2017 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: When did Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook and Joe Mixon get picked in our latest 12-team PPR mock draft?

Our CBS Sports staff completed a 12-team PPR mock draft, and the rookie running backs are all the rage. We go over when Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook, Christian McCaffrey and Joe Mixon came off the board

By Jamey Eisenberg

Aug 24, 2017 at 2:11 pm ET • 3 min read

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We're all excited about the rookie running backs, and drafts are a good time to gauge their value. Here, in our latest 12-team PPR mock draft, Round 3 was very popular for the main four rookies.

The order they were selected was Christian McCaffrey at No. 26 overall, Leonard Fournette at No. 29, Dalvin Cook at No. 32 and then Joe Mixon at No. 34. We all want to draft upside, and these guys are oozing with it.

McCaffrey in PPR makes sense early in the third round, and he's been fantastic in the preseason. We did this mock draft prior to Week 3 of preseason action, and hopefully he finishes strong to ensure his status coming into the year.

Fournette hasn't been as fortunate as McCaffrey and is dealing with a foot injury, which hopefully won't linger. His draft stock is falling, and he's gone from a Round 2 selection to a mid-Round 3 pick. It doesn't help that the Jaguars quarterback situation is a mess with Blake Bortles and Chad Henne trying to prove who is better -- or worse.

Cook has seen his value rise, and he's worth drafting in the third round as well. Latavius Murray is expected to make his Vikings debut in the third preseason game after being out with an ankle injury, and hopefully he doesn't ruin Cook's upside. We would love to see Cook used in a featured role this season.

Of this group, Fantasy owners might be the most concerned about Mixon, who continues to work with the second team offense in Cincinnati behind Jeremy Hill. That shouldn't last long, and Mixon is easily the most talented running back for the Bengals.

You might have to be patient with Mixon until he gets the workload he deserves, but he's still worth drafting toward the end of Round 3 or beginning of Round 4. That was my pick, and I'm thrilled to draft him in this spot.

I drafted Mixon after starting my team at No. 10 overall with Michael Thomas and Melvin Gordon, and getting Gordon in Round 2 was a potential steal. I purposely passed on LeSean McCoy and Gordon to select Thomas with the expectation that I could draft a running back like Jay Ajayi, DeMarco Murray or Jordan Howard in Round 2, if not another receiver.

It worked out great, and I also got lucky with Tom Brady in Round 4. Now, I have three potential studs in Thomas, Gordon and Brady, as well a huge upside player in Mixon to start my team.

The rest of my roster is filled with solid options like Spencer Ware, Terrance West and Jonathan Williams at running back and Larry Fitzgerald, Tyrell Williams, Eric Decker and Donte Moncrief at receiver. I drafted Delanie Walker as my starting tight end, but I couldn't pass on Jack Doyle in Round 13 as a second tight end.

The key to this team could be Mixon. If he plays like I expect, which is a top-15 Fantasy running back, then my team should definitely compete for the Fantasy playoffs and potentially a championship.

In this league, 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 give one point for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, K, DST and a FLEX (RB/WR/TE). There will also be six reserve spots for a 15-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows: