Preseason games are happening thick and fast, and hot takes are appearing quicker than ever, which can mean only one thing: It’s fantasy football draft season. If you’re picking at the 1.05 or perhaps want to do some research into what your opponent might do at that spot, this is the article for you.
This series will give you an overview of what you can expect to see, no matter which first-round pick you draw. In what feels like a very strong first round, nailing your picks will be more important than ever.
- Fantasy Football Rankings
- 2025 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2025 Best Ball Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Free Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Pick 1.05
Let’s dive into our approach for the fantasy football 1.05 pick for upcoming drafts. We look into the players likely to be available, those to target/avoid and share a mock draft from the pick to help you prepare for your fantasy football draft.
Players to Consider at 1.05 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
Here are a few players likely available when you make your selection:
- Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN)
- Jahmyr Gibbs (RB – DET)
- CeeDee Lamb (WR – DAL)
- Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF)
Players to Target at 1.05 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
Once we get past the top four picks, including Ja’Marr Chase, Saquon Barkley and Bijan Robinson, it becomes a slightly more flat tier for several picks. Back in June, it seemed unlikely Christian McCaffrey would be in this range, but after making it through organized team activities (OTAs) healthy and with the backups getting hurt, his rise continues to trend upwards.
Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN)
Another year, another quarterback for Justin Jefferson, but that hasn’t stopped Jefferson from producing, with him averaging 96.5 receiving yards per game throughout his career, with no year below 87.5. For reference, only five players averaged above that mark in 2024, one of whom was Jefferson.
Camp reports around J.J. McCarthy have been mixed, but generally, the Vikings seem to be confident they’ve made the right move putting their faith in McCarthy as he heads into his second year, ready to make his NFL debut. The last time Jefferson was the WR1 was 2022, and he’s been a mainstay in the top five receivers in PPR points per game since 2021.
That kind of consistency can be worth paying up for. It is a little hard, however, to elevate Jefferson ahead of Ja’Marr Chase when Jefferson is already missing time due to a ‘mild’ hamstring strain. While the use of the word mild is reassuring, soft tissue injuries can linger.
Jahmyr Gibbs (RB – DET)
There is a slow and steady drumbeat forming for Jahmyr Gibbs in recent weeks, with established analysts such as Evan Silva and Ben Gretch both elevating Gibbs to their RB1 overall. In ECR, Gibbs has now flipped Barkley to be the RB2 behind Robinson.
Reports out of training camp suggest Gibbs could take a bigger share of the workload, despite the Lions still being enamoured with David Montgomery. We might be hesitant about drafting Gibbs at this spot, due to Montgomery’s looming presence in the backfield, but we’re all very familiar with his presence around the goal line, in particular.
Not to downplay David Montgomery, but man… imagine Gibbs full-time with no competition. pic.twitter.com/GWwuhGb1gg
— Tom Strachan (@NFL_TStrack) June 3, 2025
With that said, Gibbs finished as the RB3 in PPR points per game, third in running back total yardage, and sixth in running back targets. He was undeniably excellent and had six games with 20+ PPR points. Four of those games came when Montgomery was healthy and also playing. Gibbs is a ceiling outcome player who might not be as safe as other options, but there’s no denying his upside or how much fun he can be to watch.
CeeDee Lamb (WR – DAL)
It’s hard to elevate CeeDee Lamb ahead of Justin Jefferson since the addition of George Pickens to the Cowboys’ receiver room, but it’s also hard to ding Lamb too much when he’s competed with good receivers before and come out just fine.
Lamb has recorded 150+ targets in each of the last three seasons, and he’s the only receiver to hit that benchmark in each of those seasons. That volume alone makes him a worthwhile pick, and with Pickens an upgrade on Jalen Tolbert, it should help ease away a little attention from Lamb and lift the offense to a more efficient place all around.
Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF)
This comes down to risk tolerance, and for some, spending a first-round pick on a 29-year-old running back who has only played over 11 games once in the last four years might be a stretch too far. When healthy, Christian McCaffrey is as good as anyone in this league and has won people fantasy championships plenty of times over, but the injury record is cause for concern.
