2018 Club Fantasy 10-Team PPR Mock Draft

By The Hudsonian, Joshua Hudson

It’s draft season! Seriously, one of my favorite times of the year. Even more fun? Mock drafts. Drafting teams just for the fun of it. The annoying part is when people jump into draft rooms, make two picks and leave. What assholes. They just ruin the fun for everyone.

When it comes to mock drafts, every fantasy site will write up articles providing analysis on draft picks and why someone was great value or over-drafted. The whole goal is to let you know when to target certain players and help you not only choose the best team, but to extract maximum value. Here’s what most of these sites fail to bring to your attention: no draft plays out the same because everyone thinks differently. Not every league is full of diehards who eat, sleep, and breathe fantasy football. Most leagues have a fair share of novice players mixed in with a few diehards. I’m willing to bet there are more casual players than fantasy nerds like me.

I bring this up because when sites do posts like this where they perform a write up of a recent mock draft, they don’t include the everyday common folk. All proclaim to be experts, each with their own players they value slightly more than others so opinions will differ. I wanted to change the narrative with this exercise. Yes, I’m going to post the results of a recent mock draft I did with my colleagues here at Club Fantasy. Here’s the fun part: some of them drafted with their heart instead of their head. What does that mean? How many times have you done a draft with league owners who are fans of a favorite team and they take a player at a certain position from the team they love over someone you or I may have more highly rated? Happens in every draft. I thought this would be a cool exercise to get you to understand my Golden Rules of fantasy drafting: know your league and expect the unexpected.

Now let’s dive into the madness of fantasy football drafting. Many will seem like sound picks, some may make you scratch your head. Keep in mind, this draft was done with Club Fantasy settings. Meaning your starting squad is 1 QB, 1 RB, 1 RB/WR, 2 WRs, 1 FLEX (RB/WR/TE), 1 TE, 1 D/ST, 1 K, and 7 bench spots. There are some very interesting strategies laid out here and it once again highlights my point which I can’t stress enough: Know. Your. League.

I’d like to give a big thanks to Cole Hoopingarner, Joe Zollo, Patrick Meehan Nader, and Derrick Mack for assisting me in this exercise. And in the spirit of keeping it fun, I let Joe provide each team with their own pun-tastic nicknames. Each of us drafted two teams. On to the draft!

Round 1
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
1	My Rawls Itch	Todd Gurley	LAR	RB1
2	Inglorious Staffords	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	RB2
3	Morning Woodhead	David Johnson	ARI	RB3
4	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Le’Veon Bell	PIT	RB4
5	Hot Lockett	Alvin Kamara	NO	RB5
6	Sly Cooper	Antonio Brown	PIT	WR1
7	Goff Balls	Odell Beckham Jr.	NYG	WR2
8	Me and Mrs. Jones	Melvin Gordon	LAC	RB6
9	S.W.A.T.T. Team	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU	WR3
10	PokeMoncrief	A.J. Green	CIN	WR4

Pretty normal 1st round if you ask me. Two things stand out to me here: four wide receivers in the first round and Le’Veon Bell is the fourth RB off the board. “Bell’s my number one running back. Seeing him at four was like Christmas in July,” said our Editor Supreme, Cole Hoopingarner. Zeke is my number one RB this year so being able to grab him at 2 was, to me, a steal. One of our draftees is a huge fan of A.J. Green this year. “He consistently puts up points and is hungry,” says our Facebook liaison, Derrick Mack.

Round 2
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
11	PokeMoncrief	Michael Thomas	NO	WR5
12	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Dalvin Cook	MIN	RB7
13	Me and Mrs. Jones	Saquon Barkley	NYG	RB8
14	Goff Balls	Kareem Hunt	KC	RB9
15	Sly Cooper	Leonard Fournette	JAX	RB10
16	Hot Lockett	Joe Mixon	CIN	RB11
17	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Davante Adams	GB	WR6
18	Morning Woodhead	LeSean McCoy	BUF	RB12
19	Inglorious Staffords	Keenan Allen	LAC	WR7
20	My Rawls Itch	Jarvis Landry	CLE	WR8

This is kind of what I expected to see in the 1st round — a more running back heavy round. RBs have shown their worth in recent seasons, even in PPR formats. Fewer RBs scored more than 200 fantasy points in 2017 (11) than in 2016 (13) but WRs fell off also (14 in 2017, 20 in 2016). What that tells me is that there’s more depth at WR to help fill out a roster if you miss on a top WR. With RBs, all the value is at the top so it’s better to grab RBs earlier than later. PokeMoncrief will test that theory as the article goes on. To my point? Three of the four teams that took a WR in Round 1 followed that up with a RB in Round 2. “I try to take two big stars with my first two picks, preferably a wide receiver and a running back,” said our Twitter savant Patrick Meehan Nader. I snagged Fournette in Round 2 after grabbing Antonio Brown in Round 1. You can bet your ass I was ecstatic about that. Two of the bigger reaches in this round in my opinion were Mixon (RB11; I have him as RB17) and Landry (WR8; I have him as WR11). “(Landry) has shown in the past he can put up big numbers, but in a new system and with a new quarterback, he’s a risk at 20,” offers up No Punt Intended host Joe Zollo. “However, I can see where his upside was too good to pass up.”

Round 3
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
21	My Rawls Itch	Stefon Diggs	MIN	WR9
22	Inglorious Staffords	Julio Jones	ATL	WR10
23	Morning Woodhead	T.Y. Hilton	IND	WR11
24	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Devonta Freeman	ATL	RB13
25	Hot Lockett	Mike Evans	TB	WR12
26	Sly Cooper	Christian McCaffrey	CAR	RB14
27	Goff Balls	Kenyan Drake	MIA	RB15
28	Me and Mrs. Jones	Rob Gronkowski	NE	TE1
29	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Adam Thielen	MIN	WR13
30	PokeMoncrief	Zach Ertz	PHI	TE2

After three rounds, still not a QB in sight. Hmm. But we do get our first two tight ends off the board in Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski and Eagles’ Zach Ertz. I can’t even be mad. Those are my top two TEs this year. I think the biggest shocker is seeing Julio Jones, arguably one of the best WRs in the league, be the 10th WR off the board — in the 3rd round! And Stefon Diggs going as WR9. I like the Vikings WRs, but with a new QB, albeit a good one, who knows which WR he’ll like better. When asked why he took Gronk instead of a WR when he already had two RBs, Joe followed it up with an atypical response. “Gronk is a wide receiver.” Well played, Joe. Well played.

Round 4
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
31	PokeMoncrief	Golden Tate	DET	WR14
32	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Jerick McKinnon	SF	RB16
33	Me and Mrs. Jones	Amari Cooper	OAK	WR15
34	Goff Balls	Brandin Cooks	LAR	WR16
35	Sly Cooper	Jordan Howard	CHI	RB17
36	Hot Lockett	Chris Thompson	WAS	RB18
37	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	WR17
38	Morning Woodhead	Doug Baldwin	SEA	WR18
39	Inglorious Staffords	Josh Gordon	CLE	WR19
40	My Rawls Itch	Derrick Henry	TEN	RB19

Through four rounds, PokeMoncrief still doesn’t have a RB. And My Rawls Itch took Derrick Henry over Dion Lewis. One of my fun facts about Henry as seen in our A Look Inside the Titans is that Henry had 8 runs where he gained 268 yards. In his other 168 rushes, he averaged 2.8 yards per carry. Asked why he prefers Henry to Lewis, Patrick kept it simple. “Because of his power.” The biggest steal in this round? Jordan Howard. He’s averaged over 1,200 yards rushing the last two years. Only Ezekiel Elliott and Le’Veon Bell have outrushed him over the last two years. He may not catch many passes, but I’ll take that kind of production from my RB3 behind Fournette and McCaffrey. (Hell, those are great RB2 numbers.)

Round 5
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
41	My Rawls Itch	Travis Kelce	KC	TE3
42	Inglorious Staffords	Dion Lewis	TEN	RB20
43	Morning Woodhead	Kyle Rudolph	MIN	TE4
44	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Tyreek Hill	KC	WR20
45	Hot Lockett	Pierre Garcon	SF	WR21
46	Sly Cooper	Alshon Jeffery	PHI	WR22
47	Goff Balls	JuJu Smith-Schuster	PIT	WR23
48	Me and Mrs. Jones	Marvin Jones Jr.	DET	WR24
49	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Aaron Rodgers	GB	QB1
50	PokeMoncrief	Tom Brady	NE	QB2

We have a quarterback sighting folks! I’m a big proponent in waiting to take a QB, I am. Even in leagues where you get 6 points per passing TD, there’s no reason to reach when you can secure quality at RB, WR, and TE first. S.W.A.T.T. Team and PokeMoncrief saw an opening with arguably the two best QBs on the board. “I typically like waiting on a QB. But I had already secured two top 15 RBs and two top 10 WRs, and the only position player I was considering over Rodgers was Ingram. I chose the guy who, when healthy, is a lock for top 2 numbers at his position,” said Cole. Smith-Schuster’s big breakout has many people loving his potential in the Steelers high-powered offense. Hard to argue with a WR trio of OBJ, Brandin Cooks, and JuJu.

Round 6
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
51	PokeMoncrief	Jimmy Graham	GB	TE5
52	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	WR25
53	Me and Mrs. Jones	Mark Ingram	NO	RB21
54	Goff Balls	Jay Ajayi	PHI	RB22
55	Sly Cooper	Greg Olsen	CAR	TE6
56	Hot Lockett	Kirk Cousins	MIN	QB3
57	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Evan Engram	NYG	TE7
58	Morning Woodhead	Cooper Kupp	LAR	WR26
59	Inglorious Staffords	Royce Freeman	DEN	RB23
60	My Rawls Itch	Sammy Watkins	KC	WR27

I know he’s suspended for four games, but Mark Ingram as the 21st RB off the board just feels low. He’s my preseason RB20, but you know he’ll float to around RB9 or RB12 by season’s end after injuries. “The suspension leads to Ingram being my RB3 which is a steal,” said Joe. Three more TEs come off the board here. I managed to snag Olsen for Sly Cooper. I’m a big believer in getting a top option at TE. Sure, people think it’s deep every year, but it inevitably shows by year’s end there are only 3-5 strong options. Give me the guy who is the only TE in history to have three straight years of 1,000 receiving yards. Also of note? PokeMoncrief snagging a 2nd TE (Jimmy Graham to pair with Zach Ertz) before drafting a RB. Derrick sees the upside in the decision: “After Gronk went and seeing what was left at running back, my move was to go after two decent tight ends.” Let’s see if the strategy pays off.

Round 7
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
61	My Rawls Itch	Lamar Miller	HOU	RB24
62	Inglorious Staffords	Deshaun Watson	HOU	QB4
63	Morning Woodhead	Carlos Hyde	CLE	RB25
64	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Rashaad Penny	SEA	RB26
65	Hot Lockett	C.J. Anderson	CAR	RB27
66	Sly Cooper	Allen Robinson	CHI	WR28
67	Goff Balls	Julian Edelman	NE	WR29
68	Me and Mrs. Jones	Marquise Goodwin	SF	WR30
69	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Derrius Guice	WAS	RB28
70	PokeMoncrief	Randall Cobb	GB	WR31

You know how I said you can wait on a quarterback? I didn’t listen to myself when Watson fell to the Inglorious Staffords in the 7th round. With Elliott, Lewis, and Freeman at RB, and Allen, Julio Jones, and Josh Gordon at WR, I felt it was a worthy gamble. Hopefully a quality tight end makes it to me later. Another interesting find for my other team was Allen Robinson as the 28th WR off the board. “I thought about him earlier, but he’s let me down before,” said Patrick. And Randall Cobb in the 7th? A healthy Rodgers could easily help him rise back to fantasy relevance. Derrick is “hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.” Definitely the biggest head-scratcher of the night.

Round 8
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
71	PokeMoncrief	Jordy Nelson	OAK	WR32
72	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Robert Woods	LAR	WR33
73	Me and Mrs. Jones	Duke Johnson Jr.	CLE	RB29
74	Goff Balls	Delanie Walker	TEN	TE8
75	Sly Cooper	D’Onta Foreman	HOU	RB30
76	Hot Lockett	Giovani Bernard	CIN	RB31
77	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Carson Wentz	PHI	QB5
78	Morning Woodhead	Ronald Jones II	TB	RB32
79	Inglorious Staffords	Corey Davis	TEN	WR34
80	My Rawls Itch	Russell Wilson	SEA	QB6

With Lamar Miller going as the 24th RB, I thought Foreman as RB30 was a great find. He ran well prior to the Achilles’ injury last year and should be primed to take over the lead role this year. I also have him rated higher than Miller so there’s that. There’s been a lot of hype around Ronald Jones II as a savior in Tampa Bay this season. I don’t like him that much, but Joe sees the potential: “Absolute wildcard. (Jones) has RB1 upside with no competition but his offense isn’t that great.” Two more quarterbacks off the board, and the highest scoring quarterback from a year ago is the 6th off the board.

Round 9
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
81	My Rawls Itch	Rex Burkhead	NE	RB33
82	Inglorious Staffords	Trey Burton	CHI	TE9
83	Morning Woodhead	Sterling Shepard	NYG	WR35
84	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Marshawn Lynch	OAK	RB34
85	Hot Lockett	Chris Carson	SEA	RB35
86	Sly Cooper	Robby Anderson	NYJ	WR36
87	Goff Balls	Andrew Luck	IND	QB7
88	Me and Mrs. Jones	Devin Funchess	CAR	WR37
89	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Alex Collins	BAL	RB36
90	PokeMoncrief	LeGarrette Blount	DET	RB37

At least Inglorious Staffords snagged their tight end. If you’ve read my preseason rankings, you’d know I’m a big believer in Trey Burton in Chicago. And PokeMoncrief grabs a running back! Blount as the 37th RB off the board isn’t the worst thing I’ve seen, but he’s not likely to hold the starting job all season with rookie Kerryon Johnson looming. Alex Collins, a starting running back in the NFL, is grand theft. Seriously. Cole thought so: “From Weeks 8 – 16, Collins was fantasy’s 11th best RB, which is even more impressive when you consider that he isn’t really a big part of the Ravens’ passing game. I don’t feel threatened by Kenneth Dixon or Buck Allen. Collins in the 9th as my fourth RB may be my best value pick of the draft.”

Round 10
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
91	PokeMoncrief	T.J. Yeldon	JAX	RB38
92	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Jamison Crowder	WAS	WR38
93	Me and Mrs. Jones	Drew Brees	NO	QB8
94	Goff Balls	Isaiah Crowell	NYJ	RB39
95	Sly Cooper	Will Fuller V	HOU	WR39
96	Hot Lockett	Michael Gallup	DAL	WR40
97	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Chris Hogan	NE	WR41
98	Morning Woodhead	Michael Crabtree	BAL	WR42
99	Inglorious Staffords	Tarik Cohen	CHI	RB40
100	My Rawls Itch	Latavius Murray	MIN	RB41

After a down 2017 in terms of touchdown passes, Drew Bress fell to QB12. Joe couldn’t believe he was on the board in round 10: “Shocked.” That’s a mouthful. I couldn’t believe Tarik Cohen fell that far. Yes, he’s a third down, pass catcher only type guy but this is a PPR format. Unreal. The first rookie wide receiver is taken here is Michael Gallup of the Cowboys. He is, in fact, the first Cowboys wide receiver off the board. I’m a big believer in Gallup and I certainly can’t hate on him being the first Cowboys’ receiver taken.

Round 11
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
101	My Rawls Itch	DeSean Jackson	TB	WR43
102	Inglorious Staffords	Kenny Stills	MIA	WR44
103	Morning Woodhead	Justin Tucker	BAL	K1
104	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Tevin Coleman	ATL	RB42
105	Hot Lockett	Dak Prescott	DAL	QB9
106	Sly Cooper	Jamaal Williams	GB	RB43
107	Goff Balls	Frank Gore	MIA	RB44
108	Me and Mrs. Jones	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN	WR45
109	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Jordan Reed	WAS	TE10
110	PokeMoncrief	Jimmy Garoppolo	SF	QB10

Round 12
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
111	PokeMoncrief	Brandon LaFell	CIN	WR46
112	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Marqise Lee	JAX	WR47
113	Me and Mrs. Jones	Benjamin Watson	NO	TE11
114	Goff Balls	DeDe Westbrook	JAX	WR48
115	Sly Cooper	Josh Doctson	WAS	WR49
116	Hot Lockett	Hayden Hurst	BAL	TE12
117	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Kelvin Benjamin	BUF	WR50
118	Morning Woodhead	Jaguars D/ST	JAX	DST1
119	Inglorious Staffords	Mike Gesicki	MIA	TE13
120	My Rawls Itch	Allen Hurns	DAL	WR51

Joe hit me with the mic drop. A damn kicker in round 11. About five rounds too early. “I’ve won and lost weeks because of a kicker,” says Joe. So have I, but that doesn’t mean I’m taking one that early! I’ll accentuate my point on this later. “Fat” Kelvin Benjamin, the Bills number one receiver, comes off the board in round 12. What a fall from grace for this guy. And the Jaguars D/ST. At least this I can understand. They scored a whopping 264 fantasy points, more than their star running back scored. Oddly good value. Also, it’s been 12 rounds, and no sign of Cam Newton, fantasy’s number 5 QB in 2017.

Round 13
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
121	My Rawls Itch	Rams D/ST	LAR	DST2
122	Inglorious Staffords	Theo Riddick	DET	RB45
123	Morning Woodhead	Philip Rivers	LAC	QB11
124	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Sony Michel	NE	RB46
125	Hot Lockett	Jack Doyle	IND	TE14
126	Sly Cooper	Jared Goff	LAR	QB12
127	Goff Balls	Mohamed Sanu Jr.	ATL	WR52
128	Me and Mrs. Jones	Marcus Mariota	TEN	QB13
129	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Marlon Mack	IND	RB47
130	PokeMoncrief	Steelers D/ST	PIT	DST3

Round 14
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
131	PokeMoncrief	Ty Montgomery	GB	RB48
132	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Cameron Brate	TB	TE15
133	Me and Mrs. Jones	Chargers D/ST	LAC	DST4
134	Goff Balls	Eagles D/ST	PHI	DST5
135	Sly Cooper	Kerryon Johnson	DET	RB49
136	Hot Lockett	Cole Beasley	DAL	WR53
137	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Cam Newton	CAR	QB14
138	Morning Woodhead	Austin Sefarian-Jenkins	JAX	TE16
139	Inglorious Staffords	James White	NE	RB50
140	My Rawls Itch	Terrance Williams	DAL	WR54

Sly Cooper snagged their first and only QB in round 13 with Jared Goff. This once again proves my point: you can wait on a QB. We’ve now seen four Cowboys receivers come off the board before a fellow NFC East receiver who finished in the top 20, Nelson Agholor. Lots of big time defenses in rounds 13 and 14 also. I can live with that as they will technically start. But if you’re anything like Cole, you’ll probably just end up streaming them throughout the season: “There’s no position in fantasy football that sees greater point swings on a week-to-week basis than D/ST, and a defense’s fortunes can change quickly from season to season. The Saints finished as fantasy’s 29th ranked D/ST in 2016. Just one year later they finished as #6. I’ll stream and hope to strike gold.”

Round 15
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
141	My Rawls Itch	Matt Ryan	ATL	QB15
142	Inglorious Staffords	Vikings D/ST	MIN	DST6
143	Morning Woodhead	DeVante Parker	MIA	WR55
144	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Broncos D/ST	DEN	DST7
145	Hot Lockett	Ravens D/ST	BAL	DST8
146	Sly Cooper	Bears D/ST	CHI	DST9
147	Goff Balls	Tyrod Taylor	CLE	QB16
148	Me and Mrs. Jones	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	K2
149	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Panthers D/ST	CAR	DST10
150	PokeMoncrief	Greg Zuerlein	LAR	K3

Round 16
Pick	By	Player	Team	Position
151	PokeMoncrief	Lions D/ST	DET	DST11
152	S.W.A.T.T. Team	Chris Boswell	PIT	K4
153	Me and Mrs. Jones	D.J. Moore	CAR	WR56
154	Goff Balls	Wil Lutz	NO	K5
155	Sly Cooper	Harrison Butker	KC	K6
156	Hot Lockett	Matt Bryant	ATL	K7
157	Rudolph the Red Zone Reindeer	Jake Elliott	PHI	K8
158	Morning Woodhead	Josh Rosen	ARI	QB17
159	Inglorious Staffords	Robbie Gould	SF	K9
160	My Rawls Itch	Matt Prater	DET	K10

And here’s my point about kickers. Sly Cooper snagged Harrison Butker as the 6th kicker off the board. Fun fact: did you know that Butker actually had the most fantasy points per game among kickers last year? He went undrafted last year. Case in point why I can’t vouch for taking a kicker before the 15th round in 16 round drafts.

And that’s all she wrote folks. PokeMoncrief certainly gambled by taking only three RBs but it’s safe to say he has some trade ammo in his depth at TE. Who do you think had the best draft? The worst draft? Keep in mind, you’re not likely to win your league on draft day, but you certainly can lose it. I’ll reiterate again, know your league and know your settings. It’ll be crucial to how you see the draft board.

For a full list of the teams laid out in beautiful pictures, head over to our Instagram account and feel free to leave some comments. For an even livelier debate, think about joining the Facebook discussion group Sports Talk! We provide content for them as their go to source for Fantasy Football advice. It’s a pretty sweet gig.