When drafting at No. 6 overall in a 0.5-PPR league, you're either going to select a stud receiver or one of Breece Hall or Bijan Robinson with your first-round pick. I wanted a running back in Round 1, and Robinson was available after the first five picks were Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, Ja'Marr Chase and Breece Hall.
If I draft a running back in Round 1, most likely I'm planning for a Hero-RB build, and that's what happened here. I had the choice of Drake London and Chris Olave in Round 2, and I went with Olave to avoid doubling up on two Falcons. I'm excited about Kirk Cousins in Atlanta, but not enough to go all in on Robinson and London with my first two picks.
I got gifts in Rounds 3 and 4 with Nico Collins and DeVonta Smith, which made my decision to start with Robinson even better in this three-receiver league. I would draft Collins in Round 2, and he's my favorite Texans receiver ahead of Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs. Smith should benefit in a big way with Kellen Moore now calling plays for the Eagles, and Smith is someone you can target as early as Round 3.
With this trio of receivers joining Robinson, this team was off to a solid start. My favorite strategy in 0.5-PPR leagues is Hero-RB, and let's see how this team turned out.
This is our 12-part, 0.5 PPR pick-by-pick series where me, Heath Cummings, Dave Richard, R.J. White, Dan Schneier and Adam Aizer all took part in a six-person mock draft. We each built two of the 12 teams in this 14-round draft to show you a different strategy from each spot.
This is an outline that you can follow if you pick from No. 12 overall in your league. The key is to study the strategy and not necessarily the players to see if this works for you.
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 0.5 points for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE).
Here's my squad from the sixth pick:
1.6 Bijan Robinson, RB, ATL
2.7 Chris Olave, WR, NO
3.6 Nico Collins, WR, HOU
4.7 DeVonta Smith, WR, PHI
5.6 Dalton Kincaid, TE, BUF
6.7 Terry McLaurin, WR, WAS
7.6 Joe Burrow, QB, CIN
8.7 Chase Brown, RB, CIN
9.6 Devin Singletary, RB, NYG
10.7 Brian Thomas Jr., WR, JAC
11.6 MarShawn Lloyd, RB, GB
12.7 Tyler Allgeier, RB, ATL
13.6 Jalen McMillan, WR, TB
14.7 Dylan Laube, RB, LV
Can you tell I'm in on the Packers offense?!
I continued my Hero-RB build with Kincaid in Round 5, and this is the spot to target him after Sam LaPorta, Travis Kelce, Trey McBride and Mark Andrews come off the board. Kincaid is one of my favorite breakout players this season, and he could be Josh Allen's No. 1 target this year with Diggs and Gabe Davis no longer in Buffalo.
I kept the Hero-RB strategy by going with McLaurin in Round 6 and Burrow in Round 7. McLaurin will be my flex, and he's an excellent No. 4 Fantasy receiver as the No. 1 target for Jayden Daniels. And Burrow has top-five upside at quarterback.
Once we got to Round 8, it was time to focus on running back, and I was thrilled to get Brown at this spot. If he opens the season as the No. 1 running back for the Bengals -- and outperforms Zack Moss all year -- then he could be a top-20 Fantasy option and a steal for this roster.
I made it a priority to focus on running backs for most of the remainder of the draft with Singletary, Lloyd, Allgeier and Laube with four of my final six selections. Singletary could end up as a steal in Round 9 as the No. 1 running back for the Giants, and Lloyd is a nice lottery ticket if something happens to Josh Jacobs, along with being a potential flex since he'll play in tandem with Jacobs as well.
You don't have to handcuff Robinson with Allgeier, but it made sense in Round 12 since he was still available. And Laube could surprise people with his role in Las Vegas as the potential pass-catching complement to Zamir White.
My final two receivers are rookies in Thomas and McMillan, and Thomas was of incredible value in Round 10 since he could emerge as the No. 1 receiver for the Jaguars this season. And McMillan could be a surprise Fantasy option as the No. 3 receiver in Tampa Bay, along with being a borderline starter if Mike Evans or Chris Godwin had to miss any time.
Smith has been good when everyone is healthy for the Eagles, but his numbers have popped the last two years when Dallas Goedert has been out. For example, he averaged 14.9 PPR points per game in 2022, but that jumped to 15.8 in five games that Goedert missed. Then last year, Goedert missed three games, and Smith averaged 21.3 PPR points per game over that span, which was an improvement on his season average of 14.2. This year, Smith might not need an injury to perform at a higher level, and I'm excited to see what he can do in Kellen Moore's offense. He was an easy choice in Round 4, especially since I can use him as a No. 3 receiver on this team.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
I like McLaurin as a flex option for this roster, but I might have been better off drafting a No. 2 running back instead in Round 6. The options available were Najee Harris, Javonte Williams, Aaron Jones, Tony Pollard, Jaylen Warren and Tyjae Spears, and I would have likely drafted Harris in this spot if I diverted from McLaughlin. Now, I prefer a wide receiver in the flex when possible, and I like the upside for McLaurin with Daniels at quarterback. McLaurin has gone three years in a row at 13.5 PPR points or less, but hopefully Daniels can help him reach another level. I don't want to reach for McLaurin this season, but he's a great third receiver/flex to target in Round 6.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
I might get burned by ranking Brown ahead of Moss, and Moss could be the better Fantasy running back for the Bengals this year. But the buzz out of Cincinnati is Brown has looked the part, and hopefully he'll be the starter in Week 1 -- and all season. If Brown is legit then this team is fantastic given the caliber of receivers, quarterback and tight end I put around Robinson. But I could be in trouble if Brown is a bust, as well as Singletary struggling and getting nothing from Lloyd or Laube. No matter what, I'll be aggressive on waivers with running backs, but hopefully, that won't be because I have to replace Brown. I'm excited to see what he can do as the lead running back for the Bengals this year.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
