2020 NFL mock draft first round and fantasy impacts
By Raju Byfield
Raju Byfield presents his pre free agency 2020 NFL mock draft, and examines fits from both a team and fantasy perspective.
With some time to digest an exciting 2020 NFL Combine, it is a good time to take a look how this April’s festivities may play out with a 2020 NFL mock draft. Draft grades are locked in for the most part well before the combine even begins. Senior Bowl week and the NFL Combine give teams a chance to get more familiar with the prospects. The combine is meant to confirm or deny what NFL teams have seen on tape and in the analytics, but inevitably some players can see their draft stocks soar or tumble in the eyes of some. The combine can help to separate prospects that NFL teams may have otherwise ranked similarly.
NFL free agency is less than a week away, and teams have already begun to swing some trades, while others have started to release players for cap relief. Team needs have started to crystallize, as has the direction some franchises may be looking to take this upcoming season. The directions some teams may choose to go in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft may be changed based on their free agency additions, so we will venture to present another mock in the weeks following free agency.
In this mock draft we will be projecting what we expect teams to do as opposed to what they should do in terms of best player available or fit. Teams often buck conventional thought or the consensus and follow their own draft boards. NFL franchises have entire scouting departments dedicated to identifying the top prospects and top team fits, so we can only make educated projections as to what direction each individual team may be looking to follow.
This is a talented draft class with elite level talent at virtually every position but tight end. The NFL Combine really opened some eyes in this regard, as an already deep class proved to be much deeper than many had originally thought. Let’s dig in.