Drafters is a unique best-ball platform, with no playoffs in the main tournament. Instead, he starts in a 12-man draft before everyone is lumped together into one large pool, and all that matters is the total points earned. At the end of the 17 weeks, the winner with the most points will be awarded a prize.
The Drafters use full PPR scoring with a fairly standard roster setup. There are two running back positions, three wide receiver positions, and one flex position that can play WR/RB/TE. While we want to keep the WR as a priority in this full PPR format, it's also worth remembering that the drafter also rewards having a solid floor. In this format, being able to consistently score points and stay close to the top teams is very important.
FantasyPros' Mock Draft Wizard makes it easy to adjust your settings to match Drafters, and draft time begins.
Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Drafters' Best Ball Picks (2024)
round 1
Mock Draft Wizard randomly assigned me a 1.01. This is a nice change to how most top ball platforms award draft picks. There are many ways this pick could be taken, but locking in Christian McCaffrey here makes a lot of sense. Giving up a running back with this pick essentially locks you into a zero RB start unless there's a RB in the dead zone that you think is worth the risk since there aren't any good options around the 2-3 turn.
2nd and 3rd round
As expected, there are few great running back options here, so Best Ball can rely on what we always want: stacking. The pairing of Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs has led to late-season frustrations in recent years, but there's no denying that a turnaround is possible. Josh Allen alone is worth the bet considering his 15 rushing touchdowns in 2023. Diggs is a first-round pick in 2023, and if he and Allen can get on the same page, there's a clear path back to that time.
4th and 5th round
With only one wide receiver available through three rounds, it's a precarious situation. Most studies show that it takes five wide receivers to get to the ninth round of the best-ball draft, and if you pass them on here in favor of running backs, things will quickly turn out to be will be ambiguous. Instead, I opted to give wide receiver second-choice to two players who have a good chance of being the team's top targets in 2024. In the second half of the season, with Mark Andrews injured and Odell Beckham Jr., Zay Flowers truly established himself. He left Baltimore with enough snaps to leave. Meanwhile, Calvin Ridley was taken away in free agency, making Christian Kirk the de facto WR1 in Jacksonville. Kirk ranks No. 13 among WRs in PPR points in 2022, and while the Jaguars are looking to add to that roster, there's no reason why Kirk can't shine again.
Rounds 6 and 7
At the bend, we are faced with even more choices. Javonte Williams could improve now that he's another year removed from a torn ACL, or he could bet on D'Andre Swift emerging from Chicago's three-head backfield. Instead, I'm going to stick with the wide receiver position and go with DeAndre Hopkins, who looked like he has plenty of room for the Titans in 2023. I follow that up with our starting tight end, Evan Engram. This opens up a secondary stacking option with Trevor Lawrence later in the draft.
Rounds 8 and 9
After the 8th round, we secure an important 5th WR in Jacobi Meyers before R9. He should have a good week in 2024 with a gung-ho Gardner Minshew throwing the ball. Minshew isn't a great quarterback, but he's a fun quarterback in fantasy and understands the task of targeting good players. The pairing of Myers and teammate Zamir White adds another layer of correlation that shouldn't be sniffed at with best ball.
Rounds 10 and 11
The league champions emerge from this area every year, so I would like to take shots at the running back position in this area. In 2022, this is a draft field that disappointed with Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Dameon Pierce, and Miles Sanders, and in 2023 with David Montgomery, Rashard White, James Conner, and Isaiah Pacheco. All finished in the top spot. After being drafted in this range, he would get 15 of his RBs at half his PPR points per game. So here we double-tap the positions and take Zack Moss and Gus Edwards. Two running backs who are a little fragile, but have a wealth of experience and the potential to play big roles.
Rounds 12 and 13
After tying Trevor Lawrence's top two pass-catching options with Christian Kirk and Evan Engram, it's easy to draft Lawrence as the second QB here. Josh Allen is the main hope at QB, so he doesn't have to be as tied to the QB position as he would have been if he had been waiting for a QB, but with the addition of Lawrence, he's sitting there knowing the QB room is open. You can take a rest. Each week consists of two solid starters. In Round 13, Braylon Allen is selected. Especially when all the money is on the line, it's always good to draft a few rookies who can easily beat your ADP.
Rounds 14 and 15
Pat Freiermuth will be our second tight end, but waiting this long for a second one will leave us with a lot of trouble later on, especially with Arthur Smith currently in charge of the Freiermuth prospect. You'll need the third one. Round 15 features a flyer on Jarrin Hyatt, who will likely spend more time in this slot in his second season. Achieving some direct goals in 2024 will make his life much easier.
Rounds 16 and 17
Justice Hill will likely play most of the season as the Ravens' running back behind Derrick Henry until Keaton Mitchell returns from a torn ACL. Hill seemed to have plenty of power last year and it seems like the team wants to get him out there, so he has value as of late. Kendrick Bourne just signed a new incentive-filled contract with the Patriots, making him a Round 17 pick. No matter who takes over as the Patriots' quarterback this year, there's a good chance he'll be better than Mac Jones in 2023.
Rounds 18 and 19
The last of the three tight ends, Juwan Johnson, is a decent flyer here. He has a nose for the end zone and seemed to finally hit it off with Derek Carr in the final third of the 2023 season. In the 19th round, Malachi Coley is the best all-upside type ball player and could be fantasy football dynamite if the right scheme fits, and we always like to see that potential in our rookies. There is.
round 20
Deuce Vaughn is one of two Dallas Cowboys running backs currently on the roster, and adding another player seems inevitable, but options are running out. . An even worse roll of the dice awaits a round 20 pick. Vaughn is a much better pick than JuJu Smith-Schuster, Allen Lazard, and Cedric Tillman, who are all in this range.
result
Mock Draft Wizard gave me a C+ on this draft, but apparently wasn't impressed with my choice not to draft Josh Jacobs at 5.1, as Jacobs is quickly moving up the draft board. , it may not be realistic for long anyway. Ultimately, this felt like he was a fun hero RB team with two different stacks and some upside potential. Drafting against the Wizards allows you to quickly analyze many teams and sharpen your mind for when the money is on the line.
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