Fantasy Football No. 4 Draft Pick Strategy: How to Win From the Fourth Overall Position

Michael Fabiano | Jul 30, 2025

Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb will be one of the first five overall picks in most 2025 fantasy football drafts. / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

If you’re a fan of superhero movies, you’re probably excited to see the new Fantastic Four movie that’s coming out. (It must be better than the last one, right?) In fantasy football, No. 4 four (the pick, that is) is also fantastic in that it will guarantee that you’ll have one of the top four fantasy players in the league and very likely the cornerstone of your 2025 roster.  

It’s an advantageous spot because, of course, you have your choice of all but three players in the first round. On the flip side, you’ll have a somewhat extended wait time between your odd and even-numbered picks (16 selections in between each player). As a result, it’s imperative to have a good strategy that will help you build a championship-level roster.

That’s where I come in! 

To help you draft the best possible fantasy football squad from the fourth overall pick, here’s a look into my fantasy football headspace and the decisions I would make in each and every round from No. 4. Also, I’ll give you some of the actual players I’d most like to target in each round in a best-case scenario based on the average draft position data over at FantasyPros. Here are my latest Top 200 player rankings to help as well.

Alright, let’s kick things off!

All Picks: No. 1 | No. 2 | No. 3 | No. 5 | No. 6 | No. 7 | No. 8 | No. 9 | No. 10 | No. 11 | No. 12

No. 4 Fantasy Football Draft Pick Strategy

Rounds 1-2

Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson are the top three picks based on FantasyPros ADP data, and their site has Saquon Barkley coming off the board next. I don’t. Instead, I would take the next-best wide receiver in CeeDee Lamb. If Lamb goes third, then I’m taking Jefferson. With Dak Prescott back at 100 percent, I’m expecting Lamb to be a top-three wideout in 2025.

In Round 2 (pick No. 21), I’ll be looking for the best available wide receiver or running back in most cases. Assuming I have Lamb, it’ll likely be another wide receiver unless a back like Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs or Bucky Irving falls to me. More than likely, I’ll be grabbing a wideout like Drake London, Garrett Wilson or Ladd McConkey at the end of the second round.

This would give me two wide receivers with my first two picks.

If you want Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson, this is probably where you’ll need to take one of them since they might not be on the board near the top of Round 3. That’s not my personal jam, however. The same goes for the tight end. If you want Brock Bowers or Trey McBride, you’ll have to take them here or you will lose them because they’ll be gone by Round 3.

However, I typically wait until later in the draft to fill those two positions.

Fabs’ ideal Round 1 pick (No. 4): Lamb
Fabs’ ideal Round 2 picks (No. 21): London/Wilson/McConkey

Rounds 3-4

With two receivers on my roster, I’ll very likely be looking at a running back with the No. 27overall pick. If you’re of the Zero-RB mindset (drafting no running backs in the first five to six rounds) you could go with a third wide receiver in this spot.

You could even go with a tight end if Brock Bowers or Trey McBride fell a bit, but don’t expect that to happen (Bowers is at 19th overall and McBride’s ADP on FantasyPros has him coming off the board at 26.5).

Since I have a long wait until my fourth-round pick, it might be hard to pass on a running back like Kyren Williams or James Cook. If they’re gone, I might get two of the players I mentioned as my ideal second-round choices (Wilson/McConkey) in Round 3. That would give me three wide receivers in the first three rounds, which isn’t a bad way to go in a PPR league where you can start three receivers.

This decision is all about the draft flow.

After your extended wait, you now have two draft picks in the next eight. It’s important to keep tabs on whether or not there’s been a run at a particular position, leaving it a bit thinner in terms of depth and if you want to grab a player at that spot now or punt it down the line instead.

In this case, I’m going with the best available player between the running backs and wideouts. Based on ADP data, that could be Kenneth Walker III, Alvin Kamara, DJ Moore, Chuba Hubbard, Joe Mixon or DK Metcalf.

Fabs’ ideal Round 3 picks (No. 28) : Williams/Cook/Wilson/McConkey
Fabs’ ideal Round 4 picks (No. 45): Walker III/Kamara/Moore/Hubbard/Mixon/Metcalf

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Rounds 5-6

The depth of options has dwindled at this point, as you’ve been waiting to make your pick for a while. If you’ve followed my strategy, you have either one running back and three wide receivers or a pair at each position heading into the 52nd overall selection.

