If you like having an elite quarterback on your Fantasy roster, then the third pick in the draft could be a good one for you. The current average draft position on multiple websites suggests you'll have a good chance of getting one of Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts 27th overall, and in my case, I took Hurts as the first QB off the board. You just have to make sure you nail your first two picks which could be difficult because the back end of the second round is full of players that make me a little uneasy.
In this 3-WR league, I drafted Tyreek Hill third overall. If you prefer Breece Hall, Bijan Robinson or Ja'Marr Chase those are perfectly fine picks once Christian McCaffrey and CeeDee Lamb are off the board. You more or less can't go wrong with the third overall pick, but I may have flubbed my second-round pick as I paired Hill with his teammate Jaylen Waddle. Waddle was my best player available in that spot, but he is close enough to Davante Adams that I should have gone with Adams instead of taking both Dolphins.
Aside from that, I'm very happy with how my team worked out. There is a trio of running backs – Alvin Kamara, Joe Mixon and Ken Walker - that I love late in Round 4 or early in Round 5 and if I can make one of them my RB1 while drafting two high-end WRs and an elite QB, then I feel like I've done well with the early portion of my draft. If you're picking early in the first round, keep that RB trio in mind as great value picks in Rounds 4 or 5.
Here's how my team came together from the third pick:
1.03: Tyreek Hill, WR, MIA
2.10: Jaylen Waddle, WR, MIA
3.03: Jalen Hurts, QB, PHI
4.10: Alvin Kamara, RB, NO
5.03: Amari Cooper, WR, CLE
6.10: David Montgomery, RB, DET
7.03: Evan Engram, TE, JAC
8.10: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, SEA
9.03: Rico Dowdle, RB, DAL
10.10: Blake Corum, RB, LAR
11.03: Jayden Daniels, QB, WAS
12.10: Brandin Cooks, WR, DAL
13.03: J.K. Dobbins, RB, BAL
14.10: Wan'Dale Robinson, WR, NYG
Whenever you draft a QB in the third round, you're going to be a little thin at another position, and that was RB on this Fantasy squad. The combination of Kamara and David Montgomery is fine but certainly risky. Did I do enough to back them up by drafting possible Cowboys starter Rico Dowdle, Blake Corum and J.K. Dobbins? It's possible, but as we know with the RB position, in-season injuries create opportunities and if you play the waiver wire aggressively you can often find usable options.
While RB is not a strength, this team is good-to-great at QB, WR and TE and has upside on the bench. See you in the playoffs!
Kamara was a Top 5 RB on a per-game basis last season, and that was with six touchdowns in 13 games. I expect the Saints offense to be better this season under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Kamara is guaranteed to be among the leaders in catches among RBs, and while he is older and no longer an explosive rusher, his role is so good and he is criminally underrated.
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I love the value I got on Daniels and I simply couldn't pass him up in Round 11, but given the risk my team has at RB perhaps I should have passed on Daniels and taken a high-upside handcuff like Marshawn Lloyd instead.
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Waddle was WR14 per game in 2022 and WR22 per game in 2023. Which version are we getting this season? He missed a lot of snaps last season due to minor injuries and didn't make as many big plays as he did in 2022. I'm banking on a bounce-back season from Waddle and hopefully the best season of his career as a Top 12 WR on a per-game basis
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