The BEST Draft Strategy in 2024 Fantasy Football Drafts (+ 3 Mock Drafts)

Intro what is up everyone it's Quinn here and in today's video I'm going to be going through the number one draft strategy in 2024 fantasy football so the goal of this video is to pretty much be like a One-Stop shop the one video that you guys need to go out and dominate your fantasy football drafts this season so I'm going to be running through the different draft strategies talking about some position specific draft strategies so how I'm approaching the running back position wide receiver quarterback tight end here in 2024 and then I'm also going to be running through a few different mock drafts from different points in the first round just kind of showing you what starts I'm looking at and what types of teams you guys can go out and um put together here one quick thing I did want to mention before we get into the draft strategy video some of you guys were asking about my player rankings last year I put out a Google sheet that I updated doing the same thing this year so I have my top 180 it has tiers you guys can download the Google sheet um completely free the link is going to be in the description you can make your own copy it like crosses off the players if you want to use it in your specific fantasy drafts so that's going to be in the description just want to let you guys know I should be updating it probably close to every day you know into NFL season so that's that um but now let's jump into the video so Draft Strategies I want to start off by just running through the four main draft strategies we have double hero RB hero RB zero RB and then robust RB so starting off with double hero RB you guys may or may not already be familiar with these but just going to run through you know a quick overview so starting off with double her RB you're drafting two stud running backs in the first like two three rounds of your fantasy football draft these are the running backs that are going to carry you um you know pretty much throughout your entire season running backs they can have a very high ceiling they're a little bit risky but they do come with that upside so if you hit on both those picks you know high ceiling running backs they could definitely carry you to the Fantasy Football Championship after those two running backs you're pretty much like punting the running back position through the dead zone obviously these rules aren't like 100% locked in it's just the overall guidelines here so you're getting those two guys early on your punt in the running back Dead Zone which we'll talk about a little bit later um hero RB pretty much the same thing except for you're drafting one stud running back instead of two um you know still punting the running back Dead Zone zero RB is very very controversial because a lot of people you know they've grown up playing fantasy football you know thinking um you know or being told that the running back is the most valuable position and obviously running back is very valuable but wide receiver quarterback tight end these are still positions where if you dominate in those areas you can overcome you know having a rough running back room so Zer RB is you're pretty much punting the running back position through the dead zone and then you're just throwing a ton of darts on late Round Guys in ambiguous situations guys who could kind of elevate as injuries happen running backs as a whole are a fairly injury-prone position so as the studs start to go down you're going to have the handcuffs the guys in the Committees that are going to you know increase their usage and then pretty much the opposite of zero RB we have robust RB which is where you're going right running back early and often typically drafting three running backs through the first like four or five I guess this would be the one strategy where you're not as worried about you know uh pivoting away from those Dead Zone running backs because you could be getting your running back three round four round five which will get into not typically the best bet but not saying it can't work so those are the four overall strategies here now let's dive into some position specific RB Draft Strategy strategies so we're going to start off by talking about the running back position all those draft Strat IES they're based on how you handle running back and a lot of people do still think you know running back is King when it comes to Fantasy Football I've noticed that in the drafts I've done this off season my favorite ones have come from me either going with hero RB or double hero RB so I'm snagging one or two running backs in the first two rounds or you know maybe into like that early third area where some guys can fall that I like but I typically like getting at least one or two stud running backs early on and so I want to take a look at some of that early round running back ADP cuz if you're dra in running backs early and you're whiffing or you're getting bad prices that can really set your team back but if you're getting the solid values the guys that are going to have you know High upside this season those are the guys that can really carry you so pretty consensus at this point CMC 101 I think the latest you'd ever see him fall it's probably like 102 103 totally fine with him there if I have the 101 that's who I'm drafting then you have Bree Hall Bean Robinson going like mid- round one think Breeze has an ADP of like 104 bejan Robinson 106 so fairly close together and I think both those guys are solid picks Bree is my fourth overall player