Often, owners are limited based on their draft slot in terms of the players they can select. If you pick at the end of the first round, you’re probably not going to land Todd Gurley. Likewise, if you do have that first pick and have a shot at Gurley, you’re unlikely to pair him with another of the elite running backs.
As such, owners who can move their draft slots via trade or select where they will start their drafting have a conundrum. Which is the best first-round draft slot? On the flip side, which is the draft slot to avoid in the first round?
We asked our writers these questions (12-team PPR format). Here’s what they had to say.
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Which is the best first-round draft slot in 12-team PPR formats?
Pick No. 1 is the best in snake drafts once again. The difference in value over replacement between Todd Gurley and Le’Veon Bell, who finished second last year, was larger than the difference between Bell and Travis Kelce. This is why auction leagues or third-round reversal snakes make much more sense than standard snakes where there is a massive advantage to the first four picks and especially first-overall pick.
Bobby Sylvester – @bobbyfantasypro
I think there can be a ton of debate about the optimal draft slot for 12-team PPR scoring, and it truly is personal preference. Personally, I’d prefer to draft sixth, because it means I’m walking away with one of Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell, David Johnson, Ezekiel Elliott, Alvin Kamara, or Antonio Brown, plus getting a premium player (Keenan Allen, Davante Adams, A.J. Green) in Round 2. For me, there’s just a slight added risk with Saquon Barkley (as a rookie) and DeAndre Hopkins (Deshaun Watson‘s injury risk) that I’d draw the cutoff at the sixth spot.
Dan Harris – @danharris80
I’ll go with the No. 5 pick. Antonio Brown has a PPR ADP of 5 or 6 in five different sites gathered by FantasyPros. While I understand the desire to snag one of the few all-purpose, bell-cow running backs available, there’s no safer first-round investment than the Steelers stud. Brown has remarkably finished each of the last four seasons as PPR’s highest-scoring wideout, averaging 118 catches for 1,587 yards in the process. Based on consensus ADP, I can pair him with Devonta Freeman in the next round and either Larry Fitzgerald or Stefon Diggs in Round 3. That’s a championship foundation I’d love to obtain in any scoring system. And if Brown doesn’t make it, I won’t lament settling for David Johnson or Ezekiel Elliott.
Andrew Gould – @andrewgould4
In a 12-team PPR draft, my favorite spot is the 12th pick. And it’s not even close. Currently, our ADP from picks 10-17 are: Melvin Gordon, Odell Beckham, Leonard Fournette, Julio Jones, Dalvin Cook, Michael Thomas, Keenan Allen, and Christian McCaffrey. At pick 12, you get two players back-to-back to set an amazing foundation for your team. Even if Gordon and OBJ aren’t available, pick any two of the other six players listed, sit back, and enjoy the freedom you now have to pick the rest of your team knowing that you have two superstars on your roster. An early pick in the draft gives you one of the “Big Four” at RB but leaves you pairing him with underwhelming or questionable options in the second round like Rob Gronkowski, Joe Mixon, Devonta Freeman, or Mike Evans. The 12th pick is clearly the best, and it’s my favorite from which to draft.
Zak Hanshew – @ZaktheMonster
So, ideally, in your draft you want to have an opportunity to stack the most players in your top-tiers as possible and drafting from the seven-hole provides a great opportunity to grab three locks through the first three rounds. In the first round, you’ll likely have your pick of at least one of either Antonio Brown, Saquon Barkley, or Alvin Kamara (assuming the top four RBs go and then two of these guys possibly taken). Then, when this comes back around, at 18th overall, there’s still a great chance to pick up a target-vacuum-WR (like A.J. Green or Davante Adams) or, if you’re lucky, a RB that may have dropped to you (some combination of Gordon, Hunt, Fournette, Cook or McCaffrey should still be in play for you to consider as well). Finally, in Round 3, there’s a good chance either Travis Kelce, Doug Baldwin, Joe Mixon or Stefon Diggs is still there. So with picks No. 7, 18, and 30, you have a great opportunity to lock up three top-tiered players and offer yourself a tremendous foundation upon which to build your fantasy championship-winning Team.
