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USATSI

Would you believe it took over 50 Fantasy drafts for me to select Travis Kelce in Round 1? I'm thrilled it finally happened heading into Labor Day weekend, when many of you are doing your real drafts for this season. A lot of you question if you can build a great roster around a tight end in Round 1, and the answer is yes.

We held this 12-team, PPR mock draft on Friday, and I had the No. 7 overall pick. I actually haven't had many draft spots in the middle of the first round, and when I did, my selections were usually one of Bijan Robinson, Tyreek Hill or Cooper Kupp.

Since Kupp (more on him later) should no longer be a first-round pick, and Hill and Robinson went right in front of me, I finally got Kelce. And I loved the way this team turned out.

Davante Adams isn't my ideal choice in Round 2, but he was my highest-ranked player on the board. And I got lucky that Joe Mixon fell to Round 3, so now I had a top-tier wide receiver and running back to go with Kelce, which is ideal.

I had a tough choice to make in Round 4 with Dameon Pierce vs. another receiver like DeAndre Hopkins, Diontae Johnson, Jahan Dotson or Drake London, and I went for the best-player available in Pierce. The reason that matters is because we start three receivers in this league, and so far I only had Adams

I stuck with the best-player available theme in Round 5 with Justin Herbert, and I like the idea of getting advantages at quarterback and tight end when available. And Herbert has top-three upside this year.

I made it a priority to focus on receiver next, and I drafted George Pickens (Round 6), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Round 8) and Elijah Moore (Round 9) with three of my next four picks. Cam Akers was my selection in Round 7, and he can be my flex, along with Moore.

My reserves are also Roschon Johnson and Ty Chandler at running back, along with Marvin Mims, Nathaniel Dell and Tyler Boyd at receiver. If this receiving corps holds up then this team should be a playoff-caliber roster.

Now, as for Kupp, this is the first draft we've done since he suffered a setback with his hamstring. He was still drafted in Round 2 at No. 14 overall, and that's too soon for me. He was drafted ahead of Tony Pollard, A.J. Brown, Garrett Wilson and Adams, and I'd rather have all of those guys.

We don't know when Kupp, 30, will return to action, and now you have to worry about his health all year. The earliest I would draft Kupp is the back half of Round 2.

One thing to note about this mock draft was who drafted with us. As part of our Draft-A-Thon to raise money for St. Jude, we auctioned off two spots in this draft, and I wanted to see how each of those teams turned out.

Stephen Hauser had the No. 6 overall pick, and he started his team with Robinson. I love what he did next by drafting three receivers in a row with DeVonta Smith, Amari Cooper and DeAndre Hopkins, and then he got Joe Burrow in Round 5 and Dallas Goedert in Round 6. He then went back to focusing on his running backs with D'Andre Swift in Round 7 and Dalvin Cook in Round 8, and this Hero RB build should work out well.

Matt Gremo had the No. 9 overall pick, and he started with back-to-back receivers of Stefon Diggs and A.J. Brown. He then selected two of my favorite running backs in Jahmyr Gibbs and J.K. Dobbins, and I love this balanced start. He also has James Conner as a flex option, Michael Thomas as his No. 3 receiver, Deshaun Watson at quarterback and Evan Engram at tight end. This should be a competitive roster in this league.

In this league, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award one point for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows:

1. Thomas Shafer, FFT Podcast Producer
2. Robert Thomas, FFT Facebook Moderator
3. Joel Cox, CBS Sports VP Business Development
4. Adam Aizer, FFT Podcast Host
5. Zach Brook, FFT Social Media Coordinator
6. Stephen Hauser, St. Jude donation entry
7. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer
8. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer
9. Matt Gremo, St. Jude donation entry
10. Heath Cummings, Senior Fantasy Writer
11. R.J. White, Managing Editor, SportsLine and CBS Fantasy
12. Chris Towers, Senior Editor, Fantasy Sports