According to reports, McCaffrey took part in everything at organized team activities (OTAs), including some drills that most veterans sat out, indicating he’s over his Achilles issues he suffered through in 2024. If he is healthy, then it’s hard to fade an elite pass-catcher and game-breaking talent.
Isaac Guerendo also impressed last year, to the point that the 49ers were willing to trade Jordan Mason to the Vikings. Guerendo averaged 16.3 PPR points in the games where he saw double-digit touches. He could be in for an increased role in 2025. Even if that role eats into McCaffrey’s ceiling, we’re probably still talking about a top-five running back, and we know how hard it is to find them later in drafts.
Players to Avoid at 1.05 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
Puka Nacua (WR – LAR)
The Rams are a team many believe are primed for a bounce-back year, having put their eggs in a Puka Nacua-shaped cart after moving on from Cooper Kupp. Davante Adams should help alleviate some of the pressure from Nacua, with him ranking 58th in ESPN’s open score metric, compared to Kupp, who ranked 108th out of 116 qualifying receivers.
Nacua has averaged 6.6 receptions per game over his two seasons and consistently delivered. The biggest reason not to elevate Nacua into the top tier of wide receivers is a lack of touchdowns, with him scoring 0.3 receiving touchdowns per game over the last two years. Compare that number to his fellow top receivers:
- Ja’Marr Chase: 0.72
- Justin Jefferson: 0.55
- CeeDeee Lamb: 0.56
If Nacua wants to be considered in the very top tier, this is the area he has to improve upon for fantasy football.
Ashton Jeanty (RB – LV)
There is a lot to like when it comes to Ashton Jeanty, and this isn’t to downplay his upside as a rookie whatsoever, but since 1984, only once has a rookie running back finished as the RB1 overall — Saquon Barkley in 2018.
If you’re drafting Jeanty at the 1.05, you have to assume he has a path to the RB1 overall finish, and that might be wishcasting slightly. The Raiders have a generational tight end in Brock Bowers, who will command volume, and Jakobi Meyers has always outplayed expectations.
It’s also perhaps noteworthy that the Raiders signed Raheem Mostert, who has been a very good goal-line back over the years. If they use him at all in that area, it could significantly eat into Jeanty’s upside. There’s a time for drafting Jeanty, but it isn’t quite this early.
Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR – DET)
The case for Amon-Ra St. Brown would be that he’s consistently earned targets, with over 140 in each of the last three seasons, as well as seeing his touchdowns increase each year in the league to a career-high 12 in 2024.
The case against St. Brown, however, would be the increasingly strong competition around him. Sam LaPorta was injured to start the 2024 season, and it showed, but he came on during the second half of the season, as did Jameson Williams, who averaged 6.6 targets per game in that spell.
When you’re a possession receiver, like St. Brown, it can be difficult to hit your ceiling if you’re not seeing a huge amount of receptions or scoring touchdowns, and touchdown production can be very hard to predict.
St. Brown belongs in the top 10/top 15, but perhaps not quite this high, unless someone else in the Lions’ offense gets injured.
Roster Constructions to Consider at 1.05 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
The 1.05 opens up many roster construction possibilities, but it will largely come down to how you start your draft for how you want to proceed. If you take CeeDee Lamb, there will still be top running backs available when it’s your turn to pick again, like Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs, and you’ll have access to the top-end quarterbacks and tight ends.
If you go running back to start the draft, the receivers who make it back are a little less appealing, with A.J. Brown and Ladd McConkey both having enough doubts surrounding them to stop them from being first-round talents. Because of this, you might find it easier to go with a Hero RB build with your first running back coming from either the first or second round. If you lean into a Dual RB build, it can become much harder to build a nice wide receiver room.
Fantasy Football Mock Draft From the 1.05 Pick
We used our FREE fantasy football mock draft simulator to show you an example of a draft from the 1.05 position. You can sync your league for free and mock draft against your fantasy football league settings to prepare more specifically for your draft.
Here’s how our fantasy football mock draft from the 1.05 position turned out.
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