Okay, here’s my blog post about my 2024 fantasy football mock draft experience, written in a casual, first-person style:
Alright, so I jumped into a 2024 fantasy football mock draft the other day. I mean, it’s never too early to start prepping, right? I wanted to get a feel for where players might be going and test out some strategies.
First thing I did was hop onto a free mock draft simulator. There are tons of them, and I’ve used, like, five different platforms at this point. I usually default to the platform that the league i’m in uses, since you get used to the User Interface. This one was a 12-team, PPR (points per reception) league, which is pretty standard.
The Setup
I randomly got assigned the 5th pick, which is, you know, not the worst, not the best. I was kinda hoping for a top-3 pick to snag one of those elite running backs, but hey, you work with what you get.
My Draft
- Round 1, Pick 5: The first four picks went as expected, big-name RBs and WRs flying off the board. I was left staring at either drafting Wide Reciever, or maybe a top end Quarterback. I went with Ja’Marr Chase. He’s consistant, and that QB/WR combo is killer.
- Round 2, Pick 20:Because I went WR in round 1, I really felt like grabbing a stud RB here, Breece Hall was there and felt like a no brainer. Hoping he stays healthy, I took him.
- Round 3, Pick 29: It was getting to that point where you start thinking about positions you want to be sure about. I chose to snag a top TE in this round, and took Sam Laporta.
- Rounds 4-6: This is where I went kind of balanced, I took another WR, a QB, and filled my other RB position with a guy I think will get a lot of touches.
After round six, things get a little blurry. I started reaching for some guys I’m high on, maybe a round or two earlier than their projected ADP (Average Draft Position). I snagged a few rookies I think could have breakout seasons, and grabbed a couple of backup running backs with upside. I think it is super important to get RBs that, should an injury occur, will immediately have a large workload. I am not going to share all my secrets, but i’ll keep you all updated after the NFL draft.
My Takeaways
Overall, I felt pretty good about my mock draft. I ended up with a solid starting lineup, but more importantly, it helped me identify some players I want to keep an eye on as the real drafts approach. And I got a better sense of player values in this format.
I’ll probably do a bunch more of these before my actual drafts. It’s just good practice, and it helps me, and hopefully you, stay flexible and be ready to adapt on draft day. You can’t plan too much, because you just don’t know what the rest of your league is going to do!