beon is my fifth and I'd even be willing to push Bree up if I thought I was drafting on like a really running back hungry platform where there's just going to be no quality options at like the 23 turn area so I would consider um you know drafting Bree higher just based on the format the platform then the onew turn area is where I think we start to get a little bit loose you know with these targets JT s Quan Barkley jir Gibbs I believe right now Jonathan Taylor is valued at like the 110 in consensus ADP saquon's at the 112 jir Gibbs I believe is at the 2011 and I don't agree with this personally I would take jir Gibbs over both Jonathan Taylor and saquan Barkley I'm fine drafting JT and squin in the early second but if I had to take one of these running backs like the tail end of the first round it would be jir Gibbs for me then we have the running backs that are more locked into round two kyen Williams Derk Henry Travis eten Isaiah Pacho and Devon Anan and I'm fine paying up for four of these five so I like Kiren I would take him in that early second area etn Pacho I think mid to late second is fair aan I think is just a screaming value if you're getting him 2 three turn I think that is an absolute steal I think on ESPN he's going like round three maybe even round four that is completely insane I'd be willing to take aan like early second if I was just drafting one team this year so the one guy I don't like in thisa area is derck Henry and I know people love Derrick Henry they're going to say oh you know he's going to have this huge workload he's going to have a ton of touchdowns on the Ravens and my issue with Derrick Henry is that the risk is not worth the reward this season he's 30 years old he has the second most touches of any active running back and he has no receiving upside and you look at the Ravens here do we think that like this is going to be a playoff team do we think they're going to want to force feed derck Henry in the regular season give him like 22 23 carries game and then have him just be completely cooked by the time they get into the playoffs I don't think so so I think his workload is going to be a little bit limited compared to what people are expecting yeah I think he's going to score touchdowns he's going to be efficient I think from a real life perspective he'll play well but I just don't think the ceilings there to kind of rationalize taking him in like the mid-second round when you also factor in the risk so Derrick Henry not someone I'm targeting here and then round three Josh Jacobs I just don't really like it um round three if I'm not drafting like P or aan I'm pretty out on running back um in that specific area so I like CMC I like Bree I like buan I like jir Gibbs fine with JT squin like early second and then I think the you know round two running backs most of them are fair prices but like I said want to snag at least one or two of these guys um in the first two SL three rounds if you do get some of these dudes slipping and now I want to talk about the running back Dead Zone like I mentioned earlier on most of the draft strategies double her RB hero RB zero RB they're focused on avoiding the running back Dead Zone and so let's actually talk about why that's an area that we typically want to avoid and the running back dead zone is from rounds 4 through 7 this is data um going back to 2017 so 2017 through 2023 you can see here the total number of running backs within that span picked in each round and then I have the number of running backs that had a win rate above 8.33% so assuming everyone's team is equal you have like a one in 12 chance of winning your league you know in a 12 team league so 8.33% chance so we obviously want to be drafting running backs that return on a higher win rate than that so you can see the number of the running backs with the win rate above 8.33 out of the total running backs we get the percentage of running backs that had a plus win rate and you can see round one fine round two actually hasn't been great but I think that's kind of fluky round three has actually been a really good spot um to draft running backs but you can see round four through seven that is the running back dead zone that is where running back picks have not panned out specifically round four and round five like that round four five area has been pretty gross and it's even worse when you compare it to the fact that you could be drafting a wide receiver where on the right we have the same chart before the wide receiver position where wide receivers picked in round four and round five have been very very productive for Fantasy so if you're drafting those running backs in the dead zone you're also then passing up on wide receivers who could be very productive in a very similar range so that's the general idea on why you want to be avoiding that running back Dead Zone I am not saying that you should never draft a running back in this area I do think ADP is starting to evolve it is getting smarter you're no longer getting runningbacks like Mike Davis and Miles gasin who like a few years ago would have been pushed up into that spot but I mean even last year a guy like Alexander Madison he's like your you know typical running back Dead Zone guy and he was still picked in that range but we also had guys like Alvin chimra Rashad white Travis eten who were all very big hits in the dead zone last year so like I said we're not completely avoiding this area if you get a value you like a price um I think it's fine but more often than not this is an area where I'd