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USATSI

Would you believe it took over 50 Fantasy drafts for me to select Travis Kelce in Round 1? I'm thrilled it finally happened heading into Labor Day weekend, when many of you are doing your real drafts for this season. A lot of you question if you can build a great roster around a tight end in Round 1, and the answer is yes.

We held this 12-team, PPR mock draft on Friday, and I had the No. 7 overall pick. I actually haven't had many draft spots in the middle of the first round, and when I did, my selections were usually one of Bijan Robinson, Tyreek Hill or Cooper Kupp.

Since Kupp (more on him later) should no longer be a first-round pick, and Hill and Robinson went right in front of me, I finally got Kelce. And I loved the way this team turned out.

Davante Adams isn't my ideal choice in Round 2, but he was my highest-ranked player on the board. And I got lucky that Joe Mixon fell to Round 3, so now I had a top-tier wide receiver and running back to go with Kelce, which is ideal.

I had a tough choice to make in Round 4 with Dameon Pierce vs. another receiver like DeAndre Hopkins, Diontae Johnson, Jahan Dotson or Drake London, and I went for the best-player available in Pierce. The reason that matters is because we start three receivers in this league, and so far I only had Adams

I stuck with the best-player available theme in Round 5 with Justin Herbert, and I like the idea of getting advantages at quarterback and tight end when available. And Herbert has top-three upside this year.

I made it a priority to focus on receiver next, and I drafted George Pickens (Round 6), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Round 8) and Elijah Moore (Round 9) with three of my next four picks. Cam Akers was my selection in Round 7, and he can be my flex, along with Moore.

My reserves are also Roschon Johnson and Ty Chandler at running back, along with Marvin Mims, Nathaniel Dell and Tyler Boyd at receiver. If this receiving corps holds up then this team should be a playoff-caliber roster.

Now, as for Kupp, this is the first draft we've done since he suffered a setback with his hamstring. He was still drafted in Round 2 at No. 14 overall, and that's too soon for me. He was drafted ahead of Tony Pollard, A.J. Brown, Garrett Wilson and Adams, and I'd rather have all of those guys.

We don't know when Kupp, 30, will return to action, and now you have to worry about his health all year. The earliest I would draft Kupp is the back half of Round 2.

One thing to note about this mock draft was who drafted with us. As part of our Draft-A-Thon to raise money for St. Jude, we auctioned off two spots in this draft, and I wanted to see how each of those teams turned out.

Stephen Hauser had the No. 6 overall pick, and he started his team with Robinson. I love what he did next by drafting three receivers in a row with DeVonta Smith, Amari Cooper and DeAndre Hopkins, and then he got Joe Burrow in Round 5 and Dallas Goedert in Round 6. He then went back to focusing on his running backs with D'Andre Swift in Round 7 and Dalvin Cook in Round 8, and this Hero RB build should work out well.

Matt Gremo had the No. 9 overall pick, and he started with back-to-back receivers of Stefon Diggs and A.J. Brown. He then selected two of my favorite running backs in Jahmyr Gibbs and J.K. Dobbins, and I love this balanced start. He also has James Conner as a flex option, Michael Thomas as his No. 3 receiver, Deshaun Watson at quarterback and Evan Engram at tight end. This should be a competitive roster in this league.

In this league, 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 one point for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows:

1. Thomas Shafer, FFT Podcast Producer
2. Robert Thomas, FFT Facebook Moderator
3. Joel Cox, CBS Sports VP Business Development
4. Adam Aizer, FFT Podcast Host
5. Zach Brook, FFT Social Media Coordinator
6. Stephen Hauser, St. Jude donation entry
7. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer
8. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer
9. Matt Gremo, St. Jude donation entry
10. Heath Cummings, Senior Fantasy Writer
11. R.J. White, Managing Editor, SportsLine and CBS Fantasy
12. Chris Towers, Senior Editor, Fantasy Sports

