I hope you're ready. Now that training camp is underway, it's time for mock draft mania, and we're about to go crazy. From now until the season starts, we're going to do multiple mock drafts a week, with plenty of different league sizes and formats. It's going to be awesome.
This is our first 12-team, PPR mock draft featuring our CBS Sports staff. And two managers took vastly different approaches to building their teams.
We'll start with Adam Aizer from the No. 9 spot, and he went with a heavy-running back build for his roster. Three of his first four picks were Jahmyr Gibbs (Round 1), Kyren Williams (Round 2), and Alvin Kamara (Round 4), and he also took Travis Kelce (Round 3) before his first wide receiver.
This could be a risky roster construction since we start three receivers in this league, and Adam said in the draft room that he regretted passing on A.J. Brown in Round 1 for Gibbs. But Adam was able to draft some high-upside receivers, who will hopefully balance his roster.
His next five selections after Kamara were Malik Nabers, Rashee Rice, Christian Watson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Josh Palmer. If his top three running backs are successful then Adam just needs three of these receivers to perform at a high level, and there's plenty of potential in this group.
Adam also added three other running backs who could make an impact this season in Rico Dowdle, Ty Chandler, and Khalil Herbert. His biggest issue might be at quarterback with Caleb Williams and Trevor Lawrence, although again there's potential for that duo if things go right.
For my team at No. 4 overall, I took a different approach than Adam with four receivers (Tyreek Hill, Chris Olave, Nico Collins, and DK Metcalf) and a quarterback (Jalen Hurts) with my first five picks. I also drafted Evan Engram in Round 7, so running back wasn't a huge priority in building this team.
That said, I felt fortunate with how my running back corps came together. I got Rhamondre Stevenson in Round 6, Jaylen Warren in Round 8, Raheem Mostert in Round 9, Chase Brown in Round 10 and Elijah Mitchell in Round 12. I was torn between Josh Downs and Tyler Allgeier in Round 13, and I went with Downs, which I instantly regretted. Based on my roster build, Allgeier as a lottery ticket made more sense.
But I love this build in PPR, especially adding reserve receivers in Rashid Shaheed and Wan'Dale Robinson, and this is a good blueprint to follow if you want to wait on running backs. The same goes for Adam's roster if you want to lean on running backs early.
As always, you should study all of the picks in this mock draft. And get ready for plenty of mock drafts headed your way over the next six weeks.
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. Joel Cox, CBS Sports VP Business Development
2. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer
3. Brandon Howard, Fantasy Editor
4. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer
5. Thomas Shafer, FFT Podcast Producer
6. R.J. White, Managing Editor, SportsLine and CBS Fantasy
7. Zach Brook, FFT Social Media Coordinator
8. Heath Cummings, Senior Fantasy Writer
9. Adam Aizer, FFT Podcast Host
10. Jack Capotorto, CBS Sports HQ Producer
11. Meron Berkson, CBS Sports HQ Producer
12. Daniel Schneier, Fantasy Editor
