The Annual IDP One-Man/Multiple Personalities Mock Draft

As is our tradition, we close the pre-season every summer with a new One Man Mock with Multiple Personalities. As always, this will be a standard IDP format with our traditional IDP scoring (0.5 points per half-tackle, 1 point per solo, 2 points for PDs or FRs, 3 points for sacks, and 4 points for forced turnovers). It is also a full PPR scoring system.

Starting rosters in this mock will consist of 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1Flex, 1DL, 1LB, and 1DB. There will be three bench positions, as well.

As usual, this draft will be comprised of multiple personalities that should reflect the common draft strategies found in most “home” fantasy drafts. While we will include some traditional personalities in this mock, we will also include some extreme drafters who will help us better reflect how your final drafts will finish. Thus, the teams drafting in this mock will have the following draft strategies/personalities….

1. Safety First- This drafter will avoid risk whenever possible, valuing consistency overall;
2. The Mavericks- This team is a wild card and doesn’t stick to any big plan;
3. Risk It 4 Biscuits- This manager chases upside and doesn’t care about risks;
4. Zero RB 4 Life- This team employs the zero running back strategy;
5. BPA- This is a consistent manager who always takes their “best player available”;
6. Half-Back 2 Da Future- This team always goes running back heavy with early picks;
7. The Basic B's- This team drafts whoever the analysts tell them to;
8. Catching Glory- This team prefers pass catchers early but isn't pure Zero RB;
9. Jack Reacher- Reacher will get his guy, often a round or two early;
10. The Trend Setters- This team will start runs at positions like QB and TE. They will value securing the best player(s) at a position, whether those positions are deep or not;
11. The Carbon Copies- This is an analyst who tries to load up on RBs and WRs early;
12. The Traditionalists- Another BPA manager who drafts like your typical analyst.

Round 1

There are no major surprises in this first round. The typical names are taken, and they go in a traditional order. In most non-Superflex formats, you will see Jonathan Taylor and Christian McCaffery going first and second in some order, and it's no different here, even with an outlier drafter like Mavericks picking second.

After JT and CMC are gone, the order of the next six picks will depend on who is in your league. Drafters willing to take risks early should be attracted to the upside of Derrick Henry or Dalvin Cook at a thin RB position while safer minds will gravitate towards Cooper Kupp or Justin Jefferson. However, the ideal draft position this year may be pick #7 or #8, which is a position that could net you a duo such as Ja’Marr Chase and Mark Andrews. That would be a near-perfect start for Zero RB enthusiasts.

Rounds 2-3

People overdraft quarterbacks every year. Regardless of your format or who you play with, most non-industry drafts will see a passer go amongst the first 30 picks. Sleeper has Josh Allen's ADP at #21^st overall, while Patrick Mahomes is # 32^nd. Most fans think the QB position is more consistent and safer than it is. However, this notion that the top quarterback taken will be the “best” passer in your league hasn’t proven true in recent years. In fact, the top quarterback taken in drafts hasn’t finished as a top-three fantasy QB in any of the past seven seasons.

Rounds 4-5

Quarterbacks continue to go off the board too early here, but that should be expected with your average draft. You also shouldn't discount how often people will start a run at the position after seeing one or two go off the board early. These runs happen often, especially in drafts with short clocks and anxious drafters.

There are also several incredibly common reaches in this range of the draft. Gabriel Davis is a tremendous breakout candidate, but here he is taken very close to his ceiling with no consideration of his floor. Dameon Pierce and Travis Etienne also go off the board too early, but their pre-season hype will drive someone in your league to overinvest. As someone who rated Pierce as the 3^rd best back in this rookie class back in January, even I will hesitate to take him at his current cost.

Finally, you do see a couple of veterans who offer solid upside if you can find them in this range. Darren Waller and Michael Thomas have disappointed fantasy fans recently and continue to deal with injuries. However, those nagging injuries could tank their draft stock, especially after Thomas saw a surge in ADP this August before his latest injury report came out. Risk is involved, but the upside makes both veterans worthy of going in this range.

Rounds 6-7

Here you see the first defenders come off the board. Traditionally this is too early to take a defender in standard IDP leagues like this one, but 2022 is an outlier year for player valuations. With significant questions surrounding the opportunity share of some of fantasy's most talented players, many may prefer a surefire defensive star like T.J. Watt over players with opportunity concerns like Elijah Moore, Josh Jacobs, or Devonte Smith might get. We would still wait until the ninth round, but many won't.

As for analyzing the actual picks of these defenders, this is their proper order. Watt has passed Derwin James as the top defender in our ranks because the Steelers’ leader has a cleaner bill of health and didn’t miss significant camp time with a holdout. Parsons will likely be the third defender off the board in leagues where he is DL eligible, as he provides a higher tackle floor than most linemen and elite sack potential. These three are in a tier by themselves when it comes to fantasy defenders, at least in leagues where the two pass rushers qualify as DLs.

The final point about this range is the sheer volume of tantalizing risk. Kadarius Toney, Moore, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Brandon Aiyuk, Rashaad Penny, and Drake London all have the talent to win you any week in fantasy. However, they all carry immense downside as well. Expect the seventh and eighth rounds of your draft to be full of picks based on potential, as there are fewer obviously “safe” options this year than there usually are.

Rounds 8-9

With Nick Bosa, the Mavericks secure my pick for Defensive Player of the Year in this range. While Bosa isn't likely to outperform stars like Watt and Parsons in pure fantasy production, he could challenge both for the sack title in 2022. He and Myles Garrett are neck-and-neck for third defensive lineman off the board in most formats, as long as Watt and Parsons are both DL eligible in your league.

One real outlier in this range that should surprise many is where Jordyn Brooks ends up. Brooks is the first linebacker off the board in this mock because of Roquan Smith's holdout and Shaquille Leonard's injury concerns. With those two carrying real questions about how they will start the season, expect Brooks to make a push for the top LB off the board in many fantasy drafts.

Finally, it's worth pointing out just how badly some teams have to reach for running back help in this range. Teams like Catching Glory and Zero RB waited on the RB position purposefully in this mock, forcing them to chase upside with players who carry considerable questions this season. James Cook and Rhamondre Stevenson are logical Zero RB options, but you can’t feel good with them as Day 1 starters.

Rounds 10-13

Closing out this mock, we see an unsurprising push for defenders late in the draft. In most standard IDP leagues like this, you will see many managers utilizing this wait-and-see strategy with defenders. For people new to IDP, think of this strategy as the same as devaluing Kickers and D/ST units in standard drafts. This strategy can work in casual formats but doesn’t work in deeper or more competitive defensive alignments. If you employ this strategy at DB, Kyle Hamilton and Jevon Holland should be your primary targets.

These final rounds also help expose how far some players have fallen during this pre-season. Antonio Gibson's stock is tanking, and the perception surrounding him may have finally fallen beneath his actual value. The Memphis product shouldn’t be a top-90 pick anymore, but he’s worth a flier late. The same goes for Michael Carter and Cordarrelle Patterson, both of whom are low-ceiling players who should have bigger offensive roles than fantasy managers think.

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