RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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My esteemed colleague Jamey Eisenberg believes we have three candidates for the No. 1 overall pick this season in a one-quarterback, and that's Jahmyr Gibbs , Bijan Robinson or Ja'Marr Chase . In my opinion, Puka Nacua belongs in that conversation. I love the fourth pick for that reason, especially in a start-three WR league with full-PPR scoring.
Chase has just barely edged-out Nacua (21.7 to 21.5 PPR points per game, respectively) over the past two seasons. I would take Chase above Nacua, but either is a viable pick. In my opinion, either is a defensible selection at first overall in this format.
I'm not going to hesitate to select Nacua, even if regression from last year's wildly efficient MVP performance from Matthew Stafford feels likely. And that's what I did at pick four in this draft.
This is our 12-part, pick-by-pick series where me, Adam Aizer, Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, Dan Schneier and Heath Cummings all took part in a six-person PPR mock draft. We each built two of the 12 teams in this 14-round draft to show you a different strategy from each spot.
This is an outline that you can follow if you pick No. 4 overall in your league. The key is to study the strategy and not necessarily the players to see if this works for you.
The toughest part of picking at No. 1 overall is what happens at the Round 2-3 turn. You might find most or all of the top-12 consensus receivers -- Chase, Puka Nacua, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Amon-Ra St. Brown , CeeDee Lamb , Justin Jefferson , Drake London , Rashee Rice , George Pickens , Nico Collins and A.J. Brown -- are gone. Most of the top running backs will also be off of the board. So, the decision might come down to only a few remaining players from that top tier - what do you do if the ones who fall happen to be players that you don't believe in? You could swing on Brock Bowers or Trey McBride , but doesn't it feel so much better when you can land one as a Round 3 value?
Perhaps even more difficult is being confronted with a decision between two players from the elite tier that you do like. In this draft, I had to make a difficult decision between two players who I expect to bounce back in 2026 -- potentially, in a huge way -- I selected A.J. Brown ahead of Saquon Barkley , a defining decision for the remainder of my draft outlook. The opportunity ahead of Brown in 2026 is massive. Drake Maye is by far the best passer he's been teamed-up with, and Josh McDaniels has engineered massive touchdown outputs for Randy Moss, Davante Adams , and Brandon Lloyd, to name a few.
After filling two of my three starting WR spots with my first two picks, I had to sit and hope that Barkley, Derrick Henry , or Jeremiyah Love would make it back to me in Round 3. It was a risky move to leave Round 2 without a top RB, but I decided to roll the dice, given the league settings. Now, let's see how the rest of the team turned out.
As a reference point, all touchdowns in this league 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).
7.04: Rhamondre Stevenson , RB, Patriots
I was pumped to land Love in Round 3, even if my enthusiasm level for the Arizona Cardinals is low. In a full-PPR format, Love may be putting up massive points as a check-down catch-and-run weapon out of the backfield. I do worry about his early-season production, though. So, I ended up reaching a bit for D'Andre Swift in Round 4. I actually like him as a fit on this team, though. He offers some stability at RB and a path to early-season production that could offset a potential slow start from Love.
Tetairoa McMillan is the No. 1 receiver in Carolina, but Coker will be heavily involved in the offense. And he was excellent to close 2025 -- even better than McMillan. In their final five games last season, including the playoffs, Coker averaged 14.1 PPR points and 6.0 targets per game. During that same stretch, McMillan averaged 9.8 PPR points and 6.2 targets per game. Coker has the potential to be a top-30 Fantasy receiver this season, and he's a great reserve to stash on my bench.
The debate was between AJB vs Saquon and the reason I might regret it is that Jayden Reed and several other receivers I liked a lot were still on the board later. The same can be said about my decision to draft Stevenson over Downs later.
If Evans produces like a stud WR1 in Kyle Shanahan's system is capable of, this team might have three awesome scorers at WR in a full PPR scoring system. That might be extremely important — necessary, even — for a team that could lack punch at RB if Jerimyah Love takes time to acclimate as a pro. This team also might be on the low-end of weekly QB scoring with only late-round investments in Jared Goff and Malik Willis at the position. Hopefully, early-season scoring from the WR room can carry this team until the QB and RB positions figure themselves out. I project Evans as a borderline Fantasy WR1 on a per-game basis. If Evans gets hurt or is inconsistent, it could be a rocky start for this squad.
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