Ethan Sauers – @ethansauers
Which is the worst first-round draft slot in 12-team PPR formats?
It doesn’t get any worse that the sixth through eighth pick this year. Antonio Brown is in a tier of his own and there is a significant drop-off from David Johnson to the fifth-best running back. What’s more is that there is virtually no difference between WR2 and WR8 or RB5 and RB10, so the sixth through eighth picks essentially the same as picks 16 through 18. As if that wasn’t enough, the talent in Round 3 takes a huge hit right around the time this group of picks comes back up again.
Bobby Sylvester – @bobbyfantasypro
As for my least favorite spot, it has to be 12. Not only is there a slight cutoff for me at Odell Beckham Jr. at 11, but there are enough second-tier players in the second round that you aren’t really getting a huge benefit of having the 13th pick. And that incredibly long wait between picks can be a killer.
Dan Harris – @danharris80
I want to pick anywhere in the top five or close to the end. The 6-9 range is my least preferred area, but that could depend on how the draft goes. I’ll go with No. 6 because there’s a solid chance I can get my sixth-ranked player, DeAndre Hopkins at pick No. 8 or 9. While I won’t mind grabbing him at No. 6, he will feel like a disappointing consolation prize after just missing out on Antonio Brown and David Johnson. The best options at this slot are a wideout yet to produce two consecutive elite campaigns (Hopkins), a rookie given little room for profit potential (Saquon Barkley), and a 2017 breakout who averaged 12.6 touches per game (Alvin Kamara). One position higher, you’re instead guaranteed Brown or an elite running back.
Andrew Gould – @andrewgould4
I don’t believe there is a best or worst draft position because I don’t believe your draft slot should dictate who you should take. If you have the sixth overall pick, but believe Dalvin Cook will be the No. 1 RB this season then you should take Dalvin Cook even if he’s being drafted in the late first-round because he’s not going to be there for you with your second pick. We can apply that logic to Gurley last year. If you had the first-overall pick last year and truly believed the change from Fisher to McVay would make the Rams offense a juggernaut and Gurley the best overall RB of last season, then he was worth drafting with that selectio unless you knew that he would be there for you at the turn next round. Your leaguemates probably would have given you a ton of slack for it, but you would have been the one sitting pretty taking Gurley rather than David Johnson because he was the “safe pick” last year (can’t tell you how many times I heard that with DJ last season).
Joey Korman – @leaveit2divac
I’m going to go against the common logic and say that I hate drafting first overall. The pressure that comes from having your choice of any football player in the NFL often times locks us into groupthink a little too much (when was the last time the consensus No. 1 fantasy pick finished the year as the top-scoring fantasy player?) and the No. 1 slot also limits what we’re able to do in the future rounds. Picking first means you have to wait around until 24th for your second pick, which caps the opportunity to grab multiple top 15/20 players. Finally, you’re also at the turn– so planning for a run on WR or when the last player in your “acceptable TE or QB” tier is almost impossible and forces you to reach on players you might have been able to wait on, had you less than 22 picks in between yours. If your league allows it, try and trade out of that No. 1 overall position — it’s highly coveted and might just allow you to gain a nice edge for the season.
Ethan Sauers – @ethansauers
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So there you have it, the best and worst draft slots according to our writers. More questions? Let us know @FantasyPros, and check out our other collaborative advice below.
Who’s Your RB1 in Standard-Scoring Leagues?
Who’s Your No. 1 Overall Pick in PPR drafts?
Who’s Your Must-Have Player?
Which Players Deserve a Second Chance?
Which Players Will You Never Draft Again?
Which Player Will Be 2018’s Top League Winner?
The Most Common Fantasy Football Draft Mistakes
Who’s Your RB5 in PPR Leagues?
View real-time recommendations for each pick with our Draft Assistant
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