RBs Go Early in Our Half-PPR Fantasy Football Mock Draft

We’re back with another fantasy football mock draft — half-PPR edition. And as the calendar officially hedas toward summer, it looks like this might be the years running backs return to prominence.

Let’s get right to the draft and core takeaways. This is a 12-team league with 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE and 1 flex.

Half-PPR Fantasy Football Mock Draft (May 2025)

Round 1

• Relatively even split between WRs and RBs.
• However, I find it interesting that RBs account for four of the five picks between 1.03 and 1.07, before a WR run ends the first round.
• CMC has seen his ADP rise over the last month-plus. Will we eventually see him break through that WR wall in front?
• Amon-Ra St. Brown is going lower in the first round this year compared to last despite being in the same situation.

Round 2

• Last year’s rookies litter the second round: Thomas, McConkey, Irving and Bowers all go before 2.09.
• Two TEs are off the board in Round 2 – and it’s not Travis Kelce or Mark Andrews!
• King Henry is going in Round 2 solely because people are scared of his age. But the Ravens clearly aren’t because they just gave him a new contract.

Round 3

• This is where the 2024 first-round misfits are being drafted in 2025: Harrison, Wilson and Hill all fit this profile.
• JSN leaps to the top of round three after all other WR options in Seattle were dismissed.
• Rice is being drafted with confidence despite the unknown legal situation and his return from injury.
• Allen comes off the board as the first QB.

Round 4

• This is the round of the explosive WRs: Worthy, Williams, Smith and Flowers all fit that profile.
• Daniels goes just three picks after Jackson!
• Breece Hall looks like a possible steal in Round 4.

Round 5

• This is where rookies start to get experimented with a bit more: Hampton and Harvey both go before the middle of the round.
• Top-end WR2s (on their own team) start to go in this round, including Pickens, Waddle and Addison.
• The last of the elite fantasy QBs come off the board here.

Round 6

• This round has a ton of veterans that people aren’t fully sure what to make of: Olave, Godwin, Jennings, Conner, Samuel, Jeudy, Montgomery and Meyers.

Round 7

• If you still believe in LaPorta, this is an elite spot to draft him.
• Mahomes comes off the board in Round 7 — but it’s been a while since he’s been a fantasy demi-god. But with a stronger WR cast … maybe this is the rebound year.

Round 8

• We’re now drafting the mid-range team WR2s, including Kupp, Downs, Mooney and Higgins.
• Rookies in crowded rooms are also being drafted in this room — which, in my opinion, is too early. Burden and Egbuka fit this mold.
• Nix also feels like a reach at QB here.

Round 9

• You seem to have only two choices in Round 9: Old-heads nobody believes in any more (Kelce, Pittman, Prescott, Najee) or the up-and-comers (Coleman, Tracy, Harris, Mason).
• Baker Mayfield is easily the best pick in this round.

Round 10

• The Need for Shaheed is an elite Round 10 pick.
• The other over-the-hill TE (Andrews) goes here; not a bad pick as he should still score plenty of TDs at a minimum.
• If you wait on a QB, this is not a bad time to pounce with young guys like Stroud (who was a top-six fantasy QB pick in 2024) and Maye (can run and enters Year 2) available.

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Round 11

• Again, a good spot to draft a QB if you waited. I’d argue, based on value right now, this is the best spot to take a QB.

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16