The first step to any successful fantasy football season is having a game plan for your draft.
Whether you are 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 for the particular league. If your league does keepers, know how it works. Some leagues have wacky bonuses for big plays. It will pay dividends throughout the course of the season to know the rules before you draft.
Building depth is the ultimate goal in a fantasy football league. 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 your draft regardless of the type of league you are in. I will have mock drafts for each spot in a 12-team draft throughout the summer to help you prepare for your drafts.
For this exercise, we are following 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: Best player available. Christian McCaffrey is my No. 1 overall player, but receivers make up my next three picks this season. Tyreek Hill, Ja’Marr Chase and CeeDee Lamb are all strong foundations to any team.
Once those four are off the board, I feel comfortable returning to the running back group. There are four running backs I am comfortable taking in the first round: Breece Hall, Jonathan Taylor, Saquon Barkley and Bijan Robinson.
Round 2: Take a running back. If you didn’t take a back in the first round, it’s imperative to get one in Round 2 because the well goes dry quickly. If you did get one of the top guys, having a dynamic duo at running back gives you a leg up on the competition.
If you were in the top half of the first round and took one of the elite receivers, then Isiah Pacheco, Jahmyr Gibbs and Travis Etienne Jr. should be on your radar. Once the second round passes, there are a lot of question marks because of running back committees and the backs who have let us down in recent memory.
Round 3: Back to best player available. Don’t be afraid to triple down on running back if the board falls that way. If Rachaad White, Joe Mixon and De’Von Achane are high on your list, make one of them your RB2 or FLEX.
If you’re satisfied with your running back group, take the best pass-catcher — emphasis on pass-catcher. DK Metcalf, Stefon Diggs and Cooper Kupp are all strong options. Don’t forget about the tight ends, however. If you want one of the top guys, Sam LaPorta and Travis Kelce are going in this range so you will have to pay a premium to get one.
Round 4: Take your pick at wide receiver. The receiver position is so deep that you can afford to get three backs (or two backs and a tight end) and still land a quality receiver to build around. Some names that will likely still be available are Zay Flowers, George Pickens and Amari Cooper, 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 along with two receivers or a receiver-tight end combo.
Some quarterbacks such as Joe Burrow, Dak Prescott and Kyler Murray 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 for your top six players to set the foundation of your team and build depth in the event that a player in your top four picks does not pan out as expected, perhaps due to injury.
Rounds 7-8: Target high-upside players. I mentioned running back by committee earlier. Backs expected to take part in committees aren’t ideal in the early rounds because of the uncertainty. But at this point in the draft, don’t shy away from them. Some committees to keep tabs on in this range include the Commanders, Titans and Steelers.
There are several intriguing wide receivers to consider in this portion of the draft. Terry McLaurin, Christian Kirk and Courtland Sutton are all No. 1 options for their respective teams. 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, track how the rest of the league is shaping up. If a league mate drafted Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts early, for example, he or she is unlikely to take another quarterback. The same goes for those who took one of the top tight ends.
Last season, my top two targets in these rounds were Tua Tagovailoa and Evan Engram. Tagovailoa finished as QB9. Engram led all tight ends in receptions. That’s the kind of value we are looking for. Jayden Daniels and Dallas Goedert are just two examples of players.
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. Every year there is a preseason backup who ends up being a diamond in the rough and cracks the top 10. Kyren Williams is a perfect example of this.
Pay attention to rookie backs garnering a lot of attention during the preseason and stash them for later in the year. There is no elite running back prospect this year, but some rookies to keep an eye on come draft day are Jonathon Brooks, Trey Benson and Bucky Irving.
I have never been in favor of drafting a second quarterback, but last season we witnessed an epidemic of injuries at the position. That has me reconsidering my feelings on this approach. I’d rather have Deshaun Watson, Matthew Stafford or Geno Smith stashed on my roster than some of what was left at the end of the 2023 season.
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 is always the one person who breaks this rule for the top kicker or defense. That means more skill players will fall to you in these late rounds. Worst-case scenario, you drop them before Week 1 to pick up your kicker and defense.
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. Do not assume your favorite player is going to fall to you in any round. The best way to brace for the unknown is by doing as many mock drafts as possible. Good luck this season!
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