As we start to get extremely close to the start of the NFL season, it is time for one final mock. This time, it’s time to review how you tackle the dreaded and most pressured spot in drafts. The No. 1 pick. This PPR mock draft gives insight as to how you do have to reach a few spots in ADP in order to complete the roster build you desire. However, as you can see from the below results, it is worth it. Here is the mock draft results:

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1.01: Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND)

2.12: Mark Andrews (TE – BAL)

3.01: Keenan Allen (WR – LAC)

4.12: Breece Hall (RB – NYJ)

5.01: Brandin Cooks (WR – HOU)

6.12: Elijah Mitchell (RB – SF)

7.01: Tom Brady (QB – TB)

8.12: Cordarrelle Patterson (RB – ATL)

9.01: Allen Lazard (WR – GB)

10.12: Zach Ertz (TE – ARI)

11.01: Jakobi Meyers (WR – NE)

12.12: Mecole Hardman (WR – KC)

13.01: Trevor Lawrence (QB – JAC)

14.12: Los Angeles Chargers D/ST

15.01: Matt Gay (K – LAR)

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Q: What did you learn from this draft?

Having participated in hundreds of drafts this summer and only getting the No. 1 pick just once so far, there is a certain amount of pressure having to reach on certain players in order to get your roster construction just right. The choice for the 1st-overall pick is between Jonathan Taylor and Christian McCaffrey. To be honest, you could go either way in drafts. Typically, as a slightly more conservative player earlier on in drafts, I will tend to take Taylor over McCaffrey just because I will factor in the injuries as a tiebreaker.

The surprise came at the 2/3 turn. I didn’t expect Mark Andrews to be there. And, while I typically struggle to take a tight end here, it did feel like an opportunity too good to pass up. Taking Mark Andrews would not have been on my mind here. However, sometimes, when there is a value to be had, you have to take it.

And that was the theme of this draft. Most picks were picks where I selected players who I thought would be a strong value at where I am selecting them. And, by doing that, and sometimes reaching ever so slightly on guys like Tom Brady and Mecole Hardman, I see a team that I think will compete for a title this year.

Q: What area(s) of your draft are you happy with?

I am really happy with the running backs and tight ends I have. To have a running back quartet of Jonathan Taylor, Breece Hall, Elijah Mitchell and Cordarrelle Patterson is really strong. Having those four gives me upside and consistency in the hardest position to manage in fantasy. Having Mark Andrews and Zach Ertz as my tight ends is really helpful. Ertz might turn out to be a very useful flex play some weeks. Especially as I have to manage bye week cover with my wide receivers.

Also, I really like the quarterback room. While Tom Brady is the ECR8 QB off the board, I do have him at three in my rankings. Therefore, I am really happy to have Brady there. Having Trevor Lawrence as my backup is an interesting one. It wasn’t one I was chasing or had in my mind. However, leaving it as late as possible, I thought I would chase the upside on Lawrence. If Lawrence can get into an offensive groove with new head coach Doug Pederson and we start to see some of that mobility we saw in college, then he becomes a very useful backup if I need him for more than my bye week.

Q: What area(s) of your draft would you have liked to improve?

It certainly is the wide receiver room. I really like Keenan Allen at the start of round three. However, I didn’t like all three of Terry McLaurin, Chris Godwin, and Michael Thomas going in round four. That did mean selecting Brandin Cooks became a necessity while preparing to wait for Darnell Mooney (ADP 71) or Rashod Bateman (ADP 93) at pick 72. However, both those guys went, as did Amon-Ra St. Brown. That meant by pick 72, 32 wide receivers had already been selected. This meant waiting on WR3 and taking the value pick, which was Elijah Mitchell at pick 72. This did hurt the options I could select from for my WR3 as before I selected again, another 10 wide receivers came off the board.

So a wide receiver room of Allen and Cooks, while adding Allen Lazard, Jakobi Meyers and Mecole Hardman might not scare too many of my league mates. However, it does have some solid upside potential. Especially if Hardman and Lazard can ascend to the top of their team’s respective depth charts.

Q: What lesson did you learn from today’s mock that you will apply to future drafts you partake in?

Other than to take the value that is on offer, as I have spoken about in previous mock drafts, the key lesson to take away when picking on the turn is to be brave. Just because there is a huge run at a position, it does not mean you select a player who is a reach, or in a huge tier group, where someone in that tier will make it back to you. You have to be brave, take the value that falls to you and forget about the position you had in your head you might select. Is Allen Lazard as good as DeVonta Smith and Gabriel Davis? No. But he probably isn’t going to be more than a point or two per game away from those players when the season is finished. Whereas someone like Elijah Mitchell is likely to be significantly more productive than Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Tony Pollard for example. Therefore, from a value standpoint, I come out well ahead.

The biggest mistake fantasy players make in drafts is they shoehorn themselves into taking a certain position because they need to. The wide receiver position is deep in 2022. If you are going to give up 20 points over the season on your WR3 but makeup 40-50 on your RB3, that makes your team 30 points better off. That could be the difference between making the playoffs or not. It could contribute one or two extra wins. That is why you have to move away from the idea of selecting certain positions per round and selecting the player who is the best value, based on the tiers they sit in. Mitchell was in a tier of one player remaining at the time I picked him. I had a tier of nine wide receivers I could have taken.

Understanding tiers, as well as value-based drafting, which you can read in the FantasyPros Draft Kit, is going to be crucial in selecting from the number one spot. Otherwise, it is very easy to be sucked into taking players in positions you think you need but will just lead to you having an average team. Try it for yourself using the mock draft simulator.

Adam Murfet is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Murf, check out his archive and follow him @Murf_NFL.