In the first scenario, I’m grabbing my second running back here (maybe Hubbard or Mixon). If I already have an RB2, I’ll likely go with the best available back or wideout in the fifth round. More than likely, it will be the latter to grab that third receiver. Moore, Metcalf, and Xavier Worthy could be on the board.

It’s at this point that I might look into a tight end based on who is available. My ideal first five rounds includes a pair of runners and three wideouts, and tight ends like Sam LaPorta, T.J. Hockenson or Travis Kelce could still be on the board at the end of Round 6. If LaPorta were gone, however, I'd most likely punt the position down the line and grab another runner or wideout. The best options based on ADP would be guys like Kaleb Johnson, Isiah Pacheco, Jaylen Waddle or Chris Olave.

If you don’t have a quarterback yet, don’t fret … there will be plenty of good options in future rounds.

Fabs’ ideal Round 5 picks (No. 52): Kamara/Hubbard/Mixon/Moore/Metcalf/Worthy
Fabs’ ideal Round 6 picks (No. 69): LaPorta/Jaylen Waddle//D’Andre Swift/Tony Pollard

Rounds 7-8

I would continue to focus on the best player available strategy here, picking either a back or a wideout (assuming you took a tight end in Round 6). If you’re still without a tight end, now could be the time to target that position. Hockenson and Kelce could still be options. If they’re gone, I’d likely wait and punt the position down the road a few more rounds.

I’d also be looking at the draft flow and seeing what quarterbacks are on the board. Based on Fantasy Pros ADP, the trio of Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield or Bo Nix could be on the board. I’d still wait, however, looking instead to get a younger running back or wide receiver. The best available players are likely to be on the tier of Kaleb Johnson, Olave or Rome Odunze.

Near the end of the eighth round, it’s either time to fill your quarterback position (depending on the depth that’s left), or continue to bolster your offensive skill spots with potential sleepers. There’s a chance Kyler Murray could have slid to this round in some leagues, otherwise you can look for upside player options like Jaylen Warren, Odunze or Ricky Pearsall.

Fabs’ ideal Round 7 picks (No. 76): Hockenson/Kelce/Hunter/Henderson/Odunze/Johnson
Fabs’ ideal Round 8 picks (No. 93): Nix/Murray/Warren/ Odunze/Pearsall

Rounds 9-10

With the fourth pick in the ninth round, you can go in any number of directions. Those of you who waited at quarterback can grab players like Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott or Justin Fields. If there’s still depth at the position, though, you can wait another round or two.

This is also a good time to grab sleepers or even a handcuff such as Issac Guerendo or Zach Charbonnet. Other good options who will be available at this point in drafts include Jordan Mason, Jakobi Meyers or Evan Engram … again, this is all based on how your roster is built. But getting depth with upside is important in these mid-to-late rounds.

Looking ahead to the fourth to last pick of the 10th round (117th overall pick), you could get a second quarterback (unless you took an elite player in the first five rounds, then I would wait a few more rounds). That would be borderline QB1s such as Prescott, Fields or Jared Goff.

You could also continue to bolster your depth with some young players like Travis Etienne Jr., J.K. Dobbins, Jordan Mason or Michael Pittman Jr. will likely still be on the board.

Fabs’ ideal Round 9 picks (No. 100): Purdy/Prescott/Guerendo/Charbonnet
Fabs’ ideal Round 10 picks (No. 117): Fields/Goff/Etienne Jr./Dobbins/Mason/Pittman Jr.

Late Rounds (11-plus)

Once you’re in the final rounds, you should continue to focus on sleepers and players with upside (or just players who might have fallen a few rounds and are now bargains) … there is often value to be had. There will still be a lot of good young quarterbacks, such as veterans like Justin Herbert or Jordan Love and sleepers like Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy.

I also like to grab a second tight end (unless I have one of the top five players) as another choice for my starting lineups. I mentioned Warren as an option in the previous round, but he could fall to Round 11 too. Jake Ferguson or Tucker Kraft are other attractive picks.

Deep sleepers should be targeted, too. Think about players like Trey Benson, Jaylen Wright, Marvin Mims Jr., Cedric Tillman or Brenton Strange (to name a few). Throw those darts at players with a path to workload/targets or an injury away from being thrust into a big role.

You’ll also be rounding out your roster in these final stanzas, including drafting a kicker and a defense if they’re required (many leagues have removed both positions). I’d wait to draft those until the last two rounds, unless you want to grab a high-end kicker (Brandon Aubrey or Jake Bates) or defense (Broncos, Eagles, Steelers) in the third-to-last round.