Think you got the short end by landing with the 11th pick in your 12 team half point per reception (PPR) draft? No worries. What you lose in round 1, you make up for in excellent options in round 2. In round 1, Get Joe Mixon or Stephon Diggs to give yourself a foundational running back (RB) or wide receiver (WR). In round 2, you can get legendary tight end (TE) Travis Kelce. If you miss out on Kelce, you can still get DeAndre Swift or Alvin Kamara. In round 3, we like AJ Brown, Kyle Pitts or DJ Moore.
Round 1 Pick 11: Ja’Marr Chase (Yahoo ADP 9.1), Najee Harris (Yahoo ADP 8.9): get one of them if they fall to this spot
Joe Mixon (Yahoo ADP 10.7): Joe Mixon has a secure three down role with his team, the Cincinnati Bengals. For a few years, the overall Cincinnati offense was pretty pedestrian. But with the addition of Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase over the last two years the offense has taken off. All that stands between Mixon and anther top 3 RB overall season like last year is health.
Stephon Diggs (Yahoo ADP: 12.7): Stephon Diggs is the alpha WR in the elite Buffalo Bills offense led by QB Josh Allen. He finished as overall WR7 last year. This year figures to be no different. A top 5-10 overall finish at WR beckons.
Other targets: DeAndre Swift (Yahoo ADP: 18.2)
Round 2 Pick 14: Stephon Diggs (Yahoo ADP 12.7), Joe Mixon (Yahoo ADP 10.7): Get them here if available
Travis Kelce (Yahoo ADP 16.7): Travis Kelce offers one of the biggest competitive advantages for fantasy teams – he performs at a WR1 level from the anemic tight end (TE) position. He is 32 now, but has shown no signs of slowing down. Barring injury, we expect another superlative season from Kelce, especially since fellow target competition Tyreek Hill is no longer a part of the Kansas City Chiefs.
DeAndre Swift (Yahoo ADP: 18.2): DeAndre Swift is the starting RB for the Detroit Lions and is also their primary receiving back. In these two roles, he gets plenty of opportunity to produce elite RB seasons. This is what happened in the first 11 games of last season, when he was at RB7 overall. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury limited him to just one more game the rest of the year. Fully healthy this year, we expect another RB5-10 overall season from Swift.
Alvin Kamara (Yahoo ADP: 22.2): Alvin Kamara is a perennial fantasy stud as his receiving utilisation is only matched by Christian McCaffery in the entire NFL. Only playing in 12 games, he finished at RB11 overall last year and was RB1 the year before that. If he plays his full complement of games, we expect a top 5 RB finish for Kamara. Unfortunately for Kamara, a cloud hangs over his season due to his involvement in a brawl over Pro Bowl last weekend. This could result in the NFL suspending him for a few games. From what we know so far, it looks like the discipline will happen next season instead of this one, so he is worth the risk to draft him here.
Other targets:
Cee Dee Lamb (Yahoo ADP: 17.8), Leonard Fournette (Yahoo ADP: 20)
Round 3 Pick 35: Keenan Allen (Yahoo ADP 30.2), Ezekiel Elliott (Yahoo ADP 29.9), Tee Higgins (Yahoo ADP 30.3): get one of them if available
AJ Brown (Yahoo ADP 34): AJ Brown is one of the top 5 WRs in the NFL on talent alone. Unfortunately for him, he was stuck on the run first Tennessee Titans over the last few years, which depressed his fantasy value. That has changed this year, with his move to the more pass heavy Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles paid AJ a lot of money to bring him into a featured role. Fantasy managers should expect a WR1 fantasy finish from him, with top 5 overall upside.
Kyle Pitts (Yahoo ADP 39.4): Kyle Pitts was the highest drafted TE in NFL history, picked at number 4 overall by the Atlanta Falcons last year. Much was not expected of his first season, but he still finished as TE5 overall. We’re expecting him to take a major step forward this year. If that happens, he should be able to provide WR2 level of performance from the TE position, which will give his managers a major positional advantage.
DJ Moore (Yahoo ADP 41.2): DJ Moore is still stuck in a ho-hum offense for WRs, the terrible Carolina Panthers team. But his talent has still helped him put together WR2 seasons each of the past three years, along with more than 1100 yards receiving. Expect the same this year as well. The return of Christian McCaffery and addition of Baker Mayfield should help Moore’s production some, but the overall expectation should be high end WR2 performance.
