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USATSI

I always prefer to draft in the middle of a snake draft in Fantasy Football. Drafting in the middle allows you to better adjust to the flow of a draft. If there's a run on a certain position and that tier of players at said position is running low, it's good to be in the middle. But not all drafts go according to plan! And that may be the greatest lesson to take away. When we settled in to do a 12-team pick-by-pick draft series, I was unlucky enough to get saddled with the 12th pick overall. 

No reason to worry. There is plenty to like in this specific draft season about getting the last pick of the first round and the first pick of the second round. In this player pool, once you get through the middle of round one, some would argue that a cluster of players worthy of going eighth overall are the same as those being selected 12th or 13th. However, I see a drop off when it comes to the players selected at the end of round two vs. the player you'll be able to grab at 13th overall with the first pick of Round 2.

So with all that said, maybe it's a good thing I didn't get lucky enough to grab a middle spot.

Below, we'll break down a 14-round, 12-team full PPR draft that I participated in with members of the Fantasy Football Today team. This is an outline that you can follow if you pick No. 12 overall in your league. The key is to study the strategy, not necessarily the players, to see if it works for you. 

As a reference point, all touchdowns in this league 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). 

First, we'll look at how my draft played out and then discuss some of the key takeaways below.

My draft from No. 12 overall

1.12: Nico Collins, WR, Texans
2.1 Amon-Ra Str. Brown, WR, Lions
3.12: Breece Hall, RB, Jets
4.1: Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Cardinals
5.12: Sam LaPorta, TE, Lions
6.1: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Chiefs
7:12: Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, Giants
8.1: Jayden Reed, WR, Packers 
9.12: Tank Bigsby, RB, Jaguars
10.1: Keon Coleman, WR, Bills
11.12: Rico Dowdle, RB, Panthers
12.1: Marvin Mims, WR, Broncos
13.12: Jack Bech, WR, Raiders 
14.1: DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Ravens 

In a Full-PPR scoring format, I love the idea of pairing Collins and ARSB together at the start. St. Brown has been one of the most consistent Fantasy contributors in PPR scoring, and the only reason I can see that he isn't being drafted earlier is the loss of play caller Ben Johnson. His rapport with Jared Goff far outweighs that loss. Collins is the best bet to breakout as a top-five Fantasy scorer after the surefire WR1s, given the advanced analytics on targets per route run, yards per route run, and the team context. After securing two PPR-heavy plays at receiver, I kept things going with Hall in the back end of Round 3. While some are down on Hall this season, his target numbers were fantastic in 2024 -- top-five among all running backs. And the data tells us targets are worth a lot more than carries at the running back position -- especially in PPR.

I didn't expect to draft a quarterback or tight end until much later, but the appeal of Mahomes in Round 6 and LaPorta in Round 5 -- just one year after both were coming off the board first at their respective positions in some drafts -- was too much for me to overcome. Both are on great offenses and have the chance to be weekly difference makers. Drafting these two also allowed me to skip backups at each position and load up on more of my favorite rookie fliers and talented handcuff running back bets.

Favorite pick: Patrick Mahomes 

It was a rough year for Mahomes in 2024 when he was expected to have a major bounceback, but just about everything that could go wrong for his supporting cast did. Marquise Brown went down in preseason, Rashee Rice was lost for the season after just three games, Isiah Pacheco got injured for most of the year, and Travis Kelce had the worst year of his career. Now, Xavier Worthy is entering the prime breakout season (Year 2), Rice is back, Pacheco is back, and the Chiefs have sought to upgrade their offensive line with first-round draft pick Josh Simmons. Mahomes' price tag is as cheap as it will ever be here -- round six! I love the value combined with the upside.

Pick I might regret: Breece Hall

While I loved picking Hall to close out Round 3, it's not lost on me that he carries risk. Hall was less effective and looked like he lost a step in 2024. The Jets offensive line is uncertain, and Justin Fields may steal red zone rushing touchdowns from Hall. His target share could also come down, moving from Aaron Rodgers to Fields (who is more likely to scramble than Rodgers was). 

Player who could make or break my team: Marvin Harrison Jr.

One year later, I grabbed Harrison two to three rounds after where he was going as a rookie. He'll have to make a massive jump in Year 2 and develop a rapport with Kyler Murray we didn't see in 2024. However, he still scored eight times as a rookie and remains one of the biggest one-on-one red zone threats in the game. If he reaches the double-digit touchdown mark in year two, I won't need much more from him to return value on a pick this late into the draft.