Diary Of A Draftman – "Chasing The Natty" Best Ball #8
Diary Of A Draftman – "Chasing The Natty" Best Ball #8
The “Diary Of A Draftman” series provides a look into the mind of Purple Reign as he recaps mock drafts that he has participated in.
Mock drafts serve an important role in preparing for the College Fantasy Football season. Experienced fantasy players know that performing in multiple mock drafts sharpens your skills and gives you a read on how the rest of the internet views specific players. You can test out different draft strategies for when to select different positions, observe when position runs start, and test how long you can wait for specific players.
I highly recommend you read the article below as it will give you insight on the different principles discussed below.
Today the Draftman Diary has been opened to the pages covering the “Chasing The Natty” Best Ball #8 mock draft. With a 60 second time limit per draft pick the action moved very quickly. You can watch as I drafted from the 10 position on “Chasing The Natty’s” YouTube channel:
Let’s recap my selections and note that Holden Willis was drafted as a TE:
Rounds 1-2: RB Phil Mafah (Clem) & RB Malik Sherrod (Fres)
Drafting at the back of the 1st round is always a guessing game if I could land one of the six RBs I would be willing to draft in the 1st round. All four of the Tier 1/2 RBs were taken when my pick came around and I was left with my choice of Mafah and Darius Taylor. I have my concerns about Taylor remaining healthy for the full season which made my decision easy to draft Mafah. I normally look to grab a WR in round two but I decided to change things up and go with a more RB heavy strategy for the early part of the draft. Taylor was selected three picks after my Mafah pick and I ignored ADP and grabbed the RB I liked most in Sherrod (4th round ADP) as I like having one of the best PPR RBs in a full-point PPR league. Sherrod’s PPR value raised him to a Tier 3 player for this draft and was one of two Tier 3 players left on my draft board. I didn’t want to go after a Tier 4 player who would have been a better ADP selection.
Rounds 3-4: QB Jalen Milroe (Bama) & Gavin Sawchuk (Okla)
I had WR Xavier Restrepo queued up for the 3rd round but he was sniped one pick in front of me. Since my last draft pick four QBs had gone off the board (6 total) and I decided to make a quick change of strategy. Milroe and KJ Jefferson were the best available QBs on my board and I could have waited to draft one of them in the 4th round but I decided to get greedy and took Milroe here. This upset Jared Palmgren as I sniped his pick right in front of him. There was a small pool of top end Tier 4 RBs that would not make their way back to me in the 5th round so I continued with my RB heavy strategy. Sawchuck was the best Group A player on my board, and Abu Sama was the best Group B player available. Sama provided a better “savior” schedule but Sawchuk plays in a top 25 rushing coaching system so I leaned into the coach’s history over scheduling.
Rounds 5-6: WR Jordan Moore (Duke) & WR Kole Wilson (TxSt)
I knew I needed to draft a WR this round and as I waited for my selection 9 WRs went off the board. I was only going to look for a Group A player here for a higher fantasy point floor but there were not many left in Tier 2. Moore is not an exciting WR1 pick but I knew I was going to draft for stability in the top WR spots for my roster. Two more WRs went off the board on the turn and the only Group A player left in Tier 2 was Kaedin Robinson. With an ADP in the 9th round I decided to drop down into Tier 3 and had to decide between my top options of Wilson, Kobe Hudson, and Josh Kelly. While Kelly is a Group A player I think there are still question marks about how well the Texas Tech passing game will perform. Hudson is a very reliable WR that I like a lot but I felt there was a higher ceiling with Wilson even though he is a WR2 in his offense.
Rounds 7-8: QB KJ Jefferson (UCF) & WR Nic Anderson (Okla)
I had a number of options I could go with in the 7th round. I could load up on another RB, fill out my starting WR core, or make a value play. A new QB run had just started and I noticed that KJ Jefferson (who caught my eye in the 3rd round) was still sitting on the board despite a 6th round ADP. I like being aggressive when selecting my QB2 and I upset Jared Palmgren yet again when I sniped another QB from his queue right in front of him. I now had to choose between RB stacking or getting my WR3. Marcus Carrol would have been a great value pick here as his ADP is in the 6th round and there was a noticeable drop off after him. I decided to go with an ADP pick at WR instead and chose Anderson over Kaedin Robinson. Anderson plays in a top 25 passing coaching system and I allowed that to edge him over Robinson. I now felt comfortable with three stable receivers to serve as an anchor of my WR core that I waited to draft.
