Members of the Yahoo Sports team recently conducted a 10-team, half point-per-reception fantasy football mock draft. Scroll to the right of the graphic above to see the complete results of the draft. Team-by-team results are at the bottom of the article.
The first and most important thing to realize about a 10-team fantasy football draft is that you can get away with just about any strategy. Everything is on the table; nothing will backfire.
First round tight end? Go for it. There is no penalty.
Second round quarterback? It is frowned upon in certain circles, but the opportunity cost is not that great.
ZeroRB? You will absolutely love the available backs in the double digit rounds.
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As a general rule, any manager in a 10-team league will be happy with their roster at the end of the draft. It is a extremely forgiving league size – especially if you play in a standard Yahoo format with only one starting QB and a single flex spot. It’s such a painless pulling experience.
Earlier this week – hours before the news broke Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs hadn’t entered into long-term deals with their teams – the Yahoo Fantasy extended family gathered for a 10-team mock draft using our standard public half-PPR settings.
We encourage you to use our results as a rough guide in your own future drafts.
Feel free to pick a favorite team too if that’s your thing, but just know that I’m personally undefeated in mocks dating back to the late 90’s. I simply do not lose scorn, ever. I basically am Edwin Moses of mock drafting.
If you want a few big shots from this mid-July exercise, here are three things that jump off the screen (the first of which is something we’ve previously covered)…
You can find good QB options deep in the draft
It’s not as if any of the three managers who selected quarterbacks in the third round — or the other three managers who took them in the fourth — were left with a sense that their rosters suffered as a consequence. Again, this is definitely a no-regrets format.
But you know who else isn’t sweating their QB pick? Scott Pianowski, the fake draftsman who waited the longest for the position. He took Aaron Rodgers in round 11 that is Deshaun Watson one round later. Rodgers, of course, is just a year away from winning an MVP. When we last saw Watson complete a full season, all he did was lead the NFL in passing yards and Y/A, finishing as a top-five fantasy quarterback.
You’ll also notice that last season’s overall QB5, Geno Smith, was taken in round 14 in our mock. America’s sleepers, Anthony Richardsonwaited until round 12. Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff went undrafted after 4,400 yard, 29-TD seasons. Simply put, quarterback is a wildly deep position for fantasy purposes. It makes sense to draft it early — in this era, the best fantasy QBs have league-winning upside — but you can still wait a long time to address this spot and be happy with the result.
Rookie skepticism is your friend
Sesame Robinson in the second round was a robbery. Jahmyr Gibbs in the fifth was also pure theft. These days, when NFL teams spend premium draft picks on running backsthose guys are relentlessly fed.
Rookie receivers only disappeared in the ninth and 10th rounds, despite first-year wideouts consistently finishing inside the position’s top-25. Once Richardson is at the controls for Indianapolis, he will be a fantasy force. I may very well be on an island with the rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, but he’s a serious talent with a Day-1 role in a surging offense. (Did you realize Detroit tight ends combined for a dozen TD receptions last season? Well, now you do.)
If this mock accurately represents the fantasy community’s distrust of the 2023 rookie class, these players will collectively be among the best values in our game.
It will be late early at wide receiver
A funny thing happens at receiver in fantasy drafts. One moment, we take guys like Chris Godwin, Tyler Lockett and Mike Williams, and everyone feels good about their options. But within a round or two, the names rolling by in draft chat are suddenly a little scary: Rashod Bateman, Kadarius Toney, Treylon Burkset al.
It almost feels like someone hacked the game and removed a wide receiver level. This isn’t such a big deal if your league settings only call for two starting WRs and a flex. But in a deeper format — say three starting receivers and 2-3 flexes — it’s important to recognize the limits of the player pool. It’s easy to talk yourself into someone like Bateman or Toney when they’re just a bench flyer, but it’s quite another to get into a predicament where you need the guys to produce.
Here are the team-by-team results of the mock draft in order of selection.
