Fantasy Football: How to best draft from the 10th overall pick in a 0.5-PPR league

The blueprint for drafting from the No. 10 pick overall

The further down in the draft order you go, the more your options open up for who to take with your first pick in your Fantasy Football draft. The first five or six picks in most drafts are prescribed before the draft: Some combination of Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, Austin Ekeler, Cooper Kupp, and Justin Jefferson, possibly with Derrick Henry or Ja'Marr Chase up next. And it makes sense, because those are all proven elite performers in, more or less, great offenses -- or at least offenses that produce a ton of Fantasy points. 

By the time you get to the second half of the first round, you're going to see more variety in the players taken because there aren't the same number of sure things. You've got guys like Joe Mixon with strong production profiles but limited upsides, or Dalvin Cook, who is an elite performer who has never played a full season in the NFL. But there is one player who probably belongs in that first six range but who often doesn't even go in the first round in many drafts.

Pick-by-pick 0.5-PPR strategy: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

But he absolutely belongs in the first round and I was happy to take him 10th overall in our latest pick-by-pick series:

1.10: Alvin Kamara, RB, Saints
2.3: Davante Adams, WR, Raiders
3.10: Tee Higgins, WR, Bengals
4.3: Travis Etienne, RB, Jaguars
5.10: Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens
6.3: JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Chiefs
7.10: Robert Woods, WR, Titans
8.3: DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Cardinals
9.10: Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Eagles
10.3: Chase Claypool, WR, Steelers
11.10: Zamir White, RB, Raiders
12.3: Zach Ertz, TE, Cardinals
13.10: Jarvis Landry, WR, Saints
14.3: Irv Smith, TE, Vikings
15.10: Corey Davis, WR, Jets

Kamara was the No. 1 RB in 2020, and even in a down year in 2021 finished as RB7 in points per game, ahead of Najee Harris and Cook, among others who typically go ahead of him in drafts. He's never finished worse than RB8 in PPG in his career and yet he's still going as RB10 in NFC drafts over the past week, at 16.01 overall. 

But if you have one of the last few picks in the first round, you should just go ahead and make him your first-round pick. Yes, Kamara is still facing legal troubles following an assault charge last February, but all indications are his trial is unlikely to be concluded before this season is over -- he's already had his preliminary hearing pushed back once -- and the NFL doesn't usually levy punishment until the legal process plays out, so any suspension seems unlikely this season. 

And the Saints offense is likely to be better this season than it was last year, when they were weirdly conservative -- in large part, I believe, due to a lack of weapons in the passing game. With Michael Thomas healthy and rookie Chris Olave and veteran Jarvis Landry added to the receiver room, that shouldn't be an issue this season. Kamara should be in line for a healthy rushing workload with his typical receiving workload and better than last year's seven touchdowns. He's a top-five pick if there weren't any concerns about the suspension, and that's not enough to scare me off.

That you can pair Kamara with Davante Adams, another guy who hasn't finished worse than WR5 since 2017, is just a coup. Sure, Adams is switching teams and leaving Aaron Rodgers for the first time in his career, but he's playing in a Las Vegas offense that finished seventh in pass attempts and has his college QB in Derek Carr, so I'm not actually that concerned that he'll take a huge step back. Adams is still a top-three WR for me, and I'm thrilled to pair him with Kamara here. That's about as good a start as you can hope for, and it's easy to get from the No. 10 spot. 

Favorite pick

I think we're going to look back on Woods as one of the best values in drafts this season. He's a proven producer playing with an efficient quarterback who has had a top-15 WR over the past three seasons, and he has very little competition for targets, at least to start the season. Maybe Treylon Burks comes on strong and challenges Woods for the top spot before long, but given Burks' preseason usage, it's not even clear he's one of the team's top three WRs. Woods is, by all accounts, fully recovered from his torn ACL and has been practicing without limitations. The Titans are going to feature him heavily in the passing game as their No. 1 option, and he'll probably get a handful of carries, too. He's a potential top-24 WR going outside of the top 40 even with positive camp reports. 

Pick I might regret

There's a lot of excitement about Etienne, and I get it -- in theory. He should be a big part of the Jaguars offense, especially the passing game, and if that's the case, he's going to be a good Fantasy option. But I do wonder whether he's as good a receiver as his big college numbers would indicate -- his hands, even in college, were iffy outside of scripted situations. If Etienne isn't a plus receiver, then it's fair to wonder how much value he's going to have while splitting work with James Robinson in what should still be a pretty mediocre-to-bad offense. I can't argue with him as a fourth-round pick, though. 

Make or break player

If I'm right, and Adams is still a top-three WR, this is going to be a very good team. Carr isn't as good as Rodgers, obviously, and Adams probably won't consistently run a target share in the 30% range in Las Vegas given the presence of Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow. But Carr isn't a bad QB, he clearly has trust and experience with Adams, and this offense should throw more than the Packers did the past few years, which should help make up for whatever he might lose in the transition. If Adams is still close to a 17-plus PPG performer in 0.5-PPR, this team should be in good shape. If not ... well, I'll really need DeAndre Hopkins to return to form when eligible to come back from his six-game suspension.