Aug. 8, 2024.
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 running backs I would choose in this range: Breece Hall, Christian McCaffrey, and Bijan Robinson in some order. This applies to both standard and PPR leagues, although in the latter, I would consider Jahmyr Gibbs over Robinson.
ROUNDS 2-3: I’m going to advocate for something I’ve never done before on this space. I would draft a quarterback in this range, as long as it’s Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or Jalen Hurts. I’m usually one who likes to wait on quarterbacks, but I truly hate most of the players who are going in the third round and even late second. These are all players I feel can fall to the fourth frame, where I’d be comfortable choosing them. Based on my Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet, some of the top players available are James Conner, Aaron Jones, Kenneth Walker, etc., and they can all be obtained in the fourth round.
I would grab a quarterback and pray that one of the better options falls to you, such as Isiah Pacheco, Garrett Wilson, and James Cook. Otherwise, you’ll have to either reach or draft a tight end (Sam LaPorta) in addition to a quarterback, which I would be OK with this year.
ROUNDS 4-5: This is where you can get players I have ranked in the Round 2-3 turn range. Conner, Jones, Walker are all good options here, as are Alvin Kamara, Brandon Aiyuk, and Chris Olave.
If you missed out on the top three quarterbacks – Mahomes, Allen, Hurts – I would not pull the trigger on a quarterback here unless it’s C.J. Stroud. Following the top four signal-callers, they’re all pretty much grouped together in my rankings. The difference between my fifth and 16th quarterbacks is 23 points, which is 1.35 points per week.
I wouldn’t hate a tight end pick here, but I would rather concentrate on running backs and especially receivers, since the latter position is thinner this year.
ROUNDS 6-7: This is a dead zone for quarterbacks, so don’t select one here unless C.J. Stroud is somehow available. Tight end is an option if Dalton Kincaid is on the board. Otherwise, you’re looking at more running backs and receivers. Options at those positions are as follows:
Running backs: David Montgomery, Najee Harris, Zamir White, D’Andre Swift.
Wide receiver: Tank Dell, Christian Kirk, Terry McLaurin, Marquise Brown.
ROUNDS 8-9: If you haven’t taken a quarterback yet, you can still wait. There are plenty of decent options in the Round 10-11 range. I believe the same thing about tight ends, so we’ll get to them in the next segment.
Running backs and receivers will continue to be in play for you at this range. We’re looking at the two Tennessee backs, Rashee Rice, Austin Ekeler, Diontae Johnson, Brian Robinson Jr., and Christian Watson.
ROUNDS 10-11: Get your starting quarterback now if you haven’t done so yet because 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. I’ve seen quarterbacks like Jayden Daniels, Trevor Lawrence, Caleb Williams, and Jared Goff be available in this range. All are decent options.
I’ve seen some value tight ends fall to this spot as well. I’ve gotten Dallas Goedert, Cole Kmet and Pat Freiermuth in this range. All are outstanding choices.
Otherwise, it’s time to begin plucking players off the 2024 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 2024 Fantasy Football Defense Rankings for details.
Drafting Middle: Picks 4-8:
ROUND 1: In this segment, you’re still drafting a running back, albeit a slightly lesser one like Jahmyr Gibbs, Jonathan Taylor, or Saquon Barkley. The primary difference is what you’ll be doing in the second and third rounds.
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 Garrett Wilson, Josh Jacobs, Isiah Pacheco and Puka Nacua should be available in this range, so you won’t have to pull the trigger on a quarterback in the second frame.
However, quarterback is still a very real option in Round 3. Again, I strongly dislike all of the players who are going in the third frame, and I find myself being obtain some of my highest-rated players still on the board in the fourth round. I would only target Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts in this range.
ROUNDS 4-5: Non-quarterbacks who are fine choices in this range, in addition to the aforementioned top-three quarterbacks, are C.J. Stroud and Sam LaPorta. I know LaPorta’s ADP is much earlier than this, but if you’re in a smarter league, your league mates won’t reach for a tight end in the Round 2-3 turn.
