We've churned out quite a spread of mock drafts over the past couple months, many of which can be found in the Yahoo Fantasy Football Draft Kit.
But one thing you have not seen there (yet) is a mock for 14-team leagues. If you've got too many cousins, too many coworkers or a thirst for adventure, you may have found yourself in a 14-team league ... and in need of a plan.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
We're here to help.
This week, I jumped into the Yahoo Fantasy Plus Instant Mock Draft tool to lay out a blueprint for draft strategy in these larger leagues ... and we're working with the 14th pick, which makes things even tougher. As a precursor, here are a couple of my ground rules for 14-team draft strategy that differ a bit from shallower leagues and guide our approach in this mock:
Reliability over risk. In an 8-team league, you can (and should) take plenty of wild shots on high-risk, high-reward players. The depth to cover for those risks will always be available, and you'll typically need that upside to beat the stacked teams across the league. In a 14-teamer, it's the complete opposite. Depth is thin and most rosters don't look like Pro Bowl lineups. Consequently, it's smarter to aim for high floors and week-to-week consistency, at least until we have a starting lineup filled out.
Wait on the onesies. Somewhat branching off the tip above, 14-team leagues are not the arena to try out your Lamar Jackson-Mark Andrews stack strategy in the first five rounds. One of the first lessons you'll learn in a 14-team league is just how quickly the running backs and wide receivers disappear. If you spend picks in the "starter rounds" on the "onesie positions" (QB and TE, only one of each in your starting lineup), you will likely be grimacing at your RB2 come Week 1.
Be willing to reach further. This is especially applicable on the turn (where we found ourselves in this mock), but it applies at any pick: In a 14-team league, there are more picks between each of your selections, which means there's a greater chance that the guy you're eyeballing in a round or two will be snatched up before you get there. Plus, much like "The Code" in Pirates of the Caribbean, ADP "is more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules." It's about as accurate as Anthony Richardson Sr. ... which means it's basically a coin flip. If you want a guy, go get him, even if it means reaching a couple dozen picks.
Now for the breakdown. The scoring format for this mock is half-PPR with the following roster spots: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, FLEX, K, D/ST, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN.
My Full Roster
QB: Dak Prescott
RB: Josh Jacobs
RB: Tony Pollard
WR: Nico Collins
WR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba
FLEX: DK Metcalf
TE: Dalton Schultz
K: Brandon Aubrey
D/ST: Washington Commanders
Bench: Isiah Pacheco
Bench: Ricky Pearsall
Bench: Braelon Allen
Bench: Tank Bigsby
Bench: Jacory Croskey-Merritt
Bench: Jayden Higgins
Round 1 - Round 2 Turn
WR Nico Collins & RB Josh Jacobs
I nearly punched my laptop when CeeDee Lamb fell all the way to 1.13 and then got sniped the pick before me. But a deep breath got us back on track — and we landed absolute rocks at both wide receiver and running back. And this was an immediate implementation of our ground rules from earlier. We could have gone Malik Nabers and Jonathan Taylor here, or perhaps Puka Nacua and Brock Bowers. But all four of those guys carry more risk — especially with their quarterbacks and/or offenses — and Bowers would be far too early for a "onesie." Instead, we took the reliable "alpha" WR1 in Nico Collins — I trust C.J. Stroud — and perhaps the safest RB1 of 2025 in Josh Jacobs, who's a lock for 300+ touches if healthy. An argument could also be made for Collins-Nabers or Collins-St. Brown, but that would leave us with zero running backs in the top 41 picks, which is not a start I'm super keen on.
Round 3 - Round 4 Turn
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba & RB Tony Pollard
In some ways, this turn was a complete replica of our first one. There were "more exciting" options available — Garrett Wilson, Davante Adams, RJ Harvey, Sam LaPorta — but the floors with those players are concerningly low. Following our "reliability over risk" ground rule, we instead took the incredibly safe volume-receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and the quietly reliable RB2 in Tony Pollard. JSN is an easy bet for 130-140 targets and 80-90 receptions, something that cannot be said for other wideouts in this range (like George Pickens and DJ Moore). As for Pollard, he's posted absurdly consistent numbers the last two years (on two different teams), finishing between RB15 and RB21 with roughly 300 touches, 1,300 total yards and 5-6 touchdowns each year. Plus, backfield-mate Tyjae Spears is starting the season on IR, which gives Pollard a head-start as the clear-cut RB1 with Cam Ward and Co. Both these picks might have a positional ceiling of "fringe top 12," but they also have a floor of "top 24."
