal Williams filled last season, the TD-scoring back on the ground. Took Freimuth as my TE earlier than I normally would have filled the position, but again, draft position at the turn forced my hand instead of settling for lower tier talent in the position. According to the projections, I am picked first among my peers, and that is truly scary-never have projections proved accurate for my teams.

Dan Servodidio's take on his team..

Drafting from the two-hole, I opted to go with a pair of wide receivers in the 2nd and 3rd rounds after locking in Christian McCaffrey as my RB1. Both DeVonta Smith and DK Metcalf are proven top-20 wideouts and provide a safe floor of production at the receiver position. Since my RB group can lean on CMC, I was able to take some fliers on Dalvin Cook, AJ Dillon, and Brian Robinson in the middle rounds – hoping one will emerge as a solid RB2. Getting Justin Herbert and Dallas Goedert gives me a top-tier QB and TE while also not having to worry about those positions for a handful of rounds. Plus, it allowed me to take chances on former college football studs and upside rookies Deuce Vaughn and Tank Dell.

Andrew Dewhirst's take on his team..

One of the first things you need to consider when you think about strategy is where you are drafting from. From there you can start to consider who might be available for you. In this case, drafting from the 3 slot, I expected to have Ja’Marr Chase available, and he was. From that I had planned a Bengals stack. I expected I get Tee Higgins at the end of the second round and then Joe Burrow in the fourth and that is exactly how it played out. So as the Bengals go, so does this fantasy team. That isn’t to say that I’m not satisfied with what I was able to get at running back. In a PPR league, Travis Etienne, and D’Andre Swift should both be assets, and Alexander Mattison finally has the lead back role to himself with Dalvin Cook gone, so I expect him to be a solid contributor as well. Lastly the tight end role is filled by George Kittle, who when healthy has proven he can be dominate, but knowing that he isn’t always healthy I was sure to add Chigoziem Okonkwo and Greg Dulcich to fill in on those weeks that he misses.

Andrew Cooper's take on his team..

Truth be told folks - I fell asleep and missed the draft. Raising a newborn during crunch time for fantasy drafts has been a challenge, to say the least. So my team served as the placebo for this draft. I will say though, “I” got a lot of my guys. Austin Ekeler, Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Taylor could be an absurd start. Michael Pittman and Evan Engram are players I like. Even Chase Claypool in the last round. This is the first time I’ve “drafted” Deebo Samuel, however, as it’s just not someone I’m taking. Overall? C+.

Howard Bender's take on his team..

In typical fashion, I decided to grab my running backs early in this draft. Having two strong backs to start would give me a solid anchor for my roster and allow me to try some different things like taking a quarterback earlier than usual. I hit the receivers in the third and fourth rounds, but landed Justin Fields in the fifth so I could see how the rest of my roster build would look. I deviated from my usual plan even more with a tight end pick in the sixth, but knew I had to go back to running backs and receivers. While I landed a few players I like such as Antonio Gibson, Elijah Moore and Raheem Mostert, I would say that this was one of my least favorite drafts. I have a solid running back base and Fields should be just fine, but my receivers are pretty blah and we obviously have a question mark surrounding Kyle Pitts and how much this Atlanta offense will actually target him. Overall, I would say that this was not a good draft for me and if you are looking to build a championship squad, this is more the example of why you can/should wait on a quarterback and tight end if you don’t land one of the elites. Sorry, folks. I wish I had a better result for you.

Henry Wilson's take on his team..

My plan from the beginning was to go WR with pick 6 if Tyreek Hill or Cooper Kupp fell to me; both fell, so I went with Hill. I wasn’t planning to draft only 1 RB in the first 5 rounds, but when Derrick Henry got sniped in the 2nd (separate note from my second pick, I actually preferred Jaylen Waddle to Chris Olave here, but couldn’t go Hill and Waddle), and then Jonathan Taylor and Travis Etienne got sniped in the 3rd, I decided to pivot that way and I feel pretty good about a RB duo of Aaron Jones and Kenneth Walker from the 4th and 6th rounds that allowed me an elite WR core, my top QB in Patrick Mahomes, and a top 3 TE in T.J. Hockenson. My RB depth is rough with this start with Samaje Perine as my 3rd RB with only Damien Harris and Devin Singletary on the bench, but with how good the rest of the team is, if Jones and Walker produce and stay healthy, I think this could easily be a league winning roster.  

Justin Fensterman's take on his team..

