Drafting from the 7 th Spot in a 12-Team PPR League (2022)
Last week we tackled the 6 th spot in a non-PPR mock draft. This week, we will be moving back one spot and seeing how a switch to PPR changes our strategy. If you have not been mock drafting already, it’s time to get started. ADP will change over the next few weeks, but this should give you a nice head start on figuring out what position you want to draft from. You may want to take a look at the PPR Rankings page and start making your own rankings based on who you like going into the 2022 season.
I spent some time mock drafting in a 12-team PPR league and I had the 7 th spot. In this article, I will go over some of the strategies I used based on my draft spot. You can also take a look at the overall PPR ADP to get a better understanding of where players are being drafted.
Don’t Go into the Draft with a Set Strategy
The middle draft spots of a PPR league are one of the hardest spots to draft from. Do you take a Running Back even though the best ones are probably taken? Do you grab a stud Wide Receiver knowing they will be gone by your second pick? Do you reach for Travis Kelce?
The best advice I can give you at the seven spot is to be flexible. Don’t go into the draft with a set position in mind. See who falls to you and make a decision at that point. For me, the top Running Backs were gone and so were the top two Wide Receivers, so I decided to go ahead and grab Ja’Marr Chase.
When my second pick came, I was very surprised to see Tight End Travis Kelce still available. It was just too good to pass up, so I went against my “must grab a Running Back” instincts and took the best Tight End.
Starting off with a top Wide Receiver and top Tight End is a great way to begin a PPR draft.
Alternate Wide Receivers and Running Backs
I always try to grab the best player available, and that works perfectly for the middle rounds in a PPR league. If you already grabbed a stud Wide Receiver and a solid Running Back, you can now just start filling in your starters with whoever the best player available is.
If you don’t like the Running Backs available in a certain round, grab a Wide Receiver (or vice versa). The goal here is to fill out your starters in both positions before you start filling your bench.
Wide Receivers on Good Offenses and Pass-Catching Running Backs
Since this is PPR, you can’t forget that pass-catching Running Backs will be much more beneficial to your team than other backs in the middle rounds. Now, most of the big guys like Austin Ekeler will be long gone, but there will be a few that people tend to either forget about or just don’t like taking.
Nyheim Hines (10 th round), Kenneth Gainwell (12 th round), and J.D. McKissic (10 th round) are all great examples of Running Backs who have a good shot at catching a ton of passes out of the backfield. They may not be the starters, but they have plenty of value in PPR. I’d also take a look at Branden Bolden (undrafted – Las Vegas) and Rhamondre Stevenson (8 th round) as potential pass-catching guys. Kenyan Drake is still recovering from injury, as is James White, so Bolden and Stevenson could see an increase in targets.
As for Wide Receivers, you might see some of the mid-round guys and immediately want to puke. If that’s the case, make sure you grab guys on high-powered offenses. For example, Jerry Jeudy and Darnell Mooney are being drafted right next to each other. If you are trying to choose between the two, go with the one you feel will be on a better offense (Denver by far over Chicago, for example). I’d much rather have a guy I know will get targets/touchdowns.
Later Round Quarterback and/or Tight End Strategy
So this advice can be used in any format, but you should always look at your league’s draft board when you are getting ready to draft a later round Quarterback or Tight End. There are five spots after you pick in the odd-numbered rounds (i.e. Round 7 or Round 9), so check to see if the teams after you have already grabbed a Quarterback or Tight End. If most of the teams already have their QB or TE, that means you can probably take a WR/RB and wait for the next round to grab your QB/TE.
If you really want a certain Quarterback or Tight End, however, and the 8-12 spots haven’t grabbed theirs yet, you may need to reach in order to ensure you get the guy you want.
Round 10-15 – Grab Rookies and Sleepers
So this strategy will never change for me. The double-digit rounds are always great opportunities to pick deep sleepers who could be league winners. Generally, this is going to be Running Backs who suddenly get thrust into starting roles thanks to injuries/poor play from the starter.
For instance, Baltimore Running Back Gus Edwards is currently going in the 13 th round. That will probably change now that news came out that J.K. Dobbins may not be ready for Week 1. Still, Edwards is probably one of the best handcuff/committee Running Back out there and you can get him super late.
Rookie Running Backs Dameon Pierce (10 th round), Tyler Allgeier (12 th round), and Rachaad White (13 th round) are all potential sleepers. Pierce has the opportunity to lead the Houston backfield, Allgeier has a good chance to take over the Atlanta backfield (since Patterson is actually a Wide Receiver), and White should spell Leonard Fournette in Tampa.
No matter what, the late-round picks are great low-risk players that can be dropped without a second thought if they aren’t performing. But if they hit, you could find yourself vying for a championship.
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