Round 4 Pick 38:
Kyle Pitts (Yahoo ADP: 39.4), DJ Moore (Yahoo ADP: 41.2): If one of them are available, prioritise them
Breece Hall (Yahoo ADP: 41.7): The New York Jets want to run more to improve their offense. They tried a committee of Michael Carter and Tevin Coleman last year, which did not work out. As a result they have upgraded their run game by drafting Breece Hall with a high second round pick this year. The team has also made investments in the offensive line. While Carter still remains with the team and is nominal starting RB for the Jets to begin the season, we expect Hall to ultimately take over as lead back. This should provide him enough volume of work to finish in the RB2 range by the end of the season.
Other targets: Jaylen Waddle (Yahoo ADP 43.6), Terry McLaurin (Yahoo ADP: 44.1)
Round 5 Pick 59: Courtland Sutton (Yahoo ADP 53.3), JK Dobbins (Yahoo ADP 56.1), DK Metcalf (Yahoo ADP 55): If you find one of them here, prioritise them
AJ Dillon (Yahoo ADP 62.2): The Green Bay Packers are expected to rely even more heavily on their 1-2 punch of RBs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon this year due to the departure of superstar WR Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders. Since Dillon is the 1B in this offense, we’re expecting an RB2 range finish for him, just like last year, when he finished at RB22 overall. In addition, Dillon possesses top 5 RB1 upside were Jones to get injured.
Round 6 Pick 62: AJ Dillon (Yahoo ADP 62.2), if available here, pick him
Brandin Cooks (Yahoo ADP 74.2): Brandin Cooks has attained a level of fantasy enlightenment which very few other WRs possess. He keeps putting up 1000 yard seasons and finishing in the WR2 range irrespective of the quality of the QB or NFL offense. We expect him to do the same despite being thrown to by mediocre QB Davis Mills in the even more mediocre Houston Texans offense this year.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Yahoo ADP 72.7): Clyde Edwards-Helaire has underwhelmed as an NFL player. But he’s ok from a fantasy perspective if you draft him at this spot. He is still the starting RB for the explosive Kansas City offense, and should be relied on even more after the departure of star gadget WR Tyreek Hill who lined up at RB as well. Expect an RB2 season from him this year.
Gabriel Davis (Yahoo ADP 73.7): Stephon Diggs is the unquestioned receiving alpha of the Buffalo Bills offense. But the potent Bills offense under QB Josh Allen can easily support multiple WRs. Enter Gabriel Davis, the secondary target. In the last 5 weeks of the fantasy season last year, Davis had 12.7 fantasy points a game, good for WR20. We expect him to replicate a similar performance for the whole season this year and finish somewhere in the low end WR2 range.
Other targets: Damien Harris (Yahoo ADP 66.8)
Round 7 Pick 83:
Brandin Cooks (Yahoo ADP 74.2), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Yahoo ADP 72.7), Marquise Brown (Yahoo ADP 74.8), Amon-Ra St. Brown (Yahoo ADP 78.1): Get them if available here.
Michael Thomas (Yahoo ADP 83.6): Michael Thomas was the WR1 overall in his last full season, 2019. He’s not been seen on the field much over the last couple of years due to an ankle injury and subsequent surgery. He seems to have fully recovered from the injury. In the meanwhile, his team has downgraded at QB, going from hall of famer Drew Brees to Jameis Winston. Taking into account his injury history and the fact that he’s now 29, we’re expecting a WR3 season with some upside from Thomas.
Rashod Bateman (Yahoo ADP 85.5): The Baltimore Ravens team has been a run first offense with ambitions to throw the ball more. Passing ability seems to be a part of QB Lamar Jackson’s core skillset. But the departure of WR Marquise “Hollywood” Brown has meant that there is a shortage of receivers who can take on a larger volume of targets beyond TE Mark Andrews. This is where Rashod Bateman comes in. He spent a portion of his rookie year last year dealing with injuries, although he was electric when active. Now fully recovered, and thrust into the main WR responsibility, we expect a strong season from Bateman, with a WR3 finish.
Other targets:
Darnell Mooney (Yahoo ADP 94.9), Russell Wilson (Yahoo ADP 75)
Round 8 Pick 86:
Michael Thomas (Yahoo ADP 83.6), Rashod Bateman (Yahoo ADP 85.5): If available, draft them here
Darnell Mooney (Yahoo ADP 94.9): Darnell Mooney broke out in his sophomore season last year, after being paired with rookie QB Justin Fields. In weeks 9 through 17 of last year, he finished as the WR14 overall. One of the reasons was that fellow Chicago WR Allen Robinson was injured and missed a few of those games. Allen is now in LA, and we expect Mooney to become the alpha in Chicago. As a result, we’re expecting a high end WR3 or low end WR2 finish for Mooney.
