One of the best things you can do this offseason does as many mock drafts as possible. Mock drafts allow you to practice different strategies and build and prepare for the drafts. The best part is that they are free, and I would rather screw up a free draft than mess up a $100 buy-in league because I was winging it.
Mock drafts allow you to make mistakes, and you can look at the board saying I would rather Player A in the 6th instead of player B in the 3rd because I value them the same. It is a mock draft season, and startups are right around the corner. We will be doing mock drafts every week during the offseason; make sure you join our discord channel.
The mock drafts will be for startups and rookie drafts. In this mock draft, we did a 12-team startup with a single quarterback format. During the draft, we drafted the rookies as we drafted. The hope here is to get an early idea of where player values are as well as where the rookie picks fall in. Let’s take a look at the draft.
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2023 Dynasty Startup Mock Draft
The Rookie Draft Results
1.01 – RB, Bijan Robinson – Texas
1.02 – RB, Jahmyr Gibbs – Alabama
1.03 – WR, Jaxon Smith-Njigba -Ohio State
1.04 – RB, Zach Evans – Ole Miss
1.05 – WR, Kayshon Boutte -LSU
1.06 – WR, Quentin Johnston- TCU
1.07 – RB, Tank Bigsby – Auburn
1.08 – RB, Kendre Miller – TCU
1.09 – RB, Sean Tucker – Syracuse
1.10 – WR, Jalin Hyatt – Tennesee
1.11 – QB, Bryce Young – Alabama
1.12 – TE, Michael Mayer – Notre Dame
2.01 – RB, Chase Brown- Illinois
2.02 – RB, Israel Abanikinada- Pittsburgh
2.03 – QB, C.J. Stroud – Ohio State
2.04 – WR, Josh Downs – North Carolina
2.05 – RB, Devon Achane – Texas A&M
2.06 – WR, Rashee Rice – SMU
2.07 – WR, Zay Flowers – Boston College
2.08 – RB, Kenny McIntosh – Georgia
Reactions
Thoughts on the rookie draft were that you should gather up all of the picks you can when they are in the draft. The first reason is the obvious value. People were taking players that are worth half of the value and more focused on putting together a starting lineup.
Ezekiel Elliot went right around the 1.12, and we all know that is not close in value. It was interesting to see how picks stacked up to players for trade ideas. A good example would be the 1.02 going one spot ahead of Josh Jacobs.
I would encourage everyone to do as many mocks as possible and put the picks in there. This gives you a good idea of where the picks or rookies stack up. This also gives you some trade ideas.
Top 12 Quarterbacks
1.05 – Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
2.05 – Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
3.07 – Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
4.07 – Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
4.11 – Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
5.10 – Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
5.12 – Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
7.01 – Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
8.02 – Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
8.08 – Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers
9.04 – Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
11.02 – Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
12.04 – Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
Reactions
This being a single quarterback format, there isn’t a huge emphasis on the QB position. But Trey Lance is at 8.08 felt a lot better a month ago. The quarterbacks were pretty steadily leveled out from rounds 1-12 for the top 12.
Personally, I have gone more toward the middle quarterback approach, even in 1QB formats. I am not taking a quarterback in the first three rounds, but the 4-7 range had some solid options.
Moving forward, I wonder if Daniel Jones sneaks into the top 12 and if Lance or anyone else gets moved out. There is a large number of quarterbacks with unknowns, and the 10-20 range will change a lot in your rankings between now and May.
Top 12 Running Backs
1.02 – Bijan Robinson, TBD
1.04 – Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
1.11 – Breece Hall, New York Jets
1.12 – Ken Walker III, Seattle Seahawks
2.01 – Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
2.02 – Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
2.03 – Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers
2.04 – Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars
2.09 – D’Andre Swift, Detroit Lions
3.08 – Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers
3.09 – Jahmyr Gibbs, TBD (should have taken Jacobs)
3.10 – Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
3.11- Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos
3.12 – Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots
Reactions
Bijan is King would be the headline. Bijan Robinson is the top RB drafted, and I agree completely. I rank players based on their value. I think you could trade him for any running back, plus something. He went at the 1.02 here, and that is a little scary.
There really is nowhere to go but down for his draft value if that is the case. Would a prime landing spot put him over Jefferson? I think not. But a crappy landing spot could move him down the board. Everyone is turning down massive offers right now in hopes they get better in May.
I personally would sell before the draft in fear that the value really can’t go higher. I wouldn’t, of course, take him for an okay offer, but I have seen 1.03 and Higgins for 1.01 offered. Trevor Lawrence straight up for 1.01 in Superflex rejected.
The other running backs are pretty chalky, in my opinion. D’Andre Swift carries value even after another down year is interesting, and Ekeler, at 27 still hanging strong. Gibbs was drafted a little high, and that shows you where the 1.02 is valued.
Top 12 Wide Receivers
1.01 – Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
1.03 – Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
1.06 – CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
1.07 – A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles
1.08 – Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
1.09 – Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins
1.10 – Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints
2.06 – Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers
2.07 – Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
2.10 – Garrett Wilson, New York Jets
2.11 – Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
2.12 – Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
3.02 – D.K. Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks
3.03 – Devonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
3.04 – Stefon Diggs, Buffalo Bills
3.05 – Drake London, Atlanta Falcons
Reactions
There was a lot of hate for the 2022 draft class, and we are seeing a lot of them in the top 12s for both RBs and WRs. This class was better than advertised, and I like Olave and Wilson both being in the top 10.
There are a lot of questions at quarterback this offseason, and this puts a lot of these WRs in flux. Hill and Waddle continuously get drafted as top-flight options, even with the unknown with Tua. Wilson is likely in for a QB upgrade, and Olave is as well.
We don’t know 100% who the 49ers QB will be, but we have a Purdy good idea. Can the Bengals afford to keep Tee Higgins long-term? He is a free agent in 2024. Cooper Kupp as WR5 sticks out to me, and I don’t think he carries the same value in trades.
Top 12 Tight Ends
2.08 – Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
3.01 – Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
3.06 – Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
5.03 – T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
6.10 – George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
7.04 – Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
8.01 – Dalton Schultz, Dallas Cowboys
8.05- Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
8.03 – Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears
10.02- Darren Waller, Las Vegas Raiders
10.04 – Michael Maher, TBD
11.05 – David Njoku, Cleveland Browns
11.07 – Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars
Reactions
Travis Kelce is still king; he was drafted over Pitts despite the large age gap. Pitts insulated value due to the supply and demand is still there. He is still 22, even though he is going into year 3. There really is no buy-low window despite a hugely disappointing year.
This draft was about a month ago; I wonder if Engram goes higher. I also think he might e a good sell based on how he finished, while Waller might be the buy. No big surprises here, and the group looks better than it did this offseason.
