It's good to have a plan in place for your Fantasy drafts as long as you're willing to adjust as the draft unfolds and pounce on value when it presents itself. With that said, here is my basic plan for the 12th pick, specifically for 2-WR leagues:
Start with a RB and WR, then with your next four picks take (in any order), a QB, a TE and some combination of RB/WR with the other two picks. This will set you up to have at worst a Top 8 TE and likely a Top 7 QB.
As you can see in this draft, I did NOT take my own advice. I waited an extra round to get Jake Ferguson because this league is a 3-WR league and I felt the need to build up my WRs a little bit more. Still, I think one of the biggest advantageous of drafting 12th overall is how easy it is to end up with a great QB and a great TE. I was thrilled with Joe Burrow in Round 6 and I'm fine with Ferguson as my starting TE.
The most difficult part of picking 12th is deciding who to take with your first two picks. While I am a strong believer in RB/WR, which ones should you take? I will instantly take A.J. Brown, Jonathan Taylor or Garrett Wilson if available, but they were all taken just before my pick. I ended up with Marvin Harrison Jr. and Saquon Barkley, but I think Jahmyr Gibbs, Puka Nacua or Kyren Williams are all justifiable there.
At the 3/4 turn, I love drafting either Alvin Kamara or Ken Walker, with Joe Mixon also in the mix. And there are so many appealing WRs available if you pass on QB and TE here. The 3/4 turn is absolutely loaded with talent and you can and make or break your draft here. I usually avoid D.J. Moore, D.K. Metcalf and Brandon Aiyuk here and gravitate towards Malik Nabers (if available), DeVonta Smith, a Top 3 QB (rarely available in non-analyst leagues) or a Top 4 TE.
Here is the team I drafted with Pick 12:
1.12 Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, ARI
2.1 Saquon Barkley, RB, PHI
3.12 Alvin Kamara, RB, NO
4.1 DeVonta Smith, WR, PHI
5.12 Chris Godwin, WR, TB
6.1 Joe Burrow, QB, CIN
7.12 Aaron Jones, RB, GB
8.1 Jake Ferguson, TE, DAL
9.12 DeAndre Hopkins, WR, TEN
10.1 Rico Dowdle, RB, DAL
11.12 Caleb Williams, QB, CHI
12.1 Jakobi Meyers, WR, LV
13.12 Brandin Cooks, WR, DAL
14.1 Dalton Schultz, TE, HOU
I'm not a huge Aaron Jones guy this season, but he went as RB28 in this draft! His ADP is RB20. Even if you don't love a player, you should be willing to draft him if you think it's a steal. Jones is a perfectly fine RB3 on Fantasy rosters.
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Smith has gotten rave reviews in training camp and could benefit from Kellen Moore's offense. In four games without either Dallas Goedert or A.J. Brown (postseason) in 2023, Smith scored more than 22.0 PPR FPs three times. He is a stud when someone is hurt, but when everyone is healthy, Smith has been barely a WR2. I suspect Smith will outperform his 2023 numbers even if Brown and Goedert stay healthy, but I can't ignore the downside.
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Barkley has averaged 3.7, 4.4 and 3.9 ypc in his last three seasons. He had seven carries of 40 or more yards as a rookie in 2018. He has six carries of 40 or more yards since. Is he really on the decline or was it the Giants offensive line that held him back? I'm banking on a much more efficient season from Barkley who still has breakaway speed that he'll hopefully get to display more frequently on the Eagles. Yes, Jalen Hurts will steal touchdowns, but the Eagles will create so many more scoring opportunities than the Giants did. Consider that Eagles RBs had 14 carries inside the 5 yard line in 2023 while Barkley had just six, and he still finished as a Top 10 RB per game.
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