Fantasy football mock draft for 12-Team PPR ESPN league in 2023 NFL season

The NFL preseason is in full swing, meaning fantasy football is on the horizon. As you prepare for your drafts, you may research how fantasy football drafts are going this season. Completing mock drafts with your draft pick can help give you an idea of which players may be available and when. With that in mind, here are the results from a 12-team PPR mock draft, selecting with the No. 1 overall pick.

2023 Fantasy football mock draft review: 12-team PPR

Strategy

The best thing about having the 1.01 this year, especially in PPR formats, is that you don’t have to fret and worry about who to take. The answer is Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. After adding him to your roster, you can get into whatever strategy you feel most comfortable with. You could take the best available, instantly draft a running back to try and balance your roster early, or you could go wild and draft a quarterback. It is all up to you.

For this mock draft, I nabbed Jefferson first overall and then took stock of the board. With back-to-back picks at 2.12 and 3.01, I decided to go with Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Once you do a few mock drafts, you realize running back options get really bleak, really fast. I took a solid option and then paired him with arguably the second-best quarterback in fantasy football. Next time on the clock, I addressed wide receiver and then began filling out my team’s depth based on how the board fell.

Best picks

1.01 — Justin Jefferson
3.01 — Josh Allen
4.12 — Miles Sanders
12.12 — Justin Tucker

Can Jefferson get even better? He is coming off a season with 1,809 yards and eight touchdowns on 128 receptions. Jefferson deserves to be the No. 1 overall pick this year, but can he re-capture it a second year in a row? I think yes. Allen consistently is atop the leaderboards among fantasy quarterbacks. There is some concern with his interception numbers, but I think taking him early will pay dividends.

I’m a Carolina Panthers fan, but I truly think Sanders is getting slept on. He had a prove-it year last season in Philadelphia and proved he could be a lead running back. Sanders had 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns on 259 carries. Despite the Panthers’ overhauled offense, Sanders should see a ton of work, keeping him fantasy relevant.

If you have an opportunity to take the best kicker at the backend of the 12th round, I don’t see a problem with it. Waiting until your final two picks is the standard, but really once your lineup and the majority of your depth are set, go ahead and grab beneficial special teamers.

Worst picks

9.01 — Brian Robinson Jr.
15.01 — Zay Jones

I don’t think that I made any horrendous picks, but I am obviously biased. Robinson is a tough case because we don’t know if he or Antonio Gibson will catch the eye of quarterback Sam Howell and head coach Ron Rivera. If they play to their potential, one of them should be fantasy relevant. If Robinson isn’t the guy, this ninth-round pick was wasted. Jones had a great season last year (823 yards, five touchdowns), but the Jacksonville Jaguars have Calvin Ridley as their second wide receiver, pushing Jones down the depth chart. He is expected to take a step back, but I probably could’ve used this pick to nab a better defense/special teams unit.

Final thoughts

There’s a lot to like about this mock draft. My overall lineup being Josh Allen, Miles Sanders, Joe Mixon, Diontae Johnson, Brandon Aiyuk, Dalton Schultz, Isiah Pacheco, Justin Tucker and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sets me up pretty well for success. I would switch out some depth pieces using waivers and may drop the Bucs' defense for a different unit each week based on matchups. This mock draft could’ve gone much worse and not much better.

Full mock draft results

1.01 — Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
2.12 — Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
3.01 — Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills
4.12 — Miles Sanders, RB, Carolina Panthers
5.01 — Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
6.12 — Brandon Aiyuk, WR, San Francisco 49ers
7.01 — Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
8.12 — Dalton Schultz, TE, Houston Texans
9.01 — Brian Robinson Jr., RB, Washington Commanders
10.12 — Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
11.01 — Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans
12.12 — Justin Tucker, K, Baltimore Ravens
13.01 — Dalton Kincaid, TE, Buffalo Bills
14.12 — D’Onta Foreman, RB, Chicago Bears
15.01 — Zay Jones, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
16.12 — Buccaneers D/ST