Best Draft Position Fantasy Football 14-Team League (2024)

FAQs

What is statistically the best draft position in fantasy football? ›

For example, QB is the highest-scoring position in most leagues. But elite RBs and WRs typically get drafted first because you need more starters at those positions and their scoring drops off more sharply. That's why the best way to draft is generally to prioritize RBs and WRs while waiting on QBs and TEs.

Round 1 (Pick 1 overall): Christian McCaffrey is the consensus No. 1 pick.

Round 1, Picks 1-12: Draft a wide receiver

Anyone with the top overall pick should take Christian McCaffrey with little hesitation. He scored over 100 more PPR points than any other running back last season and has the perfect combination of talent, opportunity and situation.

In a draft you must select 16 spots and use nine each week in the following positions: a quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, a flex (which can be another running back, receiver or tight end), a defense ( D/ST), and a kicker.

Expect a run on quarterbacks in Round 1, but not as much in Round 2. Maybe a few managers will take two quarterbacks with their first two picks but that's it. You should expect a bunch of Tier 5 quarterbacks to get looked at in Round 3 and maybe even dribble into Round 4.

Running backs, for example, are often considered the most valuable position as they have the potential to score the most fantasy points. However, it is also important to have a strong quarterback and wide receiver on your team to ensure a well-rounded roster.

At the bare minimum, you want to draft enough players to fill your starting lineup, so one QB, two RBs, two WRs, one TE, one kicker, and one DST. Then, you want at least one more RB, WR, or TE to fill that flex spot. Now, for the seven bench spots.

In 12-Team Half-PPR, the best draft position is pick No. 1 or 2. Drafting optimally from the No. 1 or 2 spot in 12-team half-PPR drafts lands you on the same team through six rounds -- and a whopping 328.6 3D Value points.

Perfect 2024 fantasy football draft strategy, round by round for 12-team leagues: Picks 1-3. Don't stress about the first overall pick: Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb and Tyreek Hill have clearly been the top three options all offseason, and that hasn't changed.

What is the pick 12 strategy in fantasy draft? ›

Round 1, Pick 12: Draft a running back

Most of the time, the top three running backs and top six wide receivers are off the board. If one of them falls, then go ahead and pick them. If not, Puka Nacua and Jahmyr Gibbs are generally the two best available players, and both of their ADPs have fallen to the second round.

Perfect 2024 fantasy football draft strategy, round by round for 10-team leagues: Pick No. 2. CeeDee Lamb is a top-two option: Lamb has improved every season of his career. And if anything, he could see more targets this season while other elite wide receivers come with more uncertainties.

Some fantasy leaguers try to form a pre-draft plan of how to construct their roster by position. For example, they might intend to start with a running back in the first round, then a wide receiver in the second, another wide receiver in the third, and a second running back in the fourth.

In fantasy football, it is best to wait until the 3rd or 4th round to draft your quarterback. This might seem odd considering how important a quarterback is to a football team but players like wide receivers and running backs are more valuable because they can score more points each week.

QBs can be picked as late as the third round in standard leagues and the sixth round in PPR leagues but an elite one is mandatory. Above all, know your league settings and correlate the order in which the positions should be drafted based on the standard deviations (Table 2).

An Autopick Draft operates based on NFL.com Fantasy experts default rankings or a team manager's established pre-rankings of players. This draft type is an excellent choice for both beginners in the fantasy game as well as leagues which can't agree upon a live draft time.

Setting up a draft league

We recommend 8 as a good number so that there are enough of the top-ranked players to go around all the teams.