How can't you be happy drafting two powerhouse high-volume running backs in Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley? Ryan Tannehill will constantly be on the run and he'll have DeAndre Hopkins easily available for short passes and there isn't a ton of competition for targets in Tennessee. I was thrilled with drafting Trevor Lawrence in the seventh round. He has a nice new toy to play with in Calvin Ridley who joins a solid group of pass catchers in Jacksonville and he should throw 30 touchdown passes this season. Lawrence's teammate, rookie running back Tank Bigsby, should get a decent amount of goal-line work throughout the season and was happy to draft him late.

James Grande's take on his team..

This is one of my favorite teams that I've drafted this year. I started the draft with two players who have a great opportunity to finish first at their respective positions in Travis Kelce and AJ Brown. My RB1 in Rhamondre Stevenson may have lost a little steam with the recent signing in Ezekiel Elliott, but with the Patriots new play calling I expect him to get PLENTY of work and finish as an RB1. My wide receiver depth is my best asset and I like some of the backup running backs I grabbed late that could play big roles on their teams.

Jon Impemba's take on his team..

With this being the final staff mock draft I went ahead and took a slightly more different approach to how I've gone about picking players than usual and that was to try and take the players that I felt were the best still on the board. I've been grabbing shares of Nick Chubb since he was a late-second round pick and I have no problems grabbing him at the end of the first round since that's probably where he should have been value all along. When it comes to Davante Adams, this has been a player that I've actively avoided but Las Vegas is very bullish on Adams, setting his receiving yards prop at over 1,300 on the season. If he hits that mark then he easily pays off a second round ADP. After grabbing Hurts in all my leagues last season I don't have too many shares this year because of his ADP but it felt like the right spot to grab him. Javonte Williams is one of my favorite players to draft this season. If not for last year's injury he would be drafted most likely as an early second round if not late first round back and now he is coming at a 2-to-3 round discount. It's hard not to be bullish on Darren Waller given how training camp and preseason have gone for him when it comes to his connection with Daniel Jones.

Colby Conway's take on his team..

I went into this draft wanting to try locking down one of the top quarterbacks and tight ends. While I had no shortage of talent at wide receiver after grabbing Cooper Kupp, Stefon Diggs, and Jerry Jeudy within the first five rounds, running back is a big question for this team. James Cook has a ton of hype, but some questions, and J.K. Dobbins just might have the widest range of fantasy outcomes this year amongst all running backs, and maybe even overall! This team will be carried by its talent at QB, WR, and TE, but the success of the running back room will make or break this team.

Kevin Tompkins' take on his team..

I'm usually taking a wide receiver in the first round (and second-round), but I decided to change it up a little bit to get my RB2 this season, Tony Pollard. Still grabbed a receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown, but when the third-round picks came and went and guys like Keenan Allen and Mark Andrews couldn't even get back to me, I pivoted to a second running back, Jahmyr Gibbs. Between Pollard and Gibbs, I should be able to clear 60 receptions each and in a full-PPR format, it's a boon to have running backs that are going to be used a ton in the passing game. After those two, it was necessary to hammer the receiver position with five more to cover all flexes and even a bench spot to crush during bye weeks. Pieced together quarterback with Jared Goff and Aaron Rodgers and then pieced together a nice yin/yang combo with Tyler Higbee and Dalton Kincaid. Very happy with this team and how it turned out!

Matt Selz's take on his team..

Picking from the turn this year is a tricky spot to be in. In this draft I was hoping to nab at least one top running back like Nick Chubb or Tony Pollard but both were taken within three picks of me. Instead I pivoted to doubling up on top wide receiver options with CeeDee Lamb and Garrett Wilson. The hope was that some running backs that I liked would fall. While I didn’t wind up with elite running backs, there is plenty of upside in the group with Dameon Pierce, Joe Nixon, James Conner, and Alvin Kamara once back from his three-week suspension. After that run, it was about upside with picks like Tua Tagovailoa, Sam LaPorta, Jalin Hyatt, and Cole Kmet. It’s not a squad loaded with elite options but it is solid from top to bottom with ample depth at each position despite being sniped on guys like Tony Pollard, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Dalton Kincaid.

2023 Fantasy Alarm Football Mock Draft Recap

With the fantasy football mock draft in the books here are some key takeaways:

  • Worry Less About ADP: Site structures are a guide not a rule.  Build your team around players you like and if that means you reach for a player a bit early, so be it, don't get caught following the herd. 
  • Have Plan But Be Willing to Pivot: Always have a plan going into your fantasy football drafts but be able to pivot if the board goes in a different direction. 

Check out the Fantasy Alarm Staff Fantasy Football Mock Draft 1.0

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