10 Last Minute Draft Tips & Targets (Fantasy Football)

Your draft day is arguably the biggest date on the calendar for all fantasy football managers. Preparation is key to dominating your draft, but even then, it’s too easy to get caught up in the moment and make choices that you’ll regret. Your decisions during the draft generally have a higher chance of wrecking your season than winning you a title. Remember, top-notch in-season management skills are usually at least as important to winning the championship as crushing your draft is. With that being said, your journey to the postseason begins here on draft day, and we’ve brought in our featured pundits to shed some light on what you should do and who you should target to avoid starting off your season on the wrong foot.

Practice fast mock drafts with our free Mock Draft Simulator

Q. What one piece of advice would you give fantasy managers who still need to draft?

“Draft Trey Lance or Justin Fields on every team. No matter how good your quarterback situation is, drafting a player with potential top-five upside at the position makes sense, if for no other reason than to have a trade chip. Both should be the starter for their respective teams early in the season, and both should immediately pile on the fantasy points when they get in the lineup. Especially with the need to back up nearly every position this year because of the COVID-19 situation, making sure you get one of the two players who could dominate at quarterback and are going at a discount because of playing time should be a high priority.”
– Dan Harris (FantasyPros)

“Learn to navigate the fifth through ninth rounds. Making a first or second-round pick doesn’t take too much strategic thinking, especially when you’re choosing between locked-in studs. Drafting effectively in the middle rounds can make or break your draft as you round out your group of starters. Recognize value, be willing to change your draft strategy on the fly based on who’s available, and do not reach. At this point in your draft, running back options are scarce, elite quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady are beginning to fly off the board, some solid tight ends like Logan Thomas, Robert Tonyan, and Tyler Higbee may still be available, and there are sure to be plenty of valuable wideouts like Ja’Marr Chase, D.J. Chark, and Corey Davis. This is without a doubt the trickiest stretch of picks in any fantasy draft, so nail it, and it should be smooth sailing until Week 17!”
– Zachary Hanshew (FantasyPros)

“If I were going to give any tip, it would be to always be flexible regarding your draft. Don’t go in expecting a particular player to fall to you or scripting your draft for a certain number of rounds. For example, if you have a late first-round pick, don’t reach for Joe Mixon at RB9 just because you NEED a running back. Instead, take the value presented to you. Once you pigeonhole yourself into certain players or positions at designated spots, you lose all sense of value falling to you in a draft. Values will fall to you at various points in the draft, but you need to roll with the draft as it moves along instead of having a rigid structure you must adhere to.”
– Kevin Tompkins (BallBlast)

“Don’t draft a defense. Defenses are hard to predict and rarely return value when drafted, yet, everyone always drafts one. Last season, the average ADP of the top-five defenses was 12th, including No. 4 Miami, who came into the season with a dead-last ADP of DST32. Instead of drafting a DST, use that roster spot to stash a player like Justin Fields, Trey Lance, or any player with potential you may find at the end of your drafts. Prior to Week 1, you can start your streaming with MIN, GB, and CIN, which all have favorable matchups, or my favorite, DEN, which starts the year with three straight weeks of questionable offenses.”
– Tim Petropoulos (BRoto Fantasy)

“Shove your chips in on Gus Edwards. We know that J.K. Dobbins was an RB1 in 12-team leagues from Week 8 through the end of the regular season last year. We also know that he is a more skilled receiver than Edwards. That has caused some to temper expectations on valuing Edwards too high now that Dobbins is lost for the season with a torn ACL. But Dobbins’ huge second half was not fueled by receiving production at all. Over those nine games, Dobbins had a total of seven receptions for 46 yards. Edwards should now be a rock-solid RB2 as the Ravens’ de facto starting running back.”
– Mick Ciallela (Fantrax)

“The best advice is to take a shot on young RBs in the middle rounds of your draft. We see year in and year out that guys like Jonathan Taylor, Antonio Gibson, J.K. Dobbins, Miles Sanders (2019), and Nick Chubb (2018) all became league winners when they took over their backfield. For 2021, some of these potential guys are Javonte Williams, Trey Sermon, Damien Harris, and Michael Carter. Make sure you lock up your favorite one and avoid the RB dead zone going before them: Raheem Mostert, Melvin Gordon, and Leonard Fournette.”
– Robby Jeffries (The Fantasy Authority)

“Take full advantage of the receivers in Rounds 3 to 5 in drafts this year. These rounds carry tons of WRs who have the potential to deliver high-end production. Players going in these rounds include Terry McLaurin, Keenan Allen, Robert Woods, Diontae Johnson, and Amari Cooper, all of whom have the potential to be league winners this season. No matter your league’s scoring settings, leaving with an upside WR1 receiver in this range will help you win your league.”
– Steven Pintado (The Fantasy Coaches)

“There are some great late-round WR values this season in particular, like Marquez Callaway, Jakobi Meyers, Gabriel Davis, Russell Gage, etc. Address your RB situation early and you can make up ground on some of these names. All of these names and even a few rookies like Rondale Moore. Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Rashod Bateman could be lineup contributors as the season rolls along.”
– Joe Pisapia (FantasyPros)

“Don’t be scared off of Courtland Sutton this year! While there’s been a ton of negative buzz regarding his health and his recovery from injury, we saw him operate at full strength on the football field in the third preseason game. While Jerry Jeudy and Sutton will be both vying for targets in this offense, Sutton has the talent to absolutely return value on his ADP. Don’t be afraid to pull the trigger on him when you’re on the clock.”
– Kyle Yates (FantasyPros)

“Don’t be afraid of Taysom Hill hurting Jameis Winston’s value. The last time Winston was given a starting job he threw for 5,100 yards and 33 touchdowns. As long as interceptions are not too detrimental in your league (and I do think Sean Payton will have him curtail that), he will return QB1 value at a QB2 price.”
– Michael Tomlin (Fantasy Six Pack)

Thank you to all the experts for giving their last-minute draft tips. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter for more great advice. Also, please check out our latest podcast episode below.