prefer to go wide receiver quarterback tight end just not the running back position and I think this year is interesting because it's obviously going to depend platform to platform certain platforms the dead zone is going to be like close to non-existent other platforms it's going to be really gross and one thing I noticed on two of the more popular platforms ESPN's running back Dead Zone um is a lot more friendly than Yahoo when it comes to player values like on ESPN here you can see on the left Rashad white chimra I hate those prices I think the Jacobs price is fine Walkers a little bit Rich for my blood but not the worst thing in the world but then you kind of have this spot where then you don't have another running back until we're getting into like round six area so like Aaron Jones raand Dre those are guys round six or later I think are fine picks you're getting David Montgomery in the seventh you're also getting James Connor in the seventh so there are some fine prices on ESPN in the running back dead zone that I definitely don't hate like you're giving me pick 84 James Connor I think that's a straight up value as someone who typically likes to Target you know wide receivers in that range Yahoo's a little bit different you can see you know Rashad white don't love that price chimra don't love it Walker kind of in the similar spot James Cook honestly don't think that is the worst spot for him um but then like David Montgomery 45 turn that's sketchy chimra is more of like an early fifth um James Conor's like that 56 turn you're getting like zamir white pushed up a little bit um Naji Harris is pushed up a little bit so you do have to be a little bit careful based on the platform you're drafting on like I said ESPN I think the prices are a lot better you don't want to kind of like fall into just looking at their rankings and you know reaching on players that you probably shouldn't be reaching for in that range now let's talk about some late round running back draft strategy since 2017 there have been 10 running backs picked in round 10 or later that have returned a 16.7% win rate or better so basically drafting these 10 players at the very least doubl the chances of winning your fantasy football league and you can see the names here Alvin chra James Robinson Kiren Williams James Connor Philip Lindsay Kareem hunt Raheem moster JD mckisic Devon Anan and Mike Davis and what I notice when I'm looking at these 10 names is that the vast majority of these running backs were very young in their career chimra James Robinson they were rookies same thing with Philip Lindsay Kareem hunt Devon Anan Kiren Williams James Connor they were heading into year two and then you had a few veterans uh you know year nine Raheem moster last year um JD mckisic year five in 2020 Mike Davis year six in 2020 but what this is telling me is that when you want upside with your later round picks you should be going after younger running backs and I think it makes sense because why are you targeting like older veteran depth options who have had plenty of opportunities to break out you know make a name for themselves and they haven't been able to do it I would much rather throw darts on the unknown of these young players who you know may be there you know Beed on the depth chart to start the season like a guy like Devon hen or a dude like Alvin chimra where he had some competition James Robinson a very ambiguous running back room I think that was the year um Lenard forette left James Connor who you know can take advantage of a Le'Veon Bell hold out kyen Williams who steps up when you know cam Acres isn't playing that well so I just think these younger running backs they have a lot more juice and so guys like Blake corm Jaylen Wright Ray Davis Bucky Irving brillan Allen I think are all really interesting options this season for fantasy and then also second-year guys like Chase Brown Zack shanet are also guys that I'm you know very interested in targeting this season so late round running backs I would definitely look for younger options unproven players who do come with that extra upside now let's shift WR Draft Strategy away from the running back position and talk about wide receivers because in your home leagues and on more casual platforms wide receivers are almost always solid values it's very tough to go wrong drafting a wide receiver when you're drafting un like ESPN Yahoo I think even sleeper like I feel like the wide receivers are a little bit pushed down but especially in the running back dead zone that I talked about so rounds 4 through 7even where you have some of these grosser running backs that are kind of getting pushed up the wide receivers end up being the very valuable picks where it's really tough to go wrong like I said um so looking at ESPN um the wide receivers in the dead zone Yahoo same thing I don't necessarily agree with like the order of both of these Platforms in terms of like how the wide receivers are ranked in their ADP but I feel like even when I don't agree with the ranking pretty much every one of these wide receivers in my opinion is a buy at their current ADP so take a guy like Calvin Ridley like Calvin Ridley is not my wide receiver 27 but what I take him at pick 7 72 100% um but like you're just getting some insane values ESPN T Higgins going outside the first 70 picks George Pickins Cooper going outside the first 70 picks that's insane getting Drake London Nico Collins in the fourth round is Wild on Yahoo like getting Cooper cup there I think is a great price same thing with