Dynasty Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Draft strategy should swing based on your first few picks

One-quarterback mock draft for a Dynasty start-up

By Heath Cummings

Feb 2, 2023 at 1:23 pm ET • 2 min read

One of the questions I struggle the most with during draft season is "what's your draft strategy" and that's because, for the most part, I let the draft room determine my draft strategy. I'm as comfortable with Zero-RB as I and with Robust RB, and I think most managers should be if they want to optimize their chances of winning. And in a Dynasty start-up, there's another layer added on top of that. My first few picks also determine my strategy.

To better understand this, we can take a look at one drafter's team in our recent mock. Alfredo Brown started his team from the No. 2 pick with Ja'Marr Chase. Chase is the rare player who would fit perfectly as the best player on a rebuilding team or the best player on a contending team. But the next pick changed everything because he selected Travis Kelce. Kelce in Round 2 is too early for me, but Brown did exactly what he should have done after making that pick.

His next five picks were Austin Ekeler, Justin Fields, Derrick Henry, Tyler Lockett, and Keenan Allen. Suddenly, it looks like everyone else is playing for second place in 2023. Brown may be rebuilding his team as early as 2024, but he's established himself as the clear favorite for this year.

I took the opposite path with my squad, building a youthful team around CeeDee Lamb, Jalen Hurts, and Drake London. The one exception to my strategy was Joe Mixon, because I thought Round 5 was too far for him to fall. if my team surprises and competes in Year 1, I'll keep Mixon, if not, he should be easy enough to deal at the deadline and he may be worth more then to a contender than he is now.

You don't have to be so married to a strategy that you eschew all value, but it should serve as a guide as you move through a start-up. It should be more than a tie-breaker, but it doesn't have to determine every single pick. Still, I'd like my roster better if I'd taken a younger player there.

The analysts who participated in this mock draft are:

Dave Richard, CBS Sports
Alfredo Brown, Footballguys
Cristian Crespo
Heath Cummings, CBS Sports
Adam Aizer, CBS Sports
Frank Stampfl, CBS Sports
Dan Schneier, CBS Sports
Chris Towers, CBS Sports
Jay Felicio, Front Yard Fantasy Sports
R.J. White, CBS Sports
Joel Cox, CBS Sports
Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports

And here are the full results:

Round By Round