Fantasy football mock drafts: Strategies in a small league

More people, more players, more depth. That’s how many fantasy analysts and players say the game should be played. But honestly, a 10-team league offers a whole new set of strategies to keep in mind while constructing your roster.

Every team in a 10-team league is stacked with talent. Every team has two chances at guys ranked within the 20 best players. The wait time between your picks is much shorter.

We put together 10 analysts and they showed you how it’s done. Here is a shallow draft with a lot of strategy in the mix.

Round 1

The first seven players in most mock drafts have been the exact same. The eighth pick and beyond is usually indicative of the format, and in this case, these are standard league choices. The round ended with three running backs, two of which finished outside of the top-15 in receptions at the position. Since no one in this league would get a point for reception, these are strong picks and something a fantasy player should emulate if they are playing in similar settings.

Rounds 2-3

Rob Gronkowski dropped to 2.10, which will certainly be a value if he can play in most of the games this season. Reports out of camp are favorable, but there seems to be trepidation regarding Gronkowski as an early pick. Take note and take advantage Christian McCaffrey is the only player in the second and third rounds with an ADP that goes up and down depending on off-season news. Considering McCaffrey was held out of OTAs due to Stanford’s finals schedule and Cam Newton still isn’t practicing, many will wait to see how the playbook and chemistry develops during preseason. However, Tyler Loechner is ready to pull that trigger early, right now.

Rounds 4-5

It’s surprising that four quarterbacks went off the board in the fourth and fifth rounds considering the depth at the position and in a 10-team league. George Kritikos waited until the 11th round and landed Ben Roethlisberger. Jeff Ratcliffe waited until the 12th and landed Derek Carr and then took Kirk Cousins the following round. Pairing up two late-round quarterbacks and playing the matchup is a very strong strategy in a league of this size. Although, there are others that believe you need a strong performance at the quarterback position every single week if you want to compete when every roster is stacked. Those players are the ones who went with Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, and Drew Brees early.

Rounds 6-8

One of the most successful strategies that you can employ in this kind of format is to take PPR wide receivers late in standard settings. Golden Tate and Julian Edelman are PPR superstars, but they still finished last season as top-25 fantasy wideouts in standard settings. Both players will be integral parts of their offense going into the 2017 season, so their placement in this draft indicates an opportunity for value. Only two tight ends came off the board in these three rounds. If you want an elite tight end, you’ll need to go for it early, but after the first tier, the tight ends go off the boards slowly. You can wait at that position in this format.

Rounds 9-11

And now we hit the point in the draft where everyone decides if they want to go with the steady-but-low-ceiling players like Frank Gore, or a complete unknown fantasy option like O.J. Howard. Perhaps you decide to bank on a bounceback from John Brown. Or maybe you believe rookie Kareem Hunt will overtake Spencer Ware and become the bell-cow back in Kansas City. These three rounds are random, no matter the format. Some of my favorite picks is Pierre Garcon, reportedly the No. 1 wide receiver in San Francisco. He put up 1,000-plus yards last season and back in 2013, the last time he played under Kyle Shanahan. Another standout is LeGarrette Blount at 10.03. Pat Thorman thinks Blount will be the main back in a Doug Pederson offense, so getting him in the double-digit rounds is an incredibly value. Danny Woodhead is known as a PPR running back who led the league in receptions in two seasons, but he’s also the main back during the first four games of the season due to Kenneth Dixon’s suspension.

Rounds 12-14

There is some debate as to whether Kenny Britt or Corey Coleman will be the No. 1 wide receiver in Cleveland, but no matter how you slice it, Britt in the 12th round sticks out. Another sleeper, Cooper Kupp, could end up the No. 1 wide receiver on the Los Angeles Rams. When you’re drafting in the 12th to 14th round, try to target players you believe will take over the lead role at their position on their offense. An ADP surprise, but still a very interesting choice that sticks to this strategy was when Tyler Loechner took Rex Burkhead at 13.06. The New England backfield is a very vulnerable situation, so taking a chance late on any of the players vying for the lead back role is an interesting move that could pay dividends.

Rounds 15-16

Interestingly, three of the 10 players in this mock drafted a kicker before their defense. At first glance, that seemed like a non-strategy, but it may be a smart move. Once you get to the last two rounds, you know that no one is going to take two defenses if they haven’t done so already. That means only 10 defenses will go off the board in total. If you’re going to stream defenses, wait. The kicker situation is similar, in that only 10 will get drafted, but you don’t want to bother with streaming kickers. Get one you can stick with throughout the season, and don’t think about it again.