How NOT to suck at your draft (round by round targets 1-8)

Most drafts will be this weekend and the first game is less than a week away!! I don't know about you but I'm excited and could use football now more than ever. I'm going to go over some round by round targets with some explanations and give an example of how I like to build a team. The scoring system we'll use is half PPR 16 rounds 4 point passing TDs 2RB 3WR Flex TE QB. Let's jump into it.

Round 1: Obviously I'm targeting CMC if at all possible. Followed up by Saquan and Zeke. Getting to the middle and end of the first round it gets tricky. If I can get Derrick Henry anywhere from the 4 spot on I'm sold. His stability and volume is unmatched. In full PPR this doesn't change for me. Next is tough between CEH/Kamara/Cook/Mixon I've been going with CEH just to get a piece of the KC offense but if you go with any one of these backs after the 4 spot I'm not going to argue it. Twards the end of the first I'll begin targeting Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake. Jacobs gives a safer floor if you want to take upside later on and Drake has overall RB1 upside in Kingsbury's offense. You'll notice I didn't include any WRs in the first round. That's because I prefer to target the WRs in the middle rounds. I love Thomas and Adams but when I've experimented with drafting them I ended up hating my team. If you prefer the RBs in the middle feel free to pull the trigger on a pass catcher but I'm trying to load up on RB early this year. 

Round 2: In the beginning of round 2 I'm usually hoping for one of Miles Sanders, Drake or Jacobs to still be available. If not Julio Jones is a fine consolation prize. In the middle of the second on I'm happy with taking one of the two big TEs If I was able to grab one of the stud RBs in the 1st round. I prefer Kittle over Kelce but it's splitting hairs between them. If you drafted one of the less stable RBs grabbing James Conner is a good idea here. When he's healthy he's a slam dunk RB1 and you'll have him as your RB2. Twards the end of the second usually one of the guys I mentioned above is still available. If not Adam Thielin or Allen Robinson are solid picks Thielin should see a ridiculous amount of targets and A-Rob is the guy in Chicago and proved he can produce even with terrible QB play. The most important thing for me this year is to leave the first 2 rounds with at least 1 RB and if he's got some question marks like Cook, Kamara, or Sanders you should probably grab 2. 

Round 3: Now is when you will need to start adjusting strategy based on what picks you've made and what players are available. I'm targeting Carson in the early to middle 3rd but if any of the previous big 2 TEs or Arob or Thielin are available I'd pull the trigger here as long as you have 2RBs already. My goal is to have at least 2 RBs out of my first 3 picks as long as I'm not reaching too far. Jonathan Taylor is the sexy pick for fantasy heads this season in the 3rd. I'm not super high on him for a few reasons (Fumbling concern, less run heavy with Rivers at QB) but if you want to get him do it here...ish. DJ Moore is another 3rd round target I like. In full PPR he might slide up twards the beginning of this round. Twards the end of the 3rd Mark Andrews is a fine option as well. Ertz is the last big TE and people might reach on him so if you get Andrews late 3rd or even in the 4th you can get a little more value out of the pick.

Round 4: This is my favorite WR round. AJ Brown, Mclaurin, Chark, Ridley, Woods in that order is how I'm targeting this round and the 5th round for that matter. Usually I can get 2 of these guys in the 4/5 and it feels like stealing. They all have WR1 upside and are going to see tons of volume. This is usually where Ertz goes as well and if you already have 1 WR you can take Ertz and see who falls to the 5th. Kinda let the league make the decision between these guys for you.   

Round 5: Like I stated above I'm looking for one of the WRs listed above to take here. If they are all gone by your selection and you are in need of a WR 2 TY Hilton and Sutton aren't bad options. If you are in need of a RB2 and ignored my advice in the early rounds Cam Akers is the pick if you can get him. He's the best chance at an every-down back in this range. If you simply want value at a flex option you could go Kareem Hunt here. He offers tremendous upside and has a flex startable role out the gate. You'll want to balance upside with high floor picks. If you have more of a variable team in the first few rounds Akers offers stability at the RB position. If you already have a pretty safe floor I'd gamble on Hunt's upside. 

Round 6: I've found myself taking Higbee in the 6th. Even more so in full PPR. The Rams found something late last year in Higbee and running 12 personnel (2TE) and all signs point to them using more of that formation going forward. But if you have needs at WR Tyler Boyd and Marvin Jones offer nice floors. Boyd especially for a WR3. Joe Burrow should transform that offense and reports out of camp are saying Boyd is already his favorite target. If you have a fairly high floor team you can reach on Will Fuller here as your WR3 he can win you some weeks with blow up games but I'd be happier getting him in the 7th. As for a RB Swift is who I'm looking for here and now that Adrian Peterson is out of Washington you might be able to find Antonio Gibson in the 6/7 range but I wouldn't bank on it. He's been flying up draft rankings.

Round 7: Early in the 7th I like the aforementioned Fuller and Gibson. Middle of the round is JK Dobbins time for me. If you read my rookie preview on him you'd know how I feel. Special talent in college and has great potential to become a star in this league but he has a Mark Ingram sized hill to climb over for touches on the Baltimore offense. Zack Moss is another great RB target in this round. He figures to slide into the Gore role in Buffalo which includes receiving and Goalline duties. He's more of a floor flex option. Dobbins carries way more upside but a lower floor. If you're looking WR your old pal AJ Green is going here and I've dabbled in owning him. It's a fairly cheap bet to gamble on his return to dominating form. 

Round 8: My favorite target in this round is Dionte Johnson. He's primed for a breakout. He posted one of the highest yards of separation per route run average and produced impressively with some horrid QB play. Now he gets to play with Big Ben and I'm expecting big things from the second year WR. Some TEs in this range are nice options as well. Hayden Hurst is a great one. Filling a huge target void in ATL. Evan Engram is also here and offers top 5 TE upside. Although his health is always the question. 

You've probably noticed there's no QBs listed here. That's because I generally wait until the end of drafts for my QB. If you read my previous blog you might remember I said "QBs should draft themselves" which translates to: Unless it's a screaming value I'm waiting for the last few rounds. If somehow Mahomes or Lamar Jackson drops to the 5th you should definitely pull the trigger but that won't happen in home/casual leagues. One exception is if you are in a round where you don't like any other positional players and you're confident you can get the next player you're targeting in the following round go ahead and take the QB sitting there if you really want him. It's just not my style. There's always positional players I'd rather have.

That wraps up the first 8 rounds next blog will cover the rest and a few super deep dives for deeper leagues

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @Chris_Cianci