Round By Round
Round 1
Pos Team Player
1 Jamey Eisenberg
2 Chris Towers
3 Adam Aizer
4 Zach Brook
5 Thomas Shafer
6 R.J. White
7 Rob Thomas
8 Dave Richard
9 Heath Cummings
10 Stephen Hauser
11 Joel Cox
12 Matt Gremo
Round 2
Pos Team Player
13 Matt Gremo
14 Joel Cox
15 Stephen Hauser
16 Heath Cummings
17 Dave Richard
18 Rob Thomas
19 R.J. White
20 Thomas Shafer
21 Zach Brook
22 Adam Aizer
23 Chris Towers
24 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 3
Pos Team Player
25 Jamey Eisenberg
26 Chris Towers
27 Adam Aizer
28 Zach Brook
29 Thomas Shafer
30 R.J. White
31 Rob Thomas
32 Dave Richard
33 Heath Cummings
34 Stephen Hauser
35 Joel Cox
36 Matt Gremo
Round 4
Pos Team Player
37 Matt Gremo
38 Joel Cox
39 Stephen Hauser
40 Heath Cummings
41 Dave Richard
42 Rob Thomas
43 R.J. White
44 Thomas Shafer
45 Zach Brook
46 Adam Aizer
47 Chris Towers
48 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 5
Pos Team Player
49 Jamey Eisenberg
50 Chris Towers
51 Adam Aizer
52 Zach Brook
53 Thomas Shafer
54 R.J. White
55 Rob Thomas
56 Dave Richard
57 Heath Cummings
58 Stephen Hauser
59 Joel Cox
60 Matt Gremo
Round 6
Pos Team Player
61 Matt Gremo
62 Joel Cox
63 Stephen Hauser
64 Heath Cummings
65 Dave Richard
66 Rob Thomas
67 R.J. White
68 Thomas Shafer
69 Zach Brook
70 Adam Aizer
71 Chris Towers
72 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 7
Pos Team Player
73 Jamey Eisenberg
74 Chris Towers
75 Adam Aizer
76 Zach Brook
77 Thomas Shafer
78 R.J. White
79 Rob Thomas
80 Dave Richard
81 Heath Cummings
82 Stephen Hauser
83 Joel Cox
84 Matt Gremo
Round 8
Pos Team Player
85 Matt Gremo
86 Joel Cox
87 Stephen Hauser
88 Heath Cummings
89 Dave Richard
90 Rob Thomas
91 R.J. White
92 Thomas Shafer
93 Zach Brook
94 Adam Aizer
95 Chris Towers
96 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 9
Pos Team Player
97 Jamey Eisenberg
98 Chris Towers
99 Adam Aizer
100 Zach Brook
101 Thomas Shafer
102 R.J. White
103 Rob Thomas
104 Dave Richard
105 Heath Cummings
106 Stephen Hauser
107 Joel Cox
108 Matt Gremo
Round 10
Pos Team Player
109 Matt Gremo
110 Joel Cox
111 Stephen Hauser
112 Heath Cummings
113 Dave Richard
114 Rob Thomas
115 R.J. White
116 Thomas Shafer
117 Zach Brook
118 Adam Aizer
119 Chris Towers
120 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 11
Pos Team Player
121 Jamey Eisenberg
122 Chris Towers
123 Adam Aizer
124 Zach Brook
125 Thomas Shafer
126 R.J. White
127 Rob Thomas
128 Dave Richard
129 Heath Cummings
130 Stephen Hauser
131 Joel Cox
132 Matt Gremo
Round 12
Pos Team Player
133 Matt Gremo
134 Joel Cox
135 Stephen Hauser
136 Heath Cummings
137 Dave Richard
138 Rob Thomas
139 R.J. White
140 Thomas Shafer
141 Zach Brook
142 Adam Aizer
143 Chris Towers
144 Jamey Eisenberg
Round 13
Pos Team Player
145 Jamey Eisenberg
146 Chris Towers
147 Adam Aizer
148 Zach Brook
149 Thomas Shafer
150 R.J. White
151 Rob Thomas
152 Dave Richard
153 Heath Cummings
154 Stephen Hauser
155 Joel Cox
156 Matt Gremo
Round 14
Pos Team Player
157 Matt Gremo
158 Joel Cox
159 Stephen Hauser
160 Heath Cummings
161 Dave Richard
162 Rob Thomas
163 R.J. White
164 Thomas Shafer
165 Zach Brook
166 Adam Aizer
167 Chris Towers
168 Jamey Eisenberg
Team by Team
Jamey Eisenberg
Rd Pk Player
1 1
2 24
3 25
4 48
5 49
6 72
7 73
8 96
9 97
10 120
11 121
12 144
13 145
14 168
Chris Towers
Rd Pk Player
1 2
2 23
3 26
4 47
5 50
6 71
7 74
8 95
9 98
10 119
11 122
12 143
13 146
14 167
Adam Aizer
Rd Pk Player
1 3
2 22
3 27
4 46
5 51
6 70
7 75
8 94
9 99
10 118
11 123
12 142
13 147
14 166
Zach Brook
Rd Pk Player
1 4
2 21
3 28
4 45
5 52
6 69
7 76
8 93
9 100
10 117
11 124
12 141
13 148
14 165
Thomas Shafer
Rd Pk Player
1 5
2 20
3 29
4 44
5 53
6 68
7 77
8 92
9 101
10 116
11 125
12 140
13 149
14 164
R.J. White
Rd Pk Player
1 6
2 19
3 30
4 43
5 54
6 67
7 78
8 91
9 102
10 115
11 126
12 139
13 150
14 163
Rob Thomas
Rd Pk Player
1 7
2 18
3 31
4 42
5 55
6 66
7 79
8 90
9 103
10 114
11 127
12 138
13 151
14 162
Dave Richard
Rd Pk Player
1 8
2 17
3 32
4 41
5 56
6 65
7 80
8 89
9 104
10 113
11 128
12 137
13 152
14 161
Heath Cummings
Rd Pk Player
1 9
2 16
3 33
4 40
5 57
6 64
7 81
8 88
9 105
10 112
11 129
12 136
13 153
14 160
Stephen Hauser
Rd Pk Player
1 10
2 15
3 34
4 39
5 58
6 63
7 82
8 87
9 106
10 111
11 130
12 135
13 154
14 159
Joel Cox
Rd Pk Player
1 11
2 14
3 35
4 38
5 59
6 62
7 83
8 86
9 107
10 110
11 131
12 134
13 155
14 158
Matt Gremo
Rd Pk Player
1 12
2 13
3 36
4 37
5 60
6 61
7 84
8 85
9 108
10 109
11 132
12 133
13 156
14 157