Jaylen waddle a guy like Michael Pitman where I might not agree with where he's ranked positionally still getting him like late fourth round is probably about where I have him in my rankings and then like tank Dell pick 64 T Higgins also value Malik neighbors pick 67 there are just so many quality options on both these platforms which is why I am fine getting a running back or two in the first few rounds because I know my wide receiver position is going to be stacked because the value is pretty much available in every single round I'm someone who likes to have wide receivers through my Flex I like my running backs and my running back slots but when I'm drafting you know one or two Flex options I prefer that they're wide receivers especially like half point PPR PPR scoring so ideally I have wide receivers through my Flex plus like one or two quality bench options and I do think on most of these platforms it is pretty realistic cuz say you're drafting like you know Bree Hall Anan in the first two rounds it's not crazy to think that like from rounds three through like seven you could have four quality wide receivers even getting into like round eight round nine I still think they're going to be solid wide receiver options available so I'm pretty much getting those running backs early then I'm you know punting through the um Dead Zone in most leagues and then I'm just hammering these wide receivers cuz there are a lot of value and then the other kind of you know I guess pocket of players I want to talk about for the wide receiver position is I'm a big fan of targeting rookie wide receivers their adps are typically pushed down due to uncertainty right we've never seen them in the NFL people are weary they don't want to draft someone who's just a complete bust but they also carry a ton of upside and I'm especially in on the rookie in this specific class this was a strong wide receiver class just from like a player Talent perspective but this class also came through big time in terms of having really strong Landing spots so I've already kind of mentioned Marvin Harrison Jr Malik neighbors cool at drafting those guys they're the clear top two but I'm also very in on the tier after that so Xavier worthy Keon Coleman Roman dun lad mcon Brian Thomas Jr these are their prices on ESPN getting all of these dudes outside the first 100 picks is insane like Xavier worthy could very well be their number one for Patrick Mahomes you're getting him at pick 116 as a wide receiver four like I don't necessarily agree with the order of these guys but I'm in on every single one of them at their current price and so if you can you know Hammer the wide receiver position through the dead zone even get an elite quarterback an elite tight end there are still going to be really quality wide receiver options into the later rounds like into round 10 here I really just can't emphasize enough like how insane these prices are you should be all over these rookies in your guys you know home leagues your different fantasy drafts so that is the wide receiver position I'll also just throw in like if you're throwing like super late round darts I also like targeting younger options so guys like Xavier Legette or liette um davien Wicks Jaylen pulk those are some of my favorite um options in the later round QB Draft Strategy now shifting over to the quarterback position I think this is the deepest year for quarterbacks that I can personally remember um here's a look at the current consensus ADP at the quarterback position so round three area you have Josh Allen Patrick Mahomes Jaylen Herz round 45 Lamar Jackson CJ strad Richardson round 67 Joe burrow Kyler Murray Dak Prescott Jordan love you have like your Fringe QB ons in Brock pie Jane Daniels um Jared gof Tua Caleb Williams keep in mind these are not my personal rankings this is like consensus 4 for four ADP where these guys are going and then the late rounders uh Trevor Lawrence Justin Herbert Kurt Cousins Aaron Rogers Matthew Stafford and DeShaun Watson so my overall strategy here at the quarterback position is that I am not reaching at quarterback you will not catch me drafting a two3 turn Josh Allen a mid third round momes or Jaylen Herz there's just no reason to be reaching this year at quarterback because you're going to pass up on value at other positions whether it's running back wide receiver um tight end and it's almost impossible to go through a full draft without getting a screaming value somewhere like that screaming value could be one of these later round options where everyone's already set at quarterback and you can snag two of these guys in the later rounds who are completely fine starters so there are just so many quality options where you have the elite guys where maybe you know one of those round three dudes falls into round four mid round four maybe Lamar falls into round five you know CJ strad in general I'm just kind of out on at his current price but that's for a different video um Anthony Richardson like you're getting a mid to late round five into round six it's a great value I just have no interest in you know reaching on any of these dudes so some of the guys that I find myself drafting the most out of these quarterbacks is like Anthony Richardson in that 56 area I also really like Kyler Murray in round seven I personally have him ranked ahead of CJ strad so I'm very in on Kyler Murray and then if I don't get like a screaming value in like the earlier rounds then I really like targeting the rookies um cayb Williams and Jane Daniels I think they