Aug. 1, 2025.
The following is a round-by-round blueprint of how I plan on drafting in my fantasy football leagues this summer.
Keep in mind that depending on the circumstances, you might not be able to completely follow this strategy once your draft begins. There could be a run on a certain position; an unexpected player could fall; or another owner may take one of the key sleepers early. You have to be able to play a lot of it by ear, but having a strategy going into the draft helps a lot.
Also, most of this assumes a 12-man league with two running backs, two receivers and a flex (ESPN standard). If your league requires you start two quarterbacks, three receivers, two flexes, etc., you’ll need to adjust accordingly.
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Drafting Early: Picks 1-3:
ROUND 1: I consider there to be three elite players I would choose in this range: Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson, and Ja’Marr Chase in that order. This applies to both standard and PPR leagues, although in three-receiver leagues, I would consider Chase No. 1 overall.
ROUNDS 2-3: There are no quarterbacks or tight ends worth considering in this range unless you get extra points for the latter position. Concentrate on building your running back and wide receiver groups, and try to come away with at least one player at the position. I’m not totally against going RB-RB-RB or WR-WR-WR, but if you do that, you’ll be in a position where it’ll be very difficult to land a great value at the position later in the draft.
Some running backs I like here are Bucky Irving, Chase Brown, and Josh Jacobs. My favorite receivers here are A.J. Brown, Ladd McConkey, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
ROUNDS 4-5: I hate Round 4. It’s one of three dead zones in fantasy drafts this year. I normally grab my quarterback or tight end (George Kittle) here, and I’d prefer the former. Jayden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, and Joe Burrow are your options in the fourth frame.
Try to pair a running back or a receiver with your quarterback or Kittle. Go with Chuba Hubbard, TreVeyon Henderson, Calvin Ridley, DeVonta Smith, or Courtland Sutton.
ROUNDS 6-7: There are no viable quarterbacks or tight ends available in these rounds, so go with:
Running backs: Kaleb Johnson, D’Andre Swift, Isiah Pacheco.
Wide receivers: Emeka Egbuka, Rome Odunze, Travis Hunter, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings.
ROUNDS 8-9: I’m typically drafting a receiver in the eighth round unless either T.J. Hockenson or Isiah Pacheco falls to me. Josh Downs and Matthew Golden make sense in the range. If you’re lucky, one of Ricky Pearsall or Emeka Egbuka will fall to you.
Round 9 is the second dead zone of fantasy drafts this year, so you can grab a quarterback here if you didn’t do so in Round 4. I like Drake Maye, Brock Purdy, Justin Fields, and J.J. McCarthy.
ROUNDS 10-11: Get your starting quarterback now if you haven’t done so yet because of two reasons. First, Round 11 is the third dead zone in fantasy drafts. And second, idiots in your league will begin to draft backups for no reason. It won’t do them any good, but their stupid strategy will hurt you if you don’t have a starter yet. You might be able to get one of the Round 9 quarterbacks at this spot. If not, consider Trevor Lawrence or Cam Ward.
I’ve seen some value tight ends fall to this spot as well. I’ve gotten Mark Andrews, Tyler Warren, and Tucker Kraft in this range. All are outstanding choices, though Andrews’ ADP could be on the rise with Isaiah Likely injured.
Otherwise, it’s time to begin plucking players off the 2025 Fantasy Football Sleepers list. Check out that list for players to consider. You need to swing for the fences in the double-digit rounds because your league could be won with a great value selection or two in the final third of the draft.
And lastly, I’m going to put this in caps because I can’t emphasize this enough: DO NOT DRAFT A KICKER OR A DEFENSE YET!!!!!
ROUNDS 12-13: More sleepers. Again, take high-upside players beginning in Round 10-11; doing otherwise would violate what I used to call the Wayne Chrebet Rule. Chrebet, a former Jets receiver, was a very good player in real life, but was only a fantasy WR5 (an average year for him would be about 900 yards and six touchdowns.) Yet, people would draft him even though as a possession receiver, he would offer no upside. You can always add someone like him on the waiver wire, so try to hit a home run with your late picks.
Oh, and once again, don’t choose a defense or kicker yet. That’s just lazy.
ROUNDS 14-16: In leagues that require each position to be chosen, Round 14 is my final skill-position player – a super-high-upside long shot. Round 15 is my defense. Round 16 is my kicker.
If you’re not forced into drafting a kicker, don’t. Select another high-upside player instead and wait until the final days before the regular season. That way, you maximize your chances of landing a great sleeper. You can simply get rid of a player who gets injured.
As far as defenses are concerned, you don’t have to draft one either. Seriously, select as many high-upside players as possible and worry about a defense later. If you need to pick a defense per your league rules, I love playing matchups. Go to my 2025 Fantasy Football Defense Rankings for details.
Drafting Middle: Picks 4-8:
ROUND 1: There are several players to consider in this range. They would be Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Malik Nabers. I like them in that order. I had Nabers atop this group earlier, but his toe injury worries me a bit.
ROUNDS 2-3: The main difference between the drafting early and drafting middle strategies is the caliber of talent you’ll be able to obtain in the second round. Players like A.J. Brown, Drake London, De’Von Achane, Ashton Jeanty, Bucky Irving, and perhaps even Brian Thomas Jr. could be available in this range.
I wouldn’t draft a quarterback in Round 3 because the fourth round is a dead zone for running backs and receivers.
ROUNDS 4-5: You’ll want to consider a quarterback in the fourth round – Danilels, Hurts, Burrow – unless someone unxpected falls. I’ve seen Smith-Njigba drop to the middle of th fourth round, so it could certainly happen to you.
