Full 12-Team Fantasy Football Mock Draft and Expert Analysis

Fans Only Sportz Network
Aug 22
13 min read

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen 8/22/2025 Sportz Nation

So a bit of a prelude:

1. This draft is for a 12-team Half-PPR Fantasy Football League in where we do not draft Kickers or Defenses, (Matt and Zak are both of the opinion you should add and drop Kickers and Defenses every week depending on matchups.)

2. If this series does well, Matt and Zak will continue these teams as a real fantasy league to see the results of the following year based on these drafted teams. Let us know if you want to see this at our socials! (@fosportz, @DrapeauZak, @matthylen_)

3. Our drafting was based on our Top-100 Fantasy Football Big Board we posted last week: Matt and Zak's Top-100 Fantasy Football Big Board

4. Matt and Zak took turns with alternate teams and specifically drafted for each team individually to make this exercise as real as possible.

Enjoy.

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Team 1 (Matt Hylen)

(My 2nd Favorite)

Picking 1st in a 12-team league is always a little difficult, but I really like what I did here with this team. Though there has been a trend of guys who finished as the overall #1 fantasy player dropping off the next year, I do not see it for Barkley. The O-line is the same, the offensive system will be the same, and he has no competition for touches. So, to me, Barkley should be the first pick in any draft format.

I think this team also thrived in the early rounds. Getting Josh Allen at the end of the third round is a great value pick (especially for the 1 slot), while guys like George Pickens and Tony Pollard could be high-upside players right away. I also like the stack of Allen and Shakir, which could be very good down the line. Getting Christian Kirk in the 11th round is also a low-risk, high-reward type of selection for this team.

In the later rounds, guys like Quinshon Judkins (who had his charges dropped last week) could end up being a steal if he gets that contract signed. However, if he doesn't, you still have the plan B of Jerome Ford, who will likely be the starter if Judkins does not play.

I also really like getting both Ravens tight ends (Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely) and both Titans running backs (Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears), in the scenario where one outperforms the other. This way, you will not have a problem should one of these players disappoint.

Team 1 is my 2nd favorite team that I drafted. It is extremely well-rounded with a lot of potential at both the WR and RB slots. With the best fantasy QB in the league to match, Team 1 is a force to be reckoned with in my eyes.

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Team 3 (Matt Hylen)

(My 1st Favorite)

Team 3 might be my favorite team out of any that I drafted. Granted, a couple of injuries could derail the entire season of Team 3; however, you can't think like that when drafting. All reports have sung the praises of Christian McCaffrey's training camp, expressing how he looks to be back to his 2023 form. If that is the case, getting him at three is great value. Plus, if CMC does end up getting injured, Chase Brown is still RB1 material, and you have an elite backup option in 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo, who I think, even with the Brian Robinson Jr. trade, will still be the RB2 in San Fran.

The middle of this draft is where I really like this team. Getting Chase Brown in the second to pair with McCaffrey could end up being the deadliest RB duo in the entire league. Then getting guys like Trey McBride (who acts as a TE1 and WR1) and Rashee Rice (suspension might not be made this year, top-5 WR in 2024 when healthy) could make this team as high-powered as any. Upside selections like Stefon Diggs and Jordan Mason could bolster your lineup as the season goes along as well.

Team 3 was also able to get a stash of great QBs and depth to go along with it. A Jalen Hurts-Jordan Love QB room is elite, with no major fall-off when Hurts is on his bye week. Jakobi Meyers and Josh Downs are great potential flex options, while Tyler Allgeier and Hollywood Brown are also potential flex options should injuries to their real-life teams occur.

Log Team 3 as my favorite team that I drafted, since my only concern for this team is the possibility of injuries. CMC, Rice, Diggs, Downs, and even Jordan Love have all dealt with or are dealing with long-term injuries in the past. Yet, I do think I was able to account for this issue with my late-round selections.

