July is a quiet month in NFL circles. It’s the time of year when players, coaches and front office personnel enjoy some downtime before a grueling season.
That’s not the case for fantasy football managers. This is when you start prepping for your fantasy drafts.
Whether you’re in a 10-team standard league, a 12-team PPR or a 16-team Superflex format, having a leg up on your competition is crucial. The important thing to note before entering any draft is the rules to the particular league. If your league does keepers, know how it works. Some leagues have wacky bonuses for big plays. Don’t be afraid to take a player such as J.K Dobbins going into the season with an injury if you’re able to put them in an IR spot. It will pay dividends during the course of the season to know the rules before you draft.
The key to any fantasy draft is building depth. If you’re in a standard league, you want to target players who get a lot of work near the end zone. If it’s PPR or half-PPR, load up on high volume, pass-catching backs, wide receivers and tight ends. A Superflex league puts a bigger emphasis on quarterbacks.
This exercise is a round-by-round model of how you should approach a snake draft, regardless of the type of league you’re in. I’ll go over as many different strategies as possible with reasons for my decision-making.
Do a quick search around the internet and you’ll come across different strategies to start your draft. The Hero RB and Zero RB approach have become more popular in recent years, but I’m still a firm believer in getting as many elite running backs as possible and then filling your roster around them. Injuries are an unfortunate part of football, so having a roster with many backs is essential.
For this exercise, we are following your traditional league settings of a starting quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, one FLEX, a defense, kicker and six bench slots in a PPR format.
Now, let’s start building your championship-caliber fantasy team.
Round 1: Running back and running back only.
It doesn’t matter how many teams are in your league or your spot in the draft order, you have to exit the first round with a back. There are roughly 12-15 running backs that you can set and forget every week. While it’s tempting to grab one of the top wide receivers in the first round, every year we see a new receiver take the top spot. Cooper Kupp and Ja’Marr Chase weren’t on anyone’s radar in the first round a year ago.
Round 2: Double down at running back.
If you are drafting in the back half of the first round, you’re in prime position to build a strong foundation for your roster with two elite backs. Even if you drafted in the early to middle part of the first round, weekly starting caliber running backs run out quickly. God forbid your first-rounder (or second-rounder) goes down due to injury, you still have a bonafide stud running back you can count on each week.
Perennial standout wideouts — Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams to name a few — should be available if you’re adamant about going running back and receiver to start. They are as consistent as they come, even if the latter two are catching passes from new quarterbacks.
It’s hard to pass up on Travis Kelce because you can make an argument that he’s been the most consistent player in all of fantasy football at a position without much depth. With the major turnover at receiver in Kansas City, he’s the de facto No. 1 option for Patrick Mahomes.
Round 3: Call me crazy but if you can get yourself one more running back here, do it, for all the reasons mentioned above.
If you can come out of the first three rounds with say Dalvin Cook, Leonard Fournette and David Montgomery, you’ll be worry-free at the position.
With that said, don’t reach for a running back either. There is a significant drop-off at the position and plenty of reliable starting receivers available. If you feel you’ve missed the run on the top running backs, get your No. 1 wide receiver. I have more faith in Mike Evans and Keenan Allen than Antonio Gibson and Josh Jacobs. Does that mean I’m not taking Gibson or Jacobs in any of my leagues? Not necessarily. It all depends on how the rest of the league is approaching the draft.
You likely missed out on Travis Kelce at this point, but if you want an elite tight end such as Mark Andrews, Kyle Pitts or George Kittle, this is the round to do it. Otherwise, wait until the mid-to-late rounds to get your tight end.
Round 4: Take your pick at wide receiver.
The position is so deep that you can afford to get three backs (or two backs and a tight end) and still land a receiver to build around. Some names that will likely still be available are Terry McLaurin, Courtland Sutton and Brandin Cooks, all of whom should lead their team in receiving this season.
Rounds 5-6: Round out your starting skill position players.
At this point in the draft, you should have two backs and either two receivers or a WR/TE combo. The top-flight quarterbacks such as Josh Allen, Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson will start coming off the draft board here, if not earlier. Don’t fall into that trap. The objective here is to fill your FLEX with the best players available. In the NFL, you build around your quarterback. As you’ll see below, that’s not the case in fantasy. The goal here is to have your top six players be the foundation of your team.
Rounds 7-8: Target high-upside players.
Don’t be afraid to go after the elite handcuffs in this tier. Kareem Hunt, Tony Pollard and AJ Dillon would instantly become No. 1 backs if Nick Chubb, Ezekiel Elliott or Aaron Jones were to miss time. And the beauty of these three is each has value even if the starter is healthy. Hunt and Pollard get their share of touches in the passing game, and Dillon is a force near the goal line.
