Be elite. That's the goal of every Fantasy manager in every league. But it's not always easy to achieve in 12-team leagues and larger. In those formats, you're likely going to have some holes on your roster, at least on Draft Day.
That shouldn't be the case in 10-team leagues or smaller -- if you do it right. In a shallow league, where every manager has an all-star roster, you want to find a way to stand out. And there are a few ways to make that happen.
We held a 10-team, half-PPR mock draft Friday on our Fantasy Football Today podcast. I had the No. 6 overall pick, and I tried to make my roster elite.
My approach was to be aggressive at quarterback and tight end, and I did that with Brock Bowers in Round 2 and Josh Allen in Round 4. I probably wouldn't draft those positions so close together in a 12-team league, but I knew I could pass on running backs and receivers there and still recover with quality talent.
By drafting Bowers and Allen, I have what should be a positional advantage. And I still built a standout receiving corps (Amon-Ra St. Brown, Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Matthew Golden and Jalen Coker) with quality running backs (Cam Skattebo, David Montgomery, Jonathon Brooks, Jaylen Warren, Mike Washington Jr., Kaelon Black and Emmett Johnson).
Now, you can argue that my running backs are weak, which is fair in a 10-team league. But if Allen, Bowers and my top three receivers perform as expected, I should be fairly successful in this format.
Keep in mind that not everyone will be able to land the best quarterback and tight end on the same roster, and I would prefer to target the top tight ends since quarterback is so deep. For example, I like the build from Clinton Derouen, who had the No. 3 overall pick.
His quarterback is Lamar Jackson, and the tight end is Colston Loveland (he also drafted Mark Andrews). At running back, Derouen has Saquon Barkley, Travis Etienne, Tony Pollard, Woody Marks and Jonah Coleman. And the receivers are Ja'Marr Chase, Nico Collins, Rome Odunze, Brian Thomas Jr., Josh Downs and Makai Lemon.
Derouen got Loveland in Round 4 and Jackson in Round 6, and he did that at fair value. His talent at running back and receiver is impressive, and Derouen should have a playoff-caliber roster.
You can also load up at running back and receiver and hope you're just better than everyone else. Dark Link did that from the No. 2 spot with Bijan Robinson, Javonte Williams, Bhayshul Tuten, Kenneth Gainwell, Tank Bigsby and Braelon Allen at running back. And Link has Justin Jefferson, Malik Nabers, Luther Burden III, Chris Godwin and Quentin Johnston at receiver. Link's quarterback is Jalen Hurts, and the tight ends are Dallas Goedert and Isaiah Likely.
I like that roster a lot, even if he has a mid-tier quarterback and fallback options at tight end. His talent elsewhere should carry him into the playoffs.
Take a look at all of these rosters and see which build you like best. Just remember that in a 10-team league, you want to stand out as much as possible since all of these teams are filled with all stars. Your goal is to be elite.
