Perfect Fantasy Football Draft: 1st in a 10-Team ESPN PPR League

Aug 21, 2023

Perfect Draft: 1st in a 10-Team ESPN PPR League

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Having the very first pick in a draft can be something of a double-edged sword. You have the whole player pool at your disposal, and no one can stop you from selecting the absolutely unquestioned stud of studs with your first click. But then a long wait ensues as you have to sit through another 19 picks before you pick again, although this wait is offset by having back-to-back picks.

Picking first in a 10-team league also means that you will still have plenty of talented players to choose from, often far earlier than you can get them in 12 or 14-teamers. The smaller league size ensures more serious players are available all the way through the draft, and will not have you arguing that this could be THE year for Chris Moore and that he is well worth a go with your 11th-round pick.

My plan here is to show you how to dominate your draft on ESPN platforms should you find yourself blessed—and you should count yourself blessed—with the first overall pick position in your 10-team leagues.

In this article, I will walk through my favorite players in each round that should be available to me based on ESPN ADP and discuss my overall draft strategy from this draft spot.

More Perfect Drafts

ESPN 12-Team PPR: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |12
ESPN 10-Team PPR: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Yahoo 12-Team Half-PPR: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |12
Yahoo 10-Team Half-PPR: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

The 4for4 staff uses the Draft Hero software for all of our leagues. Draft Hero syncs directly to your league and optimizes each pick using projections and value-based rankings from 4for4. Draft Hero lets you customize your draft experience with settings on which rounds you want to draft a position, how many players you want at each position, and players to target or avoid.

For those new to Draft Hero, be sure to explore this walkthrough of the app.

My Plan of Attack

Roster Settings: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex (WR/RB/TE), 1 Kicker, 1 DEF, six bench spots

Land one of the true studs straight off the bat - This is fairly obvious, I admit, as there are only a few players with the upside appeal that warrant selecting above all others. But it's important to realize this, and not overthink things
Look for pass-catching running backs if possible - In a PPR format, between-the-tackle grinders still have their place. But I'm not sure their place is going to be on my roster. I want to focus on backs with a role on their teams as a pass-catcher.
Ignore DST and Kickers until the very end - In a 10-team league, the player pool is much deeper, and there really is no value to spending premium draft capital on these positions until you absolutely have to.

Continue reading for a breakdown of my favorite picks through Round 10 and a list of the best late-round targets at each position.