There are numerous tools out there designed to help you prep for your upcoming fantasy football draft. You’ve got player rankings, depth charts, statistical projections, player analysis, system analysis, you name it. The amount of information sitting just a mouse-click away is immense. But while learning the players, their teams, their coaches and their numbers is great, you have to find the right way to implement all of that knowledge. Some experts will give you a variety of strategies you can use, ranging from waiting on quarterbacks to the SMART system to the trendy yet risky Zero-RB theory. But while these suggested strategies are all well and good, how they actually fare in your draft room is a different story.

What if you walk in wanting to use the Zero-RB strategy and there are five other people in your draft thinking the same thing? Do you stay rigid with your plan or do you adjust on the fly? What if everyone is waiting on quarterbacks and you find yourself deciding between Aaron Rodgers or Jeremy Hill in the sixth round? Which player is best suited for your team? What if you try to play it SMART and suddenly you find yourself needing to use Julian Edelman as your No. 1 wide receiver? Do you zig when everyone else zags? What will your team look like if you don’t? Drafts can get pretty crazy sometimes and if you don’t know what to do or how to react, you could find yourself staring at one of the worst teams ever put together.

That’s where the mock draft comes in. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I value mock drafts. Not only is it great practice for the big day, but you also learn a tremendous amount about public perception of players. You learn which players people are high on, which ones are falling out of favor, and most of all, you learn how to properly pivot when something unexpected happens.

What happens when someone in your home league completely tosses aside rankings, strategy or ADP numbers and they start grabbing players just because they want them? I’ve seen Andrew Luck go in the top 5 overall of a 12-team PPR league and suddenly people start to panic and start grabbing quarterbacks way too early. What do you do? What if everyone in your league hates Patriots and Rob Gronkowski is suddenly available to you with a late second-round pick? You were planning on waiting on the position, but what happens if you take him? Will the rest of your game plan suffer?

When you do a series of mock drafts as part of your prep work, these questions are trivial. Not only do you know what to do when someone tries to throw the draft room a curveball, but you probably have a good idea as to what everyone else is going to do as well. If knowledge is power, then prepping with mock drafts is going to turn you into the Hulk.

But the key here is “a series of mock drafts.” Doing one may help you get your feet wet, but doing several will hone your skills to the point where you can walk in to a draft without any cheat sheets and still put together a squad worthy of a championship run. Doing multiple mocks allows you to test out different strategies, try out drafting from different positions and of course, track some of the offseason trends, such as which players are being taken earlier and earlier versus which players are falling down draft boards.

All that being said, we gathered the troops here at Fantasy Alarm to take part in a 12-team PPR mock draft so that you can see what the group-think may be as well as some of the individual outliers some of us may like more than the others. I’ll start with my draft thoughts and then from there, share with you some of the thoughts of others around the company.

Draft Board: http://www.fantrax.com/newui/fantasy/draftResults.go?leagueId=krfz5kxdirf6ne32

I’ve always been a firm believer in the notion that you don’t pick your team in a snake draft; the rest of the league picks it for you. While you should always have some semblance of a general strategy going in, the draft is a very fluid thing and you need to adapt your strategy to what you are being give. You can say Zero-RB coming in, but what if you pick eighth, both Todd Gurley and Davis Johnson are available and Gronk and all the elite wideouts are gone? Who do you take? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

So having the 12th pick, I would just see who was there. My intent was to go all RB and WR with one TE before touching the quarterback position. Matt Ryan has just been sitting out there in the final rounds of a lot of mocks, so I wasn’t reaching even if Rodgers was there in the sixth round. That was the plan.

Did it work? I think so.

I grabbed three wideouts and two solid running backs in the first five rounds, landed Delanie Walker in the sixth, handcuffed Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman in the seventh and even grabbed two solid PPR receivers (OK, one and one upside with questions) before I took Eli Manning in the 10th. If there’s one thing you can always do in an industry league, it’s wait on the quarterback and still land a top 10 arm late in your draft. You may have to go a round or two earlier for the likes of an Eli (maybe 8th or 9th round) in your home league, but you can still wait.

Given that fact about quarterbacks, there was no need to take a second. Instead, I focused on my depth at the wide receiver and running back position. Isaiah Crowell already has a big share of the carries in Cleveland and Josh Ferguson has some nice upside given Frank Gore’s age and the tandem of Jordan Todman and Robert Turbin sucks. Whenever I have a shallow bench, I follow this rule of not drafting back-up QBs or TEs for that matter. You can never have too many running backs and wide receivers. Just remember back to last year or the year before that or the year before that and think of all the injuries we saw. Players come up on the waiver wire all the time throughout the season. Make a last minute switch if you have a bye week issue, but do not think that you’ve stockpiled enough running backs….ever.

Now to help guide you folks even further, I asked the team to throw in some thoughts regarding their drafts. I wasn’t asking for full, crazy in-depth analysis, but just a general overview of what they thought both coming in to the draft and going out. I’ll share their thoughts here (in order of draft position) and maybe add my take as well.

Ray Flowers says:

The first round was seven wideouts and four runners with the lone standout being Gronk. Likely pretty standard.

The second round breakdown was seven wide receivers and five running backs.

The third round: seven wideouts, five runners.

Murtha bucked the trend with 3-straight running backs to open things up. Damn near impossible to win that way with the current trend of everyone going nutso for wideout early. He ended up with some nice talent at WR, but he doesn’t have one guy that I’m completely sold on as a weekly contributor.

I, of course, has the best draft. No, not biased at all. I only went one runner in four picks as I’ll roll out the best four wideouts in the league. I then did what I would recommend all folks should do if they go that heavy early with wideouts – take a ton of runners which I did for 4-straight runners from Rounds 6-9. Le did basically the same thing, just with one less wideout in the mix through seven rounds.

Darren Sproles in the 15th, in a PPR setup, totally worth selecting.

Don’t know why anyone would take a kicker in the 12th round. Of course, I never know which kicker to even take so my opinion probably doesn’t matter on this one.

My take:

I was incredibly surprised to see Ray, considered an old school fantasy guy, take four wide receivers to just one running back in his first five picks. I love it. It shows that change is possible in each and every one of us! With LeSean McCoy as his No. 1 though, it was very necessary to go RB with picks six through nine as again, you just can’t have enough backs. He’s got a few question marks in guys like Melvin Gordon and Rashad Jennings, but I do love the steal of DeAngelo Williams, Michael Stein’s much-needed handcuff. Nothing better than screwing over your buddy in a draft, even if it’s just a mock.

Al Williams says:

While I am still in full research mode for the upcoming season, with a last minute invite I found myself up against the experts here at Fantasy Alarm who are already in full draft mode.  Having said that, I am a student of the Mans philosophy on building a fantasy football squad and by sticking to that game plan was for the most part was pleased with my final roster. 

The first round was a no brainer when Julio was still on the board. Jones could easily be the #1 overall producer in fantasy this season.   The key, as always for Jones, will be avoiding on the injury bug. Building on strength at the WR position I was able to grab two more guys who are really high on my board with Amari Cooper and Brandin “PPR Gold” Cooks in the 2nd and 3rd round respectively.  I believe both will take the next steps in their development and will end the year in the top 10-15 at the position when it is all said and done. 

With any draft that you start out WR, WR, WR it was now time to try and find some value at the RB position.  Focusing less on the actual players, and more on the projected offensive scheme I honed in on both the Seattle & Tennessee backfields. Both teams will build their offense around the running game in 2016 and the uncertainty about the talent and who will ultimately get the carries has created value opportunities with both.  Be it that the case, and being a good student of the Mans philosophy, I took Thomas Rawls and Demarco Murray in the next couple rounds and grabbed their handcuffs (Henry and Prosise) a little later in the draft to solidify making sure no matter who is the starter I will be rostering the right guy getting the snaps.  I know there is still a debate as to whether Prosise will be the handcuff but it is my opinion that he will absolutely be the guy and likely be the starter within the first few weeks of the season.  Talent always ultimately wins out when there is appropriate opportunity in the NFL.  Prosise is a Beast Mode 2.0.

With so much uncertainty in my backfield I wanted to go for some serious stability at QB and was able to land future hall of famer Aaron Rogers.   2015 will be a distant memory for Rogers soon and with the return of his favorite target Jordy Nelson I foresee a return to the gaudy numbers we have come to expect.

The wheels came off a bit after the Rogers pick when I went with Marvin Jones and then Jimmy Graham at TE.   Honestly, neither is very high on my list but at that point I was filling positions and tried to go for upside.  Jones is just a warm body in my opinion and won’t amount to much in Detroit.  He just does not create enough consistent separation to be effective with Stafford.  Moreover, with already being invested in the SEA backfield I should have definitely gone in a different direction at TE than Graham.  I was really eyeing Dwayne Allen but Mr. Grumpy Ted Shuster grabbed him earlier in the round.  I was able to grab Antonio Gates a few rounds later though and I have a feeling he will end up being my week 1 starter.

Overall, considering the competition, I think the team turned out not bad for my first crack at it this year.  

My take:

I don’t think you can find a better wide receiver trio than what Al has here. Pure money in the bank and PPR monsters at that. I like the philosophy of looking at systems more than players, but I just don’t know if Tennessee is a backfield I would have been looking at. Seattle, yes, though I would have liked to see a late handcuff to Alex Collins, but I just don’t know about the Titans. The selection of Rodgers in the sixth was awesome and there’s nothing wrong with “punting” the tight end position with old-timer Antonio Gates and potential upside pick of Graham.