Rounds 9-10: TE Holden Willis (MidTN) & RB Corey Kiner (Cin)
The top 3 TEs had gone off the board by this pick and I had one guy left in Tier 1. Willis has an ADP in the 11th round and many fantasy players will draft him as a WR. As I looked at the WR board I realized that Willis could go pretty soon. While Fantrax listed him as a WR with my selection, I drafted him a TE for my roster. I think he should be viewed as good as Gadsden and Fannin at the TE position. It had now been five rounds since I selected a RB and I decided to go back to that position and look for a Group A player for more stability and depth as my RB4. At this point I felt like ADP was no longer useful at RB and I dropped down to Tier 6 to select Kiner. I have Roman Hemby as a Tier 4 player and he was available but I have seen Kiner go earlier than Hemby in drafts this year. You could say I was using ADP here, but I was just playing my gut on which player I felt was most likely to be gone by my 11th round pick. My mistake here was not noticing that Marcus Carroll was still available and I should have drafted him in this spot. He would be drafted early in the 11th round before he could make his way back to me.
Rounds 11-12: WR Damon Ward (NorTx) & RB Roman Hemby (MD)
It was time to start stacking some of the WR talent that I knew I could wait until the middle third of the draft to get. Three of the four selections before me were WRs so I was going to shoot WR here in the event this was the start of a new run. I was deciding between Easton Messer, Chris Brazzell, and Ward in this spot. I feel like Messer has the lowest fantasy point floor. Both Brazzell and Ward play in a top 25 passing coaching system, but Ward brings a “savior” grade of a B+ into the mix and a lower ADP. My patience to wait on Hemby back in the 10th round paid off as he was still available for me in the 12th round. I didn’t have to think at all to grab one of “my guys” at running back.
Rounds 13-14: RB LJ Martin (BYU) & QB Ethan Vasko (CoCar)
I wanted to keep building depth at RB in the 13th round and I was watching Group A/B players continue to fly off the board. I was all ready to draft “my guy” Terion Stewart here but he was taken three picks before me. There has been conflicting news about Martin’s health status at the start of fall camp but I did not let that deter me here. I just felt that much better with Martin compared to other possible names I was considering like Jacquez Hunter, Anthony Watkins, and Nathan Carter and I wasn’t going to dip into the deep pool of Group C sleepers just yet. There had been 25 QBs drafted since I last picked one in the 7th round. I am very high on Vasko as he is a Group B player who has shown his potential on the field, and his projection has him as a Tier 2 player. At this point in the draft Vasko was the only Tier 2 player left on the board, with everyone else a Tier 4 or lower player. I wasn’t going to wait any longer and let another savvy drafter take Vasko from me before my 15th round selection.
Rounds 15-16: WR Landon Ransom (Rice) & WR Ja'Corey Brooks (Lou)
I only had four WRs on my roster and I needed to build some depth with fantasy upside. My previous targets of Easton Messer and Chris Brazzell went ahead of me in the 15th round. I decided to make a reach on Ransom even though his ADP is in the 27th round. I should have waited longer to draft him and taken Elijah Sarratt (9th round ADP) in this spot since both of these guys are Tier 3 WRs. With Sarratt in my blind spot I missed him again in the 16th round. I was favoring Brooks over Chris Bell earlier in the summer due to Brooks having more career game experience. I eventually fell for all the spring buzz about Bell and changed my mind in July on these two. In the first scrimmage of fall camp Brooks was being targeted more than any other WR. I flipped back to my original favor toward Brooks and decided to take him in the 16th since he was the only Louisville WR still left on the board.
Rounds 17-18: TE Drake Dabney (TCU) & RB Braylon McReynolds (SoAl)
It had been seven rounds since I drafted my first TE, and seven TEs had been drafted in the last three rounds. I had three Tier 2 TEs still available on my board and all were Group A player in Dabney, Benjamin Brahmer, and Rivaldo Fairweather. Both Dabney and Brahmer play in top 25 tight end passing coaching systems, but Dabney had a slightly better “savior” schedule grade. I had six of my ten RB roster slots filled and I was ready to start targeting some sleeper/flyer guys. McReynolds is one of the running back “my guys” and he was only one of two Tier 4 RBs left on my draft board. I was now going to target the two more RBs in the next handful of rounds before one sleeper RB for the last rounds of the draft.
