2020 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: Picking at No. 11 overall in PPR leagues
You know you're going to get two top-15 players picking No. 11. Then the hard part starts.
By
Dave Richard
•
3 min read
You can make a list of the top-15 players in Fantasy Football, then cross off the first four running backs on the list, and still know you're guaranteed to land two of the names. That's how you start your draft prep if you're picking 11th overall.
I followed my list to a tee and got Joe Mixon and Julio Jones in Rounds 1 and 2. A lot's been said about how you should start building your team from a late first-round spot, but my favorite move is to take one rusher and one wide receiver unless someone surprising falls into your lap. That didn't happen here, so I went with this plan, though I admit it helped knowing I was a lock to have Jones, Tyreek Hill or Kenyan Drake fall to me in Round 2.
PPR Pick Series: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
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 also award one point for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE).
Here's my team from No. 11 overall:
- 1.11: Joe Mixon, RB, Bengals
- 2.02: Julio Jones, WR, Falcons
- 3.11: Tyler Lockett, WR, Seahawks
- 4.02: Le'Veon Bell, RB, Jets
- 5.11: Mark Ingram, RB, Ravens
- 6.02: Tyler Boyd, WR, Bengals
- 7.11: Tyler Higbee, TE, Rams
- 8.02: James White, RB, Patriots
- 9.11: Jalen Reagor, WR, Eagles
- 10.02: Tevin Coleman, RB, Falcons
- 11.11: Damien Harris, RB, Patriots
- 12.02: Drew Brees, QB, Saints
- 13.11: Matthew Stafford, QB, Lions
- 14.02: Giovani Bernard, RB, Bengals
- 15.11: Randall Cobb, WR, Texans
One drawback you may find in taking a receiver early is not having a running back you're happy with when you're up in Rounds 3 and 4. Taking Tyler Lockett in Round 3 was the easy part — having the fortitude to actually press the "DRAFT" button on Bell in early Round 4 was hard. A lot more on that later, but please be aware that the running backs available for selection by the time you're up at 35th overall might begin to look bleak. I would have been all over Chris Carson or Melvin Gordon had they fallen to me.
One pointer for your draft is to pay close attention to whoever is at Pick 12 and use their needs against them. I didn't have to have a running back in Round 5, but wouldn't have minded a third one — seeing that Pick 12 only had one running back through four rounds told me to take a back like Mark Ingram then. I pulled the same move in Round 7 when I took Higbee before Pick 12 could select a tight end.
Favorite Pick
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Landing Brees in Round 12 was probably a combination of drafting with analysts who like to wait for quarterback value (I'm one of them!) and really good luck. When I was up in Round 10, I noticed that only three teams picking after me in the round (and before me in Round 11) had yet to draft a quarterback. There were five quarterbacks I would have been happy to start. So I didn't take one, and only two were chosen before I was up again in Round 11. Because there were three passers I would have loved, I was afforded the chance to wait for a quarterback again. Sure enough, I got Brees two rounds later than I would have taken him. Remember to wait on quarterback until there's a great value, and remember to play the board when you draft to fully maximize your picks.
Pick I might regret
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It's rare when a running back who absolutely stunk one year is taken with a top-50 pick the next, but here we are with Bell. I still believe he has talent, but Jets coach Adam Gase's running backs have floundered for three straight seasons, and Frank Gore was added to the running back room this season. It won't take a ton for Bell to be much better this year, but it's really hard to see him regaining his sensational form from 2017 and before, particularly behind a still-struggling offensive line.
Player who could make or break my team
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Can Bell play like a No. 2 running back in PPR? Probably. If he can't my running back corps is a little old and could force me to play matchups and break out the rosary beads every week. A playoff run could fizzle and fall short if Bell can't at least provide 15 PPR points per game. After last year, that's not a certainty.
So which Fantasy football busts should you completely avoid? And which running back going off the board early should you fade? Visit SportsLine now to get cheat sheets from the model that called Baker Mayfield's disappointing season, and find out.
