14-Team PPR Mock Draft: Starting with Christian McCaffrey In Round 1
Fantasy

14-Team PPR Mock Draft: Starting with Christian McCaffrey In Round 1

Matthew Freedman conducts a 14-team PPR mock draft in Draft Champion and goes round by round to outline his picks and strategy.

In case you missed it, we recently relaunched our website and revamped a number of our tools, including our Draft Champion Mock Simulator.

In this piece, I want to run through a 14-team PPR mock draft I just did with these settings.

  • Draft Type: Snake
  • Draft Position: 7th
  • Roster: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 FL, 1 K, 1 DST
  • ADP: ESPN
  • Draft Strategy: Late-Round QB
     

Here's the team I drafted.

In summary, I got an A+ from our draft rater.

And my team is projected to score a league-high 1,910.3 points.

Let's get to it!

To access Draft Champion and the rest of our tools (such as my season-long player projections or our Fantasy Life ADP Draft Board), use the promo code "FREEDMAN" for a 20% discount on the FantasyLife+ package.

Fantasy Football Mock Draft Review: 14-Team PPR Draft

Pick 1.07 (No. 7) - RB Christian McCaffrey (49ers)

Full disclosure: I picked the No. 7 spot in the hopes of getting Christian McCaffrey. Mission accomplished.

He's one of the RBs with a good chance to score 10+ TDs, and I recently argued the bull case for him on the Fantasy Life Show as well as the first episode of the Talk Data to Me show (a new Fantasy Life pod with Dwain McFarland).

Last year, McCaffrey was the No. 1 pick in most leagues, and in his three full games he was still basically himself with 281 yards on 43 carries, 16 targets, and an 88 Utilization Score (per our Fantasy Life Utilization Report).

With an uncertain WR room, the 49ers offense I expect to flow through the backfield in general and McCaffrey in particular.

If he stays healthy, he could easily be the No. 1 RB in fantasy … and I have him projected that way.

Pick 2.08 (No. 22) - WR Tyreek Hill (Dolphins)
 

I know this is early for Tyreek Hill, but TE Brock Bowers (my desired pick) went just ahead of him, and it felt just a little too early for RBs Bucky Irving and Kyren Williams and TE Trey McBride … so I reached for Hill.

It made sense in my brain at the time, and just last year he was a top-three fantasy pick.

I think Hill is one of this year's biggest ADP values.

Pick 3.07 (No. 35) - WR Davante Adams (Rams)

I guess I'm officially on #TeamOldGuys—but Davante Adams is one of the 32 players I want to draft this year.

He turns 33 years old this year, but over the past three seasons he has 3,723 yards and 30 TDs receiving on 10.3 targets per game, and HC Sean McVay and QB Matthew Stafford have proven themselves capable of supporting two strong pass catchers, so I'm not too concerned about Adams playing behind No. 1 WR Puka Nacua.

Pick 4.08 (No. 50) - RB Breece Hall (Jets)

If he had been available, I would've considered RB Omarion Hampton—Matthew Berry's 2025 Ride or Die—but he went off the board just before I selected, so I instead went with Breece Hall.

Oh, the irony.

Earlier this summer, I put Hall on my do-not-draft list.

But everyone is an option at the right price, and in my opinion Hall has gotten too cheap on ESPN.

The dude has 3,625 scrimmage yards in 40 career games. I'll take that this far into a 14-team draft.

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Pick 5.07 (No. 63) - WR DeVonta Smith (Eagles)

A few weeks ago, I highlighted three arbitrage fantasy targets in the Fantasy Life Newsletter, and one of them was DeVonta Smith. (Why would someone draft Tee Higgins in Round 3 when Smith is available more than 30 picks later?)

I was hoping to get one of RBs David Montgomery and D'Andre Swift and WR DJ Moore in this spot—but I'm also happy to snag Smith here.

In four years, he has 4,011 yards receiving. That's livable production.

Pick 6.08 (No. 78) - WR Jakobi Meyers (Raiders)

Blurgh!

At this pick, I was hoping to get one player from this group:

No joy. All gone.

So I "settle" for Jakobi Meyers—but I have no right to complain. I think he's severely discounted given that last year he had 87-1,027-4 receiving and now this year gets an upgrade with QB Geno Smith and OC Chip Kelly.

Pick 7.07 (No. 91) - WR Ricky Pearsall (49ers)

This is a pure upside pick, but I don't hate taking a shot on Ricky Pearsall's ceiling since he's one of my bench players.

Pearsall did little last year as a first-round rookie, but in his four starts he had 22-321-3 receiving on 28 targets with 3-45-0 rushing.

On top of that, No. 1 WR Brandon Aiyuk tore his ACL last season and is currently on active/PUP. No. 2 WR Deebo Samuel was traded away this offseason. And No. 3 WR Jauan Jennings is dealing with a lingering calf injury.

Pearsall has a real shot to break out in 2025.

Pick 8.08 (No. 106) - RB Jaylen Warren (Steelers)

Over the past two years, Warren has 1,975 scrimmage yards as a change-of-pace option, and now No. 1 RB Najee Harris is gone.

