Fantasy Football 2016: Preseason Mock Draft Strategy, Rankings and Analysis

John Lennon didn’t play fantasy football, but if he did, his advice for you would probably be: “Fantasy drafts are what happen to you while you’re busy making a plan.”

Or something like that.

The point, if there is one, is that while it’s important to have a plan going into your draft, you shouldn’t be a slave to it. Otherwise, the draft will pass you by.

With that in mind, let’s break down my rankings and philosophy for drafts this season.

10-Round Draft Rankings

Analysis

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As hinted at in this article’s introduction, I believe in two main draft principles:

Go into your draft with the loose framework of a plan. Don’t be afraid to deviate from the plan depending on how the draft develops. 

So this year, what’s the plan?

The first part of the plan, every year, is to take trustworthy and reliable players in the first three rounds.

I’m talking players who have either consistently been top fantasy performers in the past or who have the talent and opportunity to be solid players this year. Players who don’t have a history of off-field or injury concerns that could cost them playing time. Players who have produced in the past (i.e., receivers who have a history of accumulating a lot of targets, receptions and receiving yards rather than players who had a season with double-digit touchdowns).

Targets and yards are indicators of a player’s role in a team’s offense. Touchdowns, on the other hand, can be extremely fickle.

So that’s the broad plan for the first three rounds. But on a more specific level, I want to secure reliable running backs as quickly possible.

Look, running back was a mess last year. Antonio Brown and Julio Jones, wide receivers, outscored every running back. Just five running backs had as many or more points than Rob Gronkowski. In the flex rankings, …

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