The NFL preseason kicks off tonight with the Hall of Fame Game, and just like the players on the field, the key to any successful season is preparation.
The same can be said for fantasy football. Whether you have the first overall pick or the last of the first round, having a sense of who will be available in each round is key.
I will be doing mock drafts throughout the summer, offering scenarios and feedback for each position, starting with the No. 1 pick. The point of these mocks is to prepare for the unexpected.
The mock drafts will assume that 12 teams are in the league with the following roster construction: quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, tight end, a flex (running back, wide receiver or tight end), defense, kicker and seven bench spots. It is a 16-round snake draft in a half-point-per-reception (half-PPR) league. We will mix in 10- and 16-team drafts at some point as well as a Superflex draft.
If you read my draft guide, you know I am not a fan of drafting kickers and defense if it’s not necessary. I would rather add a few running backs who could end up being a starter in case of an injury. However, for the sake of this exercise, I will round out each draft by doing so. Remember, do not draft either before your final two picks!
Most important of all, be creative with your mock drafts. Do not take the same players in every mock. Your favorite sleeper is probably someone else’s, too.
The draft is just the start of the season. If you are drafting early, work the waiver wire to your advantage if any major injuries arise. If you are a fantasy nerd like me, make sure to turn on notifications from your favorite NFL insider for breaking news around the league. But the draft is where you build the foundation of your roster, and the goal is to have as deep a roster as possible.
We have reached the middle of the first round with the seventh pick with a lot more fantasy analysis upcoming.
(See also: No. 1 pick, No. 2 pick, No. 3 pick, No. 4 pick, No. 5 pick, No. 6 pick, Superflex)
Here is my roster:
Round 1, Pick 7: Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens
Round 2, Pick 6: A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
Round 3, Pick 7: Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
Round 4, Pick 6: DJ Moore, WR, Chicago Bears
Round 5, Pick 7: Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Carolina Panthers
Round 6, Pick 6: Tony Pollard, RB, Tennessee Titans
Round 7, Pick 7: Jordan Addison, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Round 8, Pick 6: Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Round 9, Pick 7: Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Round 10, Pick 6: Tucker Kraft, TE, Green Bay Packers
Round 11, Pick 7: Trey Benson, RB, Arizona Cardinals
Round 12, Pick 6: Jaylen Wright, RB, Miami Dolphins
Round 13, Pick 7: Roschon Johnson, RB, Chicago Bears
Round 14, Pick 6: Tahj Brooks, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Round 15, Pick 7: Detroit Lions D/ST
Round 16, Pick 6: Ka’imi Fairbairn, K, Houston Texans
Observations:
Let’s get a little weird with the seventh pick. I have Derrick Henry ranked as my RB2 and No. 6 player overall. The consensus has him at an average draft position (ADP) of 12, according to FantasyPros. If it wasn’t for Saquon Barkley’s terrific 2025 season, all the hype would have been around Henry flirting with 2,000 yards. He finished with 1,921 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns to finish as RB3 last year. Some experts are saying this is the year he begins to slow down, but he is essentially guaranteed to rush for 1,500 yards and double-digit touchdowns. You don’t get that from anyone else in the league.
An abundance of receiver options were available in the second round. A.J. Brown missed four games last year and still racked up more than 1,000 receiving yards for an Eagles offense that led the league in rushing. Philadelphia had one of the easiest strength of schedules last season and Barkley was the beneficiary. The schedule is much more difficult this year, so expect the Eagles’ passing game to take a step forward.
Now let’s get really crazy. The Ravens will be one of the league’s best offenses once again. They led the league in total yards and finished third in scoring, averaging 30.5 points per game. That’s essentially four touchdowns per game. It is realistic to think there will be four scores between Lamar Jackson and Henry every week. It’s an unconventional approach to roster a quarterback and running back from the same team, but we are talking about the two best at their position.
Five of my next six picks were receivers. Tony Pollard was the lone running back selected to pair with Henry in what some might call a Hero RB build. All five receivers — DJ Moore, Tetairoa McMillan, Jordan Addison, Ricky Pearsall and Josh Downs — are at worst WR2s for any team. Moore, McMillan and Pearsall are each the top wideouts for their respective teams and have WR1 potential.
I have often made note of the abundance of tight ends and quarterbacks in the late rounds. I am targeting Tucker Kraft often after he finished as TE9 last year. The Packers’ receivers are hard to rank, as they have five guys who will rotate at the position. Kraft is the one player who will consistently be on the field in passing situations.
There are only two running backs on the roster through 10 rounds, so I focused on hoarding as many lottery-ticket backs as possible the rest of the way. Trey Benson was one of the top backs in last year’s draft class, and James Conner has been injury-prone throughout his career. Jaylen Wright and Roschon Johnson are the backup running backs for teams that use two backs often. You will have to search deep to find Tahj Brooks in the rankings, but his ADP will rise in the coming weeks with the Bengals releasing Zack Moss.
I am a fan of those four backs, but the lack of starting-caliber running backs on this squad is concerning. An injury to Henry or Pollard would leave me with one reliable starter. I should have taken another back in the middle rounds. I do like this roster otherwise, with the Ravens’ duo anchoring the team and the depth at receiver.
What do you think of this roster? Let’s discuss on Twitter @JoeSerp.
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Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox