Each Saturday afternoon, the great folks here at Belly Up Sports get together for a mock NFL fantasy football draft. This week’s theme was tight ends at a premium. This means that TEs get a full point per reception (PPR), while all other positions got only one-half PPR. Here are the mock draft results held on 6/20 and a little insight for team Sutcliffe. Keep in mind that this draft was a 10 teamer, and I had the final pick in round one. That means I also have the first pick in round two. Back to back picks, then I have to wait another 18 selections before it’s my turn again. This definitely changed my draft strategy going into it.

Picks 1.10 and 2.01

When using back to back picks, selecting the order of the two players you have in mind isn’t relevant. That being said, I wanted to go either running back or wide receiver as well as one of the top two tight ends (Travis Kelce or George Kittle). Starting off this mock draft version of Team Sutcliffe with:

Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

At the 1.10 spot, I took Mixon. Back to back, 1100+ yard seasons made this a relatively easy choice for me. His 78 receptions over the past two seasons make him a fairly well rounded back. If he can up his TD production (five on the ground in 2019), he is an easy candidate to be a top-five fantasy RB.

George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers

At the 2.01 spot, I took Kittle. With TEs getting the extra half PPR, I had a hunch that both top two tight ends would go very early, and I wanted my hands on one of them. I had serious contemplations of taking both had they been available. With Kelce going one spot prior at 1.09, it was only a matter of which spot I wanted to take Kittle. Consecutive seasons of 85+ receptions and 1000+ yards (1377 of them during the 2018 season) puts him squarely at either TE1 or TE2 in most fantasy rankings. (I like him as my TE1.)

Picks 3.10 and 4.01

Here, I wanted my first wide receiver and another running back with these two picks. There is enough production depth at wide receiver that selecting only one wideout amongst my first four picks isn’t detrimental in my opinion.

Adam Theilen, WR, Minnesota Vikings

At 3.10, I went with Theilen. A hamstring injury limited Adam to just 10 games in the 2019 season, and the results showed. When healthy, he is a WR1 candidate nearly every week. The two seasons prior to 2019 netted him over 200 receptions and over 2600 yards. He should be a top 10 fantasy WR, as well as an easy candidate for comeback player of the year.

Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

At 4.01, I took Fournette. Despite not getting into the endzone much at all during the 2019 season with only three total TDs, his numbers otherwise were very good. Over 1150 rushing yards to go along with a career-high 76 receptions for another 500+ yards. If he ups the number of times getting into the endzone with continued yardage production, he can be a fringe top-five fantasy RB.

Picks 5.10 and 6.01

Time to keep filling out my starting lineup, with another WR1 caliber player and hopefully a top 3-5 fantasy quarterback.

Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

With the 5.10 pick, I went with Allen. Keenan is a WR1 each week. In the past three seasons, Allen has accumulated over 300 receptions for nearly 3800 yards and 18 TDs. Upping his TD production should easily make him a top-five fantasy wideout. Chemistry with a new quarterback may take a little time to develop, but shouldn’t deter fantasy owners to snatch him up in the fifth round range.

Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks

With my 6.01 pick, I took RW3. Normally I don’t take QBs earlier than the 8th round (personal success preference). But this time I made an exception with my boy Wilson (yes I’m a Seahawks fan. Deal with it). Russell is a top-five caliber fantasy QB year in and year out. Having Tyler Lockett and a still-emerging DK Metcalf at his disposal should keep him near the top of the fantasy QB rankings.

Picks 7.10 and 8.01 (to round out my starting lineup)

Here I simply wanted two guys, regardless of a specific position, to fill my flex spots, but guys that I feel can and will produce week in and week out.

Raheem Mostert, RB, 49ers

With my 7.10 pick, I went with Mostert. With Matt Breida now in Miami, Mostert enters 2020 as the clear RB1 in San Fran. He reached the endzone in each of his final six regular-season games in the 2019 season. He should receive an increased workload, which in turn should see an uppage in production. Nab him in the middle rounds if you can, if he hasn’t been taken by then.

Jarvis Landry, WR, Cleveland Browns

With the 8.01 pick, I selected Landry. His first two seasons in Cleveland have netted him 80+ catches each season and over 2000 receiving yards total. With OBJ opposite him, he should continue to see his fair share of targets. As with a lot of receivers, his lack of TD production is a bit of a downfall (10 with Cleveland in his two seasons). Getting him in the middle rounds could wind up as a bargain. Depending on the number of teams in your fantasy league, he is a very solid WR2, with WR1 potential.

Rest of My Team/Writer’s Take

The remainder of my picks were: Julian Edelman, Marvin Jones Jr, Latavious Murray, Dallas Goedert (my personal sleeper pick), Breshad Perriman, and Baker Mayfield. These picks fill out the rest of Team Sutcliffe for this week’s version of the Belly Up Sports mock NFL fantasy football draft.

I feel my team is very solid, with good WR depth if I would need to upgrade elsewhere. If you have thoughts or opinions about it, or anything else, please follow me on twitter @tonysutcliffe6. Check out all of the fantasy sports content Belly Up Fantasy Sports has to offer and general sports content over at Belly Up Sports.