Perfect Draft Series: Drafting 7th in 10-team PPR League

Aug 24, 2016

Scott Pagel

As 4for4 subscribers already know by now, picking at the bottom of your first round isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it very well may be something you’re used to.

Obviously, you’re not going to be able to draft the top players on the board, but there is a ton of value that will fall your way by the time your pick comes around. And having that second pick before those at the top of the first round get there, well, that can be a huge advantage.

So, for my next Perfect Dart Series article, I’m going to pick seventh in a 10-team PPR league. As has been the case over the last couple of weeks, I’ll be using Draft Hero to conduct my mock. I’m sure by now you are aware of all the gadgets DA offers for 4for4 subscribers, all of which make for a pretty realistic draft experience which can give you an edge if your draft is just around the corner.

In this league, my starting lineup will consist of 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1 flex (TE, RB, WR), and 1 defense. Once again, I cap teams at no more than 2 QBs and 2 TEs as well as no more than 1 defense.

Running backs – For this mock, I truly wanted to go Zero-RB, so I set DA to no RBs before round four. I figured this gave me a chance to lock in three very good WRs before looking for RBs in the middle rounds.

Quarterbacks – No QBs before round 10. In a ten-team league, I was pretty sure I could get one, even two, QBs who could provide me with lots of value very late in drafts.

Tight Ends – No TEs before round 5. This is a typical draft style for me. I rarely end up with a stud TE on my team. But sometimes with DA I like to set my ‘no-TE rule’ a little higher just in case one slips and I don’t like my other options.

Defense – I set DA to pick my defense in the last round.

Targets - Figuring I was going to wait on RB, I wanted to target some players we’ve talked a lot about here at the site. So, my targets were Danny Woodhead and Duke Johnson at RB, Kirk Cousins at QB and Rishad Matthews at WR.

Draft Hero in Action

Round 1, Pick 7 – DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston

While the typical top-three WRs usually come off the board in the first three picks, Hopkins is someone who many feel is a 1A option to those guys. He had 192 targets last year, third most in the league, and posted a 111-1521-11 line with the likes of Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates and Brandon Weeden throwing him the ball. When you consider those names, Brock Osweiler has to be a potential upgrade so Hopkins should continue to post numbers. Lamar Miller and A.J. Green were two tempting options but not enough to pass on Hopkins.

Round 2, Pick 4 – Brandon Marshall, WR, NY Jets

Brandon Marshall has been a mainstay in my Perfect Draft mocks this year, mostly as my top WR pick after taking a RB early. But pairing Marshall with Hopkins gives me two WRs in the top-six from our rankings for my lineup. Marshall becomes even more attractive now that Ryan Fitzpatrick is back in the fold at QB. Devonta Freeman and Jamaal Charles were still on the board, but I was committed to taking a WR here and Marshall won out over Allen Robinson, who was next up on the list.

Round 3, Pick 7 – Brandin Cooks, WR, New Orleans

I was pretty excited to see Brandin Cooks float to me with my third pick. We think he’s a good bet to put up low-end WR1 numbers, which would be pretty nice for my WR3. Cook has averaged 5.2 catches and 64.4 yards with 0.48 TDs which are already high-end WR2 numbers. DA wanted me to take Alshon Jeffery but I’ll stay away from Jeffery’s injury issues.

Round 4, Pick 4 – Danny Woodhead, RB, San Diego

I don’t mind getting Woodhead here, although as my top RB it just sounds a little alarming. However, that’s part of the Zero-RB process. Unfortunately for me, Thomas Rawls, Latavius Murray and C.J. Anderson all went off the board before this pick so Woodhead is the best of the next bunch. Woodhead was #12 in standard formats and #3 in PPR last season. Ken Whisenhunt, who is back this time as the OC, shouldn’t hurt Woodhead’s potential. He has RB1 PPR upside.

Continue reading for round-by-round analysis. According to the team analyzer, this team is 360 points ahead in 1st place!