QUINIX Sport News: Fantasy Football Superflex Mock Draft: Mahomes is slightly risky in Round 1 but could bounce back in 2025

Quarterback is going to be an interesting position to draft this season for Fantasy managers. It’s deep, as always, but there appears to be a clear top six quarterbacks heading into training camp.

Those six are Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes. That was the order they were selected in our recent 12-team, Superflex mock draft featuring members of our CBS Sports staff. And they were the only six quarterbacks drafted in Round 1.

In this format, you should target one of those six quarterbacks if you can. The top five of Allen, Jackson, Daniels, Burrow, and Hurts have huge upside and are coming off strong seasons in 2024. All five should be special again this year.

Mahomes was disappointing last season, but he could bounce back with a standout receiving corps if Rashee Rice (knee) is healthy and Marquise Brown can play a full year. Xavier Worthy closed his rookie campaign on a high note, and Travis Kelce decided to forgo retirement to play again in 2025.

Mahomes is somewhat risky in Round 1, but he’s safer than the rest of the field. And once you get past those six quarterbacks, there is a large group of guys who are in the discussion to come off the board next.

Here, we had Bo Nix, Brock Purdy, Baker Mayfield, and Caleb Williams all get drafted in Round 2. Jared Goff, Kyler Murray, and Dak Prescott were selected in Round 3. And Jordan Love, Justin Fields, Justin Herbert, and Trevor Lawrence were drafted in Round 4.

You can make a strong argument for all 11 to be considered top 12 quarterbacks this year. I have Mayfield, Prescott, Williams, Nix, Goff, and Murray as the next six after Mahomes, but I also love the upside for Fields, Purdy, and Lawrence.

In a one-quarterback league, it’s not a bad idea to wait on the position given the depth. You can do the same in this format, but we know Fantasy managers in Superflex leagues like to get two quarterbacks early.

Three managers here drafted two quarterbacks in the first three rounds, including me. I selected Burrow at No. 5 overall and Goff in Round 3. I also drafted Sam Darnold in Round 10, and I like this trio of passers for this league.

Quarterback is one of the strengths on this team, along with my running backs. I drafted Christian McCaffrey in Round 2, Kenneth Walker III in Round 5, and TreVeyon Henderson in Round 7. I’m counting on McCaffrey to rebound in 2025, Walker should once again be a standout Fantasy option in Seattle and Henderson has top-20 upside in his rookie campaign with the Patriots.

I also have Jordan Mason and Roschon Johnson for depth, and I like this group a lot, especially Mason. He’s one of my favorite sleepers this season now that he’s the backup to Aaron Jones in Minnesota.

My receiving corps isn’t as strong as I would like with a starting trio of Tee Higgins, Travis Hunter, and Chris Olave. My reserves are Deebo Samuel, Keon Coleman, and Wan’Dale Robinson, and this could be a volatile group.

Higgins is a stud, and I love pairing him with Burrow. And there’s plenty of upside with Hunter, Olave, and Coleman, especially Hunter if he spends most of his time on offense during his rookie campaign in Jacksonville. Samuel will hopefully bounce back now that he’s in Washington, and Robinson is a good late-round flier in any PPR format.

I waited on a tight end and ended up with Mark Andrews in Round 12, and I love that value. While he was touchdown-dependent in 2024, he still has top-10 upside, and here he was drafted after Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland, which could be a mistake to take the rookies ahead of Andrews.

The success of this team likely hinges on my quarterbacks, and I expect Burrow, Goff, and Darnold to be a top trio. It’s going to be fun drafting quarterbacks this year, and I like having strong starters in a Superflex league.

As a reference point for this mock draft, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award one point for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, FLEX (RB/WR/TE), and Superflex (QB/RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 15-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows:

1. Adam Aizer, FFT Podcast Host
2. Jake Ignaszewski, FFT Social Media Coordinator
3. Robert Thomas, FFT Facebook Moderator
4. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer
5. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer
6. Thomas Shafer, FFT Podcast Producer
7. Dan Schneier, Senior Fantasy Editor
8. Tommy Tran, CBS Sports HQ Host
9. R.J. White, Managing Editor, SportsLine and CBS Fantasy
10. Meron Berkson, CBS Sports HQ Producer
11. Joel Cox, CBS Sports VP Business Development
12. Heath Cummings, Senior Fantasy Writer