Collin Brennan, Yahoo Fantasy podcast producer
Trevor Lewis, Yahoo Fantasy Social Editor
Jason Klabacha, Chief Content Officer for Yahoo Fantasy
Dan Harris, Head of Video for Yahoo Fantasy
Matt Harmon, Yahoo Fantasy analyst
Dan Titus, Yahoo Fantasy Analyst
Dalton Del Don, Yahoo Fantasy Analyst
|
Round |
Total choice |
Player |
|
1. |
(7) |
Tyreek Hill (Mia – WR) |
|
2. |
(14) |
Tony Pollard (Dal – RB) |
|
3. |
(27) |
Josh Allen (Buff – QB) |
|
4. |
(34) |
TJ Hockenson (Min – TE) |
|
5. |
(47) |
JK Dobbins (Bal – RB) |
|
6. |
(54) |
Keenan Allen (LAC – WR) |
|
7. |
(67) |
Marquise Brown (Ari – WR) |
|
8. |
(74) |
Christian Watson (GB – WR) |
|
9. |
(87) |
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Sea – WR) |
|
10. |
(94) |
Brian Robinson (Was – RB) |
|
11. |
(107) |
Daniel Jones (NYG – QB) |
|
12. |
(114) |
Chigoziem Okonkwo (Ten – TE) |
|
13. |
(127) |
Courtland Sutton (Den – WR) |
|
14. |
(134) |
New England (NE – DEF) |
|
15. |
(147) |
Jason Sanders (Mia – K) |
Andy Behrens, Yahoo Fantasy Analyst
|
Round |
Total choice |
Player |
|
1. |
(8) |
Nick Chubb (CL – RB) |
|
2. |
(13) |
Davante Adams (LV – WR) |
|
3. |
(28) |
Aaron Jones (GB – RB) |
|
4. |
(33) |
Lamar Jackson (Bal – QB) |
|
5. |
(48) |
Cam Akers (LAR – RB) |
|
6. |
(53) |
DeAndre Hopkins (Ten – WR) |
|
7. |
(68) |
Chris Godwin (TB – WR) |
|
8. |
(73) |
Javonte Williams (Den – RB) |
|
9. |
(88) |
Sam LaPorta (It – TE) |
|
10. |
(93) |
Kadarius Toney (KC – WR) |
|
11. |
(108) |
Odell Beckham Jr. (Prom – WR) |
|
12. |
(113) |
Jerick McKinnon (KC – RB) |
|
13. |
(128) |
New York (NEW – DEF) |
|
14. |
(133) |
Harrison Butker (KC – K) |
|
15. |
(148) |
Tank Bigsby (Jax – RB) |
Kathryn Buckles, director of social media at Yahoo Sports
|
Round |
Total choice |
Player |
|
1. |
(9) |
Josh Jacobs (LV – RB) |
|
2. |
(12) |
Bijan Robinson (Atl – RB) |
|
3. |
(29) |
Jaylen Waddle (Mia – WR) |
|
4. |
(32) |
Tee Higgins (Cin – WR) |
|
5. |
(49) |
Justin Herbert (LAC – QB) |
|
6. |
(52) |
Dameon Pierce (Hou – RB) |
|
7. |
(69) |
Mike Williams (LAC – WR) |
|
8. |
(72) |
Evan Engram (Jax – TE) |
|
9. |
(89) |
Dak Prescott (Valley – QB) |
|
10. |
(92) |
San Francisco (SF – DEF) |
|
11. |
(109) |
Gabe Davis (Buf – WR) |
|
12. |
(112) |
Elijah Mitchell (SF – RB) |
|
13. |
(129) |
Jakobi Meyers (LV – WR) |
|
14. |
(132) |
Skyy Moore (KC – WR) |
|
15. |
(149) |
Jake Elliott (Phi – K) |
Scott Pianowski, Yahoo Fantasy Analyst
|
Round |
Total choice |
Player |
|
1. |
(10) |
Jonathan Taylor (In – RB) |
|
2. |
(11) |
Stefon Diggs (Buff – WR) |
|
3. |
(30) |
Mark Andrews (Bal – TE) |
|
4. |
(31) |
Rhamondre Stevenson (NE – RB) |
|
5. |
(50) |
Jerry Jeudy (Den – WR) |
|
6. |
(51) |
Drake London (Atl – WR) |
|
7. |
(70) |
Rachaad White (TB – RB) |
|
8. |
(71) |
Isiah Pacheco (KC – RB) |
|
9. |
(90) |
Jahan Dotson (Was – WR) |
|
10. |
(91) |
George Pickens (Pit – WR) |
|
11. |
(110) |
Aaron Rodgers (NEW – QB) |
|
12. |
(111) |
Deshaun Watson (CL – QB) |
|
13. |
(130) |
Baltimore (Bal – DEF) |
|
14. |
(131) |
Daniel Carlson (LV – K) |
|
15. |
(150) |
Cole Kmet (Chi – TE) |