Fantasy football mock drafts: FTN Fantasy staff 0.5-PPR mock

A dozen members of the FTN Fantasy crew assembled over the last few weeks for a half-PPR mock draft. Starting lineups require 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, a K and DST.

Our analysts rolled out many different draft strategies in this mock, which makes it one of the more intriguing mocks I’ve ever reviewed. 

The same group of analysts completed full PPR and standard mock drafts as well, so be sure to check out those recaps to get a sense of how different scoring formats alter draft positions and strategies.

Overall notes:

• RBs went early and often. Of the first 24 picks (first two rounds), there were 16 RBs taken, including 12 of the first 15 picks. Four WRs came off the board and two TEs as well.
• People waited on QBs: Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes came off the board in Round 3, but another QB wasn’t taken until three were drafted in Round 6.
• Great WR options around in Round 4: Mike Evans, Cooper Kupp, Odell Beckham, Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley, Keenan Allen, Robert Woods, D.J. Chark, Courtland Sutton, and D.K. Metcalf were all drafted in the fourth round in this mock.

Let’s take a look at some of the individual draft strategies deployed by our analysts:

RB-heavy

Drafting out of the 1.03 spot, Eliot Crist went RB-heavy, scooping up an RB with each of his first three picks. He was the only drafter to go RB in each of the first three rounds, nabbing Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette and Todd Gurley. 

Crist didn’t let the RB-heavy start impact his TE or QB positions, as he took Mark Andrews as the third tight end off the board in the fifth round, and Kyler Murray as the third QB off the boards in the seventh.

Crist’s strategy was clear: Load up on RB, get premium TE and QBs, and try to nail up-and-coming WR picks.

At WR, Crist ended with breakout hopefuls Courtland Sutton (WR22), Mecole Hardman (WR40), and Jerry Jeudy (WR45) to go along with veterans Jarvis Landry (WR32) and Sterling Shepard (WR53).

If you’re rolling with the RB-heavy strategy, it’s a good idea to do what Crist did and draft a mixture of potential breakout WRs and proven vets.

In a half-PPR setting, Crist gave himself a potential leg up by foregoing WR, the position hit hardest by the drop from full- to half-PPR scoring. He does, however, have the weakest group of WRs on paper, so there was a clear trade-off in executing this strategy.

Zero RB

Joe Metz was the only drafter not to take a running back with one of his first two picks. In fact, Metz didn’t draft a running back until the fifth round (David Montgomery at 5.07). So not only did he differentiate his team in the early rounds — he really doubled down on the strategy to separate himself from the field.

So how did it work out?

Metz has the unquestioned best WR situation in the league, and he has top options at both the TE and QB positions as well. 

Metz had scooped up WRs Michael Thomas, D.J. Moore and Calvin Ridley, to go along with TE Travis Kelce, before drafting his first RB. He also added Russell Wilson at QB in the sixth round before adding RBs in the seventh (James White) and eighth (Tarik Cohen).

Metz was able to get a solid deal on Montgomery as the RB26 off the board, but he was forced to choose pass-catching RBs to fill out his RB bench later in the draft — not necessarily ideal for a half-PPR format — but is does provide Metz’ team with a floor at RB.

To shoot for a ceiling in the later rounds, Metz scored one of the best zero-RB targets of 2020 with Phillip Lindsay in the 10th. If something were to happen to Melvin Gordon, Lindsay in the 10th could become a league-winning pick.

The ‘breakout potential’ team

All of Ray Garvin’s players are young. Well, except for Matt Ryan. This is an underrated strategy, but it’s one that needs to be highlighted because it doesn’t get enough attention.

Drafting from the 1.10 spot, literally everyone on Garvin’s team — Ryan excluded — will be 25 or younger when the season begins. 

By executing this strategy, Garvin is able to load his team up with players who are likely to see their ADP rise as the season nears and progresses. Basically, he was able to fill his entire roster with potentially discounted players. (Technically, everyone fills their entire roster with “potentially” discounted players, but younger players are more likely to see meteoric rises in ADP than older players. That’s what Garvin is banking on.)

The drawbacks to this strategy revolve around the unknown. Drafting players with minimal track records makes your team more unpredictable and highly variable. But high variability can be viewed as a positive, too: By rolling with this strategy, Garvin chose to forgo a proven floor in exchange for the potential of an unrivaled ceiling.