Fifth-round options include Chuba Hubbard, TreVeyon Henderson, Calvin Ridley, DeVonta Smith, Zay Flowers, and Courtland Sutton. Once again, make sure to check out my updated fantasy football cheat sheets to see who the best-available players are.
ROUNDS 6-7: There are no quarterbacks or tight ends to consider. Thus, you’ll be looking to add to the running back and receiver corps.
Some options in Round 6 include TreVeyon Henderson, D’Andre Swift, Kaleb Johnson, Rome Odunze, Jauan Jennings, and Deebo Samuel (if Terry McLaurin is still holding out). When you get to Round 7, you can add Emeka Egbuka and Ricky Pearsall to the list.
ROUNDS 8-9: This area of your draft depends on how smart your league is. If you’re in a sharp league, you can wait on a quarterback. Sharper players will wait forever on quarterbacks and will seldom choose a backup. Instead, they’ll begin plucking their sleepers, so you may have to fight for the sleepers you want beginning in this range.
On the other hand, if most of your league mates are squares, you’ll be able to get your sleepers later. Moreover, the square players will begin to choose their backup quarterbacks because they’ll run out of familiar names to select at other positions, so you’ll want to target your starting quarterback here if you didn’t get one of the top four.
As I said earlier, Round 9 is a dead zone, so it’s ideal to grab a quarterback there. Otherwise, you can look Ricky Pearsall, Emeka Egbuka, Josh Downs, and Matthew Golden in the eighth round. I also like T.J. Hockenson, Tyler Warren, and Mark Andrews in this range.
ROUNDS 10-11: If you don’t have a quarterback, you should probably take one in the 11th round before people begin drafting backups. Otherwise, continue to take running backs and receivers.
This is also the spot to draft tight ends. In all of my mock drafts, I’ve gotten a solid tight end in this area like Tyler Warren and Tucker Kraft.
THE REST: The rest of the draft will follow “Drafting Early.” Check out my 2025 Fantasy Football Sleepers list for some ideas on whom to select late in your draft.
Drafting Late: Picks 9-12:
ROUNDS 1-2: This is my preferred range this year. If you’re in a league in which you can select your draft positioning, target one of these picks. You’ll likely be able to land two first-round-caliber players, as opposed to those drafting in the middle and especially early.
Ideally, you’ll want to go RB-WR or WR-RB. You can draft two of the same position, but that could make things dicey if you’re forced on passing great values at the position later in the draft.
Running backs you can take here include De’Von Achane, Derrick Henry, and Ashton Jeanty. I’m not opposed to Bucky Irving between 2.01 and 2.04 either. Receiver options include Brian Thomas Jr., Nico Collins, A.J. Brown, and Drake London.
ROUNDS 3-4: Round 4 is a dead zone, but you might be fortunate enough to land two third-round-caliber players between 4.01 and 4.04. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, for example, is a player who tends to fall in this range. Kyren Williams and Breece Hall are others. If your league owners are behind, perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to land Omarion Hampton in this range, but I wouldn’t count on it.
If you see a couple of third-round-caliber players available when you’re on the clock between 3.09 and 3.12, and either Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson is available, consider one of those quarterbacks.
ROUNDS 5-6: There won’t be any quarterbacks or tight ends worth taking here unless you’re very fortunate and either Jalen Hurts or Joe Burrown drops to you, which I’ve seen on occasion. If they do, scoop them up.
Otherwise, keep bolstering running back and receiver. Options include Chuba Hubbard, TreVeyon Henderson, Calvin Ridley, DeVonta Smith, and Travis Hunter.
ROUNDS 7-8: You can wait on a quarterback until Rounds 9-10. You can wait on a tight end as well. I’d continue to bolster running back and receiver. You can look at Kaleb Johnson, D’Andre Swift, Isiah Pacheco, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, and Emeka Egbuka.
ROUNDS 9-10: You’ll want to draft a quarterback before the dumb people in your league pick backups. My favorite quarterbacks in Round 9 are Drake Maye, Brock Purdy, Justin Fields, and Dak Prescott. Don’t hesitate to stack a quarterback with one of your receivers or tight ends.
Tight ends named Mark Andrews, Tyler Warren, and Tucker Kraft are fine here as well.
I’m not a big fan of the running backs and receivers in this range, but Zach Charbonnet is a massive exception. Kenneth Walker could be traded because he’s in his contract year, so Charbonnet should be targeted whenever possible. Some receiver options include Jayden Higgins and Tre Harris.
ROUNDS 11-12 AND THE REST: Find your tight end in Round 11-14 if you haven’t taken one already. The rest of the draft will follow the Drafting Early strategy. Make sure you look at our cheat sheets. We have regular fantasy football cheat sheets and new customized fantasy football cheat sheets. Also, keep up to date with the rest of our Fantasy Football Rankings.
More 2025 Fantasy Football Articles:
Fantasy Football Rankings
2025 Fantasy Football Rankings:
2025 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings: Dynasty - 6/18 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:
2025 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
2025 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 PPR - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Half-PPR - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 2-QB - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Touchdown League - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Custom - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football: Dynasty Rankings - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Articles:
2025 Fantasy Football Stock Report: OTAs, Training Camp - 8/2 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Top Values - 7/30 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Sleepers - 7/29 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Busts - 7/29 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Best and Worst Picks from Each Round - 7/8 (Walt)
2025 Fantasy Football Schedule Analysis - 6/14 (Walt)
Fantasy Football Rankings - Aug. 2
2026 NFL Mock Draft - June 10
NFL Power Rankings - May 16
NFL Picks - Feb. 9