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Team 5 (Matt Hylen)

(My 6th Favorite)

Though I do not think it is a bad team, I am not a fan of Team 5. As a Devon Achane non-believer this season, taking him in Round 2 is rich for my blood; however, it is where his ADP is around, which is why I had team 5 take him. I do like how this team was able to get Jow Burrow in the 4th and Kenneth Walker in the 3rd, but after that it was a little difficult to find value.

Aside from Jefferson, I felt like I had to reach at most selections in order to take upside-level players. I like getting Calvin Ridley, who could break out this year, in the 6th, while guys like Juan Jennings (12th) and Rico Dowdle (13th) were steals in the later rounds if they stay healthy.

For me, the biggest issue is the running back room, which is why this is my 6th and least favorite team that I drafted. Every running back I selected, though around their ADP, is injury-prone, which scares me. Granted, you cannot go about your draft basing players on past injuries, but it does mean something. Overall, there is definitely a quiet upside, but it may be a long shot.

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Team 7 (Matt Hylen)

(My 4th Favorite)

Team 7 is the very definition is high-risk, high-reward. Basically, this team could be the most dominant team in the league, or they could be a bottom dweller the entire season.

I had a lot of fun drafting this team because every single player on this squad has big upside. The top three selections of Jahmyr Gibbs, Brian Thomas Jr., and Mike Evans have the potential to be at the top of their position any given week. The supporting cast of James Conner, Tetairoa McMillan, and Drake Maye are all potential top-12 fantasy players at their position.

What I really like about this team is the bench depth. Getting Matthew Golden in the 9th, Darnell Mooney in the 10th, and Dylan Sampson in the 13th allows this team to have multiple flex-worthy players (and possibly more down the line) right away.

The biggest thing that has to happen in order for this team to reach its full potential is for the hype of Drake Maye to be put into action. If Drake can perform to the level he is expected to and be a top-12 QB, the sky is the limit for this team. Getting Hunter Henry helps Maye in terms of your team, but if Maye cannot perform, it will be hard for this team to win.

With that said, this entire team is a risk, which will make the season extremely entertaining, and why it is the 4th favorite team of mine that I drafted.

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Team 9 (Matt Hylen)

(My 3rd Favorite)

I ended up taking the safe route early with Team 9 with upside picks as depth, which I believe turned out well. You know exactly the kind of production you could get out of the first four selections of this team. Amon-Ra St Brown, Kyren Williams, AJ Brown, and Chuba Hubbard have given steady production over multiple years, which will bode well for this team. Meanwhile, guys like DJ Moore, Baker Mayfield, and Evan Engram have held a steady level of production when healthy, which only adds to the consistency of this team.

To pair with the safe options are a handful of high-upside selections that I think can bolster this team as the season progresses. Jameson Williams, Emeka Egbuka, and Cam Skattebo could all end up being every-week starters for this team. CJ Stroud is an elite backup QB in case Baker gets hurt or underperforms, while the team's final three selections, Roschon Johnson, Blake Corum (Kyren Williams' backup), and Cade Otton, provide great depth and plug-and-play potential.

Team 9's balanced lineup is definitely one of my favorites in the entire draft, thus making it my 3rd favorite team that I drafted. There really is not another team that is quite as balanced as Team 9, thus creating a dark horse for this league. I would not be shocked if this team is the favorite to win the Championship come playoff time.

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Team 11 (Matt Hylen)

(My 5th favorite)

I feel like Team 11 has a group of players that people are forgetting about. What I mean by that is Team 11 drafted multiple guys, like Johnathon Taylor, Aaron Jones, Cooper Kupp, Sam Laporta, and Jordan Addison (even with the 4-game suspension), who experts are not talking about nearly enough, nor ranking them where they should be ranked.

This team started out really strong in my eyes, with Nico Collins, Taylor, and Terry McLaurin all being great selections at the point at which they were taken. Of course, McLaurin's contract situation is still concerning, but I do not think it will cause him to hold out in the regular season. In that case, getting him in Round 3 and pairing him with Collins and QB Jayden Daniels is a great power-punch trio.

Add that with guys like I mentioned above, and this team could be very solid this season. The team has good depth, with guys like Nick Chubb (who is Houston's starter if Joe Mixon is hurt), Trey Benson, and Rashod Bateman. All three of these guys are backups to injury-prone starters and could be plug-and-play stashes down the line.

Overall, this team is my 5th favorite team that I drafted; it may not be the best, but it is very solid. Team 11, in my eyes, is a team that may fly under the radar and become the biggest dark horse in the entire league.

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Team 2 (Zak Drapeau)

(My 4th Favorite)

Getting Ja’Marr Chase at 1.2 is a steal in my opinion, and if Saquon or even Bijan goes #1 in any of your leagues, I’d hope you do the same.

I love the first 4 picks of Team 2 as much as any team’s. Chase and Bowers should benefit from the half-PPR format significantly this season, with each likely to get 100+ catches again. Irving and Johnson in rounds 3 & 4 aren’t receiving backs, but they are the future of their respective backfields and great value at 3.11 and 4.2.

The next stretch of WRs drafted has some high upside but are honestly some of the riskier picks for this team. If Tua stays healthy for the season (which seems like it’s asking for a lot), Waddle should pay off in a big way as a 5th-round pick. Jeudy was the best thing on a miserable Denver team last season, but with the carousel of QBs that’s likely to lead the team this year, his season could go either way. Finally, Godwin will be great when he comes back this season, but it’s not yet clear if that return date will be before or after the Bucs’ Week 9 bye.

My QB picks in Rounds 9 and 11 are steals. Caleb Williams’ freshman and sophomore seasons will be night and day now, having a good O-line, a stacked receiving corps, and a shiny new offensive-minded head coach in Ben Johnson. Johnson’s former project, Jared Goff, is my backup QB and has finished Top-7 in end-of-year QB rankings in Fantasy Football 2 years in a row.

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Team 4 (Zak Drapeau)

(My 3rd Favorite)

I usually deploy the strategy of drafting 6 WRs/RBs in my own drafts, and while it’s not my favorite use of it (refer to Team 10), I love how this team turned out.

Bijan at pick 4 is VALUE. I also got Tyreek Hill at the 21st pick and would stack him with Tua later in the 11th round. If the duo stays healthy, this could legitimately be the reason Team 4 would go to the playoffs in this exercise.

Drafting Tee Higgins in the 3rd and DeVonta Smith in the 5th rounds out the trio of WRs as maaaaaaybe the best trio of any team.

Along with possibly the best trio of WRs, the top-4 RBs on this team also have a claim to be the best of any team. Bijan, Hampton, Swift, and Tracy all could have elite years and are RB1s on each of their teams. Hampton is a mystery but should be elite behind the Chargers' O-line and run-heavy scheme. Swift will now be RB1 in a Ben Johnson offense, and Tracy could be a breakout star in his sophomore campaign if Skattebo doesn’t take too many carries from him.

Taking Kyler Murray in past years’ drafts hasn’t panned out, but his dual-threat ability made me cave and take him, even though I think Tua will get more starts by year’s end. Dallas Goedert was the second-to-last TE1 drafted for each team and definitely makes TE the weak spot of the team, but that’s a necessary sacrifice for a team with stacked RB and WR rooms.

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Team 6 (Zak Drapeau)

(My 5th favorite)

This team was drafted with no real direction and suffered for it, in my opinion. Drafting Derrick Henry in the 1st was a great start, and Ladd McConkey following him is good for his potential 100+ catch season.

Great start, but questionable middle. JSN should be good this year, but Sam Darnold is a big question mark. If you want to talk about question marks, anybody on the Jets’ offense is definitely questionable, although Breece Hall should be the best of the bunch… hopefully. This team would not double down, but triple down on Jets players by the end, taking Justin Fields as its bench QB and then drafting Braelon Allen in a harmless 12th-round pick, but still… the Jets?

