Each preseason I walk through a mock draft round by round. The draft results aren't pre-designed (what's the fun in that). Last night around midnight I hopped on ESPN, clicked into an upcoming 12-team PPR mock snake draft, and was randomly given the #5 pick.
While waiting to enter the room, I thought through the first few rounds, starting with my first pick. Because for me, the first pick helps define the path I want to take. In my league last year, I took Jahmyr Gibbs in the opening round, so I knew I had to reach a little early for David Montgomery. Since Montgomery had stand-alone value, this gave me flexibility to target on an elite QB and at least a couple WRs who were #1 on their teams' depth charts.
Here's how last night's draft went. For context, there were two auto-drafters for most of it.
Round 1 -- Jonathan Taylor. Briefly stuck between him and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Taylor's pre-2025 injury history is concerning, but his weekly ceiling obviously is uber-elite, and he's one of the few bell cows with strong 300+ touch potential. The downside is that he has no obvious handcuff, so I'd be more exposed if he gets hurt. In a real draft, I might have thought more about it. In this one, I went with the elite bell cow.
Round 2 -- Jeremiyah Love. Trey McBride and Brock Bowers were among the best available based on ADP. Briefly considered snagging one and bailing on my summer-long strategy to take my favorite TE bargain since rookie Sam LaPorta. But a healthy Love could dominate, even with Tyler Allgeier poaching touches. Given Love's injury, I immediately added Allgeier to my queue and made a mental note to take him a round or two early.
Round 3 -- Malik Nabers. Passed on "best-available" guys like Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, and Javonte Williams. Had I not taken Taylor or Love, Williams might have been ideal. Instead, I now have three elite-upside players, two of whom are not 100% healthy. But I landed them at slight bargains, so hopefully it evens out.
Round 4 -- Tee Higgins. On a per-game basis, he'd be productive as a late fourth rounder. Assuming he misses a few games, this might end up being a bust pick. Five of the next six best-available were RBs. I could have taken Jaylen Waddle instead. Or Lamar Jackson. (Both were going to get drafted soon). If I weren't targeting one of my favorite RB bargains in round 5, I probably would've taken an RB like D'Andre Swift.
Round 5 -- TreVeyon Henderson. Either I'm an idiot (pause for comments), or my confusion about the market's distrust of Henderson is entirely justified. Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Drake Maye, and other talented guys were available. But I want to walk away with three powerhouse backfields, and Henderson's ceiling is deceptively elite.
Round 6 -- Rhamondre Stevenson. This was the plan as soon as I committed to Henderson. Actually, it was the plan when I took Higgins, because having two WRs freed me to load up on more RBs. As a stand-alone pick, I'm not thrilled to take a running back with massive ball-control issues and above-average injury risks. But as a hedge to Henderson, it's necessary.
Round 7 -- Michael Wilson. I don't want to exit this draft without landing one more high-impact wideout. Wilson proved last year that he can go toe-to-toe with the higher-priced Marvin Harrison Jr. Given the other best-available WRs (Mike Evans, Michael Pittman, and D.K. Metcalf), I felt comfortable with Wilson.
Round 8 -- Patrick Mahomes. Careful Planning + Timing = Great Draft. In the previous couple rounds, I had been tracking how many QBs were coming off the board. My plan all along was to wait on quarterback and then snag my two favorite top-6-upside guys. Mahomes, of course, isn't just a "top-6" QB. His injury recovery has kept him off fantasy radars. He and the next guy have been on my radar since June.
Round 9 -- Bo Nix. If I'd waited until round 9 to take Mahomes and round 10 to take Nix, I might have whiffed on both of them. So this was by design. Nix was the QB8 these past two seasons and has room to pop in year 3.
Round 10 -- Tyler Allgeier. Took him at least a round early, maybe two. With several low-ceiling top-50 WRs and fringe weekly TE starters remaining, I locked down my second "complete" backfield. Barring massive RB injuries, I would be set.
Round 11 -- Mike Washington Jr. If you're drafting this weekend, you might not be able to get him this late. His ADP late last night was overall-142. I took him with pick #125. It's entirely possible one of your opponents will get him inside the top 100. He's trendy for all the right reasons.
Round 12 -- T.J. Hockenson. Barring an unforeseen injury, I believe Hockenson will prove to be the best TE value pick of 2026. His ADP has steadily improved, but he's still only the TE19. Devoted a podcast episode to him earlier this summer to articulate why he's a strong rebound candidate.
Round 13 -- Rashid Shaheed. Many of you know my views on drafting WRs. They're like cookies left on a kitchen counter: it's hard to take just one, and it's hard not to return and get more. In a 16-round draft that starts two WRs and a flex, I draft no more than five wideouts, and sometimes only four. There are almost always team #2 WRs available on waivers. Shaheed is my fourth wide receiver. I had been planning to take him since right before round 11.
Round 14 -- Tank Bigsby. Torn between him, Braelon Allen, and Jonah Coleman. I went with a clear-cut handcuff to an aging starter in a plus offense.
Round 15 -- Chiefs DST. Not much to say. DSTs often don't perform as expected, so not sweating this.
Round 16 -- Evan McPherson. If you start a kicker, my rule of thumb is to take someone who's highly accurate from long distance, and who plays in a high-powered offense. McPherson is so-so on the first and in a great spot on the second. If I'd spent time researching kickers, there might have been someone better.
This exercise is less about who I took (because sizing up fantasy values is subjective) and more about how I arrived at those decisions. The process is deliberate. I'm identifying guys I want several rounds ahead of time, with enough backup options to pivot if necessary. When the next pick reaches me, I know my plans A, B, and sometimes C.
Whatever process you follow, make it logical to you. Make it something you can easily sustain throughout the draft. Things start going sideways when we're on the clock and desperately searching. That's avoidable. A strong process starts with research. It continues with your first pick. It ends once you can see the whole board and know who you want to take and when.
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