Early best ball contests have been open for several weeks now, as the format has become more of an all-year-round game. With the NFL Draft fast approaching, it’s worth remembering that all platforms tend to open their biggest contests once the draft is in the rear window.
Whether your many drafts are deep or you have yet to dive in, FantasyPros’ Draft Wizard fantasy mock draft simulator is ideal for running through much quicker versions of the draft to see how they pan out.
In this article, we take the Draft Wizard for a spin with FFPC settings, where tight ends are much more valuable due to the tight end-premium scoring of an extra 0.5 PPR points per reception for tight ends. FFPC also tends to be a more running back-heavy platform compared to sites like Underdog, with more old-school drafters enjoying the offerings there. Find the full results of this draft here.
Early best ball contests have been open for several weeks now, as the format has become more of an all-year-round game. With the NFL Draft fast approaching, it’s worth remembering that all platforms tend to open their biggest contests once the draft is in the rear window.
Whether your many drafts are deep or you have yet to dive in, FantasyPros’ Draft Wizard fantasy mock draft simulator is ideal for running through much quicker versions of the draft to see how they pan out.
In this article, we take the Draft Wizard for a spin with FFPC settings, where tight ends are much more valuable due to the tight end-premium scoring of an extra 0.5 PPR points per reception for tight ends. FFPC also tends to be a more running back-heavy platform compared to sites like Underdog, with more old-school drafters enjoying the offerings there. Find the full results of this draft here.
Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Best Ball (FFPC)
Early Rounds
The Draft Wizard randomly assigned us the 1.01 pick. The choice is straightforward: Ja’Marr Chase. Chase has become the consensus pick here and for good reason. Coming off a season where he scored 23.6 PPR points per game, four more than the next nearest from a player who played 12+ games.
With Chase’s contract situation sorted out long before there was any talk of a holdout, Chase is an easy click. By the time the draft comes back around, two tight ends are off the board already in Brock Bowers and Trey McBride, leaving Tee Higgins as the best average draft position (ADP) bet.
This sets us up for a potentially dominant stack if Joe Burrow could fall to us later, but in round three, adding a tight end with league-winning upside is too appealing, and T.J. Hockenson is that player. Hockenson missed much of the 2024 season but looked enough like his old self that he’s worth the high investment here. If we miss out on a top tight end, we’ll likely need at least four in this format, taking picks away from other positions.
Sadly, Burrow doesn’t make it back to us, but we can double-dip at the running back position with two backs who have secure roles and plenty of high-value touches in Joe Mixon and James Conner. Typically, in best ball, I’d want three wide receivers or more in the first six rounds, but when the draft snakes back and Najee Harris is the top ADP choice, he’s too good a value to pass up.
Harris has been a 1,000-yard rusher every year of his career and has only five fumbles on over 1,200 touches. Last year, Harris ranked eighth in evaded tackles per touch, eighth in explosive run rate and 11th in yards after contact per attempt. He now plays with the best quarterback of his career and under run-game maestro Greg Roman.
Middle Rounds
After selecting three running backs in a row, we simply have to double-tap wide receivers on the next go-around. Khalil Shakir and Josh Downs are fine selections to bring us up to four wide receivers overall. Shakir plays in a top offense and is currently the Bills’ best pass-catcher. He was also Josh Allen‘s go-to guy on third downs last year with the fifth-most receiving yards in the league and the fifth-highest yards after the catch per reception.
Downs ranked eighth in targets per routes run when removing screens (28%) despite the tumultuousness of Anthony Richardson. If Richardson takes a step forward or Daniel Jones makes meaningful starts, then Downs could pay off nicely. In the ninth round, it’s time for a risky pick — Travis Kelce.
In non-tight-end-premium leagues, this wouldn’t be a pick I’d be interested in. Kelce looked his age last year, but he still had the third-most receptions among the position (97). That number is far too strong to ignore in this scoring format. In rounds 10 and 11, it’s time for another double-dip, but this time at the running back position with two backups who have standalone and huge contingent value.
Jordan Mason can thrive in the Vikings’ outside zone running scheme. It was noteworthy that the Vikings gave up some of their modest amounts of draft capital to acquire him. Ray Davis, meanwhile, flashed in his rookie year, showing good involvement in the passing game and could see a bigger role if James Cook doesn’t get the top-end running back deal he’s seeking.
Late Rounds
As we head into the last third of the draft, we’ve yet to take a quarterback. At the back of the 12th round, there are still plenty of good options we can attack, so strengthening our wide receiver position seems the prudent move.
Cedric Tillman had three top-12 weekly finishes between Weeks 7-9 before injuries hampered his progress. At this cost, though, with the potential of better quarterback play in Cleveland, he could be a fun player in 2025. Rashod Bateman is coming off a career year, putting up 756 yards, which was more than Deebo Samuel or Jaylen Waddle, and scoring eight touchdowns, more than A.J. Brown, Garrett Wilson and Drake London.
In rounds 14 and 15, we can’t afford to ignore quarterback any longer with four going off the board since our last pick, so we double-dip with Caleb Williams and Dak Prescott. Two quarterbacks that aren’t the most fashionable, but there’s enough reason to believe in them at this cost, with Prescott having very little in the way of a running game and Williams’ fortunes hopefully bolstered by new head coach Ben Johnson.
In round 16, we select Ollie Gordon and then grab Isaiah Likely as our third and final tight end. Sam Darnold rounds out our quarterback room. We then make two dart-throw picks in rookies Xavier Restrepo and Jarquez Hunter.
Draft Wizard Insights
The Draft Wizard awarded us a B-grade for this draft, which is fair on some fronts and harsh on others. We didn’t complete any stacks, pulled T.J. Hockenson up slightly higher than the Wizard would like and probably waited longer than the Wizard wanted at quarterback.
However, we built a high-floor team with some big upside at wide receiver and tight end, and drafted some fun rookies. Dive into the Draft Wizard yourself to see how it views different drafts.
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