Perfect Draft Series: Drafting 9th in a 10 Team PPR League

Aug 13, 2014

My long running home league is a 10 team PPR league, and since I seemingly never find myself with a top pick in that league, even though I’m the commissioner and probably should have rigged it differently by now, doing a Perfect Draft piece from the 9 hole seemed like a nice shout out to long-time friends that I happen to call league mates.

Drafting near the turn may be one of the biggest challenges that fantasy football owners can face, and picking from the back end of Round 1 seems especially arduous in 2014. The top 5 running backs will almost certainly be gone by 1.09, and because I’m typically not a proponent of the early tight end strategy, a top tier wide receiver is usually my favorite choice at this point in the draft. The issue comes on the other side of the turn, where I feel like I’m reaching for a running back that’s not deserving of a top 12 pick, or I take another wide out and find myself scrambling at RB, the most scarce position in fantasy football. This mock lays out how you can use the turn to your advantage to build the best team in your league.

My PC Drafter was set up to start 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB/WR, 1 K, and 1 D/ST. This was a 16 round draft and to keep things realistic, the roster limit was set to 2 for QB, TE, K, and D/ST. There was no limit on RB or WR. Scoring was set with a basic PPR format, 4 points for passing TDs, and no bonuses.

Pick 1.09
PC Drafter Top 3 Recommendations: Giovani Bernard, Montee Ball, DeMarco Murray
My Pick: Dez Bryant

As I stated in the intro, if the top 5 backs are gone, I’m looking wide receiver here. PC Drafter pushes hard for a running back, but the next suggestion is Dez. Top tier wide receivers offer reliable year-to-year consistency, especially in PPR leagues, and with a top 10 pick I want minimum risk with my big serving of upside. Scott Linehan is one of the most pass happy offensive coordinators in the league and he has a history of heavily favoring his number one receiver. Dallas might have the worst defense in football, and the NFC East is easily the worst defensive division in the league, which means the Cowboys will be in high scoring contests a lot, and Bryant will get fed.

Pick 2.02
PC Drafter Top 3 Recommendations: Giovani Bernard, Montee Ball, Antonio Brown
My Pick: Antonio Brown

The choice here was to take an unproven back out of fear of having to scramble at running back or take a top 5 PPR wide receiver. The allure of locking up over 200 receptions in a PPR league with my first two picks was too much for me to ignore and I went the player that I think will lead the league in receptions in 2014. Brandon Marshall and Julio Jones were both available, and while I think both of those players have a higher touchdown total in their range of outcomes, being the clear number one target on his team gives Brown a chance to outscore Jones and Marshall in PPR leagues.