It is always drafting season here at FantasyPros, and thanks to the Mock Draft Simulator, you can quickly simulate any scoring settings and play out the draft. In this article, we’re using the same settings as Drafters, who have best ball contests live right now. Drafters use full PPR, single QB scoring, with 20 roster spots – QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, FLEX (WR/RB/TE), and 12 Bench spots.
- NFL Draft Needs for Every Team
- Introduction to Best Ball Leagues
- Erickson’s Best Ball Positional Primers
Fantasy Football Best Ball Mock Draft (Drafters Settings)
Round 1
The Mock Draft Simulator kindly gave me the first pick of the draft, and there are a number of ways we can go with that pick. Our experts are split across Justin Jefferson, Ja’Maar Chase, and Christian McCaffrey, and I opted to go with the mercurial talents of Jefferson.
Rounds 2 & 3
At this point in the draft, we have to be cognizant of positional scarcity. If you don’t take a running back with these two picks, you’re likely going full Zero RB. In 2022 that was a very effective roster construction, and with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jaylen Waddle still on the board, I opted to lean into that and create an utterly dominant wide receiver core.
Rounds 4 & 5
In most best ball drafts, you’ll see Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen being drafted in the early rounds, and our expert consensus ranking is banking on them slipping further back in ADP between now and September, something which happened in 2022. For now, though, with Jalen Hurts staring me down, that’s a choice I couldn’t pass up. With my second pick on the turn, I opted to take JK Dobbins as my RB1. In a true Zero RB build, I would have waited at least another round, but the pricing on Dobbins seems discounted from what he could be in this new Todd Monken offense. We can take an RB in this situation but still adhere to good roster construction by making sure that wide receivers are still likely to fill out our flex position.
Rounds 6 & 7
Marquise Brown is a perfect Round 6 guy to now give this roster a strong option to fill out the flex every week, and the likelihood is that his ADP significantly increases if DeAndre Hopkins is traded away from Arizona. In Round 7, the time felt right for a second running back, and David Montgomery is more appealing now than at any other time in his career. He is set to run behind a great offensive line and free of a dual-threat quarterback who might vulture some of his touchdowns.
Rounds 8 & 9
Khalil Herbert‘s fantasy prospects weren’t dealt much of a blow by the signing of D’Onta Foreman during free agency. Foreman is on a $3 million one-year deal, and the Bears look ready to give Herbert the chance to take the RB1 role for himself. In Round 9, I opted for David Njoku, who could see a higher volume of targets in 2023, with the Browns reportedly looking to favor the pass more going forward.
Rounds 10 & 11
As we hit the double-digit rounds, I secure another quarterback with high-upside, pairing Tua Tagovailoa with my early pick of Jaylen Waddle. Typically this might be a bit early for a second quarterback, but the allure of the stack makes it worthwhile. Adding Tagovailoa’s teammate, Jeff Wilson Jr., here helps shore up the running back room and lets us go with the best player available for the rest of the draft.
Rounds 12 & 13
After a small tight end run, we add Dawson Knox and Greg Dulcich to our tight end room, and with those three options, we’re now done at the position.
Rounds 14 & 15
This roster is looking good, but it needs upside, so it’s time to swing for the fences with rookies whose ADP will greatly increase between now and after the draft. Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Quentin Johnston might be the first two receivers drafted, and this feels like the type of bargain that might be hard to come by in most drafts.
Rounds 16 & 17
More rookies here. Zay Flowers will be our final receiver. After starting with four in the first six picks, we don’t need to go overboard. Devon Achane‘s breakaway speed will likely get him onto the field early in his NFL career, and having a volatile player like him on a best ball team is a good dart throw.
Rounds 18 & 19
Sean Tucker is another promising rookie running back who could see a reasonable bump in ADP with the right landing spot, and adding him with Kyren Williams rounds out our running back room nicely. With the early shots at wide receiver, we want the flex to be mainly filled by that position, so each week we only need two running backs to do well enough to fill out those spots in our starting lineup.
Round 20
Finally, with the last pick, it’s time to add Jimmy Garoppolo. Later in the offseason, when there is more knowledge about the players we’re drafting, it’s preferable to have two quarterbacks if you’ve drafted one early, but this early into the offseason, taking a third with our final pick feels like a luxury but not an extravagant one.
Here are the results of the entire draft. Jump into one yourself and play with the settings so you can start to see what your teams will look like.
Beyond our fantasy football content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our free mock Draft Simulator – which allows you to mock draft against realistic opponents – to our Draft Assistant – which optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football draft season.
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