Round By Round
Round 1
Pos Team Player
1 Dave Richard
2 Adam Aizer
3 Heath Cummings
4 Chris Towers
5 Jamey Eisenberg
6 Rob Thomas
7 R.J. White
8 Zach Brook
9 Matt Gremo
10 Joel Cox
11 Stephen Hauser
12 Thomas Shafer
Round 2
Pos Team Player
13 Thomas Shafer
14 Stephen Hauser
15 Joel Cox
16 Matt Gremo
17 Zach Brook
18 R.J. White
19 Rob Thomas
20 Jamey Eisenberg
21 Chris Towers
22 Heath Cummings
23 Adam Aizer
24 Dave Richard
Round 3
Pos Team Player
25 Dave Richard
26 Adam Aizer
27 Heath Cummings
28 Chris Towers
29 Jamey Eisenberg
30 Rob Thomas
31 R.J. White
32 Zach Brook
33 Matt Gremo
34 Joel Cox
35 Stephen Hauser
36 Thomas Shafer
Round 4
Pos Team Player
37 Thomas Shafer
38 Stephen Hauser
39 Joel Cox
40 Matt Gremo
41 Zach Brook
42 R.J. White
43 Rob Thomas
44 Jamey Eisenberg
45 Chris Towers
46 Heath Cummings
47 Adam Aizer
48 Dave Richard
Round 5
Pos Team Player
49 Dave Richard
50 Adam Aizer
51 Heath Cummings
52 Chris Towers
53 Jamey Eisenberg
54 Rob Thomas
55 R.J. White
56 Zach Brook
57 Matt Gremo
58 Joel Cox
59 Stephen Hauser
60 Thomas Shafer
Round 6
Pos Team Player
61 Thomas Shafer
62 Stephen Hauser
63 Joel Cox
64 Matt Gremo
65 Zach Brook
66 R.J. White
67 Rob Thomas
68 Jamey Eisenberg
69 Chris Towers
70 Heath Cummings
71 Adam Aizer
72 Dave Richard
Round 7
Pos Team Player
73 Dave Richard
74 Adam Aizer
75 Heath Cummings
76 Chris Towers
77 Jamey Eisenberg
78 Rob Thomas
79 R.J. White
80 Zach Brook
81 Matt Gremo
82 Joel Cox
83 Stephen Hauser
84 Thomas Shafer
Round 8
Pos Team Player
85 Thomas Shafer
86 Stephen Hauser
87 Joel Cox
88 Matt Gremo
89 Zach Brook
90 R.J. White
91 Rob Thomas
92 Jamey Eisenberg
93 Chris Towers
94 Heath Cummings
95 Adam Aizer
96 Dave Richard
Round 9
Pos Team Player
97 Dave Richard
98 Adam Aizer
99 Heath Cummings
100 Chris Towers
101 Jamey Eisenberg
102 Rob Thomas
103 R.J. White
104 Zach Brook
105 Matt Gremo
106 Joel Cox
107 Stephen Hauser
108 Thomas Shafer
Round 10
Pos Team Player
109 Thomas Shafer
110 Stephen Hauser
111 Joel Cox
112 Matt Gremo
113 Zach Brook
114 R.J. White
115 Rob Thomas
116 Jamey Eisenberg
117 Chris Towers
118 Heath Cummings
119 Adam Aizer
120 Dave Richard
Round 11
Pos Team Player
121 Dave Richard
122 Adam Aizer
123 Heath Cummings
124 Chris Towers
125 Jamey Eisenberg
126 Rob Thomas
127 R.J. White
128 Zach Brook
129 Matt Gremo
130 Joel Cox
131 Stephen Hauser
132 Thomas Shafer
Round 12
Pos Team Player
133 Thomas Shafer
134 Stephen Hauser
135 Joel Cox
136 Matt Gremo
137 Zach Brook
138 R.J. White
139 Rob Thomas
140 Jamey Eisenberg
141 Chris Towers
142 Heath Cummings
143 Adam Aizer
144 Dave Richard
Round 13
Pos Team Player
145 Dave Richard
146 Adam Aizer
147 Heath Cummings
148 Chris Towers
149 Jamey Eisenberg
150 Rob Thomas
151 R.J. White
152 Zach Brook
153 Matt Gremo
154 Joel Cox
155 Stephen Hauser
156 Thomas Shafer
Round 14
Pos Team Player
157 Thomas Shafer
158 Stephen Hauser
159 Joel Cox
160 Matt Gremo
161 Zach Brook
162 R.J. White
163 Rob Thomas
164 Jamey Eisenberg
165 Chris Towers
166 Heath Cummings
167 Adam Aizer
168 Dave Richard
Team by Team
Dave Richard
Rd Pk Player
1 1
2 24
3 25
4 48
5 49
6 72
7 73
8 96
9 97
10 120
11 121
12 144
13 145
14 168
Adam Aizer
Rd Pk Player
1 2
2 23
3 26
4 47
5 50
6 71
7 74
8 95
9 98
10 119
11 122
12 143
13 146
14 167
Heath Cummings
Rd Pk Player
1 3
2 22
3 27
4 46
5 51
6 70
7 75
8 94
9 99
10 118
11 123
12 142
13 147
14 166
Chris Towers
Rd Pk Player
1 4
2 21
3 28
4 45
5 52
6 69
7 76
8 93
9 100
10 117
11 124
12 141
13 148
14 165
Jamey Eisenberg
Rd Pk Player
1 5
2 20
3 29
4 44
5 53
6 68
7 77
8 92
9 101
10 116
11 125
12 140
13 149
14 164
Rob Thomas
Rd Pk Player
1 6
2 19
3 30
4 43
5 54
6 67
7 78
8 91
9 102
10 115
11 126
12 139
13 150
14 163
R.J. White
Rd Pk Player
1 7
2 18
3 31
4 42
5 55
6 66
7 79
8 90
9 103
10 114
11 127
12 138
13 151
14 162
Zach Brook
Rd Pk Player
1 8
2 17
3 32
4 41
5 56
6 65
7 80
8 89
9 104
10 113
11 128
12 137
13 152
14 161
Matt Gremo
Rd Pk Player
1 9
2 16
3 33
4 40
5 57
6 64
7 81
8 88
9 105
10 112
11 129
12 136
13 153
14 160
Joel Cox
Rd Pk Player
1 10
2 15
3 34
4 39
5 58
6 63
7 82
8 87
9 106
10 111
11 130
12 135
13 154
14 159
Stephen Hauser
Rd Pk Player
1 11
2 14
3 35
4 38
5 59
6 62
7 83
8 86
9 107
10 110
11 131
12 134
13 155
14 158
Thomas Shafer
Rd Pk Player
1 12
2 13
3 36
4 37
5 60
6 61
7 84
8 85
9 108
10 109
11 132
12 133
13 156
14 157