As a reference point for this mock draft, all touchdowns 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, 2 WR, TE and 2 FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.
Our draft order is as follows:
1. Michael Villafana, Podcast Listener
2. Dark Link, Podcast Listener
3. Clinton Derouen, Podcast Listener
4. Chris Harrington, Podcast Listener
5. Stephen Diephuis, Podcast Listener
6. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer
7. Matt Frasco, Podcast Listener
8. Jonathan Slusser, Podcast Listener
9. Thomas Denardo, Podcast Listener
10. James Leonard, St. Jude donor
Round By Round Round 1 Pos Team Player 1 Michael Villafana J. Gibbs RB DET 2 Dark Link B. Robinson RB ATL 3 Clinton Derouen J. Chase WR CIN 4 Chris Harrington P. Nacua WR LAR 5 Stephen Diephuis J. Taylor RB IND 6 Jamey Eisenberg A. St. Brown WR DET 7 Matt Frasco J. Smith-Njigba WR SEA 8 Jonathan Slusser J. Cook RB BUF 9 Thomas Denardo C. McCaffrey RB SF 10 Jose Jaime D. Henry RB BAL Round 2 Pos Team Player 11 Jose Jaime C. Brown RB CIN 12 Thomas Denardo A. Brown WR NE 13 Jonathan Slusser K. Walker III RB KC 14 Matt Frasco D. Achane RB MIA 15 Jamey Eisenberg B. Bowers TE LV 16 Stephen Diephuis O. Hampton RB LAC 17 Chris Harrington C. Lamb WR DAL 18 Clinton Derouen N. Collins WR HOU 19 Dark Link J. Jefferson WR MIN 20 Michael Villafana R. Rice WR KC Round 3 Pos Team Player 21 Michael Villafana G. Pickens WR DAL 22 Dark Link M. Nabers WR NYG 23 Clinton Derouen S. Barkley RB PHI 24 Chris Harrington K. Williams RB LAR 25 Stephen Diephuis D. Smith WR PHI 26 Jamey Eisenberg D. London WR ATL 27 Matt Frasco T. McBride TE ARI 28 Jonathan Slusser C. Olave WR NO 29 Thomas Denardo T. Higgins WR CIN 30 Jose Jaime Z. Flowers WR BAL Round 4 Pos Team Player 31 Jose Jaime A. Jeanty RB LV 32 Thomas Denardo L. McConkey WR LAC 33 Jonathan Slusser J. Jacobs RB GB 34 Matt Frasco J. Love RB ARI 35 Jamey Eisenberg J. Allen QB BUF 36 Stephen Diephuis D. Swift RB CHI 37 Chris Harrington E. Egbuka WR TB 38 Clinton Derouen C. Loveland TE CHI 39 Dark Link J. Williams RB DAL 40 Michael Villafana B. Hall RB NYJ Round 5 Pos Team Player 41 Michael Villafana D. Moore WR BUF 42 Dark Link L. Burden III WR CHI 43 Clinton Derouen T. Etienne RB NO 44 Chris Harrington J. Waddle WR DEN 45 Stephen Diephuis S. LaPorta TE DET 46 Jamey Eisenberg G. Wilson WR NYJ 47 Matt Frasco T. McMillan WR CAR 48 Jonathan Slusser J. Williams WR DET 49 Thomas Denardo B. Irving RB TB 50 Jose Jaime T. McLaurin WR WAS Round 6 Pos Team Player 51 Jose Jaime M. Evans WR SF 52 Thomas Denardo D. Adams WR LAR 53 Jonathan Slusser C. Watson WR GB 54 Matt Frasco Q. Judkins RB CLE 55 Jamey Eisenberg C. Skattebo RB NYG 56 Stephen Diephuis P. Washington WR JAC 57 Chris Harrington J. Price RB SEA 58 Clinton Derouen L. Jackson QB BAL 59 Dark Link B. Tuten RB JAC 60 Michael Villafana J. Burrow QB CIN Round 7 Pos Team Player 61 Michael Villafana T. Warren TE IND 62 Dark Link C. Godwin WR TB 63 Clinton Derouen R. Odunze WR CHI 64 Chris Harrington D. Maye QB NE 65 Stephen Diephuis J. Mason RB MIN 66 Jamey Eisenberg D. Montgomery RB HOU 67 Matt Frasco M. Harrison Jr. WR ARI 68 Jonathan Slusser R. Stevenson RB NE 69 Thomas Denardo J. Dobbins RB DEN 70 Jose Jaime A. Pierce WR IND Round 8 Pos Team Player 71 Jose Jaime G. Kittle TE SF 72 Thomas Denardo T. Kraft TE GB 73 Jonathan Slusser C. Tate WR TEN 74 Matt Frasco T. Henderson RB NE 75 Jamey Eisenberg J. Brooks RB CAR 76 Stephen Diephuis J. Reed WR GB 77 Chris Harrington R. Dowdle RB PIT 78 Clinton Derouen T. Pollard RB TEN 79 Dark Link Q. Johnston WR LAC 80 Michael Villafana R. Harvey RB DEN Round 9 Pos Team Player 81 Michael Villafana C. Sutton WR DEN 82 Dark Link J. Daniels QB WAS 83 Clinton Derouen B. Thomas Jr. WR JAC 84 Chris Harrington B. Corum RB LAR 85 Stephen Diephuis J. Hurts QB PHI 86 Jamey Eisenberg J. Warren RB PIT 87 Matt Frasco D. Metcalf WR PIT 88 Jonathan Slusser S. Diggs WR WAS 89 Thomas Denardo J. Croskey-Merritt RB WAS 90 Jose Jaime D. Prescott QB DAL Round 10 Pos Team Player 91 Jose Jaime K. Concepcion WR CLE 92 Thomas Denardo M. Lloyd RB GB 93 Jonathan Slusser D. Stribling WR SF 94 Matt Frasco H. Fannin Jr. TE CLE 95 Jamey Eisenberg M. Washington Jr. RB LV 96 Stephen Diephuis M. Wilson WR ARI 97 Chris Harrington K. Pitts TE ATL 98 Clinton Derouen J. Downs WR IND 99 Dark Link K. Gainwell RB TB 100 Michael Villafana C. Hubbard RB CAR Round 11 Pos Team Player 101 Michael Villafana J. Addison WR MIN 102 Dark Link D. Goedert TE PHI 103 Clinton Derouen W. Marks RB HOU 104 Chris Harrington J. Tyson WR NO 105 Stephen Diephuis K. Monangai RB CHI 106 Jamey Eisenberg M. Golden WR GB 107 Matt Frasco J. Lane WR BAL 108 Jonathan Slusser T. Lawrence QB JAC 109 Thomas Denardo W. Robinson WR TEN 110 Jose Jaime T. Kelce TE KC Round 12 Pos Team Player 111 Jose Jaime M. Pittman WR PIT 112 Thomas Denardo A. Jones RB MIN 113 Jonathan Slusser R. White RB WAS 114 Matt Frasco C. Williams QB CHI 115 Jamey Eisenberg J. Coker WR CAR 116 Stephen Diephuis C. Rodriguez Jr. RB JAC 117 Chris Harrington Z. Charbonnet RB SEA 118 Clinton Derouen J. Coleman RB DEN 119 Dark Link I. Likely TE NYG 120 Michael Villafana B. Robinson Jr. RB ATL Round 13 Pos Team Player 121 Michael Villafana T. Tucker WR LV 122 Dark Link T. Bigsby RB PHI 123 Clinton Derouen M. Lemon WR PHI 124 Chris Harrington J. Ferguson TE DAL 125 Stephen Diephuis T. Allgeier RB ARI 126 Jamey Eisenberg K. Black RB SF 127 Matt Frasco J. Nailor WR LV 128 Jonathan Slusser R. Doubs WR NE 129 Thomas Denardo J. Herbert QB LAC 130 Jose Jaime R. Shaheed WR SEA Round 14 Pos Team Player 131 Jose Jaime J. Jennings WR MIN 132 Thomas Denardo N. Harris RB NYG 133 Jonathan Slusser D. Kincaid TE BUF 134 Matt Frasco B. Purdy QB SF 135 Jamey Eisenberg E. Johnson RB KC 136 Stephen Diephuis R. Davis RB BUF 137 Chris Harrington J. Dart QB NYG 138 Clinton Derouen M. Andrews TE BAL 139 Dark Link B. Allen RB NYJ 140 Michael Villafana T. Tracy Jr. RB NYG Team by Team Michael Villafana Rd Pk Player 1 1 J. Gibbs RB DET 2 20 R. Rice WR KC 3 21 G. Pickens WR DAL 4 40 B. Hall RB NYJ 5 41 D. Moore WR BUF 6 60 J. Burrow QB CIN 7 61 T. Warren TE IND 8 80 R. Harvey RB DEN 9 81 C. Sutton WR DEN 10 100 C. Hubbard RB CAR 11 101 J. Addison WR MIN 12 120 B. Robinson Jr. RB ATL 13 121 T. Tucker WR LV 14 140 T. Tracy Jr. RB NYG Dark Link Rd Pk Player 1 2 B. Robinson RB ATL 2 19 J. Jefferson WR MIN 3 22 M. Nabers WR NYG 4 39 J. Williams RB DAL 5 42 L. Burden III WR CHI 6 59 B. Tuten RB JAC 7 62 C. Godwin WR TB 8 79 Q. Johnston WR LAC 9 82 J. Daniels QB WAS 10 99 K. Gainwell RB TB 11 102 D. Goedert TE PHI 12 119 I. Likely TE NYG 13 122 T. Bigsby RB PHI 14 139 B. Allen RB NYJ Clinton Derouen Rd Pk Player 1 3 J. Chase WR CIN 2 18 N. Collins WR HOU 3 23 S. Barkley RB PHI 4 38 C. Loveland TE CHI 5 43 T. Etienne RB NO 6 58 L. Jackson QB BAL 7 63 R. Odunze WR CHI 8 78 T. Pollard RB TEN 9 83 B. Thomas Jr. WR JAC 10 98 J. Downs WR IND 11 103 W. Marks RB HOU 12 118 J. Coleman RB DEN 13 123 M. Lemon WR PHI 14 138 M. Andrews TE BAL Chris Harrington Rd Pk Player 1 4 P. Nacua WR LAR 2 17 C. Lamb WR DAL 3 24 K. Williams RB LAR 4 37 E. Egbuka WR TB 5 44 J. Waddle WR DEN 6 57 J. Price RB SEA 7 64 D. Maye QB NE 8 77 R. Dowdle RB PIT 9 84 B. Corum RB LAR 10 97 K. Pitts TE ATL 11 104 J. Tyson WR NO 12 117 Z. Charbonnet RB SEA 13 124 J. Ferguson TE DAL 14 137 J. Dart QB NYG Stephen Diephuis Rd Pk Player 1 5 J. Taylor RB IND 2 16 O. Hampton RB LAC 3 25 D. Smith WR PHI 4 36 D. Swift RB CHI 5 45 S. LaPorta TE DET 6 56 P. Washington WR JAC 7 65 J. Mason RB MIN 8 76 J. Reed WR GB 9 85 J. Hurts QB PHI 10 96 M. Wilson WR ARI 11 105 K. Monangai RB CHI 12 116 C. Rodriguez Jr. RB JAC 13 125 T. Allgeier RB ARI 14 136 R. Davis RB BUF Jamey Eisenberg Rd Pk Player 1 6 A. St. Brown WR DET 2 15 B. Bowers TE LV 3 26 D. London WR ATL 4 35 J. Allen QB BUF 5 46 G. Wilson WR NYJ 6 55 C. Skattebo RB NYG 7 66 D. Montgomery RB HOU 8 75 J. Brooks RB CAR 9 86 J. Warren RB PIT 10 95 M. Washington Jr. RB LV 11 106 M. Golden WR GB 12 115 J. Coker WR CAR 13 126 K. Black RB SF 14 135 E. Johnson RB KC Matt Frasco Rd Pk Player 1 7 J. Smith-Njigba WR SEA 2 14 D. Achane RB MIA 3 27 T. McBride TE ARI 4 34 J. Love RB ARI 5 47 T. McMillan WR CAR 6 54 Q. Judkins RB CLE 7 67 M. Harrison Jr. WR ARI 8 74 T. Henderson RB NE 9 87 D. Metcalf WR PIT 10 94 H. Fannin Jr. TE CLE 11 107 J. Lane WR BAL 12 114 C. Williams QB CHI 13 127 J. Nailor WR LV 14 134 B. Purdy QB SF Jonathan Slusser Rd Pk Player 1 8 J. Cook RB BUF 2 13 K. Walker III RB KC 3 28 C. Olave WR NO 4 33 J. Jacobs RB GB 5 48 J. Williams WR DET 6 53 C. Watson WR GB 7 68 R. Stevenson RB NE 8 73 C. Tate WR TEN 9 88 S. Diggs WR WAS 10 93 D. Stribling WR SF 11 108 T. Lawrence QB JAC 12 113 R. White RB WAS 13 128 R. Doubs WR NE 14 133 D. Kincaid TE BUF Thomas Denardo Rd Pk Player 1 9 C. McCaffrey RB SF 2 12 A. Brown WR NE 3 29 T. Higgins WR CIN 4 32 L. McConkey WR LAC 5 49 B. Irving RB TB 6 52 D. Adams WR LAR 7 69 J. Dobbins RB DEN 8 72 T. Kraft TE GB 9 89 J. Croskey-Merritt RB WAS 10 92 M. Lloyd RB GB 11 109 W. Robinson WR TEN 12 112 A. Jones RB MIN 13 129 J. Herbert QB LAC 14 132 N. Harris RB NYG Jose Jaime Rd Pk Player 1 10 D. Henry RB BAL 2 11 C. Brown RB CIN 3 30 Z. Flowers WR BAL 4 31 A. Jeanty RB LV 5 50 T. McLaurin WR WAS 6 51 M. Evans WR SF 7 70 A. Pierce WR IND 8 71 G. Kittle TE SF 9 90 D. Prescott QB DAL 10 91 K. Concepcion WR CLE 11 110 T. Kelce TE KC 12 111 M. Pittman WR PIT 13 130 R. Shaheed WR SEA 14 131 J. 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