Jeff Mans says:

Drafting amongst friends can be fun, challenging and downright cruel. I learned this the hard way doing this mock draft because it appeared as though many of our guys here at Fantasy Alarm were smart and used my rankings. Nobody executed this more than my good ole partner Ted Schuster who decided to make more of a game of taking my players than in drafting his own team. Make no mistake people, Ted Schuster is a mind effer of the highest order. 

As angry as this made me during the draft and as disappointed as I am with the team I assembled here, there is a teachable lesson here as well. The purpose of doing mock drafts and doing as many as you can is so you learn how to adjust when things go completely against you. This was my ninth total draft already this season and to this point I have been able to land nearly all of the players I have wanted to with delightful ease. But I really wound up taking that for granted as I should have known that players like Ryan Mathews, Michael Thomas and Dwayne Allen would go higher than their current ADP suggested. 

The good news is that we are not playing this league out because if that were the case you wouldn't be able to ever hear my voice again since it would be buried in the sand. It's good to get a bad draft out of the way and look a team you don't like in order to reaffirm your beliefs in the players you didn't get. So, if you take anything away from my team here you should look over the names and remember that if you aren't prepared for one of your smelly, ignorant friends to swipe all of your players, then you too will end up with a roster like this.

My take:

I have no real take here as Mans’ description of his draft experience had me pissing in my pants. The fact that Ted picked him apart in a draft like this is a true testament to f***in your buddy and doing it with a smile. But yes, Jeff definitely points out an important lesson in that you need to make sure you don’t start drafting on-tilt after people start raiding your queue. This is why we use tiers for rankings. You need to know who your pivots are and at what point in the draft you should be taking them. It can be real easy to get caught up in F-bombs in the chat room which inevitably means you’re losing sight on how to fix your draft.

David Kerr says:

With my first pick, I chose DeAndre Hopkins. First, I love Nuk, but honestly, that shouldn’t matter. Getting attached to players is usually a fantasy loser. I know that Hopkins has an average—or likely below average—quarterback, but he’s the big dog in town. Hopkins is a dominant force and sees an ungodly amount of targets each week. This is somewhat of a safe pick, but there is immense upside and I recognized that, so I had no problem pulling the trigger. In a PPR league, the goal is receptions, yardage, and touchdowns. Hopkins will provide all three at an elite level.

In the second, I grabbed Mike Evans and I couldn’t be happier. This will be Evans’ third year in the league and it will be the year he finally puts it all together. There is no question that Evans is “the guy” for Tampa Bay and he will receive a steady does of targets. I predict a career high in receptions, yardage, and touchdowns.

I heavily anticipated Jeff Mans grabbing Mark Ingram right before me, but he took a different route and drafted Julian Edelman. Ingram missed only appeared in 12 games for New Orleans last year, but rushed for 769 yards and hauled in 50 receptions. A season of good health would do wonders for Ingram’s number. Taking him with the 29th overall pick was a pleasant surprise.

I grabbed Jordan Reed in the fourth round because why the hell not? I am drafting with experts and they all know the game we are playing. If you play with first timers or amateurs, you’re probably going to see quarterbacks going early, but with some of the finest names in the business, you have to be smart. Reed has an injury history, but Kirk Cousins LOVES him. If he stays healthy, he will easily be the Redskins’ leader in receptions and yards. I can dig that.

My take:

I had to cut off David as he was rolling through the entire draft, but we’ll discuss the rest of his thoughts once the Fantasy Alarm Podcast relaunches on a platform that doesn’t have so many technical difficulties. As for his draft, I love all of it except for Reed. I just don’t have it in me to take a tight end with such an extensive injury history there in the fourth round. To me, he’s a boom or bust player and in the fourth round, I want someone more consistent.

Jon Impemba says:

I was sitting with the 7th overall pick and with this being a PPR mock I figured all of the top-tiered wide receivers were likely going before me. That meant I was targeting Rob Gronkowski who, to my dismay, was nabbed at No.4 by Jeff Mans.  By the time it got to me I had my pick of the top available running backs decided to go with the rookie Ezekiel Elliot who should not only threaten to reach the 1,000-yard plateau on the ground, but also be very active in their passing attack.  

From there I went and snagged Keenan Allen who was on pace for a career year before getting hurt last season and Jarvis Landry who caught 110 passes in 2015 despite the Dolphins offense being very mediocre.  In the fifth round I took Cam Newton, as I felt he was the best player on the board. He also happened to be the top overall point scorer in fantasy last season which I hoped would help make up the point difference for not having an early draft selection. 

