There are a lot of ways to build a fantasy football team, but being prepared and knowing what to do with your first handful of picks can go a long way. To win your league, you need to be able to find the gems later in the draft and on waivers. You might not win it all with a good first five picks, but you can certainly lose if you miss on them.
To help, we've compiled a few tables comparing mock drafts from some fantasy football outlets at ESPN, Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated and Bleacher Report. Each of the mock drafts we include below are from a 12-team, half PPR league.
Perhaps these can help you get a sense of what to expect on draft day – because there's a pretty good chance the guy you want could fall to you, or go way before you. Either way, don't be caught in the headlights when you're on the clock.
Round 1
| Pick | ESPN | Yahoo! | SI | BR |
| 1 | Ja'Marr Chase | Chase | Chase | Robinson |
| 2 | Bijan Robinson | Lamb | Robinson | Chase |
| 3 | Justin Jefferson | Jefferson | Barkley | Lamb |
| 4 | Jahmyr Gibbs | Robinson | Jefferson | Barkley |
| 5 | Ashton Jeanty | Barkley | Gibbs | Gibbs |
| 6 | Saquon Barkley | Gibbs | Lamb | St. Brown |
| 7 | Christian McCaffrey | McCaffrey | Henry | Jeanty |
| 8 | CeeDee Lamb | Nakua | Nakua | Jefferson |
| 9 | Malik Nabers | Achane | Jeanty | McCaffrey |
| 10 | Puka Nakua | Jeanty | St. Brown | Achane |
| 11 | Amon-Ra St. Brown | Thomas | McCaffrey | Henry |
| 12 | Brian Thomas Jr. | Nabers | Collins | Nabers |
• Barkley's range is interesting. After having basically the best running back season ever in 2024, and tallying commiserate touches, he falls to sixth on ESPN while going in the top five in the other drafts.
• There is even less consensus on other first-rounders, like Nakua (ranging from 8 to 15), Lamb (from 2 to 8) and Jefferson (from 3 to 8).
• Depending on your preference, Derrick Henry can be a first-rounder. So can Brian Thomas, Malik Nabers and Amon-Ra St. Brown. There seems to be more first-round variance than there usually is.
Round 2
| Pick | ESPN | Yahoo! | SI | BR |
| 1 | De'Von Achane | Collins | London | Collins |
| 2 | Jonathan Taylor | London | Nabers | Thomas |
| 3 | A.J. Brown | Bowers | Lamar Jackson | Nakua |
| 4 | Derrick Henry | St. Brown | Thomas | London |
| 5 | Josh Jacobs | McConkey | Taylor | Williams |
| 6 | Nico Collins | A.J. Brown | A.J. Brown | McConkey |
| 7 | Brock Bowers | Irving | Achane | Taylor |
| 8 | Tyre McBride | Henry | Bowers | Bowers |
| 9 | Drake London | Rashee Rice | Jacobs | Jacobs |
| 10 | Chase Brown | Hill | Josh Allen | Irving |
| 11 | Bucky Irving | Josh Jacobs | Irving | Waker |
| 12 | Ladd McConkey | Taylor | C. Brown | C. Brown |
• The McConkey love is very interesting. As a rookie, he burst onto the scene in the second half of the year and helped win a lot of people their fantasy leagues. He's essentially a slot guy with the Chargers, on a team that likes to run the ball. He is obviously expected to have a very high volume thrown his way in 2025.
• In addition to McConkey, it looks like there are a lot of other second-year players who have high expectations in Round 2. Bowers falls into that category, as does Irving.
• Josh Allen is the earliest QB to go under Sports Illustrated. Lamar Jackson is the next soonest QB to get picked up under Yahoo! in the next round.
