Everyone loves a fantasy football mock draft, myself included. But if you want to make the most out of your mock drafts, don’t just fire them up and see where the wind takes you. In my eyes, the best use of mock drafts is to test out different approaches. There’s no better way to evaluate a draft strategy than to do a mock using it and see how your team turns out.
Luckily, the Mock Draft Wizard makes it incredibly easy to mock with exactly your league’s settings, against either expert rankings or ADP. Today, I’m doing a 12-team, half-PPR draft with 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 1 flex, and six bench slots; I was randomly assigned the ninth pick.
The strategy I will be testing out for this draft is drafting a late-round quarterback (or quarterbacks). I love the idea of waiting on QB this year. After the big four dual-threat QBs at the top, things get very flat at the position, so we might as well wait until the late rounds. Hopefully, this strategy lives up to my expectations, and we can build a stacked team while not falling too far behind at QB. Without further ado, click here to see the full draft board and read on for my breakdown of each individual pick.
Here are a few of my favorite early-round picks from the recent fantasy football mock draft.
- Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2025 Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football ADP
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Early-Round Picks to Target
1.09: Nico Collins (WR – HOU)
This pick was a coin flip between Collins and Puka Nacua. I think both of these young WRs are genuinely elite talents with the potential to finish as the overall WR1. With a gun to my head, I’d take Nacua, but I’ve ended up with a lot of him in these mock drafts recently, so I figured I might as well mix it up this time and draft Collins. I will always be happy to add a guy who ranked second in PFF Grade and third in yards per route run among qualified receivers in 2024.
2.04: Chase Brown (RB – CIN)
A week ago, I probably would have taken De’Von Achane in this spot. A week from now, if his calf injury clears up, I might take Achane again. But the margins between these elite players are razor-thin, and I don’t love Achane missing practices with the season just a couple of weeks away. Instead, I’ll take Brown, who just keeps rising up my ranks. Brown finished last season on an absolute tear, seeing nearly 100% of the backfield touches in the Bengals’ elite offense. Based on preseason usage, he should run it back as a workhorse, with Samaje Perine mixing in only in clear passing situations.
3.09: Omarion Hampton (RB – LAC)
When Hampton landed with the Chargers in the first round, there was only one problem. Rookie running backs with first-round draft capital have incredible hit rates, and Hampton has workhorse size, excellent athleticism and a solid pass-catching resume. The only issue was that LA had already signed Najee Harris, and it would be very on-brand for Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman to keep their dynamic rookie off the field for the plodding vet early in the season. But Harris is still not practicing thanks to an eye injury he sustained in a July fireworks incident. The runway is entirely clear for Hampton to dominate this backfield and be an excellent fantasy option right away.
4.04: Davante Adams (WR – LAR)
I guess taking Collins over Puka worked out, as I can grab a different Rams receiver in Davante Adams. Grabbing Sean McVay’s WRs is always a good idea because his offense targets receivers more than any other team in the league. Even having lost a step from his All-Pro days, Adams should be able to provide solid fantasy stats with a steady diet of targets from Matthew Stafford.
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Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter and Bluesky @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.