While the identity of the #1 pick has already been revealed thanks to a "draft-and-trade" deal between the Mallards and the Boys, what else does the 2019 YFFL Draft have in store? Steve Dugas takes a crack at forecasting the first round in his annual YFFL Mock Draft.
1. Mallards
QB Kyler Murray ARZ
The Mallards select Kyler Murray and immediately ship him to the Big Boys to complete the trade they agreed to a couple weeks ago. Murray instantly becomes the starting QB for the Big Boys and a front runner for Rookie of the Year. Once it became clear the Mallards would be selecting Murray and he wouldn't be dropping to the #3 spot, the Big Boys knew they had to pull the trigger when they were offered a package to get the guy they wanted all along.
2. Mallards
RB David Montgomery CHI
The Mallards take yet another stab at finding a long term solution at RB by drafting Montgomery. RB has been a problem since Steven Jackson and Michael Turner moved on many years ago. Montgomery is the only player in college history to break 100 tackles in a single season, a feat he accomplished twice. Montgomery slides right into the flex spot to fill out what is now a formidable lineup.
3. Mallards
WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside PHI
We have our first surprise of the draft as the Mallards pass over consensus top rated WR N'Keal Harry to land the Philly WR to pair with Carson Wentz. Hard to believe that a team that once had Evans, Hill, Diggs and Calvin Johnson all on it at the same time was down to just Evans, but drafting JAWS helps them start to fill out their WR corps once again. JAWS might not make a huge impact in 2019 but he should have a starting spot by 2020.
4. Huskers
RB Josh Jacobs OAK
Kevin can't believe his eyes when he looks at his big board and sees his top rated player still sitting there when its his turn to pick (actually Kevin and I have been discussing this for 4 months, he's not shocked at all). Jacobs steps into a 300 touch situation and we all know volume/opportunity is king in fantasy football. The Huskers suddenly have the look of a playoff team.
5. Merry Men
RB Miles Sanders PHI
On reason, the Mallards have to take a WR to push one of the rookie RBs down to the Merry Men. Sanders was stuck behind Barkley for two years at Penn State but when he finally got an opportunity he showed what he was capable of as a junior. The only potential problem area for him is he can get a case of the fumbles. Hopefully Sanders can pass Jordan Howard quickly on the depth chart and finally give the Merry Men their first long term RB since Ray Rice.
6. Huskers
RB Damien Williams KC
Damien Williams is one of the biggest wild cards in this years draft. Will he be the player he was at the end of last season when he single handily won people championships with his performance down the stretch or is he the role player who never saw more than 50 touches in a season before he turned into LaDainian Tomlinson?
7. Thugs
WR N'Keal Harry NE
Finally we get a draft pick from an owner that's not Steve or Kevin, but its still a Sansone. Bobby does the painful thing and selects the first Patriot WR taken in the first round since Terry Glenn. Harry was an elite producer in college and also has an elite size-speed profile. He only falls down the board due to the Patriots inability to develop any homegrown WRs other than Edelman during the Brady era.
8. Beans
RB Devin Singletary BUF
The Beans might have the worst group of RBs in the entire YFFL. Singletary has looked like a star so far this preseason but he has some chart climbing to do to get past Gore and McCoy, a couple guys that just won't go away. If the Beans can get Singletary into the lineup sooner than later they may be able to hang in there and compete for the division.
9. Orangutangs
WR D.K. Metcalf SEA
One of the biggest boom or bust rookie prospects this year comes off the board just before dropping out of the top ten. Metcalf is a monster of a man. He runs like an 18 wheeler coming down a mountain out of control and turns about as good as one. He'll either be out of the league in three years or he is going to be a perennial Pro Bowler with 1200 yards and 10 TDs every year.
10. Llamas
QB Daniel Jones NYG
At this point we are running out of top prospects to choose from and it makes sense if we start to see a few QBs come off the board. Daniel Jones has been the surprise of the preseason as he has been fantastic so far. The only thing keeping Eli Manning in his way is the Giants owner. Jones would provide the Llamas a solid back up to Watson should he get injured again.
11. Brothers
QB Dwayne Haskins WAS
The Brothers find a backup to Jared Goff as they take the record setting QB from Ohio State. Haskins has had his ups and downs this preseason and will likely get killed behind that offensive line if he has to play, but he has a bright future and could be good insurance should Goff continue to struggle as he did down the stretch last season.
12. Poop
WR Mecole Hardman KC
Bri does the hard thing and passes on taking any Patriots in this spot as he grabs the new speed demon in KC. Hardman is a bit raw as he was underused at Georgia but he has put his speed on display this summer. Andy Reid should be able to unlock his potential and it will be good for the Bear to start someone from more than just three NFL teams.
13. Refugees
RB Damien Harris NE
While Bri might have been able to avoid the siren song of Damien Harris, Aceto cannot. He takes Harris and instantly gets one of his interns to start working on a computer program to figure out which weeks the Patriots will give Harris the star turn.
14. Chickens
TE T.J. Hockenson DET
This will be sweet - for all the years Nick has ridden me about every single Lion I've drafted, he finally does it himself...only problem is Hockenson might be the next Rob Gronkowski.
15. Mallards
WR Parris Campbell IND
The Mallards grab another WR to keep building that spot on their roster. Campbell was great his last year at Ohio State but it could be a few years to break out in the NFL with Jacoby Brissett tossing him passes.
16. White Guys
RB Darwin Thompson KC
The Undefeated Two Time Defending Champion White Guys are finally on the clock and boy do they have a lot of questions. Can Case Keenum keep the starting job in Washington? Will Hunt have a role when he is back from suspension? Does Todd Gurley have knees? The White Guys have a tough choice to make - backup Gurley with Darrell Henderson or take a potential MJD clone? In this mock, they close out the first round with Darwin Thompson and hope for the best.