Our only fantasy football mock draft for the 2023 season is now live. We utilize a combination of previous success, forecasts into the future and other factors to formulate the best mock as the fake football world enters draft season.
In this scenario, we have the third pick in a 12-team PPR league. It creates a bit of an interesting dynamic for those who are slated to own the same selection when the real drafts come calling. That is to say, neither Christian McCaffrey nor Justin Jefferson is likely to be available.
Based on aggregate ADPs, we provide you with our first and only fantasy football mock draft heading into Week 1 in a couple weeks.
Related: Love Fantasy Sports? Get Top FREE Insights From One Of The World’s Best Players Today!
Fantasy football mock draft: 12-team, PPR
1st round, 3rd pick: Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
In this particular fantasy football mock draft, Christian McCaffrey and Justin Jefferson were the first two players off the board. In this scenario, you are going to have to abandon your original pre-draft plan and come up with something different.
- Ja’Marr Chase stats (2022): 87 receptions, 1,046 yards, 9 TD, 64.9% completion
Chase makes the most sense at No. 3 overall. Despite missing five games to injury a season ago, the veteran still finished as a WR1 in 12-team leagues. Back in 2021 as a rookie, Chase was the third-best fantasy receiver. With 22 touchdown catches in 29 career games, he provides awesome upside as your top player with the third overall selection.
2nd round, 10th pick: Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
At this point, you must scramble to find a legitimate RB1 option after missing out on CMC with the third selection. Harris, 25, represents the most upside. The former first-round pick is averaging nearly 1,500 total yards and 10 touchdowns through his first two seasons.
What makes Harris a potentially dynamic threat is the presence of young quarterback Kenny Pickett in Pittsburgh. He’s going to rely on the running back as an outlet in the passing game. With 115 catches in 34 career games and a resounding 78.2% catch rate, Harris will more than produce in that regard.
Related: 2023 fantasy football rankings, top-200 big board
3rd round, 3rd pick: Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots
As fantasy football drafts take place around the sport, some believe the recently signed Ezekiel Elliott will be a handcuff to Stevenson. While that could very well be true, it’s important to note that the former Dallas Cowboys star averaged a mere 3.8 yards per rush last season. He’s not going to take a bulk of the carries from Stevenson.
Getting the ascending Stevenson at the top of the third round in 12-team leagues would be a steal. He’s a RB2 in this scenario after ranking 13th in fantasy football points from this position in 2022. Stevenson’s average of 5.0 yards per rush and the fact that he caught 69 passes as a sophomore should provide you confidence in his ability to make a huge impact in 2023.
Related: Ranking all 32 starting QBs in the NFL
4th round, 10th pick: Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
A dual-threat QB1 at the end of the fourth round? This fantasy football mock draft would be absolutely ideal. Even during a down 2022 season in which he missed five games to injury, Jackson was still able to finish as a top-end QB2 in 12-team leagues. In fact, he’s finished within the top 16 at his position in each of the past four seasons — coming in at No. 1 during his MVP season back in 2019.
- Lamar Jackson stats: 12,209 passing yards, 4,437 rushing yards, 125 total TD, 38 INT
Baltimore signed Pro Bowler Odell Beckham Jr. during free agency. It added young stud Zay Flowers in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Fellow wide receiver Rashod Bateman is set to return after an injury-plagued sophomore campaign. Everything is set up for Jackson to dominate from a fantasy perspective in 2023.
5th Round, 3rd pick: Kenneth Walker, RB, Seattle Seahawks
Walker didn’t take over as the Seahawks RB1 until Week 6 of his rookie season. Despite this, the former Heisman finalist ranked 15th among fantasy football running backs. He tallied 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground on just 228 attempts.
Some might be concerned that Seattle selected Zach Charbonnet in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Perhaps, he’ll act as a handcuff to Walker. Even then, acquiring a likely RB1 in 12-team leagues at the top of the fifth round is an absolute steal. That’s especially true after missing out on this position in the first round of our fantasy football mock draft.
Related: 2023 NFL running back rankings
6th round, 10th pick: Brandon Aiyuk, WR, San Francisco 49ers
All reports from 49ers training camp have been positive regarding this ascending wide receiver. He’s potentially set to take over for Deebo Samuel as WR1 in San Francisco as Aiyuk enters his fourth season in the NFL.
This past year saw the former first-round pick catch 78 passes for 1,015 yards and eight touchdowns. He hauled in 68.4% of his targets with 49ers quarterbacks posting a 115.9 passer rating when targeting him. Look for Brock Purdy to go after Aiyuk early and often throughout the season. After finishing as a top-15 fantasy receiver in 2022, look for a further breakout from Aiyuk in 2023.
Remainder of our 2023 fantasy football mock draft
- 7th round: Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
- 8th round: Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos
- 9th round: Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
- 10th round: Elijah Mitchell, RB, San Francisco 49ers
- 11th round: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
- 12th round: Jaylen Warren, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
- 13th round: Tyler Higbee, TE, Los Angeles Rams
- 14th round: New York Jets defense
- 15th round: Jake Elliott, K, Philadelphia Eagles
This fantasy football mock draft has us going heavy at wide receiver in the mid rounds. We absolutely love the idea of Johnson and Sutton as FLEX options in 12-team leagues. After putting up 20 touchdowns in his first three NFL seasons, Johnson didn’t score a single time last season. Expect a rebound performance, especially with Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett having shown vast improvement.
Sutton is an interesting figure in that he has not necessarily been a viable fantasy guy since breaking on to the scene in 2019. With that said, the presence of new Broncos head coach Sean Payton should set him up for success. He’s certainly worth a shot in Round 8.
As for Goedert, he’s finished as a TE1 in each of the past two seasons despite missing seven games during that span. Getting consistency in the mid rounds at tight end makes sense.
If you’re unable to add Christian McCaffrey in your fantasy football drafts, it makes sense to prevent the team that rosters him from picking up his handcuff. CMC was injury prone before the 2022 campaign, missing 23 games over the previous two seasons. As for Mitchell, he’s averaging a resounding 5.1 yards per touch throughout his two-year career while scoring eight touchdowns on 274 touches.
2023 fantasy football roster
| Quarterback | Lamar Jackson | Aaron Rodgers | |||
| Running back | Najee Harris | Rhamondre Stevenson | Kenneth Walker | Elijah Mitchell | Jaylen Warren |
| Tight End | Dallas Goedert | Tyler Higbee | |||
| Wide Receiver | Ja’Marr Chase | Brandon Aiyuk | Diontae Johnson | Courtland Sutton | |
| Defense | New York Jets | ||||
| Kicker | Jake Elliott |