Before you know it, it will be fantasy football draft time. During the next month or so, I will be conducting several mock drafts. During the drafts, I will pick in all 12 positions, with all sorts of scenarios.
As a rule, I prefer to draft three starting running backs within the first four rounds. It is a tried-and-true strategy, which has done me well for 20-plus years. The mock drafts I do will all assume 12 teams are in the league (unless otherwise noted) with the following positions: quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, tight end, a flex (running back, wide receiver or tight end), kicker, team defense and six bench spots. It is a 16-round snake draft.
Here is scenario No. 7. (See also: Scenario No. 1, Scenario No. 2, Scenario 3, Scenario 4, Scenario 5 and Scenario 6.)
I have the seventh overall pick; let’s see how it all works out. In this format, I am playing in a half-point-per-reception league (0.5 PPR), which means that every reception is worth a half (0.5) point.
You can see the entire draft by clicking here.
Here is my roster:
Round 1, Pick 7: Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
Round 2, Pick 6: Cam Akers, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Round 3, Pick 7: Allen Robinson II, WR, Chicago Bears
Round 4, Pick 6: CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Round 5, Pick 7: Kareem Hunt, RB, Cleveland Browns
Round 6, Pick 6: Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
Round 7, Pick 7: Robby Anderson, WR, Carolina Panthers
Round 8, Pick 6: Melvin Gordon III, RB, Denver Broncos
Round 9, Pick 7: Zack Moss, RB, Buffalo Bills
Round 10, Pick 6: Marquise Brown, WR, Baltimore Ravens
Round 11, Pick 7: Jamaal Williams, RB, Detroit Lions
Round 12, Pick 6: Mecole Hardman, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Round 13, Pick 7: Indianapolis Colts DST
Round 14, Pick 6: Justin Tucker, K, Baltimore Ravens
Round 15, Pick 7: Darrel Williams, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Round 16, Pick 6: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Some Observations:
My overall strategy in a half-PPR league is to treat it like a PPR league. You get a slight bonus for players who are double-digit touchdown players, but not enough to overhaul the rankings a bunch. Derrick Henry-type players may get an uptick in this format, for example.
Let’s go crazy, let’s get nuts!
I honestly do not know if I could ever do it in a draft, but what happens when you go tight end (Travis Kelce) in Round 1? To get him you must draft him in most situations anywhere from the seventh to 10th pick of Round 1, so at seven … I drafted TE1 Travis Kelce.
In Round 2, getting a top-12 running back in Cam Akers was fine, but in Round 3, I passed up David Montgomery and Myles Gaskin for Allen Robinson. I have my TE1, RB1 and WR1 through three rounds … time to get another back, right?
Well, you see what happened was CeeDee Lamb, everyone’s fantasy wide receiver riser, was staring me in the face … so this was a huge mistake, in my opinion. I like Lamb, but Dallas has so many mouths to feed, I’m not even sure he finishes as a top-20 WR in 2021. I passed on Robert Woods, DJ Moore and both of the aforementioned backs again.
In Round 5, I was sniped. I wanted Mike Davis but had to settle for Kareem Hunt. There’s nothing wrong with Hunt, but Nick Chubb is the main back in Cleveland.
Lamar Jackson in Round 6 is fine … upside is always there with Jackson.
I was able to draft Melvin Gordon, Zack Moss, Jamaal Williams and Damien Williams … all have questions but I have seen worse running back groups.
As far as receivers, I drafted Robby Anderson, Mecole Hardman and paired Marquise Brown with Jackson to round out that group.
I don’t hate this squad — but it’s not one of my favorites, either. If Kelce and Jackson are special again, the team has potential.
So what do you think of this team? Let me know at @FansFantasy.
Please try a mock yourself as practice makes perfect. You can mock in minutes by clicking here.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox
Ken Zalis ranked No. 3 in FantasyPros’ 2019 Fantasy Football Draft Accuracy Rankings.