Fantasy Football Draft Prep 2023: Drafting No. 3 overall in a PPR league

The easiest part of picking third overall is who you take first. Justin Jefferson figures to be the consensus 1.01, so you’re probably looking at one of Christian McCaffrey, Austin Ekeler or Ja’Marr Chase. And guess what?! You’re likely to pick from two of these four! That’s great. Before you draft, rank them (I just listed them in my preferred order). 

• Pick-by-pick from: No. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

The hardest part of picking third overall is who you take with your next two picks. Late Round 2 and early Round 3 offer plenty of good players, but it’s still tricky to deal with. Per our PPR Average Draft Position (ADP), you should expect to find in Round 2 a running back like Josh Jacobs or Joe Mixon, or a receiver along the lines of Garrett Wilson, Amon-Ra St. Brown or Jaylen Waddle. But probably not a quarterback.

In our mock, there were quarterbacks and not many of these other names. If your league devalues quarterbacks kind of like how our analyst drafts devalue quarterbacks, then this is a likely scenario. It made my decision a little more challenging. 

Here’s a look at my roster build from the third pick: 

1.03 Christian McCaffrey, RB, SF 
2.10 Jalen Hurts, QB, PHI
3.03 Calvin Ridley, WR, JAC
4.10 Dameon Pierce, RB, HOU
5.03 Drake London, WR, ATL
6.10 Jordan Addison, WR, MIN 
7.03 Mike Evans, WR, TB
8.10 D’Andre Swift, RB, PHI
9.03 Brian Robinson, RB, WAS
10.10 Dalton Kincaid, TE, BUF
11.03 Rashaad Penny, RB, PHI
12.10 Elijah Mitchell, RB, SF 
13.03 Evan Hull, RB, IND
14.10 Greg Dulcich, TE, DEN

With Patrick Mahomes going the pick before mine, I was not promised that Hurts nor Josh Allen would be there for me in Round 3. Who else could I have taken? DeVonta Smith, Chris Olave or Calvin Ridley — there wasn’t much of a thought for Joe Mixon or Jahmyr Gibbs. I figured it was more likely for one of those three wideouts to be available when I was up at 27th overall than one of the two quarterbacks, so I took Hurts. Sure enough, Ridley was there for me in Round 3. 

This is the kind of rational thinking that’s important to do when you’re picking near the end of a round. You’ll see for yourself which players are left and determine who might be there at your next pick. And it’s not just for the Round 2/3 turn, but for all of the turns. That’s why it’s also important to consider who the drafters at Picks 1 and 2 might take when they’re up. In fact, I used their needs against them when I took Dameon Pierce in Round 4 when I knew both managers had just one running back and would consider that position with their next two picks. 

You’ll see that after the Pierce pick I went with receivers for three straight choices. That’s because we have to start three receivers and a Flex. I felt real good about my choices as all three have top-24 half-PPR potential. Evans particularly has become an afterthought this summer but we thought the same thing of Seahawks receivers last year and they turned out great. 

• PPR pick-by-pick series: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

Did I intend to draft both Swift and Penny? Absolutely not, but Swift’s value in late Round 10 was irresistible. And thus when I was up in Round 11 and saw Penny’s name, I figured it would be a good idea to put the pair together. I doubt there will be one reliable weekly Fantasy starter from the Eagles backfield, but I bet both backs will factor into my lineup at points throughout the season. The Eagles are one of the very best running teams in football.