Round 5 - Round 6 Turn
WR DK Metcalf & RB Isiah Pacheco
I didn't have "balance RBs and WRs" as a ground rule at the top — because overly stringent positional strategy isn't always a smart approach — but it certainly doesn't hurt. We've now gone WR-RB through three consecutive turns, and it has set an excellent baseline for our starting roster. Between Collins, Smith-Njigba and Metcalf, we have upwards of 250 catches locked down, and as long as Pacheco can stay healthy, our RB trio should net out between 800-900 touches as well. I'm on record stating that Metcalf is a lock for 140+ targets with Aaron Rodgers, and he has WR1 upside you will not find in Jakobi Meyers, Xavier Worthy or even DeVonta Smith (other wideouts taken in Round 6). And Pacheco was a top-15 back through two weeks last year before injury derailed his season — he should be back to form as the lead back in an effective offense. With three stable picks at each position, we're finally freed up to look at QB or TE and to draft for upside the rest of the way.
Round 7 - Round 8 Turn
WR Ricky Pearsall & QB Dak Prescott
This is my favorite turn of the entire draft, and it's not particularly close. With running backs heavily pushed up the board in this mock, both Ricky Pearsall and Dak Prescott fell a full round, right into my lap in the seventh and eighth. Pearsall is currently the locked-and-loaded WR1 for San Francisco, with Jauan Jennings (calf, contract) and Brandon Aiyuk (knee) looking highly suspect for the start of the season, and Deebo Samuel Sr. departed to Washington. It's so murky in the Bay, the team just added Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Pearsall is a 2025 breakout candidate after a strong finish to his rookie season, and the first-rounder should be a focal point of this offense alongside Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle to start year two. Meanwhile, Prescott is arguably my favorite QB pick in fantasy this season (at cost), putting up Joe Burrow numbers whenever healthy but going four rounds later than the Cincy QB in this 14-team draft.
Round 9 - Round 10 Turn
RB Braelon Allen & RB Tank Bigsby
Remember earlier when we talked about collecting RBs and WRs, avoiding early onesies and locking down reliable starters early in 14-team drafts? This is why. In this mock, Team 10 started WR-WR-QB-WR ... and ended up with Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Quinshon Judkins as their top two running backs. Team 12 started WR-TE-QB-WR before snagging Aaron Jones Sr. and Rachaad White as RB1 and RB2. Their RB3s, respectively, are Jaydon Blue and Brian Robinson Jr. (now a backup in San Fran).
[Upgrade to Fantasy Plus and gain your edge from draft day to the playoffs]
Our RB3 and RB4, picked at this turn, are Braelon Allen and Tank Bigsby. This is a double-tap I particularly recommend this season, as it gives you two very similar shots at talented early-down backs who could take over their respective offenses. Bigsby made our All-Breakout Team, and Allen has been gaining steam as the David Montgomery analog in HC Aaron Glenn and OC Tanner Engstrand's version of "Sonic and Knuckles." If either one of these two hits, we've got a weekly RB2 from the 120s overall.
Round 11 - Round 12 Turn
RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt & WR Jayden Higgins
To be clear up front, I've been fully out on Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt amid his massive, hype-fueled rise in drafts. In this week's ADP Risers column, I specifically noted that JCM would be worth a flyer in the double-digit rounds (in 12-team leagues), but is far less attractive in the ninth or early 10th. In this mock, he fell all the way to pick 154, which would be the 13th round in a 12-teamer, so here we are. If he wins the job in Washington, this team would have RB depth for days. And on the other end of the turn, with six backs already on the squad, we took a flier on another rookie: Wide receiver Jayden Higgins. You could call this a "handcuff" to Collins or potential trade fodder, but I also think it's possible J. Higgins becomes a version of what Tee Higgins has been in Cincinnati — a big-bodied WR2 alongside an elite WR1 for a talented young QB.
Rounds 13, 14 & 15
TE Dalton Schultz, K Brandon Aubrey, D/ST Washington Commanders
That's right: If you've been paying attention, you likely noticed we had not drafted a tight end all the way through Round 12. It wasn't the ideal runout — Tyler Warren went surprisingly early in Round 5, Evan Engram was snatched in Round 6 and my favorite emergency sleeper, Jake Ferguson, went off the board in Round 9. So, we're taking the streaming approach. And Dalton Schultz is a potentially underrated, underdiscussed sleeper in his own right. Schultz has logged 50+ catches and 530+ receiving yards in each season with C.J. Stroud, but dropped from five touchdowns in 2023 to just two in 2024 (amid Stroud's own TD struggles). Schultz was a top-10 tight end three straight years before the 2024 slump, and could crack that range again if Stroud and the Texans offense return to form.
As for kicker and D/ST, these should always be your last two picks, and you might even consider skipping on one (or both) for some upside sleepers, before replacing them at the last minute heading into Week 1. Fortunately for us, we got fantasy's best kicker in Brandon Aubrey, and the defense facing the New York Football Giants in Week 1. Sign me up.
Comments