Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 12-team half-PPR league — here are the results

Some Yahoo Fantasy staff members joined forces with some of the top analysts from around the fantasy industry to take part in a 12-team, 12-round mock draft. The goal: of gaining valuable insights on what to expect in each round.

The scoring format for this mock is half-PPR (point per reception) with the following roster spots: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, FLEX, BN, BN, BN, BN. We excluded defenses and kickers, since they are most often drafted in the final rounds.

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A big thank you goes out to everyone who participated:

• Matt Harmon, Yahoo Fantasy

• Ian Hartitz, Fantasy Life

• Ray Garvin, Yahoo Fantasy

• Rich Hribar, Sharp Football Analysis

• Nathan Jahnke, Pro Football Focus

• Chris Allen, Fantasy Life/Yahoo Fantasy

• Dave Kluge, Football Guys

• Ryan Heath, Fantasy Points

• Ben Gretch, Stealing Signals

• Derek Brown, Fantasy Pros

• Justin Boone, Yahoo Fantasy

*This mock draft took place before the Rashee Rice sentence was announced.

Round 1

The opening frame was fairly typical for what you’ll see in most first rounds this year. You can nitpick little things like whether Robinson should go before Lamb or Jefferson, but that will come down to personal preference on how you want to build your team. While injuries will inevitably turn some of these players into fantasy disappointments, talent-wise, they all belong here.

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My pick: Being at the end of the first round means you don’t have a chance to select the uber-elite stars, but I was more than happy to get Nabers (my WR4 and eighth overall player in my Top 300) in the 12 spot, as the WR6 in this draft.

The 21-year-old finished as the WR8 in fantasy points per game last season with 109 receptions, 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. Now, he’ll do it all over again with an upgraded situation at quarterback thanks to veteran Russell Wilson and first-rounder Jaxson Dart. Nabers has the volume-talent profile to push himself into the elite WR group by the end of this year.

Round 2

As we mentioned earlier, this mock occurred before the latest news broke about Rice. We’ll see where his ADP settles in the next week or so, but I’d expect to see him fall to the fourth or fifth round.

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This is also the earliest I’ve seen Bowers go off the board outside of tight end premium formats, but he certainly has a path to breaking fantasy football this year. As a rookie, Bowers finished third in receptions and eighth in receiving yards among all players at any position. If the arrival of Jeanty and a new coaching staff helps the Raiders get to the red zone more often, Bowers could have a truly transcendent sophomore campaign, similar to Rob Gronkowski’s 124-catch, 1,327 yard, 17-touchdown effort in his second year.

My pick: Picking at the Round 1-2 turn, I was able to pair Nabers with Collins and give myself a formidable WR duo to build around. Collins missed five weeks due to injury last year, but finished as the WR7 in fppg (fantasy points per game). If you extrapolate the average receiving yards of his 12 appearances over a full 17-game season, he would have finished third in the league with 1,425 yards — behind only Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson. Don’t underestimate Collins’ fantasy ceiling.

Round 3

Chase Brown is one of my favorite third-round picks in 2025 and might end up returning Round 1 value when all is said and done. Once he took over as the starter last season, Brown was the RB7 in fppg from Week 4 on. A top-five RB finish is well within his range of outcomes this year.

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The elite quarterbacks begin flying off the board in this round, as well as the rest of the high-end tight ends. I don’t recommend addressing both those spots in the early rounds, but ideally, you’ll get one or the other. Having a top-tier fantasy QB or TE can give you a multi-point weekly advantage at those positions.

My pick: Picking at the end of a round can be fun and frustrating at the same time. Since I had to wait until 3.12 to make my selection, I didn’t get a chance to draft any of the players I mentioned above. Instead, I invested in a potential bounce-back year for Hall in New York. The 24-year-old was a top-10 fantasy back over his first seven games in 2022 before suffering an ACL tear, posted RB6 per-game results in 2023 and was the RB18 during a challenging 2024 campaign for the Jets. With a new quarterback and coaching staff, I expect him to be a high-end fantasy RB2 with a chance to get back into the top 10.

Round 4

While several rosters look good through four rounds, Team Heath might have had the best start of anyone. He secured potentially elite talent at RB, WR and QB (Achane, St. Brown, Daniels), before adding a rookie running back with league-winning potential in Hampton. As much as I like what I’ve done so far, it’s hard not to be impressed by what Team Heath put together.

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My pick: People continue to doubt Williams, but he just keeps producing fantasy RB1 campaigns. Playing in a Sean McVay system that’s always been fruitful for ball carriers, Williams put up the second-most fantasy points per game among RBs in 2023 and the eighth-most in 2024. Getting him as the RB14 feels like a value.

Round 5

The RB value is drying up quickly in the fifth round, which caused many managers to begin a run on receivers; eight were selected in this frame. It’s only the beginning, as wideouts rightfully dominate the next few rounds. Though they’re being drafted in the WR3-WR4 range, it’s not difficult to envision almost every WR chosen from Round 5 to 7, ending the year as a fantasy WR2. Keep that in mind when building your receiving corps.

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My pick: Having two picks in a row on the turn, I decided to take a third running back based on his long history of fantasy production. Conner has averaged top-15 fantasy RB stats for four straight years in Arizona. When he’s healthy, he’s locked in your lineup. Having him as a flex was too enticing to pass up.

Round 6

Team Allen is the first to take a quarterback after the top four were chosen a few rounds earlier. At the time, it seemed like a fine pick, but little did we know the next quarterback wouldn’t go off the board until Round 9. It’s hindsight analysis now, but if Team Allen knew that would be the case, I doubt he would have picked Burrow in this spot.

