Fantasy Football Strategy: How to draft from No. 3 overall in PPR leagues; full results, favorite picks

If you're picking third overall, you should figure out your three favorite players before you draft. Ja'Marr Chase and Bijan Robinson are essentially considered the top-two players atop every PPR draft, followed by some combination of CeeDee Lamb, Jahmyr Gibbs, Christian McCaffrey, Justin Jefferson and Saquon Barkley.

Figuring out which three you love the most isn't that hard -- for me it's Robinson, Chase and then Gibbs.

Figuring out what to do after that first-round pick will be challenging. The format of your league will play into the decisions you make with those picks. The more receivers you have to start, and the more receptions count, the more likely you'll target at least one with your next two picks, if not both of your picks.

The problem is that everyone else who picks after you in Round 1 also picks before you in Round 2, and most of those nine Fantasy managers in a 12-team league will also take at least one wide receiver. Several will take two.

What do you do when you're up in Round 2 and there are too many non-wideouts staring you in the face? Simple: You take one of the non-wideouts -- even if you took a non-wideout in Round 1. Especially if you took the non-wideout in Round 1.

In our 12-team, three-WR, full-PPR mock, I had the third pick and the good fortune to see Chase and Lamb go first and second overall. I couldn't pass up Bijan Robinson at third overall.

But when I was up in Round 2, here's who was left:

Would you have ...

• taken the best-available running back because it was the best value, even in a three-WR league?
• taken the best-available receiver because it's a three-WR league, knowing it was a bit of a reach?
• taken the best-available quarterback knowing you could definitely get at least one of them in Round 3?

You'll see what I did in a second, but you should figure out how you'd answer these questions, especially if you take a running back with your early Round 1 pick.

My draft from the third pick:

1.03: Bijan Robinson
2.10: Chase Brown
3.03: Tee Higgins
4.10: Jalen Hurts
5.03: Jameson Williams
6.10: David Montgomery
7.03: Sam LaPorta
8.10: Kaleb Johnson
9.03: Jauan Jennings
10.10: Rashid Shaheed
11.03: Demario Douglas
12.10: Jared Goff
13.03: Dont'e Thornton
14.10: Brashard Smith

So let's talk about what I did in Rounds 2 and 3. The responsible pick in Round 2 would have been Higgins, but two factors kept me from taking him: One, I figured Jamey Eisenberg at Pick 1 wouldn't take Ja'Marr Chase and Higgins since it would have meant taking two Bengals with back-to-back picks. Two, I couldn't let Brown pass me by. I believe his upside is huge compared to every other non-quarterback on the board. And I couldn't dare take a quarterback in Round 2 because I knew that at least one would make it back to me in Round 3 ... not that I would have taken one anyway.

Maybe I got lucky, or maybe I had my league figured out, but Higgins fell into my lap in Round 3. Yeah, two Bengals with my first three picks isn't perfect, but if there's an NFL offense to buy into such a thing with, it's Cincy.

There were more tough decisions where I had to weigh value versus need, but I pretty much chose value every single time. That's because I know I can find help off waivers as the season rolls on and don't ever want to pass up great players. Hence the Hurts pick in Round 4 and the LaPorta pick in Round 7 when I could have used another receiver.

The Montgomery selection was another gamble like the one I made with Higgins in Round 2/3, but I lost that one. I wanted Keon Coleman but didn't think either drafter picking after me would take him. I was wrong when Eisenberg took Coleman in Round 6. I love the receiver but I had Montgomery ranked higher. That's one I wish I had back -- had I taken Coleman I could have taken Austin Ekeler in Round 9 instead of Jauan Jennings. Certainly would have liked that a little better than the Montgomery/Jennings duo I wound up with instead.

So what I did do was load up on receivers with upside to end the draft -- between Jennings, Rashid Shaheed, Demario Douglas and rookie Dont'e Thornton, I'll need to find one starter. Might not be pretty come Week 1 but I'll eventually find someone trustworthy. I like the challenge of that, especially since the rest of my team is pretty strong.

Favorite Pick: Jalen Hurts

One pick I have no regrets about is Hurts in late Round 4. He's a consensus top-five Fantasy quarterback who I landed at, dare I say, a more-than-fair value. I'm hoping he picks up the slack for what I'm lacking at the No. 3 receiver spot.

Pick I'm already regretting: David Montgomery

It's not that Montgomery is a bad choice. It's that I shouldn't have gambled that Coleman would make it back to me. Sometimes you have to just take the pick that best suits need, not value. Then again, if Montgomery scores a lot of touchdowns and Coleman stinks, I'll feel a lot better about this choice. Ultimately I created a headache for this team by not having a decent third receiver to start the season with. Time will tell if that headache is better than the headache you get for not having enough running back depth.

Player Who Could Make or Break My Team: Tee Higgins

We already saw Higgins fall to the ground in practice once this summer -- what if it happens during a game? Then my squad is really in trouble because of the lack of receiver depth I have. There's no doubt that my reliance on Higgins is huge this season. But it would probably stay this way even if I had taken him in the second round, or even if I had taken Coleman over Montgomery in the sixth round.