The Perfect Fantasy Football Mock Draft and Late Round Strategy From the 7th Pick

The league commissioner has drawn the draft order. You are in a 12-team league that plays in a PPR format. In that snake draft, you earned the honor of drafting 7th overall. It is now time to formulate a strong draft strategy. In a perfect world, this is how the top picks may go, followed by our late-round draft guide to point for the best gambles to win the big prize.

1.7 — Jaxon Smith-Njigba

At 7th overall, this is a fair spot to take Smith-Njigba, a receiver who is expected to finish top-5 at his position and possibly WR1 overall.

Seattle does have the risk of bringing in a new, untested offensive coordinator. However, Brian Fleury is a graduate of Kyle Shanahan's school. The system he brings in should have no ill will toward Smith-Njigba, who plays just about every role a wide receiver can.

2.6 — Rashee Rice

Do not buy into any reports of Rice looking "slow" at training camp. Across a full month of a ramp-up, following his month spent jailed, Rice shall be just fine. Social media breeds overreactions during August.

On a points-per-game basis, Rice was the WR5 in fantasy football this past season. That goes with a Chiefs team that struggled mightily and lost Pat Mahomes. Let's not be rash; the Chiefs will bounce back under Andy Reid and his old friend, Eric Bieniemy.

3.7 — Lamar Jackson

Quarterbacks are generally devalued by 15-25% in a league that accounts for 4 points per touchdown. The math works out for us: Jackson's projection makes him well worth the 31st overall pick. Jackson is our QB2, projecting for 20.9 points per game on 248 yards passing and 2.3 total touchdowns per game. Big things are expected to come from Declan Doyle's brand of Sean Payton's school of offense.

4.6 — Jadarian Price

Price is our top value among all fantasy football players. While many fans and projections foresee Zach Charbonnet missing just a few games, we anticipate he will miss at least 6 games and play while not at 100% health. His injury would have historically been planned for a late-October return. In which case, Price is a heavy workload RB1. The "coach talk" that George Holani will split work with Price is misplaced and always overplayed.

5.7 — DJ Moore

Moore completes a supreme wide receiver stack. With the depth that the running back position offers, this is not a bad strategy to run with in 2026. We can find potential RB1's in the later rounds, such as David Montgomery, RJ Harvey, Jordan Mason, and Jonathan Brooks.

As for Moore, he is our WR15. A WR1 for Josh Allen's top-ranked offense in the NFL? Say less. Joe Brady has been wishing for an elite X-receiver, and now he has one.

6.6 — Christian Watson

The holdout continues for our RB2. Watson absolutely can become a top-10 wide receiver in fantasy football. He is the WR1 on a Packers offense that is rated top-5 in the NFL. He is also a player whom the Packers committed over $100 million to.

7.7 — RJ Harvey

The Broncos are seemingly guaranteed to be without JK Dobbins for multiple games this season. He is already missing some practice due to soft tissue discomfort. Dobbins has only two seasons of double-digit games played since 2020, and once of more than 10. That makes Harvey an elite player for multiple weeks. Projected as the RB31, Harvey would logically rank in the top 25.

8.6 — Dalton Kincaid

Outside of the top-4 tight ends, the big board is volatile. Our TE5 to TE11 are separated by 1.3 fantasy points per game. This is a place to gamble on upside. Kincaid has just that.

We are higher than consensus on Kincaid (TE5). Nonetheless, Kincaid falls to the 8th round, closer to his ADP. The Bills are the NFL's top-rated offense. Kincaid's 2025 led him to be the 2nd-most explosive tight end with 14.6 yards per catch. Now that the Bills have added Moore as their X receiver, it will free up the offense for Khalil Shakir, and Kincaid can do so, so that both can thrive.

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