Drafting from the 5th Spot in a 12-team PPR League
Training camps have started, and it officially is beginning to feel like football season again. News has begun to come out, hype is building around new players, and injuries are already creating some waves. With that said, it's time to kick off mock draft season!
Nothing prepares you like mock drafting; mid to late summer is the perfect time to start. Rookies have reported and teams are starting to take shape, making mock drafts a bit more "real". The more drafts you do and the more draft spots you try, the better feel you will get on where players will be drafted in your own leagues.
This week I decided to try the fifth spot in a 12-man PPR draft. The finished draft can be found here. Let's dive into the draft and go through some strategy picking from the 5th spot in a 12-team PPR league.
What Falls to You
Drafting from the fifth spot gives you a unique opportunity in PPR leagues. Most people will be grabbing CMC and probably a few top WRs in the first four picks, leaving great options at both WR and RB for your choosing.
Once it gets to you, you'll have your first chance at choosing your draft strategy. If a good RB is there for you, you could go that route, but just know the WR options may be a lot thinner in the second round. I personally went with Amon-Ra St. Brown in this mock draft, since I really didn't like any RBs around this ADP and PPR makes me want two solid WRs.
The second round will be a bit harder to choose but should give you a pretty good idea of how your team will have to be built from here on out. Deebo Samuel seemed too good to pass up in the second round for me, especially with the Brandon Aiyuk news. After going WR/WR, I felt I now had to go RB to get at least one "star" running back. Derrick Henry has the potential to surprise this season, so I felt pretty good going with him as my RB1.
Middle Rounds - Best Player Available
Middle rounds are the best place for just taking the best player available...to a certain extent.
Depending on how your first three rounds went, you may need to lean towards more RBs or more WRs here. You may want to pass on a player you don't like. All of that is fine, but don't pass over a good player who somehow fell to you because "I already have X WRs I HAVE to go RB here".
With how much depth there is at WR, and workhorse back roles dwindling, you can find plenty of value in later rounds.
QBs and TEs - Where Should They be Drafted?
Well, that's entirely up to you and how you want to construct your team. I tend to wait on QBs and TEs, but for sure I end up hating myself every year when I'm getting smacked by the Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce owners.
The point is, you have to go into your draft with a basic idea of if you are going to grab a QB and/or TE early, or if you want to take a shot on a potential late-round sleeper. I could have drafted a top-3 QB or TE in any of the first three rounds, but I chose to wait based on my own strategy.
My advice is to do some research on sleeper QBs and TEs with the goal being to wait as long as possible to draft them.
Think Ahead
Going back to the whole draft a TE/QB late thing, it's always a good idea, once you have your TE/QB target, to watch how your other league-mates are drafting.
I wanted to grab Kyler Murray in this draft, so I waited until he was one of the top QBs remaining. Then I just had to see what teams already had QBs and probably would not be drafting a backup in the upcoming rounds.
So for instance, in Round Eight, I could have grabbed Murray, but I went RB instead since the first four teams already had QBs (leave it to computers to draft 2-3 QBs in the first 10 rounds, but I digress). Your league-mates probably won't grab two QBs that quickly, so use that information to wait one more round, figuring your QB will still be there.
If you look after I drafted Murray in Round Nine, three teams did not have QBs yet and two others had drafted QBs early and could be looking for a good backup. I had to pull the trigger here, and thankfully I did.
Double Digit Rounds are for Sleepers
At this point, you should be rounding out your bench. I'm not personally a "draft a backup QB/TE guy", so I spend most of my picks in the later rounds on WRs/RBs that I think could have sleeper potential.
Backup or handcuff running backs are always a good idea. Guys like Rico Dowdle, Trey Benson, and Kendre Miller are all running backs currently stuck behind older, injury-prone guys. They have a decent shot at seeing the field this season.
Rookie WRs are also worth a shot, but they can definitely be harder to pick. Going with guys on high-passing volume teams is a good start.
The nice thing with these picks are that if they don't work out in the first few weeks of the NFL season, you can cut your losses and move on quickly. They didn't cost you much draft capital and there is probably someone else worth grabbing.
Filed under: Free Articles
