The NFL season is almost upon us, and that means fantasy football drafts are happening! Having a strategy going into your draft is extremely important as it sets the stage for a championship winning season. Each and every draft is different, and strategies will vary based on the draft slot. I’m here to show some strategies based off the slots you could be drafting from to help win your league!
Pick 11 is a great place to draft from. Either a low end RB1 or top WR/TE will be available here, then you can turn around and grab another elite player after the turn. I will use a 12 team PPR mock draft from Sleeper to show my strategy and how it plays out.
Pre-draft Strategy
I know I will be able to get two elite players here. If an RB1 falls to me that is great, but if not I know I will come out with a top end WR or TE. Then I will look to fill my roster with high upside at the position I didn’t get at the top.
Round 1
I lucked out as Austin Ekeler fell to my 1st pick. He gives me a great base to build off of. Because of where I am at, I know that I will get a top 5 WR or another stud RB to pair with Ekeler. I am super pleased at how this draft started for my team.
Rounds 2-5
DaVante Adams was taken one pick before me, but Stefon Diggs is great in his own right. He gives me a true WR1 and lets me look at other positions of the value is right later on. Snagging Diggs here has me very happy.
With my pick here in the 3rd I grabbed James Robinson. He offered a lot of value here, and I wasn’t confident he would get past the turn. I also knew I would be able to get a great WR in the 4th so I waited a couple picks. Robinson gives me a really solid RB duo as well as the potential for more if the Jaguars use Robinson a lot early.
Amari Cooper was my pick in the 4th. Julio Jones was tempting for his upside in Tennessee’s offense, but Cooper is still the true #1 guy in Dallas which has its own elite offense. Cooper has gotten looked over because of the CeeDee Lamb hyped, but he is the guy who Dak Prescott will target the most. getting him and Diggs gives me arguably the best WR duo in this fantasy football league.
Diontae Johnson was a super tempting pick here in the 5th. I also thought a little bit about Brandon Aiyuk. But TJ Hockenson was sitting there as the last true TE1 available. I am very high on him as I believe he will get a ton of targets in Detroit’s offense. He will slide into my TE slot for the duration of the season barring any injuries.
Rounds 6-9
I passed on Aiyuk in the 5th and he was here for me in the 6th. Aiyuk gives me some massive upside in the 49ers’ offense. His boom potential makes this pick super valuable. Even if he maintains his production from last year he will be well worth the pick. I am happy the way these mid rounds have played out for me.
With my 7th pick I snagged Damien Harris. The loss of Cam Newton means Harris could see an uptick in red zone touches which should lead to more touchdowns. Additionally if he is the true RB1 in New England, this pick will be a huge steal. He rounds out a very solid trio of RBs for my team.
I considered grabbing Antonio Brown here in the 8th, but I decided I’d hope he was there my next pick and instead chose Ryan Tannehill. He will be a big fantasy football producer this season with some elite weapons at his disposal. Yes the Titans run their offense through Derrick Henry, but the fact remains Tannehill has been fantasy gold recently and will continue that with the improvements around him.
Brown was selected by my 9th rounder, but Corey Davis is an equally good pick. I expect him to be the top target in New York. With my stock on Zach Wilson slowly rising, I believe Davis will excel in his role on the Jets. I consider him a very good mid round steal and target him in nearly any fantasy draft I have.
Rounds 10-16
With my 10th round pick I selected Laviska Shenault. I don’t think he will be the main target in the Jaguars offense, but he is such an incredible athlete they will find some really creative ways to get him involved. He will bring value with several long touchdowns during the season. Taking the chance on his breakout here could pay off.
I grabbed Marquez Callaway with my 11th round pick. I like his connection with Jameis Winston a lot and I think it will be solid for a while. Michael Thomas does eventually come back, but If Callaway cements himself as the top guy, his value could continue the whole season. He is the perfect late round flier who offers super high boom potential.
Sony Michel was my 12th round pick. He doesn’t offer the highest upside, but if he does take over as the Rams starter at any point, he offers good depth. That gives him good value late in most fantasy drafts.
With my 13th pick I took Rondale Moore. He is similar to Shenault because he is a great athlete whose team will try to get him involved in creative and unique ways. I took the late round flier on him should he work his way up the depth chart in Arizona.
I snagged the Patriots with my 14th rounder. They have a decent early season schedule which gives them solid early value. But I will end up streaming he position as the season progresses.
Mac Jones was my 15th rounder. Should he exceed expectations then he gives great value here. Rookies are not usually the best fantasy football options, but I’m willing to take the shot on him. He could be used as trade bait eventually for a depsarate team.
My final pick was Matt Prater. He will get ample opportunities in the Cardinals offense. But I am not married to him though as I can easily drop him if need be.
Final Results
Fantasy football drafts are all about value, and I think I was able to maximize value here. This team is constructed very well and I would love having it going into any league. This is also a league winner in my opinion. My strategy worked out very well for me as I was able to build a great core early while also getting high upside guys late
- QB: Ryan Tannehill
- RB: Austin Ekeler
- RB: James Harrison
- WR: Stefon Diggs
- WR: Amari Cooper
- TE: TJ Hockenson
- FLEX: Brandon Aiyuk
- D/ST: New England Patriots
- K: Matt Prater
- Bench: Damien Harris
- Corey Davis
- Laviska Shenault
- Marquez Callaway
- Sony Michel
- Rondale Moore
- Mac Jones
Below is the entire draft board to see how it all went down.
I hope this helped you are you draft out of the 11th pick! Remember that having a strategy is key, but staying flexible and sticking to your rankings is just as important. Thanks for reading!