Rookie Kaleb Johnson will probably replace Harris as the starter … but what if he doesn't?

Pick 9.07 (No. 119) - RB Tyjae Spears (Titans)

In Weeks 15-16 last year, starter Tony Pollard had a diminished role because of injury, and he was out in Week 17.

In those three games, Spears had 261 yards and four TDs on 34 carries, 15 targets, and an 82 Utilization Score.

There's a chance that Pollard and Spears could share the workload evenly this year—and if Pollard misses time, Spears would be a viable fantasy starter in his absence.

Pick 10.08 (No. 134) - TE Dalton Kincaid (Bills)

Since I picked Spears, TEs Colston Loveland, Kyle Pitts, Jake Ferguson, and Tyler Warren all went off the board.

Ouch.

I wouldn't say this is a panic pick—but it was time (and probably past time) to grab a TE.

No. 1 WR Khalil Shakir is dealing with a high-ankle sprain, which could linger into the season, and the team's WR room is fairly uninspiring.

Last season, Kincaid was already No. 2 on the team with 75 targets. If Shakir struggles with injury this year, and if Kincaid progresses into the player the Bills thought he would be when they drafted him in Round 1 two years ago, then there's a chance he could actually be the No. 1 receiver for MVP QB Josh Allen.

Pick 11.07 (No. 147) - WR Josh Downs (Colts)

This is a total HR pick. ESPN drafters are way too down on Josh Downs, who last year was the No. 4 WR with a 28% target rate.

Especially if QB Daniel Jones ends up winning the starting job (and maybe even if he doesn't), Downs should smash his ADP.

In a league this deep, I absolutely love getting him as my No. 6 WR.

Pick 12.08 (No. 162) - RB Najee Harris (Chargers)

As I noted in last week's training camp roundup, veteran Najee Harris is still yet to practice because of his fireworks-related injury—but I'm still optimistic that he'll return early in the season (if not Week 1).

And I imagine that HC Jim Harbaugh and OC Gregg Roman will be a fan of his hard-nosed running style.

Harris will need to compete with second-round rookie Omarion Hampton … but Harris hasn't had fewer than 1,200 scrimmage yards in any season of his career.

He'll get work this year—maybe more than expected.

Pick 13.07 (No. 175) - QB Drake Maye (Patriots)

Drake Maye is one of my favorite 2025 fantasy bench picks … except he's my starting QB.

He's naturally likely to improve in his second season, and the Patriots offense should be better with all their offseason additions (OC Josh McDaniels, LT Will Campbell, LG Cole Strange, C Garrett Bradbury, RT Morgan Moses, WR Stefon Diggs, and RB TreVeyon Henderson).

Last year, Maye averaged 36.3 yards rushing across his 10 full games.

I expect him to outperform his ADP and am thrilled to get him this late.

Pick 14.08 (No. 190) - RB Isaac Guerendo (49ers)

With Guerendo, I get—with my final non-K/DST pick—the handcuff to my Round 1 selection.

I like it.

If McCaffrey were to miss time, I think the second-year Guerendo could crush.

He has an excellent athletic profile: He's big (6-0, 221 lbs.), fast (4.33-second 40-yard dash), and agile (6.94-second three-cone). 

And last year, he proved himself to be a dynamic playmaker (5.0 yards per carry, 9.5 yards per target).

Best of all, we have proof of concept. Last year, he put up 404 yards and three TDs on 54 carries and 14 targets in his four games with a snap rate of at least 50%.

I can imagine him dominating in HC Kyle Shanahan's scheme if he gets the chance.

Pick 15.07 (No. 203) - K Ka'imi Fairbairn (Texans)

In a normal draft, I'd eschew K and D/ST with the final picks and instead stash two more backup RBs just in case a starter gets hurt in the preseason—but for the purpose of illustration, I'll do this mock by the book and take a K here.

Ka'imi Fairbairn isn't one of the guys I highlighted in my recent Pulitzer Prize-winning K piece, but he's the No. 6 K in my 2025 fantasy draft rankings as well as our season-long projections.

I'm happy to get him here.

Pick 16.08 (No. 218) - D/ST San Francisco (49ers)

I think too many fantasy drafters are looking back at what the 49ers defense did in 2024 instead of appreciating just how easy the team's strength of schedule is in 2025 as a result of last year's last-place divisional finish.

Plus, the 49ers overhauled their defense this offseason with the additions of rookies (EDGE Mykel Williams, DTs Alfred Collins & C.J. West, CB Upton South, LB Nick Martin) and veterans (EDGE Bryce Huff, SS Richie Grant, FS Jason Pinnock) alike as well as returning DC Robert Saleh.

They're No. 4 in our season-long projections and No. 8 in my draft rankings.

In the last round, that works.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Christian McCaffrey
    ChristianMcCaffrey
    RBSFSF
    PPG
    17.24
  2. Najee Harris
    NajeeHarrisIR
    RBLACLAC
    PPG
    3.37
  3. Drake Maye
    DrakeMaye
    QBNENE
    PPG
    17.26
    Proj
    17.49
  4. Breece Hall
    BreeceHallQ
    RBNYJNYJ
    PPG
    9.05