Rounds 19-20: WR Jordan Hudson (SMU) & QB Brendan Sorsby (Cin)
Just like RBs in the last round, I had six WRs on my roster and it was time to start targeting sleeper/flyer players. Hudson is a Group B, Tier 2 player that I have selected in most drafts this season. If the SMU offense is going to fly Preston Stone will need a WR to lean on. I have a feeling that Hudson finally lives up to his fantasy potential this season. Five QBs had been selected since the start of the 19h round and I was going to jump into this QB run for my roster’s QB4. Sorsby is a “my guy” that brings rushing ability to the field, and he plays in a top 25 rushing coaching system. This was also the first share I’ve secured of Sorsby this season.
Rounds 21-22: RB Kalel Mullings (Mich) & RB Jambres Dubar (Boise)
It was time to circle back to securing some flyer RB targets. I wanted to secure the RB2’s of two of the best rushing offenses in the country. If the RB1 goes down with an injury these guys become fantasy monsters and I don’t have to spend a high draft price on them. I have a feeling that Mullings will take over the RB1 role as the season unfolds, and Dubar will get enough carries as the RB2 to have the potential to be my Flex player in games with the right match-ups. I believe both of these players can provide value even if their RB1’s don’t get hurt or replaced.
Rounds 23-24: TE Rivaldo Fairweather (Aub) & QB E.J. Warner (Rice)
Five TEs went off the board since my last draft pick so I decided to lock up my final TE in the 23rd round. In the 17th round I mentioned having Benjamin Brahmer and Rivaldo Fairweather in my queue and Fairweather was the only one left remaining which made my decision very easy here. I knew I could wait for my remaining RBs and WRs for the final rounds so I decided to focus on filling out my QB roster over the next two draft picks. I had selected Rice WR Landon Ransom in the 15th round and I decided to elevate his fantasy value and the value of my bench QBs by selecting Warner here and creating a fantasy stack.
Rounds 25-26: QB Maalik Murphy (Duke) & WR Jameson Tucker (CoCar)
I still had another available fantasy stack with Murphy and WR Jordan Moore that I selected as my WR1 in the 5th round so I grabbed Murphy. I now had my QB roster filled and I was going to focus on four more WRs (one more than I normally draft but I waited on the position so I felt it was good to grab one extra player) and one RB in the last five rounds. There’s tons of good WRs that can be had late in drafts and I scooped up Tucker to create yet another fantasy stack with my QB3 Ethan Vasko who I selected in the 14th round.
Rounds 27-28: WR Alex Perry (Hawaii) & RB Hunter Smith (ULMon)
At this point I was just targeting players with high upside. Perry looks to step into the outside WR position that Steven McBride was playing before being dismissed from the team. He may not get the same target share that McBride commanded but the odds are good that Perry will hold down the WR2 spot in the offense. If you’ve been reading my articles you won’t be surprised that I selected Smith as my final RB yet again. As I’ve been preaching all summer, I have taken Smith in EVERY SINGLE DRAFT this year. He plays in one of the most rush friendly offenses in the country, and I think the RB situation won’t be a split-share like most college fantasy football analyst are predicting.
Rounds 29-30: WR Jeremiah Ballard (Tuls) & WR Willie McCoy (UTSA)
Ballard is a player that needs to be talked about more. His teammate Kamdyn Benjamin has been getting all the attention and is being drafted in the first half of drafts. I see a committee approach between the WR1 and WR2 at Tulsa. My projections for these two only has a difference of seven targets, 56 yards, and one touchdown. Ballard is basically free and should be drafted at the end of drafts. Since 2021 UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor has favored a slot WR as his WR2. Devin McCuin is the slot WR in the offense but he is being drafted like he is the WR1. De’Corian Clark is still rehabbing his injury which opens the door for McCoy to step into the WR1 role on the outside. He is another player that is going for free in drafts.