Chris Godwin (Yahoo ADP 91.9): Chris Godwin is a real-life and fantasy superstar. He is a primary receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one of the best passing offenses in the NFL. He is thrown to by legendary QB Tom Brady. He also finished in the WR1 range last season. But this is where things get more complicated. He tore both his ACL and MCL in game 15 of last season, and is less than a year removed from surgery. This means that Godwin is not expected to be at his best, especially early in the season. We’re still expecting at least a WR3 range finish with Godwin though, which is plenty of value here.
Rashaad Penny (Yahoo ADP 86.3): Rashaad Penny finally put together good health and good opportunity for the last 4 weeks of 2021. The result? He finished as the RB1 overall in that time. His team, the Seattle Seahawks, then lost their primary playmaker, QB Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. Also, due to concerns about Penny’s health, the Seahawks added Kenneth Walker in the second round of this year’s NFL draft. If Penny stays healthy (and its a big IF given his history), we still expect him to retain his role. If that happens, Penny could provide RB2 production with upside.
Kareem Hunt (Yahoo ADP 91.4), Rhamondre Stevenson (Yahoo ADP 96.9), Tony Pollard (Yahoo ADP 94), Adam Thielen (Yahoo ADP 87.8)
Round 9 Pick 107:
Rhamondre Stevenson (Yahoo ADP 96.9), Tony Pollard (Yahoo ADP 94), Hunter Renfrow (Yahoo ADP 97.2), Elijah Moore (Yahoo ADP 98.6): If you get any of them here, go for it.
Trey Lance (Yahoo ADP 106.7): Is Trey Lance Lamar Jackson v 2.0? We don’t know yet. What we do know from an admittedly small sample size of two games he started last year, is that he averaged 60 yards rushing. We also know that the San Francisco 49’ers have committed to Lance as the starter. If he keeps that role, barring injury, he could easily finish amongst the top 5 QBs in fantasy irrespective of his performance as a passing QB. If you have prioritised other positions and Lance is available here, he’s a relatively low-risk option to roll the dice on.
Other targets:
Kenneth Walker (Yahoo ADP 102.6), Brandon Aiyuk (Yahoo ADP 106.5)
Round 10 (Pick 110):
DeVonta Smith (Yahoo ADP 108.7): DeVonta Smith impressed in his rookie season last year. From weeks 9 through 17, he finished as the WR20 overall in a rapidly improving Philadelphia Eagles offense under QB Jalen Hurts. This year, the Eagles have added stud receiver AJ Brown into the mix, which means that there are now fewer targets available. But we expect this passing attack to take a step forward and become more efficient. All said and done, Smith should finish in the WR3 range, with scope for additional upside.
Allen Lazard (Yahoo ADP 109.3): Superstar WR Davante Adams, widely regarded as the best real life WR in football, has left the Green Bay Packers and gone to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Packers retained the rest of their core, including future hall of fame QB Aaron Rodgers, so this offense is still going to be decent. The offense is just a lot more dependent on Allen Lazard, the next man up to take on alpha responsibility for the Packers. We expect Lazard to get targeted a lot this year, with great fantasy results for his managers. We’re predicting a WR3 season, with upside.
Drake London (Yahoo ADP 121.5): Drake London was the highest drafted WR in this rookie NFL class. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast and he has NFL-level skills. London is going to be one of the NFL’s best talents in the next 2-3 years barring major injury. But what can we expect in his rookie season? Since his team the Atlanta Falcons lacks offensive weapons, especially in receiving, we’re expecting him to get targeted a lot. This volume should guarantee WR3 production, with additional upside if his transition to the NFL goes smoothly.
Other targets:
Christian Kirk (Yahoo ADP 122.3), Robert Woods (Yahoo ADP 124.4), Michael Carter (Yahoo ADP 123.5), Darrell Henderson (Yahoo ADP 124.5), Alexander Mattinson (Yahoo ADP 125), Julio Jones (Yahoo ADP 124.1)
Targets for Round 11 and later:
Chris Olave (Yahoo ADP 126.8), Kadarius Toney (Yahoo ADP 128), Sony Michel (Yahoo ADP 128.6), Garett Wilson (Yahoo ADP 129.1), Isiah Spiller (Yahoo ADP 130.6)