Stacking Kelce and Mahomes together in rounds 6 and 7 seems really good on paper, but seeing how the Hall-of-Fame pair’s fantasy prowess has slid down in past years, especially in TDs, is also questionable.

RJ Harvey is much higher on ADPs and fell to this team in round 8, but he is truly a player I don’t fully believe in, especially with J.K. Dobbins on the roster.

Deebo Samuel in round 9 and Marvin Mims in round 13 actually have some real upside as WR2s on their team and may be the best value picks of this team, but let’s be honest, there wasn’t much competition.

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Team 8 (Zak Drapeau)

(My 6th Favorite)

This team is not bad at all, and ranking it my 5th favorite may be a bit of a stretch, but there’s one glaring hole to me. Team 8’s RB group has a BIG boom or bust feel. Jeanty should be elite, but who knows on a Raiders team that feels like it’s at least a year away from being good. Montgomery is already RB2 on his team, and even though he’s a TD-vulture, without Ben Johnson on the staff, who knows where his season will go?

Mixon and White suffered injuries this offseason, and even though they should be back by Week 4, another year older and surrounded by more competition in Houston and Tampa Bay, who’s to say if they will ever get back to their previous years’ form?

Drafting Dak Prescott is a good sign if he can stay healthy, and stacking him with the first-round pick of CeeDee Lamb makes it even greater. Sadly, the WR group would only fall from there with Wilson again a boom or bust candidate within the Jets’ offense, and Travis Hunter and Ricky Pearsall are still very unproven, even though Hunter’s upside in the new Liam Coen-coached offense has real potential.

Speaking of Pearsall, stacking the WR with George Kittle was also a good move, especially at the beginning of the year with Jauan Jennings and Brandon Aiyuk injured to start the season.

Overall, this team is just there, not great but not bad, and if the team makes some midseason moves, it could be competitive.

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Team 10 (Zak Drapeau)

(My 2nd Favorite)

The WR room on this team is impressive, with Nabers and Nacua as an elite pair of top picks. Although Worthy might get lost in the crowded WR group in KC, his big-play upside is only matched by Courtland Sutton’s, who would be taken one round earlier. Finishing the group with rookie Jack Bech is very intriguing for his potential to be the WR2 in Vegas in a Geno Smith-led passing game.

For the RBs, they are both some of the biggest TD-potential backs, which is always what you want in Fantasy. Kamara, in particular, is one of my picks for Steals of the Year based on his upside as a receiving back in the Saints' offense, where he should lead in targets on the ground and even in the air.

Taking Williams and Stevenson late may not pay off at the end of the year, but both backs will be starting for their teams in the first few weeks and could be good trade targets by Week 3 with credible TD potential throughout the year if I want to keep them on the bench.

Also, even though Njoku should maintain a top-10 TE status this year, taking rookie Tyler Warren in the 11th round could be this team’s steal if the Indy TE forms a connection with Daniel Jones.

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Team 12 (Zak Drapeau)

(My 1st Favorite)

Last and CERTAINLY not least, Team 12 has to be my favorite in this exercise, and it’s not particularly close. In my opinion, this team hit home run after home run in the first 8 rounds.

Josh Jacobs' first year in Green Bay ended as RB5 in the league, and the team made no plans to change his role. Taking TreVeyon Henderson next, the next possible OROY will get around 50 catches and 10 TDs this season and should be closer to a Round 2 pick in my opinion. Brian Robinson and J.K. Dobbins should be the starters on both of their teams, with serious offensive upside, and are nothing if not great bench backups.

Drafting a QB in Round 2 is ALWAYS a risk, but if I’ve learned anything in the past 3 years, it’s that Lamar is never a risk, and sometimes when drafting at a corner pick, you have to make a bold selection before waiting 23 picks for your next.

Stacking Lamar with Zay Flowers and taking Davante Adams with Marvin Harrison Jr., two WRs who I see making a huge jump as they get used to their teams, is just… I love this team so much.

The icing on the cake is guys like Kincaid, Pittman, and Shaheed in the final 5 picks, who all have high-TD potential too.

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