Ian Hartitz breaks down exactly how to attack a fantasy football draft from a late first round position, picks 1.09 through 1.12, then runs three full mock drafts from those spots to show what the finished rosters actually look like.
Ian Hartitz breaks down exactly how to attack a fantasy football draft from a late first round position, picks 1.09 through 1.12, then runs three full mock drafts from those spots to show what the finished rosters actually look like.
Using Yahoo ADP for the first five rounds in a full PPR league with two RBs and three WRs, the shape of the board at the turn is the whole story. Ian calls it the Great Wall of RBs: a few receivers go inside the first seven or eight picks, and then Cook, Jeanty, Achane, Walker and Henry come off the board in a run, with only a couple of receivers creeping into that range.
That is why he is happy to double-tap running back from these spots. Could Jefferson and Lamb boom and make it look silly? Sure. But one is not guaranteed a better quarterback situation than the one that made him a WR3 last season, and the other has a non-zero chance of being the second most productive receiver in his own offense. Give him James Cook, Saquon Barkley or Chase Brown instead.
Also covered: why Brock Bowers is a round 2 target rather than a pick at this turn, where Colston Loveland fits in the early part of round 4, the receiver values in rounds 3 and 4, and when a mid-round quarterback makes sense.
Then the three mocks: 1.09, the elite tight end build. James Cook and Chase Brown to open, Malik Nabers in round 3, then Colston Loveland at pick 40, with Kyler Murray waiting all the way until 136.
1.11, the hero RB build. Jonathan Taylor alone at running back early, then Justin Jefferson, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Mike Evans stacked up, with Rico Dowdle money-balling the RB2 spot and Isaiah Likely at tight end late.
1.12, the RB-RB build. Chase Brown and Saquon Barkley at the turn, three receivers behind them, and a more balanced middle-round approach at quarterback and tight end with Trevor Lawrence and Isaiah Likely. All three finished teams are shown side by side at the end.
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Timestamps:
0:00 The setup: drafting from 1.09 to 1.12
0:28 The draft board, Yahoo ADP rounds 1 to 5
0:46 The Great Wall of RBs
1:13 Why I'm off the receivers at the turn
2:40 Where Brock Bowers fits
4:26 Rounds 1 and 2: double-tap running back
5:02 Rounds 3 and 4: receivers, or Loveland
5:39 Rounds 5 and 6, and the moral of the story
7:39 If and then: where you go next
11:11 Mock draft 1, from the 1.09
21:53 Mock draft 2, from the 1.11
31:42 Mock draft 3, from the 1.12
39:50 All three teams compared