August 14, 2021

Fantasy football 2021 12-team mock draft roundup

By Evan Macy
PhillyVoice Staff

Timing is everything, both in football and in fantasy sports. Knowing when to take a particular player is what separates league champions from guys who have to sit in a Waffle House for 15 hours.

Familiarizing yourself by using some practice drafts can help, as can looking at the big boards from mock drafts at leading NFL websites. We've done a lot of the work for you here, as we have compiled mock 12-team drafts with full PPR or .5 PPR from ESPN, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic and Fantasy Pros.

After each of the first four rounds, we've listed a few of our observations and some tips for your own draft strategy.

Take a look:

Rd 1	ESPN	BR	SI	The Athletic	Fantasy Pros
1	C. McCaffrey	McCaffrey	McCaffrey	McCaffrey	McCaffrey
2	D. Cook	Cook	Cook	Cook	Cook
3	D. Henry	Kamara	Kamara	Kelce	Kamara
4	J. Taylor	Henry	Elliott	Elliott	Henry
5	T. Kelce	Elliott	Henry	Kamara	Elliott
6	A. Kamara	Barkley	Chubb	Jones	Adams
7	E. Elliott	Adams	Ekeler	Taylor	Jones
8	D. Adams	Taylor	Adams	Henry	Hill
9	N. Chubb	Kelce	Jones	Hill	Barkley
10	A. Jones	Hill	Hill	Chubb	Diggs
11	S. Barkley	Kittle	Taylor	Barkley	Chubb
12	A. Gibson	Ekeler	Barkley	Diggs	Taylor

• It's pretty fair to say the top two picks are set in stone. After that, it gets interesting. Three of our mocks have Alvin Kamara going third, while one has Derrick Henry, and The Athletic's Paul Charchian may have stretched a bit with his third pick in taking Travis Kelce.

• The value in Kelce appears to be if you can get him anywhere outside the top 10, jump at the chance.

• In ESPN's mock as well as Sports Illustrated, 10 of the first 12 picks were running backs. At The Athletic it's nine, at Fantasy Pros it's nine and at Bleacher Report it's eight. Jumping ahead, 17 of the first 24 picks in ESPN's draft were RBs. Suffice it to say, the good ones will be gone by Round 3.

Rd 2	ESPN	BR	SI	Athletic	FP
13	N. Harris	Ridley	Kelce	Ekeler	Kelce
14	T. Hill	Metcalf	Diggs	Hopkins	Ridley
15	J. Mixon	Chubb	Harris	Ridley	Hopkins
16	C. Edwards-Helaire	Jones	Mixon	Mixon	Gibson
17	A. Ekeler	Harris	Metcalf	Gibson	Ekeler
18	S. Diggs	Mixon	Hopkins	Harris	Metcalf
19	J.K. Dobbins	Jacobs	Ridley	Kittle	Harris
20	C. Ridley	Hopkins	Gibson	Adams	Jefferson
21	D. Montgomery	Diggs	Edwards-Helaire	Waller	Brown
22	D.K. Metcalf	Montgomery	Jefferson	Carson	Mixon
23	C. Carson	Gibson	Allen	Edwards-Helaire	Edwards-Helaire
24	M. Sanders	Allen	Waller	Dobbins	Waller

• There seems to be some disagreement on how good Washington running back Antonio Gibson might be. ESPN has him going in the first round. BR 11 picks later in the second. The other three outlets have him in the middle of the second round. If he makes a second-year leap he could be a valuable pick wherever you get him.

• Dobbins is another second-year RB that fantasy drafters seem mixed on. His draft slot ranges from 19th overall to 30th.

• It appears there is a decently good chance that not only will more than a dozen of the best running backs be gone before the end of the second round, but the top three tight ends might be too. We saw last season a huge difference between the two tight ends who were good, and the other teams’ TEs who were not so much. It may seem like a stretch, but when you see consistent production every week in that position you may be glad you took Kelce, Kittle or Waller.

Rd 3	ESPN	BR	SI	Athletic	FP
25	D. Hopkins	Robinson	Brown	Metcalf	Allen
26	A.J. Brown	Brown	Carson	Etienne	Robinson
27	J. Jefferson	Jefferson	Dobbins	Brown	Dobbins
28	D. Swift	Waller	Kittle	Jefferson	McLaurin
29	J. Jacobs	Edwards-Helaire	Robinson	Swift	Lamb
30	K. Allen	Dobbins	Swift	M. Thomas	Swift
31	D. Henderson	Swift	Montgomery	Robinson	Carson
32	T. McLaurin	Sanders	McLaurin	Allen	Kittle
33	M. Evans	Carson	Woods	Sanders	Mahomes
34	D. Waller	Lamb	Lamb	Montgomery	Evans
35	G. Kittle	Hunt	Cooper	McLaurin	Montgomery
36	A. Cooper	Woods	Lockett	Davis	Sanders

• We have no idea what the Eagles offense will look like, and as such the fantasy rankings of their players is wildly divergent. ESPN has RB Miles Sanders off the board at 24, while Sports Illustrated says he goes 48th overall. Will the Birds practice a running-bac- by-committee approach? Or will Sanders finally break through?

• Who is the top wideout in Dallas? Three drafts think it's CeeDee Lamb, and two think it's Amari Cooper.

• Fantasy Pros is the only outlet that has a quarterback going in the third round. The other four see Patrick Mahomes as a fourth-round pick, along with Bleacher Report nabbing Justin Herbert before him, and The Athletic has Josh Allen as the first QB off the board (as you can see below).

Rd 4	ESPN	BR	SI	Athletic	FP
37	A. Robinson	Evans	Mahomes	J. Allen	Godwin
38	M. Gaskin	J. Herbert	Davis	Jacobs	Cooper
39	J. Jones	C. Kupp	Henderson	Cooper	Woods
40	R. Woods	Mahomes	Gaskin	Woods	Jones
41	A. Thielen	McLaurin	Jacobs	Henderson	Moore
42	C. Lamb	Cooper	D. Johnson	Lamb	J. Allen
43	C. Godwin	Jones	Evans	Gaskin	Jacobs
44	D.J. Moore	M. Davis	Jones	Thielen	Kupp
45	T. Lockett	Godwin	Chase	Godwin	Gaskin
46	J. Chase	Chase	Godwin	Evans	Johnson
47	P. Mahomes	A. Rodgers	Moore	Mahomes	Hunt
48	M. Andrews	Edmonds	Sanders	Moore	Etienne

• The first three drafts agree that rookie wideout Ja'Marr Chase is a fourth rounder while the other two disagree.

• Will rookie Travis Etienne emerge as a starter in Jacksonville or will it be James Robinson? He's being slotted everywhere from 26th to 58th, so clearly there is a split on it.

Notable drafted players

Player	ESPN	BR	SI	Athletic
M. Thomas	64	67	76	30
T. Etienne	49	58	58	26
O. Beckham	58	75	70	59
K. Pitts	57	61	62	67
L. Jackson	62	56	71	66
D. Goedert	80	91	75	73
T. Brady	91	96	105	141
J. Hurts	104	92	96	112
D. Smith	108	117	86	77
J. Reagor	111	—	—	150
A. Brown	98	133	84	116
First defense	152	130	—	158
First kicker	170	168	—	171

• Jalen Hurts appears to be a solid sixth-round pick, while Dallas Goedert's draft stock is all over the board (as we wait to see if Zach Ertz does indeed get traded).

• Every year there's one, and this year it's Bleacher Report leaping to take the Rams defense in the 11th round.

• For all his multi-faceted fantasy value, Lamar Jackson is the third or fourth QB taken off the board this year, usually available as late as the 6th or 7th round.

• And finally, fantasy owners have no clue what to make of Michael Thomas, who was hurt last year and now will have a much less reliable quarterback (after the retirement of Drew Brees). Chris Towers from CBS took him 30th overall in The Athletic's mock. Sports Illustrated has him still on the board at 76.