A pick I caught some flak for was my ninth round selection of the Chiefs defense and seeing as the draft would go another three rounds before a defense would be selected maybe it was probably for good reason. But I had the majority of my starting roster filled so defense I went. I like the upside that Josh Gordon possess, especially if RGIII is able to find some of the magic he had during his rookie season. I was also the first to snag a kicker but Stephen Gostkowski is the best kicker in fantasy football and is nearly a lock for 10 + points a game given the Patriots offense so I have no shame grabbing him in the 12th round. 

The biggest weakness on my team would be the depth I have at the running back position with just LeGarrette Blount and Darren Sproles on my bench so if this draft was for a real league I would be paying close attention to the waiver wire as well as trade opportunities.  All in all I do like my team composition and feel like my starting core is good enough to compete on a weekly basis.

My take:

I probably would have gone with Todd Gurley or Adrian Peterson before Elliot, but I don’t have too much of an issue with the pick overall. I like the rest of the draft for Impemba as there are some nice high-upside plays but also a few reliable point-getters that should help him with the foundation for his team. Even though he’s got Newton, Matt Ryan in the 14th round is an insane steal.

Rick Wolf says:

So tonight, I wanted to see what would happen if with that 4th round pick I didn’t get a third RB and instead got a good WR.  Think it backfired unless Arian Foster stays healthy. 

If I could have been sure about handcuff for him, I would have grabbed them, but Kenyon Drake likely wins the job but hamstring injuries can be hard to come back from and can rear their ugly head sometimes in season especially for young players not used to the rigors of the NFL.

Overall the team could compete, but it hinges on CJ Anderson and Arian Foster.  Not the way to play SMART ;-)

My take:

Stick with the SMART system, Wolf. It suits you much better! But in all seriousness, this is the perfect example of what you should be doing in a mock draft – trying something new. Nothing worse and no bigger of a waste of a mock experience than just doing the same old thing. How are you ever going to learn alternative strategies if you don’t try out new methods? Kudos to Rick for moving outside his comfort zone and trying out new things.

Dom Murtha says:

As I’ve said before, going into a draft, I intend to let the board play itself out. However once draft position is revealed and the first and second rounds begin to get underway, typically a strategy begins to organically develop.

In this particular instance – saddled with the eighth pick out of 12 – it became clear that my fellow Fantasy Alarm colleagues were passing hard on running backs for whatever reason. I ended up with what I thought was a steal in Todd Gurley at number eight overall, and then I not only double, but tripled down on the position with Lamar Miller and Doug Martin in the subsequent selections. 

Ultimately I ended up using Rick's SMART system strategy because of how the board played out, as I ended up with three of the top 10 projected running backs according to preseason rankings. To say I had an excellent draft is an understatement and I chalk it all up to patience, and the ability to improvise, adapt, and overcome.

My take:

While Dom’s running backs are strong, he’s got a glaring hole in his wide receiving corps. I like Kelvin Benjamin, but obviously there are question marks until he proves he can cut and run on the knee like the old days. I’m also not a big fan of Tyler Lockett because A. Seattle is still a run-first team and B. They didn’t pay Doug Baldwin all that money to play second-fiddle. Lockett has some big play ability, but I don’t know if he’s going to produce the way some people think. With only four receivers on the roster of a start-three receivers format, he would have to be extremely active on the waiver wire.

Kenneth Le says:

Picking 10th definitely put me in a tough spot in the sense that I had to let others dictate the direction I would go with the draft. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the WR crazy theory, rather, I feel it’s best to pick the best player. 

In my opinion, A.J. Green can easily be a top 5 pick in a PPR draft, and it made my decision pretty easy. Brandon Marshall and Golden Tate give me three WRs in my top 20 in the PPR format. The only RBs I would have considered in Round 3 would have been Lacy or Ingram. Ending up with Tate was a little rough considering I would have loved getting Hilton, Edelman, or Landry, who all went a few spots earlier.

From there, it was all about taking some shots at some RB upside. Lewis and Johnson are both in my top 20 for PPR, and have a ton of upside as pass catching backs PPR leagues. Lewis is definitely a risk, and I debated between him or Forte pretty intensely. I am banking on the hope that at least two Lewis, Johnson, Stewart, and Jones work out.

My take:

Kenneth did exactly what he needed to do after grabbing receivers with his first three picks. He went four-straight running backs and obviously focused on the PPR aspect with three of the four being notorious pass-catchers as opposed to guys who run between the tackles. It’s the perfect move following the first three picks and heavy early lean on wideouts. His return to the receivers for Willie Snead and a ninth-round selection of Philip Rivers was solid. If I had to find some sort of criticism it would have to be his choice of tight end, but that’s more a personal preference than anything.

So there you have it, folks. Not just a mock draft but a mock draft with insight. If you would like to join a mock draft with us over the next few weeks, just join the Mock Draft Army. Email me at mockdraftarmy@yahoo.com and I will add you to the schedule distribution list.

Good luck and I’ll see you all in the money this year!