Before you know it, it will be fantasy football draft time. During the next few weeks, 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 two starting running backs within the first four rounds. It is a tried-and-true strategy, which has done me well for 25-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. So, it is a 16-round snake draft.
Here is scenario No. 6. (See Also: No. 1 pick, No. 2 pick, No. 3 pick, No. 4 pick, No. 5 pick)
I have the sixth overall pick; let’s see how it all works out. In this format, we are playing in a half-point-per-reception league (Half-PPR), meaning every reception is worth a half-point.
You can see the entire draft by clicking here.
Here is my roster:
Round 1, Pick 6: Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions
Round 2, Pick 7: Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Round 3, Pick 6: Rashee Rice, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Round 4, Pick 7: Jaylen Waddle, WR, Denver Broncos
Round 5, Pick 6: Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Round 6, Pick 7: Bhayshul Tuten, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Round 7, Pick 6: Tucker Kraft, TE, Green Bay Packers
Round 8, Pick 7: Michael Wilson, WR, Arizona Cardinals
Round 9, Pick 6: Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Round 10, Pick 7: Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Round 11, Pick 6: Jalen Coker, WR, Carolina Panthers
Round 12, Pick 7: Houston Texans Defense
Round 13, Pick 6: Brandon Aubrey, K, Dallas Cowboys
Round 14, Pick 7: Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions
Round 15, Pick 6: Deebo Samuel, WR, Free Agent
Round 16, Pick 7: Ray Davis, RB, Buffalo Bills
Some observations:
A QB-WR stack and handcuffs! My team looks like this by position:
1 QB
6 RB
6 WR
1 TE
1 K
1 DEF
In my opinion, this is about where you want to be after a draft — deep at running back and wide receiver, with a solid quarterback and tight end and top-level kicker and defense.
I keep saying it, but Jared Goff is criminally undervalued in fantasy. Last year, he finished as QB10 with 21.5 points per game. He was only a half-point per game away from QB7. Getting him in Round 14 is amazing value — seven rounds later than Dak Prescott went. Stacking Goff with Amon-Ra St. Brown makes this even better.
Speaking of ARSB, I took him over Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
At tight end, Tucker Kraft was on his way to a top-five finish last year before the knee injury. He is in a tier of his own as TE5 in 2026, just ahead of Kyle Pitts for me. I think this year getting one of the top five tight ends is probably the way to go.
Wide receiver is deep on this team. I didn’t plan on handcuffing the Tampa Bay and Jacksonville backfields, but the board took me in that direction and I am OK with it, especially in Tampa Bay. Handcuffing is never a terrible idea. James Cook owners should probably take Ray Davis at some point.
What do you think? Let me know by leaving a comment or contacting me on Twitter @KZfansfantasy.
You can sign up for a free mock draft simulator by clicking here. Practice makes perfect!
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox