It is mid-May, and fantasy football drafts are gaining steam. A recent industry mock is the source for this recap. Out of respect for the hosts of this draft, no reference will be made to its identity so the content remains fresh on their end, nor will the entire draft results be published here.
The blurbs about my team below were provided to the draft host and will appear in a magazine as part of a larger evaluation of the draft. Before getting into my individual picks (we didn’t have to select kickers or defensive teams), here are a few general observations from a 12-team, PPR draft.
- Drafting in the middle of Round 1 wasn’t a detriment. The placement afforded the ability to build either two strong running backs, a blend of prominent RBs and receivers, or loading up on a pair of wideouts. Flexibility is key, and it’s tough to go wrong picking fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh in 2024.
- It’s not too often, even in an experts league, no quarterbacks come off the board in the first three rounds. Personally, I love to see it, and that’s how gamers should draft … in an ideal world. I suspect the delay in addressing the position is a byproduct of gamers being burned by the rash of QB injuries in 2023.
- Eight of the first 24 picks were running backs in this PPR format, which isn’t a huge surprise, but the notable takeaway here is this draft went all the way until the 32nd pick before a different position came off the board.
- Six of the 19 total quarterbacks who were drafted came in Rounds 4 and 5 alone, which shows the ability to wait on the position if you don’t buy into a top-heavy position.
- Five TEs going in the first six rounds is normal, though the eight who went over the following four rounds are mostly interchangeable. Much like with quarterback, gamers should make a predraft decision about whether they prefer to invest early or wait, and a good deal of these trends are due to the RB and WR selection spree atop the draft.
- The positional breakdown is as follows: 19 QBs, 60 RBs, 79 WRs, and 18 TEs.
