The No. 4 overall pick might be the best spot in a Fantasy football draft this year. You're guaranteed one of the top four running backs — likely Alvin Kamara in a non-PPR league — and three top-30 players in a 12-team format. It's easily one of my favorite draft slots. Here, in our pick-by-pick series, I started my team with Kamara as expected. While I would have preferred to load up on running backs in a non-PPR league, it was hard to pass up on the wide receiver talent that landed in my lap with my next three selections — Chris Godwin, Calvin Ridley and Amari Cooper.
As I'll explain below, I might have been better off passing on Cooper for a running back, even in this three-receiver league. But I still got a quality No. 2 running back in Mark Ingram, as well as handcuffing him with J.K. Dobbins.
I drafted the last of the Super Six quarterbacks with Kyler Murray in Round 7 — right after Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson came off the board — but I waited on tight end with Noah Fant in Round 14. That wasn't ideal, but I have plenty of talented players elsewhere to carry this team to a likely playoff berth.
As a reference point, all touchdowns in this league are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE).
Here's my team from No. 4 overall:
- 1.04: Alvin Kamara, RB, Saints
- 2.09: Chris Godwin, WR, Buccaneers
- 3.04: Calvin Ridley, WR, Falcons
- 4.09: Amari Cooper, WR, Cowboys
- 5.04: Mark Ingram, RB, Ravens
- 6.09: J.K. Dobbins, RB, Ravens
- 7.04: Kyler Murray, QB, Cardinals
- 8.09: Boston Scott, RB, Eagles
- 9.04: Sterling Shepard, WR, Giants
- 10.09: Henry Ruggs, WR, Raiders
- 11.04: Deebo Samuel, WR, 49ers
- 12.09: Darrel Williams, RB, Chiefs
- 13.04: Duke Johnson, RB, Texans
- 14.09: Noah Fant, TE, Broncos
- 15.04: Anthony McFarland, RB, Steelers
Non-PPR Pick-by-Pick Guide: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
Normally, I wouldn't have drafted Ingram and Dobbins back-to-back, but I wanted to see how it would turn out here. Ingram should remain a No. 2 running back in non-PPR leagues, and Dobbins could be a flex option. He will likely take over for Gus Edwards, who had 140 total touches for the Ravens in 2019. My running back corps isn't great, but it has plenty of potential. I'm excited about Scott as my No. 4 running back, and he should play a prominent role for the Eagles this season, especially if Miles Sanders (lower-body injury) misses any time.
Darrel Williams is an excellent late-round pick as the likely handcuff for Clyde Edwards-Helaire. And Duke Johnson is great value in Round 13 as the backup for David Johnson.
The receiving corps is the strength of this team, including amazing bench options in Shepard, Ruggs and Samuel. Any of those three could be a flex option for this roster.
If Fant is above average at tight end then I should have the chance for a quality season. And it all started with Kamara at No. 4 overall.
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Scott is the No. 2 running back for the Eagles, and he should have the chance for a quality role, even as a backup to Sanders. But should Sanders miss any time, we could see Scott as a low-end Fantasy starter. He had two games in 2019 with at least 10 carries, and he scored at least 17 Fantasy points in both. Scott is one of my favorite sleepers this season, especially with Sanders now banged up in training camp.
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I'm concerned about Cooper this season with the addition of CeeDee Lamb, but I'll gladly draft him in Round 4. However, the reason he's listed here is because it might have been better to draft a running back. The options available were Le'Veon Bell, Leonard Fournette, David Montgomery and Devin Singletary. Drafting one of those guys as a No. 2 running back instead of taking Cooper as my No. 3 receiver might have made more sense.
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Ingram was awesome last season with more than 1,250 total yards and 15 total touchdowns on 228 total touches (26 catches), but Dobbins is going to cut into his production. To what degree remains to be seen, but I'll be in trouble if the two Ravens running backs are close to a 50-50 split in workload. I need Ingram to remain a top-20 Fantasy running back for this team to be successful.
So what Fantasy football sleepers should you snatch in your draft? And which WR1 candidate can you wait on until late? Visit SportsLine now to get cheat sheets from the model that was all over Derrick Henry's huge season, and find out.
