How to Win Your Draft from the 12 Spot

The 1.12 is such an interesting position in drafts this year. To me, there is around 15-16 players worthy of being a 1st round pick in fantasy. The 12 hole gives you the opportunity to draft 2 of them, and a lot of the time it’s more about what comes to you versus having an outright plan going in.

Let’s examine how I navigated the 1.12 in this mock draft, and examine how this draft fell to me and what I did to build a roster I liked.

1.12: The Deep Bomb King

I love getting Nico Collins here at the back of the 1st. To me, he represents an elite ceiling mixed with a high floor, seeing as he will certainly be the primary target for CJ Stroud. I now have access to 30-40 point games with Collins, but also feel comfortable that he will rarely score less than 12-15 points per game any given week.

2.01: The Prince that was Promised

I’ve been this high on Ashton Jeanty since he declared for the draft. I thought he was a 1st round pick in fantasy pretty much guaranteed unless he had been drafted by the Falcons or Eagles for some reason. He lands on the Raiders with no competition whatsoever around him, on a revamped offense with a solid veteran QB.

I think Jeanty’s upside is THE RB1 this year, and I think his floor is A RB1. Happy to draft that in the 2nd round here, and I’m feeling very balanced through the first 2 rounds of this mock.

3.12: Don’t Look a Gift TE in the Mouth

George Kittle doesn’t often fall all the way back to the end of the 3rd nowadays. For me personally, I am a staunch believer in the Hero or Zero approach at the Tight End position. Kittle represents the last of the Hero tier for me, and I was skipping for joy seeing him here at the 3.12.

Basically every receiver is hurt in San Fran, and Purdy could pretty conceivably target Kittle as the defacto primary receiver, especially if Ricky Pearsall doesn’t make the Year 2 leap folks are hoping for.

4.01: The Charger with Two Eyes

If you read my “My Guys” article, you know the pick here. I think Hampton is pretty locked into finishing as an RB1 this season if he stays healthy. With his eye injury, I don’t think Najee Harris ends up having much effect at all on Hampton’s production.

Omarion Hampton does everything well, and is in an infamous Greg Roman offense with a good QB. Even if he’s not a true workhorse back, to me Hampton has the upside to just be an absolute smash RB2 for me here, and I am always one to lean into the variance of drafting rookies in search of league-winning upside.

5:12: Everyone’s Favorite Sleeper Receiver

It seems like basically every fantasy analyst on the planet likes George Pickens this year as a Dallas Cowboy. And to be honest, I wholly agree. Pickens has never had a QB even in the realm of the level of Dak Prescott, and he’s never been the WR2 on a team to face less double coverage.

Pickens is the blend of size, speed, and ability that screams breakout, and I think he provides the type of single game upside that sets your team apart on a weekly basis. He feels excellent as my WR2 on this team.

6.01: What if Chiefs go Brrr?

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Isiah Pacheco as a talent. I think he’s a hard runner and fun player to watch, but he hasn’t truly proven that he can ascend into being a top fantasy RB. With that being said, he also terrifies me.

If the Chiefs finally decide to care on offense… Pacheco could have a James Cook type of season from last year in 2025. If he sun runs on Touchdowns, and he’s fully recovered from his injury he sustained early last season, he’ll be a major value in the 6th. And if he doesn’t, I don’t personally think anyone else on the roster is really a threat to replace him or eat into his workload too much. So to me, even though I don’t love the talent, I do think the floor is there for him.

7.12: A Top 10 NFL Draft Pick is Always a Good Bet

Last year, I was ALL-IN on the Bears offense taking the leap with Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze added to the mix. Safe to say I was quite wrong on that, as I failed to put enough stock into the Shane Waldron effect.

So obviously this year has to be different, right? All jokes aside, Rome was still a Top 10 NFL Draft Pick in a historic WR rookie class. I think he has a ton of upside to truly break out in Year 2, especially with the Bears having a new coaching staff and offense that can be catered to the strengths of the team far better. I love the upside of Rome here as my WR3.

8.01: The Bet that 2024 was Simply the Year from Hell

2024 was the Year from Hell for the San Fransisco 49ers. One of the main players condemned to fantasy damnation was Deebo Samuel, due to his sudden serious case of pneumonia early last season. Once he returned, he was not the same player at all, which plenty of folks attributed more to Deebo being older and just falling off.

For me, I’m willing to make the bet at this price that it was the illness that caused Deebo’s statistical regression. Further more, I think he is now in the perfect role in Washington as Kliff Kingsbury’s designated screen catcher. Washington projects as a great offense again this year, and I want access to those Touchdowns in Deebo, especially with Terry McLaurin still holding out.

9.12: He Shouldn’t be Here

Safe to say that I sprinted to click the button on Emeka Egbuka here at the 9.12. I don’t think he’ll be here in most leagues to be fully honest, he’s a hot name gaining a lot of buzz as of late. However, he was here, so I took him.

I think with Godwin being brought along slowly, and Jalen McMillan now slated to miss a large chunk of the beginning of the year, Egbuka will step directly into the WR2 role for Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. I loved Egbuka as a prospect, and I feel pretty confident that he’s going to excel in the role that he has to start the year, with potential to keep his playing time and target share even after Godwin returns.

10.01: The Stack

With such a big bet on George Kittle being an elite Tight End for me in this draft, I made the decision to stack him up with his Quarterback, Brock Purdy. Purdy showed a propensity to scramble more last year that he had historically, and if that sticks around, and the 49ers don’t have another season from hell, I think Purdy has sneaky upside to be a top 6-8 QB this season, especially if CMC and Kittle stay healthy all year.

Rounding Out the Lineup

The first rule I go into every draft for season-long lineup leagues is to not draft a defense and/or kicker, unless there is a very clear and obvious tier between the best kicker/defense and the rest. There is not this year, so I didn’t draft them at all. I’d rather drop 2 guys right before the season kicks off instead.

I finished up my draft with 4 RB upside darts and an underrated WR (in my opinion). I took Cedric Tillman, who I think will have a usable floor for fantasy as long as Joe Flacco is the Browns’ QB. At RB, I took the man, the myth, the legend himself: Bill Croskey-Merritt. If he’s the starter, he’s a free Flex player in the 11th round. At worst, he’s a goal-line back shot on a top offense in football.

I also added Dylan Sampson, Ollie Gordon, and Will Shipley. All 3 guys have varying levels of upside if things bounce their way, and I’d happily roster some handcuffs for now to see if I get lucky with any of them until games start.

All in all, the name of the game at the 1.12 for me was taking value when it came, mixed with shooting for upside that has the types of floor outcomes built in that I felt comfortable with at cost. Some 1.12 drafts may opt more for the 0 RB route with the amount of stud receivers available at the late turns each pair of rounds, but if the RB values fall, you can still build a strong balanced team that feels good both early on and as we get to the money weeks in the fantasy playoffs late in the year.