What’s a Mock Draft? Sleeper ADP Observations

Josh Selway here, an up-and-coming fantasy football sensation, and my wife is very proud. I do a lot of best ball drafts on Underdog Fantasy and I am very familiar with the average draft position (ADP) on that platform. I know it like the back of my ass. But it’s almost July 4th (Happy Canada Day) and that means redraft season is approaching and normal civilians are filing in to do some fantasy football drafts as a way to find meaning in their sad lives and to reconnect with the seven quasi-friends they still have (and the few random people those friends work with that they had to invite to fill out the league because that’s how depressing things have become). This means we need to check out what’s happening in 2022 fantasy football MOCK DRAFTS to get a feel for ADP.

It is not wise to do mock drafts. Mock drafts are like your brother’s Fourth of July party: you keep doing it because it’s tradition but really it has no meaning and you wish you had other options. Of course, now you do have other options: best ball drafts. They’re more fun, the ADP is better, and you get to waste your money. I’m sure your brother’s Fourth of July party will be super fun this year, though.

To get an understanding of ADP for 2022 redraft fantasy football drafts, I recently did a mock draft on Sleeper. Here is that draft board.

👻👻 Click the image to go to Sleeper for full size 👻👻

A few major ADP observations from this 2022 mock draft compared to what we’re used to over in Underdog best ball drafts.

• The weirdness began right off the bat, as Derrick Henry and Najee Harris were both drafted in the top five. Both of these running backs have been drifting lower in ADP to the second half of the first round in Underdog drafts. As I’ll mention 25 times, however, running backs overall go lower in Underdog.

• I took Dalvin Cook because I knew this ADP was junk and I would be able to put together great wide receivers DOWN STREAM, but really I like Cook just fine. Not strong conviction on him vs. Austin Ekeler.

• Into the second round, Nick Chubb went early, and over on Underdog he’s going in the third round. Kamara also going super high still on Sleeper. Underdog drafters have started to price in a suspension for the Saints RB.

• Josh Allen mid-second round?! Don’t do this.

• I was able to get CeeDee Lamb in the mid-second round, and that’s just lovely. As I said in the podcast, I am not completely in on CeeDee as many other fantasy football analysts are, but I do recognize the upside given his talent and the vacated targets in Dallas.

• Aaron Jones and Leonard Fournette at the 2-3 turn is a nice place to live. Sort of like Miami without the extra cologne and chains.

• Later in the third round, Kyle Pitts was drafted and that’s too high for my personal taste. But even worse, George Kittle also went in the third round, and I have no interest in that.

• A couple third round running backs I will be completely avoiding at this price: Antonio Gibson & Cam Akers.

Let’s Jump to rounds 4-7 of this Mock Draft

This is where things really got interesting…

• Josh Jacobs going ahead of James Conner should never, ever happen. Josh Jacobs is a 6-7th round pick on Underdog.

• Tee Higgins went at the 4.1 spot; the Bengals wide receiver goes near the 2-3 turn on Underdog.

• Michael Pittman and Courtland Sutton in the fifth round is special. Pittman is approaching second-round territory over in best ball land. Jerry Jeudy went nearly a full round ahead of Sutton in this mock.

• Two other wide receivers who went much lower in this mock draft versus Underdog: Marquise Brown and Mike Williams, both third rounders on Underdog.

• Into the sixth round, Damien Harris was selected. Oddly enough, I am a Harris supporter, at least in best ball, but I don’t think I could do that in re-draft. Especially when he goes ahead of MILES SANDERS and CEH.

• Some seventh round observations: I was able to get Darnell Mooney in the 7th, which is just swell. Dallas Goedert went in the seventh, and he can piss off.

Shit Just Got Weird in the 8th Round & Beyond

Wham, bam, what the hell just happened?

• Three wide receivers went in the 8th round that are normally in the fifth round range on Underdog: Rashod Bateman, Gabe Davis, and Juju Smith Schuster. Hell, Gabe Davis is basically a fourth rounder now, because apparently people just don’t care about their personal safety any longer. I am hot and cold on Juju, but grabbing him in the mid-6th or later in re-draft seems like a no-brainer. All these guys will move in by the time most civilians move in.

• Fast forwarding through the rest of the draft because I need to eat this banana: Allen Lazard is still in the 10th round over on Sleeper, while he’s moving up fast on Underdog. Similar to Kadarius Toney, one of the biggest risers during the offseason in best ball drafts. Russell Gage went at 11.12… way too late.

• Michael Carter was drafted in the 9th round; he’s a 13th rounder on Underdog.

• For some reason Jamaal Williams went in the 10th round, so was James Robinson.

I will be doing more of these comparisons in the weeks ahead, potentially even using sites like FFPC. We’ll see. I don’t know if we’ll have enough time once the final rush of Best Ball summer comes in. There’s only so much time to win.

I’ll see you all in Miami. Subscribe to the FantasyUnleashd Podcast and live your best life.