2017 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: Picking at No. 3 overall in standard leagues

The top three overall in a standard league are pretty clear to Heath Cummings, but he says things get a lot more interesting after that.

Drafting from: 1 | 2 |  3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

This is the first edition of our annual pick-by-pick series, and we changed it up a little this season. I'm joining Dave Richard and Jamey Eisenberg to offer my take on a third of the picks.

For those of you reading this series for the first time, this is an exercise we have done for the past several years at CBS Sports to give you a guide on how to draft from a particular draft slot in a 12-team league. Our first edition is for a standard league, and our PPR format will come out shortly. We'll also do another version of both formats during training camp.

We don't expect you to follow these teams exactly. I mean, you can if you like the rosters that much, but replicating them player for player is likely difficult. But you can see what players and, more importantly, what positions could be available in each round, depending on how you start your team.

My first selection in the draft was No. 3 overall and that's one of the easiest picks in the first round for me. There is a clear tier of three running backs (David Johnson, Le'Veon Bell and Ezekiel Elliott) that need to be taken with the first three picks in a standard league. With Johnson and Bell already gone, I couldn't type Elliott's name fast enough.

While I have Elliott third behind Bell and Johnson, it is worth mentioning that he has the best offensive line of the three, is the youngest and is the only one not coming off an injury. If the Cowboys are serious about getting Elliott more involved in the passing game, he could easily finish as the No. 1 RB.

Things get much more complicated after that.

In most instances I'm going to take receivers in the second and third rounds simply because I already have one stud running back and I like the positional value better for receivers at the 2/3 turn. Doug Baldwin was an easy choice for me in Round 2 (he's a top 10 WR for me), but I really struggled with the choice between Allen Robinson and Lamar Miller in Round 3.

Choosing Robinson left me chasing running back, but the combination of Mark Ingram, Matt Forte, Theo Riddick and Duke Johnson leaves me fairly confident that I can piece that roster spot together. 

Here is my team at No. 3 overall:

• 1.3 Ezekiel Elliott, RB, DAL
  
• 2.22 Doug Baldwin, WR, SEA
  
• 3.27 Allen Robinson, WR, JAC
  
• 4.46 Mark Ingram, RB, NO
  
• 5.51 Greg Olsen, TE, CAR
  
• 6.70 Stefon Diggs, WR, MIN
  
• 7.75 Russell Wilson, QB, SEA
  
• 8.94 Mike Wallace, WR, BAL
  
• 9.99 Matt Forte, RB, NYJ
  
• 10.118 Theo Riddick, RB, DET
  
• 11.123 Duke Johnson, RB, CLE
  
• 12.142 Marvin Jones, WR, DET
  
• 13.147 Patriots DST
  
• 14.166 Cairo Santos, K, KC
  

Taking a quarterback and a tight end in the first seven rounds exacerbated my running back issues, but both were great values. Olsen is as steady as they come as a No. 1 TE, and Wilson is one of my favorite candidates to bounce back from a difficult 2016.

The clear strength of this team is the receiving corps. After spending two of my first three picks at the position, I found huge value late in both Mike Wallace and Marvin Jones. Even with the Ravens' acquisition of Jeremy Maclin, I feel confident in Wallace as a No. 3 WR and he's my No. 4 on this team.

Favorite pick: Mike Wallace

Wallace was a great value before the Ravens signed Jeremy Maclin, and now he's going to be a steal.

We're talking about a receiver who finished 26th at WR in 2016 and has had exactly one season outside of the top 30 in his eight-year career. Even with the addition of Maclin, I'd expect a small uptick in targets for Wallace, and there is serious potential for improvement in his touchdown rate. Last year was Wallace's second worst in terms of scores despite the fact he had his second most receptions and his third highest yardage total. 

In other words, he's being underdrafted based on what he did in 2016, and it's likely he's even better in Fantasy this year.

Pick you might regret: Mark Ingram

This pick shouldn't be a concern. I spent a late fourth-round pick on a running back who had 1,300 total yards and 10 touchdowns. I should be dancing in the streets. But it sure seems like the Saints don't like Mark Ingram very much. First they brought in Adrian Peterson, then they drafted Alvin Kamara. There was even talk the team was trying to trade Ingram to the Philadelphia Eagles. These are not things that inspire confidence. 

Without the red flags in the offseason, I'd have Ingram graded as a borderline Round 2 pick this year. His mixture of efficiency in the running game and involvement in the passing game is rare in today's NFL. Still, with all those positives, Ingram is a huge bust risk. The team is raving about Peterson and benched Ingram for Tim Hightower at one point last year.

It's possible I could have waited at least one more round to choose a player with his downside.

Player who could make or break your team: Allen Robinson

It's hard to find a player with a bigger disparity between his 2015 and 2016 production.

Robinson went from being one of the best receivers in football to a player you didn't really even feel comfortable starting on a week-to-week basis. I blame plenty of his struggles on his quarterback, but Blake Bortles will still be the one throwing him the ball in 2017. There's also talk that the Jaguars will throw the ball less often. Less targets wouldn't be a good thing, but a run game that opposing defenses have to respect would be.

It's unlikely that Robinson ever repeats his 2015 numbers, but if he comes close, this could be one of the best teams I draft this season. On the flip side, a repeat of his 2016 campaign will make me look awfully silly for passing on Lamar Miller with this pick. I feel confident he'll get back over 1,000 yards and produce in a more efficient basis even if he gets fewer targets.