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USATSI

Our Fantasy Football Today Draft-A-Thon to raise money for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital isn't over yet, but we surpassed our goal and could set a new record. We aimed to raise at least $100,000, but as of August 15, we have surpassed $159,000 and are still counting.

Thank you so much to everyone who donated, and we greatly appreciate your generosity. You can continue to donate by visiting this link.

Part of the donations were participating in mock drafts with us, and we held our fourth 12-team, PPR mock draft this week. This draft had some interesting selections, including Josh Jacobs at No. 8 overall and Justin Jefferson falling to No. 11.

We know not every draft will follow the same blueprint, so I encourage you to check out the results. And three managers stood out with either their strategy or some intriguing selections.

For example, Billy Ward had the No. 12 spot, and he built a very balanced roster, including Nico Collins, Derrick Henry, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Omarion Hampton with his first four picks. But Ward waited on a tight end and ended up with Dallas Goedert with his last pick in Round 13. 

Ward indicated he liked how this worked out, and I agree. Goedert can be a serviceable starter, and Ward is loaded at running back and wide receiver, along with Bo Nix at quarterback.

"My strategy was to remain flexible and adapt to the players available at each pick," Ward said. "While I did ultimately select Dallas Goedert with my final pick, this wasn't a predetermined decision. My selections were primarily driven by the overall board and the best available players at the time."

Adam Hawn had the No. 9 pick, and he took a modified Zero-RB approach with Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr., Davante Adams and Joe Burrow with his first four picks. I like this start a lot, although I would have preferred Jefferson over Nabers in Round 1.

Hawn then started collecting his running backs with Aaron Jones in Round 5, Najee Harris in Round 7, Zach Charbonnet in Round 8, Jaydon Blue in Round 10, Ray Davis in Round 11 and Jarquez Hunter in Round 13. I didn't love Jones in Round 5 with Isiah Pacheco and David Montgomery on the board, but that's not a bad selection.

Hawn got great value with George Pickens in Round 6, but he might have been better off with Montgomery in that spot. And settling for Harris (eye) as the No. 2 running back isn't ideal, especially while he's injured, although I like the bench options with Charbonnet, Blue, Davis and Hunter.

"Aaron Jones is not cooked yet and is still the starting running back for a great offense, and Najee will have his share of the massive ground game that (Jim) Harbaugh loves to use," Hawn said. "I also really like my depth at running back while being strong at the other positions."

Finally, let's look at what Jose Martinez did at the No. 11 spot, and he got a gift with Jefferson in Round 1. Martinez followed that up with Puka Nacua in Round 2, Alvin Kamara in Round 3, James Cook in Round 4 and Jakobi Meyers in Round 5.

In Round 6, Martinez went with Joe Mixon (foot), who could be a huge difference maker if healthy. We don't know when he'll be cleared to return, but that could be a league-winning selection if Mixon is able to play in Week 1.

"I hope he can get back to his former self," Martinez said, who added he had Mixon on one of his Fantasy teams last year. "My hope is that he'll become his dominant force (as the season goes on)." 

I encourage you to check out all of the rosters in this league. And, again, thank you to everyone who has donated -- and hopefully will continue to donate -- to our Draft-A-Thon to benefit St. Jude.

As a reference point for this mock draft, 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, 2 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 13-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows:

1. Ryan Van Sickle

2. Vincent Giovannoni

3. Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports Senior Fantasy Writer

4. Geoffrey Braden

5. Chandler Burke

6. Christian Castillo

7. Jeffrey Cooperman

8. Marty Shapiro

9. Adam Hawn

10. Irvin Robles

11. Jose Martinez

12. Billy Ward