Fantasy Football mock: Pre-training camp half-point PPR Draft has Christian McCaffrey over Jonathan Taylor

USATSI

There hasn't been much debate over who should be the No. 1 overall pick this season, but Chris Towers has said he likes Christian McCaffrey ahead of Jonathan Taylor. He backed that up in our latest 12-team, 0.5-PPR mock when he selected McCaffrey with the first pick.

I don't mind it considering McCaffrey has more upside than Taylor, but you know the risk with McCaffrey by now. He's played 10 games over the past two seasons due to multiple injuries, and that has Fantasy managers concerned.

Taylor, 23, is considered safer and will hopefully replicate his production from 2021 when he had over 2,000 total yards and scored 20 total touchdowns. Austin Ekeler and Derrick Henry could also be in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick, and you might even consider Cooper Kupp if you want the best receiver.

We debated the top five running backs on our latest podcast Wednesday, and I like Taylor at No. 1, followed by McCaffrey, Ekeler, Henry and Najee Harris in PPR and 0.5 PPR. In non-PPR, I have it ranked Taylor, Henry, McCaffrey, Ekeler and Joe Mixon.

In this mock draft, it went McCaffrey, Taylor, Henry, Kupp and Ekeler with the top five picks, followed by Harris, Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook, Mixon, Travis Kelce, Ja'Marr Chase and Alvin Kamara to round out the first round. And now that it's late June, we're starting to see what the first round will likely look like in the majority of leagues.

There are expected to be eight running backs, three receivers and one tight end drafted in the first 12 overall picks. We could see Stefon Diggs or Davante Adams knock out one of the running backs, or maybe Kelce slips into Round 2. But our first round is starting to take shape, and Fantasy managers should be prepared.

I had the No. 2 overall selection and went with Taylor. This is a three-receiver league, so I drafted Mike Evans and A.J. Brown next, and I love this start. I didn't like the running backs available in Round 4 -- the top options were A.J. Dillon, Elijah Mitchell and Miles Sanders -- so it was easy to pivot to Darren Waller and Terry McLaurin next.

This is how I like to start my team in any league that rewards you for receptions, with one running back and multiple pass catchers through five rounds. Now, it was time to draft running backs with high upside, which included Kareem Hunt (Round 6), James Cook (Round 8), Alexander Mattison (Round 9), Kenneth Gainwell (Round 10), Rachaad White (Round 11) and D'Onta Foreman (Round 13).

Hunt will be my Week 1 starter as of now, and we'll see what kind of role Cook and Gainwell have with their respective teams. Should Hunt, Cook, Gainwell, Mattison, White or Foreman get the chance for a featured role at any point this season, all of them have league-winning upside, and these are the types of running backs you should target on Draft Day with mid- to late-round picks.

I drafted Allen Lazard in Round 7, and he'll be my flex. Matthew Stafford fell into my lap in Round 12, and I drafted Jakobi Meyers as a fifth receiver. So far, this has been one of my favorite mock drafts this year.

In this league, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award 0.5 points per reception. And we feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, K and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.

Our draft order is as follows: