2021 Fantasy Football Mock Draft with #1 overall Pick

As we near the mid-way of July, we are just a few short weeks from when most fantasy drafts will occur. So, I will attempt my first mock of the summer. For our first one, we will be selecting from the first pick in the entire draft. This draft was a 12 team PPR mock. There are certain patterns and logistics that went into my drafting of this roster from the number one spot.

Round 1 Pick 1: Christian McCaffrey RB CAR

In an article of mine from last week detailing what a potential one-round mock could look like I had McCaffrey at the number one spot. In my eyes, he is the safest bet at the running back position heading into 2021. With the addition of Sam Darnold and a slew of young talent, Carolina’s offense should be more dynamic giving McCaffrey more chances to score. There is a good chance that this Panther leads his team in both rush attempts and catches. In his last full season in 2019, he managed to catch 116 balls. If he were to do that again he will be the number one running back in fantasy for this upcoming season.

Round 2 Pick 24: Justin Jefferson WR MIN 

Even though Jefferson didn’t start his rookie year off red hot he had double-digit targets in five of his last six games to finish the 2020 season. Kirk Cousins has a lot riding on his success this year, and Adam Thielen who is now 30 isn’t getting any younger. It’s easy to imagine a lot of “griddying” into the end zone for Jefferson in 2021.

Round 3 Pick 25: Terry McLaurin WR WAS

There’s a sense to me that Washington held McLaurin back a bit last year. Their quarterbacks both Alex Smith and Kyle Allen are known for being very conservative. The gun-slinging mentality and vertical passing that Ryan Fitzpatrick brings will allow for more big plays for McLaurin. Don’t let the addition of Curtis Samuel scare you either, no pun intended. 

Round 4 Pick 48: Travis Etienne RB JAX

Many heading into draft night mocked Etienne to an already established team that just needed a weapon in the backfield. Instead, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him, just an hour or two before had selected his college quarterback Trevor Lawerence. Reports from OTA’s in Jacksonville have said that Etienne was getting work in with the wideouts as well as the backfield. Urban Meyer is going to use this former Clemson star all over the field, note his upside is a lot higher in PPR leagues.

Round 5 Pick 49: Laviska Shenault Jr. WR JAX

We’re staying down in Jacksonville here and trusting Trevor Lawrence in his rookie year and Urban Meyer in his first year coaching in the NFL. At that same time, the Jag’s will be down in a lot of games and they're going to have to throw the football which should help both Shenault and Etienne tremendously. Lawerence will love having this big target be effective in the red zone, he averaged 8.2 targets last year, no doubt a potential breakout candidate. He’s a high-end WR2 and flex play heading into September.

Round 6 Pick 72: Chase Edmonds RB ARI 

Last year Edmonds had to battle with Kenyan Drake for snaps. This year James Connor is now in the desert, who is not as much of an overall playmaker as Drake was. I would expect more of a timeshare in this offense now without Drake, and Edmonds to play on most passing downs. The Fordham product is a good option to have on the bench and as a possible flex in deeper leagues.

Round 7 Pick 73: Dallas Goedert TE PHI

The Eagles may have one of the weakest receiving cores in the league. But, they hide that weakness with the ability to use two-tight end sets on most passing downs. Clearly, Zach Ertz is not who he used to be and Goedert is only going to inch closer to that no doubt number one role. In both of his last two seasons, the Philly tight end managed to finish in the top 11 in points per game for all tight ends. Jalen Hurts is going to have to start to build a connection with his young talent besides Devonta Smith for the Eagles to move the ball.

Round 8 Pick 96: Matthew Stafford QB LAR

It may have been risky to wait till round eight to choose my quarterback but the potential with this pick makes up for it. Just a few years ago Matthew Stafford was among the best of fantasy quarterbacks. In his last few seasons, he has taken steps back and has been quite mediocre. Stafford still ranked during the last two seasons in the top 5 for deepest passes thrown on average. That combined with a fiery ram offense led by Head Coach Sean McVay could be just what Stafford has needed for a while now.

Round 9 Pick 97: Jaylen Waddle WR MIA 

Just a few days after the draft I remember a video of the Jaguars war room was leaked. They had a typical board with players ranked on a numeric scale. Obviously, on the top that board would be their soon-to-be franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence, but right below it with an almost near-perfect score was wide receiver Jaylen Waddle from Alabama. Waddle is a supreme talent who didn’t have a chance to show off during Alabama’s amazing run to yet another national championship last season. But now he is reunited with Tua Tagovoila in Miami. No question Waddle is their number one wideout short into the season if not day one. Someone’s gotta help save Tua’s job. Do not be shocked to see this duo light up some scoreboards in 2021.

Round 10 Pick 120: Rob Gronkowski TE TB

The selection of Dallas Goedert earlier in this draft needed to be backed up. Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady, and Antonio Brown were the greatest stories from last season. Brady was able to rally both former all-pros to come back from out of football and win a Super Bowl. Gronk is having fun, you can just tell as long as that’s the case expect his and Tom’s connection to at least to be above average in 2021. The Bucs offense was at its best last season when number eighty-seven was involved. 

Round 11 Pick 121 : Darnell Mooney WR CHI

There’s a clip from last season of Darnell Mooney running an absolute phenomenal route on all pro Jalen Ramsey. The ball was thrown far over his head out of bounds as he saw 70 yards of open grass in front of him. Whether it is Andy Dalton or Justin Fields under center the Chicago offense should be more consistent than last season. Mooney’s role will only be expanded, the quarterback play will determine how these Bear weapons make out in fantasy. Their strength on offense lies with the combination of Mooney and Allen Robinson. They need to use that size on the outside to their advantage. 

Round 12 Pick 144 : Trey Sermon RB SF 

Trey Sermon is a hard runner that will bring size and power to Kyle Shanahan‘s offense. Sermon has a lot of experience, playing 4 years in school his first three at Oklahoma, and his senior year in Columbus at Ohio State. That comes with big-time competition and long seasons that should prepare him well for the league. It’s a loaded backfield now in San Francisco with 4 possible candidates to get snaps in Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr, and Wayne Gallman. Sermon is worth a flier but it won’t be till the middle of the season till we see if he will become their starter or a major part of their committee.

Round 13 Pick 145: Sterling Shepard WR NYG

It’s a funny thing that Sterling Shepard is one of the longest-tenured Giants on their roster. Shepard is not going till late in most drafts and that is mostly due to his injury history. When former Oklahoma sooner is on the field with Daniel Jones he is effective and probably has been the Giants most consistent pass catcher for the last couple of seasons. Maybe having the former Lion Kenny Golladay now lineup with Shepard will take a few eyes off of the six-year pro. 

Round 14 Pick 168: Daniel Jones QB NYG

There was no way I could end this draft with Matthew Stafford being my only quarterback. Last year I took Daniel Jones as my quarterback expecting the Giants to be down in a lot of games and him having to throw from behind. Instead, Saquon Barkley was hurt in week two, and Daniel Jones look lost out there for a few weeks while his defense competed. But by the end of the season, the Giants did develop some type of chemistry. Daniel Jones was taking care of the football and spreading the ball very nicely. If that can lead into 2021 with the additions of Golladay and Kadarius Toney, Jones could become an eventual fantasy starter. 

Round 15 Pick 169: Broncos D/ST

Vic Fangio has a deep unit to work on within 2021. The defensive mastermind added Patrick Surtain II, Kyle Fuller, and Ronald Darby to an already good secondary. This Broncos defense may need to be elite right away to cover for their young inexperienced offense. 

Round 16 Pick 192: Will Lutz K NO 

The Saints offense should not lose much firepower even after the greatest player in their team’s history retired. Last year when Brees did go down the Saints were still effective, getting the ball to Alvin Kamara and their other weapons and most importantly putting points on the board. Will Lutz has become a consistent kicker for the Saints, and his job is safe.

Full lineup 

QB Matthew Stafford LAR

RB1 Christian McCaffrey CAR

RB2 Travis Etienne JAX

WR1 Justin Jefferson MIN

WR2 Terry McLaurin WAS

TE Dallas Goedert PHI

Flex Laviska Shenault Jr. JAX

D/ST Broncos DEN

K Will Lutz  NO

Bench

B Chase Edmunds  ARI

B Jaylen Waddle  MIA

B Rob Gronkowski TB

B Darnell Mooney CHI

B Trey Sermon SF

B Sterling Shepard NYG

B Daniel Jones NYG

Writer

-By: Sam Kirk