That’s not a knock on Burrow, it’s just a value assessment on how flat the QB landscape is this year after that initial group. Once the high-end fantasy quarterbacks (Allen, Jackson, Daniels, Hurts) are taken, you might as well wait until the later rounds before addressing that position.

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My pick: With two WRs and two RBs already set in my lineup, I can shift towards pure upside options. Drafting Olave a little ahead of ADP might seem odd to some, but don’t forget, this is a 25-year-old receiver who had back-to-back 1,000-yard stat lines to start his career. As Matt Harmon pointed out, Olave is 10th in first downs per route run among qualified receivers, 11th in yards per route, 13th in targets per route and 7th in successful targets per route. While the concussion history is concerning, if he stays healthy, there’s a top-20 fantasy wideout waiting to re-emerge.

Round 7

Team Heath continues to execute a savvy strategy. After a near-flawless first four rounds, he’s attacked the loaded receiver range from Rounds 5 to 7, securing Smith at WR29, Jennings at WR34 and Downs at WR44. Smith was WR17 in fppg last year, Jennings has a chance to be the 49ers No. 1 wideout this season and Downs was recently featured in my 2025 breakouts column. Well played, Mr. Heath. Well played.

My pick: LaPorta isn’t generally someone I’ve been targeting in the area of drafts he normally gets taken, but in this case, he fell a round or two past his usual ADP. And depending how you look at it, that could be a win for me value-wise. Unfortunately, the next tight end didn’t get drafted until Round 10. If you had given me the option between LaPorta at the end of Round 7 or Hockenson at the Round 9-10 turn, I would have taken the Vikings tight end every time. As it stands, I got my TE4 overall at a discount, which I should be happy about — but I’m not.

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Round 8

The fact that Mason is going in the same round as his teammate Jones is either going to look like an absolutely foolish fantasy decision or one of the shrewdest moves of draft season. The Vikings coaching staff has already talked up a committee between the two backs, with Mason being favored for the goal-line work in an offense that should be in scoring position often. Count me among those investing far more in Mason than Jones this year.

My pick: If you listen to the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast, you know how I feel about Egbuka’s fantasy outlook for 2025. It’s possible he could be stuck behind two talented veterans, but with Mike Evans turning 32 this summer and Chris Godwin working his way back from an injury, it seems like there will be an opportunity for the first-round wideout to make his mark early. I want to be ahead of ADP on a player who could be the best value out there at the moment.

Round 9

Judkins fell to this round as the RB38 off the board due to the uncertainty around his off-field situation. While it’s dangerous to speculate on potential outcomes stemming from the allegations and charges against him, it’s impossible to ignore the risk associated to his fantasy profile now. I can honestly say I don’t plan on drafting Judkins until we learn more about his case, but if you were interested in taking him, this is a range that adequately factors in the downside.

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My pick: After taking Conner in the fifth round, I hedge my investment by selecting his backup and the heir apparent to the Cardinals’ backfield in Benson. Conner missed at least two games in every year of his career prior to 2024, but he’s been far more than healthy than people give him credit for. Even so, taking Benson in this round guarantees me the production of an Arizona backfield that has been an automatic fantasy start for several years now.

Round 10

Round 10: A run on tight end finally begins and though Hockenson would be my favorite choice of the bunch selected here — don’t sleep on Kraft. The 24-year-old was the TE12 in fppg last year and showcased high-end YAC ability, leading all tight ends in that category. Jordan Love also told reporters that Kraft’s usage is a focus for the team this offseason. The intersection of talent and opportunity is normally a good place to live for fantasy.

My pick: While I have very little faith in either Javonte Williams or the Cowboys’ backfield producing fantasy goodness in 2025, getting a potential starting running back in the 10th round as the RB42 is a move you have to make — even if that guy is Williams.

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Round 11

Round 11: If you were to criticize a mock draft full of analyst drafts, you might point out that they tend to wait longer than most leagues to draft quarterbacks. That’s the only explanation for guys like Mayfield (QB3 in fppg in 2024), Nix (QB9 in fppg in 2024) and Fields (QB7 over the 6 games he started) being available in the 11th round. However, even if those guys were here you would still have a plethora of passers to choose from in this area. Go early (elite fantasy QBs) or go very late when choosing a fantasy quarterback this season.

My pick: On that note, I was hoping to get Fields but had to “settle” for Caleb Williams. It might take some time for the sophomore to get comfortable in the new scheme implemented by Ben Johnson, but I’m confident the production will come the same way it did for Jared Goff in Detroit. The Bears also fixed the interior of their offensive line and got two new pass-catching weapons for Williams in the first two rounds of the draft. Big things are coming in Chicago and it revolves around their young QB.

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Round 12

Team Harmon closed things out with Johnston before the news of Mike Williams retirement broke. Johnston was the WR40 in fantasy points per game a year ago and might sneak into WR3 territory, especially if rookie Tre Harris doesn’t hit the ground running for the Chargers. Either way, it’s a great value pick at the end of the 12th round.

My pick: If you’re wondering, I didn’t intend to draft three straight players named Williams in the final three rounds. Stefon Diggs appears to be as healthy as one could be coming off a serious knee injury, which might delay the true breakout of rookie Kyle Williams. Still, Drake Maye showed signs of being a talent elevator and, at this value, I’m willing to take a chance on the third-rounder quickly developing into a playmaker in an offense that desperately needs some.