Perfect Draft: 10th in a 12-Team Yahoo! Half-PPR League

Jul 29, 2021

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In the double-digit spots of a draft, I’m most likely going to target an elite WR in the first round, unless one of the top RBs or Travis Kelce happens to fall. One disadvantage of being on the turn is the chance to get stuck on the wrong side of a positional run, so evaluating opportunity cost is paramount in these first few rounds. A positive is the ability to implement game theory in this draft, meaning you can look at the manager’s roster in the 11 and 12 spots and put off a QB or TE for another round if they’ve already fulfilled that particular position.

In this article of the Perfect Draft series, I'll be walking through a draft from the 10th slot in a 12-team Yahoo half-PPR league. Each pick was optimized using projections and value-based rankings from the 4for4 Draft Hero tool.

More Perfect Drafts: 2nd in a 12-Team ESPN

Draft Hero Settings

Roster Settings: 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1K, 1DEF, (no flex) 6 bench spots
No restrictions on when to draft QB: I’m usually one to wait until at least the seventh round for my QB because I’ll miss out on potential points from position players that are difficult to make up if they are skipped in those beginning rounds. However, it is beneficial to know if one of the top guys is falling, as my strategy is always fluid.
No TEs between rounds five and nine: I may use an early pick on one of the elite TEs, Travis Kelce, Darren Waller, George Kittle, Mark Andrews, or maybe even T.J. Hockenson, so I want to keep them open for recommendations. However, I’ll pass on that next tier and wait until at least the 10th round to consider drafting a TE.
No K’s or DSTs until the last two rounds: I prefer to stream both positions and would rather draft depth for my bench than select either a kicker or team defense before the last two rounds.

For a comprehensive tutorial on setting up Draft Hero for your league, read our Draft Hero Walkthrough.

Jump to Pick: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Round 1, Pick 10 (10) - TE Travis Kelce, Chiefs

I was excited to see Travis Kelce fall to me here, as he’s been going a few picks earlier in different formats this summer. Locking up the clear TE1 this early will allow me to focus on the other positions for the remainder of this draft, with one of the largest volume players already on my roster. Kelce posted the seventh-highest non-QB half-PPR points last season and is set up for another monster year in Kansas City.

As expected, the first round was very RB-heavy, with only Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs leaving the board. I debated Davante Adams here, but with all the drama surrounding both him and Aaron Rodgers, he's been slipping and should be there for me at the turn if I still want him.

Draft Hero also mixed in a few other positional suggestions in their top five, so there are multiple options if you have a different preference in roster construction.

Every round, Draft Hero recommends the top available suggestion along with four alternatives, as shown at the top of this section. Throughout the rest of the article, I will note those suggestions as well as my top alternative to the player that I actually selected.

My Top Alternative: Davante Adams