Round 3
| Pick | ESPN | Yahoo! | SI | BR |
| 1 | Kyren Williams | Jackson | McBride | Harrison |
| 2 | James Cook | Allen | Hill | Kittle |
| 3 | Lamar Jackson | C. Brown | McConkey | McBride |
| 4 | Tee Higgins | Higgins | K. Williams | A.J. Brown |
| 5 | Jayden Daniels | Adams | Cook | Allen |
| 6 | Omarion Hampton | Trey McBride | Wilson | Jackson |
| 7 | Kenneth Walker | Wilson | Hall | Kamara |
| 8 | Tyreek Hill | Smith-Njigba | Higgins | Hill |
| 9 | Josh Allen | Daniels | Metcalf | Smith-Njigba |
| 10 | Davante Adams | Walker | Kamara | Wilson |
| 11 | Alvin Kamara | George Kittle | Evans | Hampton |
| 12 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Hall | Henderson | Hall |
• Time to take some stabs with high upside. Rookies Hampton, Harvey and Henderson are going in this range and they could be superstars. Rookies are often good values, but they might be a bit overpriced in these cases with so many unknowns.
• Do you believe Tyreek Hill can stay healthy? Will Davante Adams dominate at age 33? Some high upside, high risk moves at wide receiver can be made in Round 3.
Round 4
| Pick | ESPN | Yahoo! | SI | BR |
| 1 | Joe Burrow | K. Williams | Daniels | Cook |
| 2 | Jalen Hurts | RJ Harvey | Hampton | Henderson |
| 3 | Chuba Hubbard | Harrison | Smith-Njigba | Daniels |
| 4 | George Kittle | Hampton | Kittle | Harvey |
| 5 | James Conner | James Cook | Hurts | Hurts |
| 6 | Marvin Harrison Jr. | Moore | McLaurin | Evans |
| 7 | Xavier Worthy | Hurts | Harrison | Higgins |
| 8 | Terry McLaurin | Evans | Walker | Metcalf |
| 9 | TreVeyon Henderson | McLaurin | Moore | Adams |
| 10 | De'Andre Swift | Hubbard | Rice | Conner |
| 11 | Mike Evans | Tetairoa McMillian | Hubbard | Hubbard |
| 12 | David Montgomery | Kamara | DeVonta Smith | Kyler Murray |
• Jalen Hurts is as sure a thing as there is in fantasy football. With the tush push giving him near automatic touchdowns and some of the best receivers and O-linemen in the game, he continues to be under drafted. In 2021, he was QB5 in PPG. He was first in 2022, third in 2023 and sixth last year. And yet he's consistently taken after Joe Burrow and/or Jayden Daniels.
• Hubbard and Conner are as boring as it gets at running back. Evans is as boring as it gets at wide receiver. But sometimes those are the right picks.
• Some buy in for the McMillian hype in Yahoo!'s draft. He could be a total stud for Bryce Young and the Panthers' upstart offense.
Round 5
| Pick | ESPN | Yahoo! | SI | BR |
| 1 | DK Metcalf | George Pickens | Harvey | Emeka Egbuka |
| 2 | Courtland Sutton | Metcalf | Smith?? | Sutton |
| 3 | Calvin Ridley | Joe Mixon | Worthy | Moore |
| 4 | DJ Moore | Waddle | Sutton | Burrow |
| 5 | Jaylen Waddle | Sutton | Pickens | Ridley |
| 6 | Garrett Wilson | J. Williams | LaPorta | Swift |
| 7 | Aaron Jones | Worthy | Hockenson | Tyrone Tracy Jr. |
| 8 | Zay Flowers | Henderson | Conner | J. Williams |
| 9 | Jameson Williams | Smith | Burrow | McMillian |
| 10 | Breece Hall | Travis Hunter | Montgomery | McLaurin |
| 11 | DeVonta Smith | Kaleb Johnson | Pacheco | Smith |
| 12 | Sam LaPorta | Connor | Flowers | Pickens |
• The once respectable Sports Illustrated continues to disappoint — an obvious typo had two people picking DeVonta Smith
• Another note on the SI draft, it's interesting to see Burrow as a fifth-rounder here. He's limited as a runner, in contrast to the other top QBs, but is a clear top guy. He did not go in the top 5 rounds on Yahoo! at all and went a slot above Jalen Hurts at ESPN.
• Do you like Pickens with the Cowboys or Metcalf with the Steelers? It'll be interesting to see how those star wideouts acclimate to their new homes.
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