There are several intriguing wide receivers to consider in this portion of the draft. Gabriel Davis was phenomenal down the stretch last season. Drake London was the top receiver selected in the NFL Draft and recent history has shown that rookie receivers can make an immediate fantasy impact. Those of us in Baltimore are expecting Rashod Bateman to take on a heavy workload with Marquise Brown now in Arizona.
You can make a case for all three to finish as top-25 wideouts at a bargain, and this is just a short list of players who can outperform their preseason rankings. If one of your top six fails to live up to the hype, you still have two more players to fill the void.
Rounds 9-10: Grab your quarterback and tight end.
Again, keep tabs on how the rest of league is shaping up. If your league mate drafted Justin Herbert or Patrick Mahomes early, they’re unlikely to take another quarterback. Same goes for those who took one of the aforementioned tight ends. The difference in QB5 and QB11 last season was about 30 points. The same can nearly be said at tight end, where TE5 and TE15 were separated by roughly 40 points. Use this to your advantage.
If applicable, don’t be afraid to stack your quarterbacks with your No. 1 receiver. If you think Courtland Sutton will post huge numbers this season, pair him with Russell Wilson. Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr are fine fantasy quarterbacks you can land here.
Tight ends who should be available include Mike Gesicki, Irv Smith Jr. and Cole Kmet.
Rounds 11-14: Stockpile backup running backs.
I’m a firm believer that there is no such thing as too many running backs in fantasy. They are one injury away from being relevant. Alexander Mattison has posted huge numbers when Dalvin Cook has missed time. James Conner was sensational when Chase Edmonds went down with an injury last season. Chuba Hubbard got significant playing time as a result of Christian McCaffrey missing much of the year. Every year, a preseason backup ends up being a diamond in the rough and cracks the top 10.
Pay attention to rookie backs garnering a lot of attention during the preseason and stash them for later in the year. We saw the likes of Javonte Williams and Michael Carter became fantasy relevant as the campaign progressed. Some rookies to keep an eye on come draft day are James Cook, Dameon Pierce and Tyler Allgeier.
Don’t feel the need to select a fifth or sixth wide receiver with no upside in these later rounds that you’ll likely never play. There’s no sense of wasting a roster spot on Robbie Anderson or Marvin Jones if you already have Keenan Allen, Terry McLaurin, Courtland Sutton and Rashod Bateman. Even in the event of multiple players on their bye, there will be a formidable option on the waiver wire to spot start that week. Anderson or Jones is not going to warrant much, if anything, on the trade market. I’d rather take my chances with one of the rookie backs getting significant work.
If there is a late-round quarterback or tight end you want to take a flier on, this is the time to do so. Second-year quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance and Justin Fields all figure to post solid fantasy numbers because of their rushing prowess and expected progression as passers.
If you’re not feeling confident about your tight end situation, some breakout candidates to consider are Albert Okwuegbunam and Adam Trautman. You can simply dump them after a couple weeks if they don’t pan out.
Rounds 15-16: If you must draft a defense and kicker to close out your draft, do so with the final two picks.
Never, ever draft them any earlier. There’s always the one person that breaks this rule for the top kicker or defense. That means more skill players will fall to you in these late rounds.
Continue to load up on as many players as possible if you’re not required to draft a kicker and defense. If you so happen to have a surplus of running backs, you can always flip them for a top receiver or tight end as you make your playoff push. Worst-case scenario, you drop them before Week 1 to pick up your kicker and defense.
Recap
If you’ve followed this course of action, you have a top-12 quarterback and maybe a backup with upside; six or seven running backs; four wide receivers; a tight end or two, and your defense and kicker (if necessary) to round out your roster.
It’s all about upside throughout the draft, so pay attention to the news coming out of training camps. If you’re drafting in early August, keep an eye out for any injury news and act accordingly. Be active before the season starts. Read anything and everything related to the NFL. The more you know, the better.
There are millions of scenarios that are possible come draft day. Make sure to have a backup plan to your backup plan. If you know ahead of time where you’re slotted in the draft order, prepare every possible outcome. Don’t assume your favorite player is going to fall to you in any round. If you don’t know where you’ll be until an hour before the start of the draft, it’s even more crucial to have an idea of who will and will not be available in particular rounds. The best way to brace yourself for the unknown is by doing as many mock drafts as possible and you can do so in seconds by clicking here.
If you have any questions or just want to talk fantasy in general, feel free to reach out on Twitter (@JoeSerp) and I will be happy to offer advice.
Good luck this season!
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