Who Should I Draft with the 5th Pick in Fantasy Football

To nail your fantasy football draft, you need the right strategy, along with savvy player takes. This article outlines the best player to draft with the fifth overall pick, along with tips for filling out the remainder of your roster based on ADP and specific scoring settings.

Our Perfect Draft series covers multiple draft spots in various scoring formats and league sizes using Draft Hero software. Find your perfect draft today!

Standard League: WR Tyreek Hill, Dolphins

Hill is the rare wide receiver we can target early in standard scoring fantasy leagues. In the past two years in Miami, Hill has averaged 1,778 total yards and 10.5 touchdowns per season, scoring 14.6 standard fantasy points per game. During this span, just 4.5 running backs per season have out-scored Hill in this format. Once Christian McCaffrey, Breece Hall, and Bijan Robinson are off the board, it’s hard to find a back this year that projects better than Hill.

For standard scoring, we only get credit for yards and touchdowns, and Hill has averaged the most yards per game among all receivers since 2022. When looking for touchdown upside, the Dolphins were the second-highest-scoring team last season. Raheem Mostert’s league-leading 18 rushing touchdowns were both a surprise and the type of stat that’s unlikely to repeat next year. Essentially, some of those rushing touchdowns could travel through the air in 2024.

In the past five years, 18 of the 25 highest-scoring standard-scoring seasons came from the running back position. However, Hill owns two of those seven receiver seasons during this time frame. Expanding to the 50 best standard fantasy seasons since 2019, Travis Kelce’s 2020 campaign is the only tight end season on the leaderboard, and he is 50th among the 50. It’s okay to wait on tight ends in standard scoring leagues since it’s primarily about touchdown luck at that position.

For basic strategy in the next few rounds, try to add two or three running backs to your team by Round 5. Hill can be thought of as the “Anchor” in an AnchorWR build, where several running backs and an elite quarterback are drafted immediately following Hill. You have full permission and encouragement to flex a running back in standard leagues. In the past five years, just four flex-worthy players have reached 300 standard fantasy points in a season. However, seven quarterbacks reached that magical 300 number just last season, demonstrating the relative importance of securing an elite quarterback in this format.

Best Alternative Pick: Bijan Robinson or Ja'Marr Chase

If Robinson is still on the board, he should be the pick here. Chase is the other worthy alternative to Hill for those who want more youth with their first-round selection. And, Chase is the one receiver who can rival the weekly spike week upside of Hill – not many receivers can give you 200 yards and three touchdowns any given week.

PPR Scoring: RB Bijan Robinson, Falcons

While standard leagues are for the running back position, PPR leagues are generally ruled by wide receivers. Fortunately for you, the reader, we’re getting a little wild with this article today. Robinson compiled 58 receptions (sixth among RBs) last year in a low pass-volume Falcons offense, so we should really look to his target share (third) for a glance into his upside in the passing game with Kirk Cousins in Atlanta.

Only McCaffrey and Hall project for more running back touches in 2024, and Robinson is one other running back who has a massive Week 1 projection paired with role stability throughout the season. With Robinson, you’re getting massive volume, a good offensive line, a high-scoring offense with a soft schedule, and one of the most fun players to possibly watch every Sunday.

Since wide receiver rooms are the most important overall component of a successful PPR draft, you’ll want to heavily target the position for the next few rounds, ideally ending up with three or four receivers by Round 6. Elite quarterback is still a fine strategy in PPR leagues, but it’s a lower relative advantage than what you get with standard scoring leagues. Elite tight ends can be considered from Round 4 onward, where the focus should be on reception volume, rather than a narrowed gaze at the touchdown column from last season.

Best Alternative Picks: Ja'Marr Chase

Last year, Chase’s 17-game pace was 130 receptions, 1,550 yards, and nine touchdowns when playing with Joe Burrow. For those afraid of missing out on a wide receiver run early, a pivot to Chase is completely fine.

Half-PPR Scoring: WR Tyreek Hill, Dolphins

Half-PPR is a nice balance between the two formats above. There’s a good chance Robinson is no longer on the board in this format, and Hill is a solid selection here. Everything mentioned in the standard section holds true for Hill here, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that he finished second in receptions (119) last season. Elongating the sample size, we see that Hill has at least 111 receptions each of the past three seasons. In half-PPR, that has added 3.5 fantasy points per game compared to his standard scoring fantasy output.

For the remainder of the early and middle rounds, most draft strategies can be successful in half-PPR. HeroRB is the easiest to properly execute, where a lone running back is snagged in Round 2 or 3. Through Round 6, aim for two more receivers, a running back, and difference-makers at quarterback and tight end. This will continue to give you flexibility after selecting Hill in Round 1.

Best Alternate Pick: Ja’Marr Chase

Chase is the alternate pick at receiver unless Robinson or Hall are on the board still.

Superflex: QB Lamar Jackson, Ravens

Jackson’s 2019 season was the greatest fantasy quarterback season of all time. Since then, his rushing has tampered down slightly, and he has a steeper path to QB1 overall in fantasy football. That being said, Jackson has still averaged more than 20 fantasy points in all subsequent campaigns.

To combat the declining rushing, Jackson looked like an improved passer last year, with a new career high in passing yards (3,678) and yards per pass attempt (8.0). In his second year with offensive coordinator Todd Monken, there’s a chance for another leap forward in the passing department.

Superflex drafts can be unpredictable, and anyone who has tried this format before knows how scary the quarterback position can be. There are 32 starting quarterbacks, yet at least 10 of them every year are very shaky superflex options. Once you begin your draft with Jackson, select your QB2 by the end of Round 4 so you aren’t stuck superflexing a non-quarterback in-season.

Depending on your scoring format, refer to the standard, half, or PPR section for the best way to approach the next few picks outside of the quarterback position.

Best Alternate Pick: Anthony Richardson

Richardson had weekly QB2 and QB4 fantasy finishes in his two full games last year. He’s an injury risk, but the ceiling is similar to Jackson, even if Richardson is a less proven fantasy commodity.

Top Late-Round Targets

Late-round picks should complement your draft strategy from the early and middle rounds. For example, if your team includes several early receivers, take more shots on running backs late.

These ground rules for your fantasy bench should help you stay on track towards the end of your draft:

• If you took an elite quarterback or tight end, a second one is not needed

• Always keep at least two handcuff running backs on tap in case of injury

  • ​Prioritize your opponents’ backup running backs, as opposed to your own

• Stash at least one rookie or second-year player

• Wide receivers should be under the age 29

• When deciding between two players, choose the younger option or the one on the better offense

Before outlining a couple of players that fit these bullet points, if your league starts a kicker and defense, wait until the final two rounds to fill these slots.

Mike Williams: Williams has been a top-20 fantasy receiver in points per game each of the past three seasons. He’s coming off the ACL tear at 30 years old, but all indications are he’s ahead of schedule and likely ready for Week 1. Beyond Garrett Wilson, the Jets receiver room is thin, and Williams has double-digit touchdown upside with Aaron Rodgers.

Ty Chandler: Aaron Jones will turn 30 during the season, and he’s not a workhorse running back. Chandler projects to be involved every Sunday and could be flex-viable in a pinch. Jones’ age and injury history make the speedy Chandler one of the higher-end backup running backs to roster in fantasy football.

Below, you can see a realistic 16-round draft with the fifth overall pick. The following table provides the round you can expect to draft each player in a typical, 12-team half-PPR fantasy league.