The quest to win your fantasy football league starts with the draft. Whether you have the first pick or the twelfth, there is value to be had at every stage, and with the proper blueprint, you can walk away with championship hardware at the end of the season.
If you landed the 1.09 pick, don’t fret. You might feel like you’re missing out on the early, league-winning studs, but that’s not true. In this article, I’ll give you all the tools you need to feel good about your roster when you walk away from your fantasy football drafts.
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Fantasy Football Draft Strategy & Advice: Drafting from 1.09 Pick
How to Draft from the 1.09 Position in 2023 Fantasy Football Drafts
Landing a draft pick in the back half of the first round can be daunting. Every fantasy football manager would prefer to pick in the first five to seven picks, but that’s simply impossible. However, there are advantages to having a selection in the back half of your drafts. While the managers drafting early on will wait for a double-digit number of picks to select again, you will get to pick twice within eight slots. This lets you stack value early on and set the tone for quality draft results.
First-Round Targets
With the 1.09 pick, it’s important to be fluid. With the volatility of drafts, you never know who will be gone and still available.
If you like to draft RBs early in drafts, you’ll still have your choice of some quality ball carriers
Josh Jacobs, the 2022 overall PPR RB3, has been falling to the back half of the first rounds of drafts as of late. Given the situation in Las Vegas with QB Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacobs could be in for a similar workload this season and has a shot again at being a top-tier RB.
Tony Pollard had an incredible 2022 season, finishing as the PPR RB8 despite sharing a backfield with Ezekiel Elliot. However, Elliot was released in February, leaving Pollard as the team’s RB1. Unless the Cowboys make a play for one of the few remaining free-agent RBs on the market, Pollard could best his 2022 season results.
If you listened to the pre-draft hype, you would have thought Bijan Robinson was already in the Hall of Fame. While that isn’t the case, Robinson couldn’t have found a better home than Atlanta. The Falcons ran the ball on 55 percent of their offensive snaps, second most in the league behind the Chicago Bears.
In his first two seasons in the league, Rhamondre Stevenson was stellar despite sharing a backfield with Damien Harris. With Harris in Buffalo, Stevenson finds himself as the undisputed RB1 for the Patriots. The sky is the limit for the 2022 overall PPR RB7.
If taking RBs early isn’t your jam, there’s a good chance you can snag one of these elite pass-catchers at 1.09.
All signs point to the Philadelphia Eagles again having one of the most explosive offenses in the league in 2023. If last season was any indication, A.J. Brown will be a massive part of that explosiveness. The overall PPR WR4 last season, Brown could finish even higher in 2023.
Recent grumblings from Bills WR Stefon Diggs might concern fantasy managers. Diggs and the team will get things worked out, and it will be business as usual. In 2022, Diggs finished as the PPR WR5, and the team hasn’t added any players to challenge his WR1 status in Buffalo. Look for Diggs to put in a similar performance to last season.
After suffering a devastating knee injury nine weeks into the 2022 season, WR Cooper Kupp is back and ready to roll. QB Matt Stafford‘s primary target finished last season as the PPR WR23 despite missing the entire second half. His floor is a low-end WR2 with an overall PPR WR1 ceiling.
The Next Two Rounds
Now that you’ve anchored your roster with your first pick, it’s time to lock in quality value in rounds two and three. No matter what direction you went in RD1, this is where you build out the core of your fantasy football roster regardless of position. My RD1 preference from this slot was RB Rhamondre Stevenson, with an eye on an elite receiver with the 2.04. Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, and Garrett Wilson are options that are likely available with this pick. If you went with a WR with your RD1 pick, finding a solid RB should be a priority with this pick. Players I would be targeting here include Derrick Henry, Travis Etienne, and Nick Chubb.
On to RD3; it’s time to get your guy. You’ve locked in value at WR and RB and can do just about whatever you want here. Looking at available players, taking a shot on Joe Mixon, DK Metcalf or T.J. Hockenson is the play at 3.09.
Building Depth
You should feel good about your fantasy football roster through three rounds of your draft. You’ve locked in a top-tier WR and RB and could have found a steal at TE. These first three picks will be the heart of your roster, but they can’t do it alone.
My best advice is to draft WRs early and often. While there is a fair amount of depth at the position, quality, reliable pass-catchers aren’t as plentiful. The receivers I’m targeting include Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, and Christian Kirk.
Once I’ve locked down my receivers, filling out my RB room becomes the priority. Isiah Pacheco and A.J. Dillon are two players in situations that could lead to high-end RB2 production at a fraction of the cost.
When To Draft a QB
In non-Superflex formats, I wait on drafting a QB until the middle rounds. While you might miss out on top names like Justin Fields, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes, you’ll still land a quality signal caller without sacrificing depth at other positions.
Daniel Jones, Tua Tagovailoa, and Kirk Cousins will likely be on the board in RD9 or later. Tua has the most upside of the group, and I’ve been snatching him up in almost every draft this offseason. If he stays healthy, he could easily be a top-5 QB in 2023.
Example Draft from the 1.08
In the name of science, I conducted a mock draft using the FantasyPros Draft Wizard from the 1.09 draft position. After all was said and done, I received a C – grade on my mock draft.
Here are the results:
- Pick 1.09 Rhamondre Stevenson (RB – NE)
- Pick 2.04 Stefon Diggs (WR – BUF)
- Pick 3.09 T.J. Hockenson (TE – MIN)
- Pick 4.04 Amari Cooper (WR – CLE)
- Pick 5.09 Jerry Jeudy (WR – DEN)
- Pick 6.04 Brandon Aiyuk (WR – SF)
- Pick 7.09 David Montgomery (RB – DET)
- Pick 8.04 Kadarius Toney (WR – KC)
- Pick 9.09 Jamaal Williams (RB – NO)
- Pick 10.04 Darnell Mooney (WR – CHI)
- Pick 11.09 Tyler Boyd (WR – CIN)
- Pick 12.04 Chig Okonkwo (TE – TEN)
- Pick 13.09 Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB – KC)
- Pick 14.04 Geno Smith (QB – SEA)
- Pick 15.09 Darius Slayton (WR – NYG)
- Pick 16.04 Jordan Love (QB – GB)
- Pick 17.09 Zach Evans (RB – LAR)
- Pick 18.04 Parris Campbell (WR – NYG)
- Pick 19.09 Harrison Butker (K – KC)
- Pick 20.04 Pittsburgh Steelers (D/ST)
More Draft Pick Slot Advice
- How to Draft from the 1.01
- How to Draft from the 1.02
- How to Draft from the 1.03
- How to Draft from the 1.04
- How to Draft from the 1.05
- How to Draft from the 1.06
- How to Draft from the 1.07
- How to Draft from the 1.08
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Nate Polvogt is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Nate, check out his archive and follow him @NatePolvogt.
