Fantasy Football Strategy. Drafting from the 1.06 in 2023.

So you’ve got the 1.06 draft slot in your upcoming draft? It's not the best, but the 1.06 isn't terrible either.

The bad news is that you'll likely miss out on the top-tier players, as Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, and Christian McCaffrey rarely fall. The good news is that you'll be set up well to avoid getting buried by a run on any one position during the draft since your picks will be spread out with a roughly equal wait between each round.

As a result, it's important to always be looking ahead one or two rounds during the draft so you have a feel for what positions you want to target with your upcoming picks. This can help you break ties between players and positions in any given round.

Unfortunately, the middle area of each round is the worst pick when it comes to having time to make quick trips to the kitchen or bathroom in between rounds, so make sure that your plate is full and your bladder is empty before your draft begins.

To Kelce or not to Kelce in Round 1?

The biggest dilemma facing everyone with a middle draft slot is whether or not to draft Travis Kelce in Round 1.

Kelce has been one of the most consistently dominant players for fantasy football for seven consecutive seasons and has been beating the age concerns for nearly a half decade.

Over the past three regular seasons, Kelce has logged 33 separate weeks as a top-five TE in full PPR scoring. That's an insanely consistent level of fantasy production that no other TE has even come close to matching.

On the other hand, Kelce is now 34 years old and is as expensive as he’s ever been in drafts. The problem is opportunity cost, or the players you have to pass on in Round 1 to grab Kelce.

This table shows the players who are generally available in the middle portions of Rounds 1 to 3 courtesy of the Fantasy Life ADP Grid Tool.

For the record, I think Kelce is a really strong selection in the middle of Round 1. He may not feel like the most exciting pick, but you know what is exciting? Beating your opponents by 15 points per week at the TE position while they're on their fifth streaming TE of the season.

With all that being said, Kelce isn’t actually my favorite pick in this range. With the importance of the WR position, I find it too difficult to pass on Cooper Kupp if he's available at the 1.06 spot.

Kupp is already back at practice, so I’m not too concerned about the hamstring injury. If both he and Matthew Stafford can stay healthy in 2023, Kupp could easily finish in the elite WR tier alongside Jefferson and Chase.

Get a RB who can run and catch

After locking up an elite pass-catcher in Round 1, whether that's Kelce, Kupp, or another high-end WR1, it becomes a high priority for me to snag a true anchor RB before they're gone. Assuming some type of PPR scoring, I want that RB to be a guy who contributes heavily to both the rushing and passing attack for his offense.

The two primary targets who stand out to me are Tony Pollard in Round 2 and Rhamondre Stevenson in Round 3.

Dec 24, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard (20) in action during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

I believe Pollard should be going at least half a round higher than his current ADP, so he’s close to an automatic selection for me if available in the middle of the second round. After finishing as a top-10 RB in 2022, he should now assume an even bigger role in the offense after the Cowboys cut Ezekiel Elliott and declined to bring in any meaningful competition for touches.

Starting with a Kupp-Pollard combination would be a true dream from the 1.06. But dreams don’t always come true, so we have to be ready to pivot if Pollard is gone. Based on the positions I want to target in the middle rounds of drafts, I generally want to come away from my first three picks with two WRs and a RB.

Assuming there aren’t any players who fall past ADP, my favorite RB-WR combos in the second and third rounds would be Pollard and Calvin Ridley or Jaylen Waddle and Stevenson. Either combination added to Kupp would be an exciting start.

Catch the end of the elite QB and TE tiers in the middle rounds

With a solid foundation at WR and RB through the first three rounds, the middle of the draft board is prime real estate for catching the end of the elite QB and TE tiers. Both Justin Fields and Justin Herbert offer massive ceilings at a more palatable price than the QBs with Round 2 ADPs.

At TE, you can opt to take a swing on Darren Waller, who has been screaming up draft boards, or look to scoop up value on George Kittle or Kyle Pitts, both of whom have seen their ADPs slide in recent weeks. Personally, I want to make the bet on Waller being the focal point of the Giants' passing offense, so I’m happy to pay up for him even in the fifth round.

Having these high-end players at the “onesie” QB and TE positions is a great way to gain an advantage on your opponents nearly every week. It also makes waivers and setting your lineup much easier, as you don’t have to sweat constant QB and TE waiver pickups and start/sit decisions nearly as often (but when you do have them, be sure to use our start/sit tool).

The only downside to grabbing a QB and TE in the middle rounds is that you'll be sacrificing some RB and WR depth to do so. This is where looking ahead in drafts becomes even more important, as we want to make sure to secure our favorite late-round RB and WR options later in drafts.

Take your stands in the late rounds

As we get into the second half of the draft, ADP becomes much less important, and I want to make sure to prioritize getting “my guys” and building the right positional allocations based on where my roster is strong or weak.

What this means will vary from league to league depending on the starting roster and number of bench spots. Generally, I want to have five WRs and four RBs that I feel good about and then one upside flier at each of those positions whose role can be evaluated early in the season.

This means that I usually hammer RBs and WRs in the middle and late-rounds. For this hypothetical team, I’ll say that I took Fields in the fourth round and Waller in the fifth round, so I'm set at QB and TE. Here are the players I'd be targeting to fill out my RB and WR depth.

Middle and late-round targets

Diontae Johnson (Round 6)
Tyler Lockett (Round 6)
James Cook (Round 6 or 7)
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Round 7)
Brandin Cooks (Round 8)
A.J. Dillon (Round 8)
Skyy Moore (Round 9)
Zach Charbonnet (Round 9)
Rashod Bateman (Round 10)
Samaje Perine (Round 10)

Dec 11, 2022; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett (16) catches a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers during the second quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

These are just my favorites (I really like the Seahawks offense this year if you couldn’t tell), and I would strongly suggest that you go through both the ADP on your draft platform as well as the Fantasy Life ADP tool to get a feel for where different players are being drafted and who your favorite value plays at each position are.

When the clock is ticking down, and you have to make your selection, it can be easy to get anchored to ADP, so having a list of your favorite targets for different ranges of the draft will help keep your team on track while maximizing ADP values.

The final result

Below are the first 10 rounds of a draft for a hypothetical team that I constructed drafting from the 1.06 based on current ADPs.

Round 1 - Cooper Kupp
Round 2 - Tony Pollard
Round 3 - Calvin Ridley
Round 4 - Justin Fields
Round 5 - Darren Waller
Round 6 - James Cook
Round 7 - Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Round 8 - Brandin Cooks
Round 9 - Skyy Moore
Round 10 - Samaje Perine

After Round 10, drafts can get really interesting, as most of your league will start ignoring ADP and may even begin drafting defenses and kickers. Do your best to stay disciplined and continue building that WR and RB depth with your next few picks, and don’t overpay for a kicker or defense.

In the case of my hypothetical team above, I wouldn’t mind adding my favorite late-round TE given Waller’s injury history and age. For me, that guy is Juwan Johnson, but there are plenty of other promising upside TE dart throws late for insurance if you prefer someone else.

Good luck with your drafts, and be sure to leverage all the great in-season tools we’ve built here at Fantasy Life to help with waivers, trades, and start/sit decisions.

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