Assuming all of those players are off the board, you’re going to be targeting running backs and receivers. Joe Mixon, Alvin Kamara, DeVonta Smith, James Conner and Kenneth Walker all make sense in this area.
Once again, make sure to check out my updated fantasy football cheat sheets to see who the best-available players are.
ROUNDS 6-7: This is a dead zone for quarterbacks. Once again, the quarterbacks after the top four are all pretty much the same, so you can wait. Tight end, on the other hand, can be a choice if you’re able to get a great value like Dalton Kincaid or Mark Andrews.
Otherwise, running backs and receivers should be targeted. Tee Higgins, Christian Kirk, Keenan Allen and Tank Dell are my favorite receivers to take in this range. Running backs I like are David Montgomery, Zamir White, and the Pittsburgh duo.
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.
I’d pass on tight ends until Rounds 10-11.
ROUNDS 10-11: If you don’t have a quarterback, you should probably take one in the 10th 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 Dallas Goedert, Pat Freiermuth, David Njoku, or Cole Kmet.
THE REST: The rest of the draft will follow “Drafting Early.” Check out my 2024 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 players in the top tier, as opposed to those drafting in the middle and especially early.
I would attempt to target at least one receiver with your picks, whether it’s Ja’Marr Chase, Amon-Ra St. Brown, A.J. Brown, or Justin Jefferson. Landing two works as well because the running back depth is better than the receiving depth this year. The plan to go WR-WR-RB-RB or WR-WR-QB-RB-RB/WR seems like it would work, although you’ll want to target the best players available, of course.
As for running backs you can land in this range, Jonathan Taylor, Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Josh Jacobs are all stellar options.
ROUNDS 3-4: If you selected a running back and a receiver in the first two rounds, anyone is fair game at this juncture. Quarterback is as well, but you don’t have to worry about reaching for non-third-round talents in the third frame because you’re drafting at the end of the round. Still, I’d love to land one of Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts or Josh Allen between 3.09 and 3.12.
If you went double receiver, you probably want to obtain at least one running back with these two picks. Waiting until Round 5 to select your first running back is awfully risky. Runners in this range include Rachaad White, James Cook, James Conner, Kenneth Walker, Joe Mixon, and Alvin Kamara.
ROUNDS 5-6: This is a dead zone for quarterbacks unless C.J. Stroud falls to you. So, you’ll want to avoid that position. Tight end in Round 6 isn’t bad if you can get a great value like Mark Andrews or Dalton Kincaid.
Otherwise, keep bolstering running back and receiver. Options include Aaron Jones, James Conner, Keenan Allen, Tank Dell, David Montgomery, Terry McLaurin, and Christian Kirk.
ROUNDS 7-8: You can wait on a quarterback until Rounds 9-10. You can wait on a tight end until Round 11 as well. I’d continue to bolster running back and receiver. You can look at Diontae Johnson, Austin Ekeler, Jordan Addison, Ladd McConkey, Brian Robinson, and Christian Watson.
ROUNDS 9-10: You’ll want to draft a quarterback before the dumb people in your league pick backups. Definitely don’t take a tight end with the other pick though. Get another running back or a wide receiver.
ROUNDS 11-12 AND THE REST: Find your tight end in Round 11-14. 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 2024 Fantasy Football Articles:
Fantasy Football Rankings
2024 Fantasy Football Rankings:
2024 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks - 9/4 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/4 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Rankings: Wide Receivers - 9/4 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Rankings: Tight Ends - 9/4 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Rankings: Kickers - 9/4 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Rankings: Defenses - 9/4 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Rookie Rankings: Dynasty - 5/8 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Mock Drafts:
2024 Fantasy Football Mock Draft - 9/3 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheets:
2024 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 - 9/4 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 PPR - 9/4 (Walt)
2024 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Top 250 Half-PPR - 9/4 (Walt)
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2024 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Custom - 9/4 (Walt)
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