If you're going to take a quarterback or tight end early on in your Fantasy Football draft, you're going to leave yourself weaker somewhere else. A draft is a zero-sum game, after all, and because you only have to fill one tight end and one quarterback spot in your typical starting lineup, most players tend to avoid those positions early unless you're going to get a difference maker.
In picking from the No. 10 spot in our recent pick-by-pick draft series, I took Patrick Mahomes with my fifth-round pick, but I waited until the 13th to take my first tight end. Going kind-of early at QB while being patient at TE allowed me to focus on the multiple RB and WR spots I had to fill in, and I made sure wide receiver was well stocked in this one, as I went with a Hero-RB approach -- taking Alvin Kamara with my first-round pick and then waiting until the ninth round to take another running back.
Here's what my full team looked like from the No. 10 spot:
1.10: Alvin Kamara, RB, Saints
2.3: Davante Adams, WR, Raiders
3.10: Diontae Johnson, WR, Steelers
4.3: Mike Williams, WR, Chargers
5.10: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Chiefs
6.3: Jerry Jeudy, WR, Broncos
7.10: Kadarius Toney, WR, Giants
8.3: Chris Olave, WR, Saints
9.10: Isaiah Spiller, RB, Chargers
10.3: James Robinson, RB, Jaguars
11.10: Rachaad White, RB, Buccaneers
12.3: Tyler Boyd, WR, Bengals
13.10: Albert Okwuegbunam, TE, Broncos
14.3: Robbie Anderson, WR, Panthers
15.10: Noah Fant, TE, Seahawks
If you go by Average Draft Position, this was a reach for Kamara, who goes off the board at 23.3 on average. However, that was before we learned that his initial hearing for his offseason felony battery charge was delayed until the end of September, making it unlikely that his trial will be finished during the season. Since the NFL tends to wait until the legal process has played out before meting out its own punishment, it seems likely at this point Kamara will play the full 2022 season before he faces any kind of suspension, so I think he belongs firmly back in the first-round range.
Secure in my RB1, I made wide receiver a focus from that point on, because that position looks more questionable this season than it has in a long time. I ended up with a handful of those question marks, specifically with Adams and Johnson, who switched teams and quarterbacks, respectively, this offseason. However, I think both have significant upside, and Adams remains my No. 2 WR for this season, so I'm clearly not too worried about it.
I would feel a bit more worried about it if I didn't follow that up with more high-upside wide receivers beyond them, and I feel like the way the draft fell, I didn't really have to sacrifice that much at RB. Are any of Spiller, Robinson, or White guaranteed to be difference makers? Of course not. But Robinson is a proven three-down back, so if he isn't completely lost coming off a ruptured Achilles, I feel OK about slotting him in my lineup early, with Spiller and White looming as potential must-start options if anything happens to Austin Ekeler or Leonard Fournette in their respective teams.
I think Hero-RB is the way to go from basically any draft spot, but it worked out especially well here.
Favorite pick: Isaiah Spiller
There's no guarantee that Spiller will end up being the primary sidekick to Austin Ekeler for the Chargers, but I'm betting on it. And if he is, that's a very valuable role to have -- on its own, but especially if anything happens to Ekeler. Spiller could be a top 12 RB if anything happens to Ekeler, and that kind of upside is exactly what I'm looking for when I go for a Hero-RB build.
Pick I might regret: Diontae Johnson
I'm still not sure how to feel about the loss of Ben Roethlisberger. It's not that I think Roethlisberger still was any good, but I'm also not at all convinced that Mitchell Trubisky or Kenny Pickett are any good either. What I did know about Roethlisberger is that he targeted Johnson a ton, and I'm just not 100% sure the same will be true without him. I think he's the Steelers best wide receiver, but if the offense isn't any better and Johnson isn't earning targets at the same rate, he could certainly disappoint here.
Player who could make or break my team: Jerry Jeudy
With Tim Patrick suffering a season-ending injury, it becomes easier to buy into the Broncos wide receivers having breakout seasons, and I'm on #TeamJeudy -- my coworkers seem to support Courtland Sutton, who went two full rounds ahead of Jeudy. I'll take the discount, because if Jeudy emerges as Russell Wilson's No. 1 target, I could have the strongest WR group in the league.