come in have upside from week one and then in terms of like the later round options I like Trevor Lawrence and I really like Justin Herbert here also I guess shout out to Justin field as like a super late round flyer who could have upside if he gets the starting job but really the point I want to emphasize is just please do not reach at the quarterback position please do not freak out like maybe you don't have your quarterback in the first five six rounds there is no reason to panic there is no reason to you know push the draft button on a sixth round Joe burrow or a round six Dak or Jordan love it just doesn't make sense unless you're in a league where like people are drafting Josh Allen and then they're drafting like their quarterback 2 also which is just like insanity unless you're in like some wildly quarterback like hungry draft room it's pretty much impossible to lose at the quarterback position that's my take right like even if you're drafting these late rounders you're getting a Herbert or Kurt Cousins at the right price you could have a very solid starter every single week and you're not you know burning an earlier round pick reaching on one of these guys so that's my you know main point there please just do not reach be calm there's quality options in every stage of the draft at the quar qub back position now shifting TE Draft Strategy over to tight end we can also look at some um consensus ADP here at the tight end position and one thing I noticed is that you have guys like Travis Kelce um Sam leaport that are going at like the two three turn area whereas you have guys like Mark Andrews and Trey McBride that are more going in round four and for me that's the biggest like disconnect when it comes to current ADP I have all four of those tight ends in the same tier so Kelsey leapa McBride Andrews I have them all like three four turn area when you look at their production when they were the starters and healthy last year they all averaged between 14 and 15 PPR points per game so for me there's no shot I'm reaching on a two three turn Kelce or leapa when I could get Trey McBride or Mark Andrews in the fourth round I think this is an interesting year where you do have probably like 10 11 options that you feel pretty solid with like concade pits interesting young guys in the fifth round I'm not huge on KD and around five but I know some people would be fine with it you have Evan Ingram going round six that's a little Rich for me um and then you have like this final tier of like Ferguson and joku Brock Bowers and what I will say about that final tier like the round seven eight area I don't have a ton of interest in like reaching to get the top guy in that tier like if I could go early round seven I'm not reaching to be like oh David and joku is my guy I would much rather wait until like you know the eighth round um maybe into the ninth round if other team teams have their tight end position to snag the final guy basically like I'm not willing to pay up for one specific dude cuz I feel like they're all pretty close together in this area and then I guess if you do Miss on like these top 11 which I don't love but if you do Tamm Hill is someone who I really like as like a later round option Pat fouth I think is also fine if he's slipping but those are my thoughts on tight end if you are going Elite tight end I really like it to be McBride or Andrews or a conade or a Kyle pittz um and then I Kicker/Defense Strategy guess shifting into like the positions here kicker and defense basically I'm just going to tell you to wait until the last two rounds at kicker there's just not a significant difference from the number one kicker to like the number 12 guy for example last year Justin Tucker averaged 19.4 points per game he would probably be the locked in number one or I guess um Harrison bucker heading into last year uh mcmanis had the 14th best points per game at 8.6 so there wasn't even a onepoint per game difference between Justin Tucker and someone that wasn't even a I guess like kicker one you could say at defense there will be a little bit more separation just in terms of like team for team but you have the ability to stream these guys weekly so picking up a new defense every week with a good matchup is going to get you pretty close if not better production than reaching a few rounds earlier to get the number one defense so that's my thoughts kicker um defense I really would not be the guy who's reaching every league is going to have one we like round 12 round 13 someone's going out there they're getting their guy they're getting their defense they're drafting Justin Tucker Harrison bucker you know maybe Brandon Aubrey from the Cowboys but it's just not something I'm personally interested in but now let's 1.03 Mock Draft actually dive into a few different mock drafts here so the first one we have here is from the third pick um this is PPR scoring two running backs two wide receivers two Flexes in the starting lineup I'll show you the full board for a few seconds and then shift over to I guess you know the easier to view one so starting off with the third pick we had CD lamb CMC go off the board pick one pick two pretty standard I guess I'd flip the order but whatever at 103 I have Tyreek Hill you could talk me into a breeze Hall pick on a running back hungry platform sleeper not that bad so I felt confident I'd have a running back I like falling to the second so I go with Devon Anan here at the 210 wanted to show you guys a hero RB look so I went chrisol who I think is a nice value