2023 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Drafting No. 11 Overall

The key to any fantasy football season is preparation. Whether you have the first overall pick or the last of the first round, having a sense of who will be available in each round is key.

I’ll be doing mock drafts throughout the summer while offering scenarios and feedback for each position. The point of these mocks is to prepare for the unexpected.

The mock drafts will assume that 12 teams are in the league with the following roster construction: quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, tight end, a flex (running back, wide receiver or tight end), defense, kicker and seven bench spots. It is a 16-round snake draft.

If you read my draft guide, you know I’m not a fan of drafting kickers and defense if it’s not necessary. I’d rather add a few running backs who could end up being a starter in the event of an injury. However, for the sake of this exercise, I’ll round out each draft by doing so. Remember, do not draft either before your final two picks!

Most important of all, be creative with your mock drafts. Don’t take the same players in every mock. Your favorite sleeper is probably someone else’s, too. I’m guilty of this myself, but I will try to go with different approaches in many of these mock drafts.

The draft is just the start of the season. If you’re drafting early, work the waiver wire to your advantage if any major injuries arise. If you’re a fantasy nerd like me, turn notifications on of your favorite NFL insider for breaking news around the league. But the draft is where you build the foundation of your roster, and the goal is to have as deep a roster as possible.

We have reached the final picks of our 12-team mock drafts, which is my preferred area to pick in. See also: No. 1 pick, No. 2 pick, No. 3 pick, No. 4 pick, No. 5 pick, No. 6 pick, No. 7 pick, No. 8 pick, No. 9 pick, No. 10 pick, Superflex, Standard

Let’s get started on my latest mock draft of the 2023 season.

Here is my roster:

Round 1, Pick 11: Tony Pollard, RB, Dallas Cowboys

Round 2, Pick 2: A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

Round 3, Pick 11: Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers

Round 4, Pick 2: DK Metcalf, WR, Seattle Seahawks

Round 5, Pick 11: Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers

Round 6, Pick 2: DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Tennessee Titans

Round 7, Pick 11: Marquise Brown, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Round 8, Pick 2: Gabe Davis, WR, Buffalo Bills

Round 9, Pick 11: Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens

Round 10, Pick 2: Evan Engram, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars

Round 11, Pick 11: Roschon Johnson, RB, Chicago Bears

Round 12, Pick 2: Kendre Miller, RB, New Orleans Saints

Round 13, Pick 11: Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams

Round 14, Pick 2: Kareem Hunt, RB, Free Agent

Round 15, Pick 11: Cincinnati Bengals D/ST

Round 16, Pick 2: Greg Joseph, K, Minnesota Vikings

Observations:

It wasn’t my intention to go RB-WR-RB-WR, but the board played out perfectly with my first four picks. Tony Pollard was fantasy relevant even when he was splitting touches with Ezekiel Elliott. He’s set to become a fantasy superstar with Elliott now gone. A.J. Brown took his game to a new level in his first season in Philadelphia and is a safe bet to have another big year.

I debated whether to take Brown or a running back like Derrick Henry, knowing that the well dries up quickly at RB. Fortunately, Aaron Jones was there for me, the last of my third tier of backs. Jones has been a RB1 since 2018 and I don’t expect that to change even with a downgrade at quarterback. DK Metcalf is a player I want to bump up in my rankings, so getting him in the fourth is a win. The receivers ahead of Metcalf are great, so the fourth round is no knock on him.

I did go into this draft wanting to take a quarterback earlier than I have been. I’ve typically waited until the double-digit rounds to grab my QB, but I wanted to see how my team would stack up with my QB4. I’m one of the many people who feel Justin Herbert will be in the MVP discussion, which would equal a monster fantasy season.

What again was not planned was to take four straight pass-catchers, leaving my running back depth really weak. Former teammates DeAndre Hopkins and Marquise Brown are both solid FLEX options. Gabe Davis and Rashod Bateman are a couple receivers who many felt could breakout last season, and I’m buying the hype a year later. At this point of the mock drafts, I don’t even need to talk about Evan Engram any longer. He’s the tight end I’m coveting most, as I have him ranked higher than the consensus.

I’ve got some major issues if something were to happen to Pollard or Jones because the four other backs aren’t guaranteed to see much, if any, playing time. Roschon Johnson is this year’s Tyler Allgeier, in my opinion — a Day 3 running back who will eventually take over as the lead back. Kendre Miller should get some playing time early with Alvin Kamara’s suspension. Kyren Williams could become the Rams’ starter at anytime because who’s to say Cam Akers doesn’t end up in the doghouse again. Kareem Hunt is my ultimate flyer at this stage. I could see him becoming the Colts’ starter if they do in fact move on from Jonathan Taylor.

This is a top-heavy team. I like my first 10 picks, but it came at the expense of some running backs. If I were to do this draft again, I would have chosen Dalvin Cook over Gabe Davis to give myself more reinforcements at the position. This is one of those teams that I would be competitive week-to-week, but I’d need to work the trade market and waiver wire to hopefully find a RB3.

What do you think of this roster? Let’s discuss on Twitter @JoeSerp.

You can do your own mock draft in seconds by clicking here.

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox