Drafters is a unique best ball platform, with no playoffs in their main tournaments. Instead, everyone begins in 12-person drafts before being lumped into one large pool where the only thing that matters is the total points you score. At the end of seventeen weeks, it is then time to crown the winner with the most points and let them take home the prize money.
Drafters uses full PPR scoring with fairly standard roster settings. There are two running back spots, three for wide receivers and a flex position where we can play WR/RB/TE. In this full PPR format, we want to make sure we keep WRs as a priority, but it’s also worth remembering that Drafters also rewards having a solid floor. Being able to consistently put up points and keep us within touching distance of the top teams matters plenty in this format.
Using the FantasyPros Mock Draft Wizard, I can easily align the settings to the same as Drafters and then it’s time to draft!
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2024 NFL Draft Guide
- 2024 Best Ball Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Free Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Drafters Best Ball Picks (2024)
Round 1
The Mock Draft Wizard randomly assigned me the 1.01, which is a nice change to how most best ball platforms give out draft picks. While there are plenty of ways we could go with this pick, locking in Christian McCaffrey here makes plenty of sense. If we forgo a running back at this pick, there aren’t good options around the 2-3 turn, so we essentially lock ourselves into a Zero RB start, unless there is a RB in the Dead Zone that feels worth the risk.
Rounds 2 & 3
As expected, there’s very little in the way of running back options here that feel great, so being best ball we can lean towards something we always want: a stack. Pairing Josh Allen with Stefon Diggs has led to some second-half-of-the-season frustration in recent years, but there’s no denying the upside. Even Josh Allen alone is worth the gamble, given his 15 rushing touchdowns in 2023. Diggs was a Round 1 pick in 2023 and there’s and there’s a clear path back to those days if he and Allen can get on the same page.
Rounds 4 & 5
With only one wide receiver through three rounds, we’re on the precipice of a dangerous situation. Most research indicates you want to have five wide receivers before you arrive in Round 9 of best ball drafts and if we passed them up here in favor of running backs, it would get murky pretty quickly. Instead, I opted for a double-dip at wide receiver on two players who very well could be the top targets for their teams in 2024. Zay Flowers truly established himself in the second half of the season with Mark Andrews injured and Odell Beckham Jr. has said his goodbyes to Baltimore, leaving a healthy amount of snaps to be filled. Meanwhile, Christian Kirk is now the de facto WR1 in Jacksonville after Calvin Ridley was stolen from their grasps in free agency. Kirk shone in 2022 finishing as the WR13 in PPR points and while the Jaguars will look to add to this receiving room, there’s no reason Kirk can’t shine again.
Rounds 6 & 7
At the turn, we are faced with more choices. Javonte Williams could improve now that he’s another year removed from his ACL injury, or we could gamble on D’Andre Swift emerging from the three-headed Chicago backfield. Instead, I’ll stick with the wide receiver position and go with DeAndre Hopkins, who looked like he had plenty left in the tank for the Titans in 2023. I’ll follow that up with our first tight end, Evan Engram, who now opens up a secondary stacking option with Trevor Lawrence later in the draft.
Rounds 8 & 9
Leaving Round 8, we secure that important fifth WR before R9 in Jakobi Meyers, who should have some good weeks in 2024 with the gung-ho Gardner Minshew throwing the ball. Minshew isn’t a great quarterback, but he’s a fun one for fantasy and understands the assignment of targeting good players. Pairing Meyers with his teammate Zamir White adds an extra layer of correlation that is not to be sniffed at in best ball.
Rounds 10 & 11
We want to take shots at the running back position in this area, as we see league winners emerge from here year after year. In 2022, this was an area of the draft where Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Dameon Pierce, and Miles Sanders all crushed their expectations, and in 2023, David Montgomery, Rachaad White, James Conner, and Isiah Pacheco all finished inside the top-fifteen RBs in half PPR points per game after being drafted in this range. So here, we’ll double-tap the position and take Zack Moss and Gus Edwards. Two running backs with some fragility, but also plenty of experience and the potential to have big roles.
Rounds 12 & 13
After tying up Trevor Lawrence‘s top-two pass-catching options in Christian Kirk and Evan Engram, it’s a no-brainer to draft Lawrence here as our second quarterback. With Josh Allen as our main hope at QB, we don’t need as much tied up in the QB position as we would if we’d waited on quarterback, but adding Lawrence allows us to sit back and rest, knowing the QB room is made up of two every-week solid starters. In Round 13, Braelon Allen is the pick, as it’s always good to draft a few rookies who can outplay their ADP easily, particularly down the stretch when all the money is on the line.
Rounds 14 & 15
Pat Freiermuth will be our second tight end but with waiting this long for a second one, we’ll need a third later, particularly since Arthur Smith is now in charge of Freiermuth’s outlook. In Round 15, we take a flier on Jalin Hyatt, who is likely to spend more time in the slot in his sophomore season, something that would make his life a lot easier by getting some straightforward targets in 2024.
Rounds 16 & 17
Justice Hill will likely play a large part of the season as the Ravens’ RB2 behind Derrick Henry before Keaton Mitchell returns from an ACL injury. Hill looked like he had plenty of juice last year and the team seems to like getting him out there, so there is value in him this late. Kendrick Bourne is the pick in Round 17, having just signed a new incentive-laden contract with the Patriots. Whoever is at quarterback for the Patriots this year will likely be an improvement on Mac Jones in 2023.
Rounds 18 & 19
Our last of three tight ends, Juwan Johnson is a reasonable flier here. He has a nose for the end zone and seemed to finally click with Derek Carr over the final third of the 2023 season. For Round 19, Malachi Corley is an all-upside type best ball player who, if he finds the right scheme fit, could be dynamite for fantasy football and we always want to have that potential in a rookie.
Round 20
Deuce Vaughn is one of two Dallas Cowboys running backs currently on the roster, and while it seems inevitable they add another player, the options are running out. For a Round 20 pick, there are far worse dice throws to be had. Vaughn is a much more favorable pick than JuJu Smith-Schuster, Allen Lazard, or Cedric Tillman, all of whom are going in this range.
Results
The Mock Draft Wizard gave me a C+ for this draft, seemingly unimpressed by my choice not to draft Josh Jacobs at 5.1, but with Jacobs rising fast up draft boards, that might not be realistic for long anyhow. Ultimately, this felt like a fun Hero RB team with two different stacks and some potential for upside. Drafting against the Wizard allows you to analyze lots of teams quickly and sharpen your mind for when the money is on the line.
More Best Ball Draft Advice
- Erickson’s Must-Have Best Ball Draft Targets (Premium)
- Fitz’s Must-Have Best Ball Draft Targets (Premium)
- DBro’s Must-Have Best Ball Draft Targets (Premium)
- Hoppen’s Must-Have Best Ball Draft Targets (Premium)
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