at the 303 in terms of my player rankings Poco probably would be the top option but just wanted to mix it up for these drafts so I go Chris La then I don't love the um running back value in rounds four through I guess like six seven The Dead Zone area so I go Malik neighbors tank Dell Rashid rice all guys who I think are really solid values then I snag my first I guess somewhat Elite quarterback option in Kyler Murray I go back to the running back position in round eight where I snag Jonathan Brooks not someone who's probably going to be playing the first few weeks but someone who I like in the long run of the season um I go tight end with David and joku in the ninth round like I said I'm not reaching for round seven Ingram around eight Ferguson when I can get one of these tight ends to fall to me then we go running back I was looking for players that I thought could slide into that rb2 role early on so Chase Brown Rico dle also snagged Ray Davis and khle Herbert who I like his handcuffs and then Davian Wicks was like our late round flyer um at the wide receiver position so like you can see I targeted some of those younger depth options Chase Brown Ray Davis K Herbert I just think is a solid handcuff and has upside if he's traded and then Ric D someone who I just really like in like the later rounds probably the favorite to lead um this Cowboys running back room so I think the team's solid a hero RB build our wide receivers are really strong I think our quarterback is strong tight end is all right and then running back I love aan as our running back one and then I think our depth options are pretty strong here and should be peing later on in the season with a guy like Jonathan Brooks now the second draft 1.07 Mock Draft here is going to be from the seventh spot same roster settings all of that stuff we get Bree Hall at the 107 to me that's an insane value this also could be a bejan Robinson pick on a different platform so we get our running back one then in the round two area I went with Drake London my best player available would be Devon Anan but I don't want to draft him in like every single one of these so we go Drake London round two then I get Debo Samuel in round three then this was a draft where I went Elite tight end and Elite quarterback so I go round four four Trey McBride then I go round five Anthony Richardson just getting those two studs in our starting lineup and then I go three straight wide receivers with Xavier worthy Calvin Ridley uh Brian Thomas Jr all guys who I think are solid picks at those prices and then I got to get serious about running back because here are our B team I go Brian Robinson Chase Brown Zack shbnet Rico dle and then our final running back pick was Bucky Irving um and then a late round fly at wide receiver with a guy like Jaylen pulk I do really like the way these team play out when you can snag an elite tight end and an elite quarterback because I guess the only position that's really suffering here is running back but we're still ending up with Brian Thomas Jr um as our you know running back two which is not bad at all especially with Chase Brown Rico do as guys who could also fill in throughout the season so I really like the way that one played out like I said not reaching at quarterback right not reaching at tight end Kelsey went in the second round I get McBride in the mid fourth round um you know you're getting CJ strad in the fourth Lamar early or fourth I'm getting Richardson in the fifth the value is there if you do wait and you know find the right kind of players within those tiers and then the final mock here is 1.11 Mock Draft going to be from the 11 spot one to do one from each area of the draft and this is a spot where I think a lot of you are probably going to like going double here RB just getting those two running backs right away so getting jir Gibbs getting Jonathan Taylor back to back here then we're obviously going to Pivot away from running back we got those two studs don't typically love the running back value in like the three four turn area unless you're somehow getting a falling Devon aan so we go Cooper Cup round three this was a spot where we get a falling Jaylen Herz I'd be willing to take him late third we get him in the early fourth round that's a price I'm willing to pay for Jaylen Herz um continue to hammer wide receiver with t Higgins Xavier worthy Chris Godwin Deontay Johnson our running back two is once again going to be Brian Robinson then we go courland Sutton as our final wide receiver our wide receiver six and then we get JK Dobbins in round 11 we obviously punted tight end in this one so I went with my favorite late round option Tamm Hill and then Hunter Henry right after that and then we wrap it up with Tyler elier so Elite quarterback our running backs obviously strong with this like double-headed start with jir Gibbs Jonathan Taylor I think our wide receivers are fine have a decent amount of depth um tight end is obviously the weak point but I think in terms of waiting till like what's that round 12 13 not the worst option in Tamm Hill could be someone who like pretty much operates as a running back but you're getting them um like in that tight end designation so those are going to be the three mock drafts here hopefully this video helps you guys um go out dominate your drafts here in 2024 if you do have any fantasy questions you can drop them down below you can also take a look at my top 80 rankings if you guys are interested so thank you all for stopping by and I will see you in the next one