Fantasy Football Mock Draft: A Bijan Robinson + Nico Collins Start From The 1.02 In Half-PPR

We continue our fantasy football mock draft exercises with a 12-team, half-PPR format.

Admittedly, I prefer to pick toward the end of Round 1, allowing me to double-tap on two elite running backs. But I wanted to see how I liked my team with a top-two selection.

Feel free to check out the entire draft board here.

Half-PPR Fantasy Football Mock Draft Review

Round 1

1.01: Jahmyr Gibbs
1.02: Bijan Robinson
1.03: Ja’Marr Chase
1.04: Puka Nacua
1.05: Jaxon Smith-Njigba
1.06: Christian McCaffrey
1.07: Amon-Ra St. Brown
1.08: James Cook
1.09: Justin Jefferson
1.10: CeeDee Lamb
1.11: Kenneth Walker
1.12: Jonathan Taylor

Takeaways

Jonathan Taylor falling to the final pick of Round 1 is pretty surprising, especially in a half-PPR setting. When looking back at Taylor’s 2025 campaign, most will recall the 20 total touchdowns. Or perhaps the near 1,600 rushing yards and 323 carries, all of which are awesome. But an overlooked aspect of Taylor’s monster year?

A career-best 55 targets.

Taylor logged 82% of the snaps (2nd), but the story here is the huge jump in obvious passing-down playing time. Taylor’s 85% two-minute snap share was easily the highest rate of his career, while ranking seventh in football.

Round 2

2.01: Chase Brown
2.02: Derrick Henry
2.03: Saquon Barkley
2.04: Drake London
2.05: De’Von Achane
2.06: Ashton Jeanty
2.07: AJ Brown
2.08: Brock Bowers
2.09: George Pickens
2.10: Omarion Hampton
2.11: Nico Collins
2.12: Malik Nabers

Takeaways

It’s always interesting to see where Ashton Jeanty comes off draft boards given his ankle injury. A consensus first-round pick just a few weeks ago, Jeanty continues to fall to the middle/end of Round 2, which presents a huge value opportunity, especially if he doesn’t miss any games. Because they were already pretty close in rankings before the injury, I don’t think I would have selected Jeanty over Omarion Hampton at this stage, but the upside is obviously there.

Once again, I have Saquon Barkley as a first-round player, so seeing him drafted at the 2.03 is really enticing, especially after Team 10 already started with CeeDee Lamb. I’m excited about Barkley’s prospects in a new, more creative offense, behind a healthier, more cohesive offensive line. Barkley averaged 4.2 YPC and 1.97 YBC/ATT with RT Lane Johnson on the field, while posting a 16.9% first-down-per-rush rate. But with Johnson sidelined, the numbers plummeted even more, as Barkley averaged 4.0 YPC and just 0.88 YBC/ATT. And unsurprisingly, the Eagles offense was much worse without their star lineman on the field, averaging an ugly -0.04 EPA/Play and 5.1 yards per play, while posting a success rate of 39.1%. With Johnson on the field? 0.05 EPA/Play, 5.4 yards per play, 42.2% success rate.

Round 3

3.01: Rashee Rice
3.02: DeVonta Smith
3.03: Chris Olave
3.04: Tee Higgins
3.05: Trey McBride
3.06: Jeremiyah Love
3.07: Zay Flowers
3.08: Josh Allen
3.09: Jaylen Waddle
3.10: Breece Hall
3.11: Colston Loveland
3.12: Javonte Williams

Takeaways

Just like Jeanty, rookie running back Jeremiyah Love has also seen his fantasy football ADP drop due to an ankle injury. The latest reports indicate that Love is “50/50” to suit up Week 1, but regardless, if his regular season usage mirrors his preseason involvement, the 3.06 will be a screaming value.

A few weeks back in his preseason debut, Love played alongside Tyler Allgeier during the first two drives of the game, handling 71% of the snaps and 64% of the Cardinals’ rush attempts. He then dominated the snaps on his third and final drive with Gardner Minshew in the game. The usage was great, but the rookie also passed the eye test. Love carried the ball 11 times for 58 yards, showcasing power, elusiveness and an array of Madden-like skill moves. He avoided three tackles on 11 carries, while averaging well over four yards after contact per rush.

Round 4

4.01: Garrett Wilson
4.02: Ladd McConkey
4.03: Emeka Egbuka
4.04: Kyren Williams
4.05: Tetairoa McMillan
4.06: Travis Etienne
4.07: Luther Burden III
4.08: Jayden Daniels
4.09: Davante Adams
4.10: Bucky Irving
4.11: Cam Skattebo
4.12: Lamar Jackson

Takeaways

Two quarterbacks come off the board in Round 4—Jayden Daniels and Lamar Jackson. It was a little surprising to see Daniels drafted a few spots ahead of Jackson, especially considering the Fantasy Life consensus fantasy football rankings have Jackson ahead.

Daniels obviously has tremendous upside, but Jackson has the best chance to dethrone Josh Allen as fantasy’s QB1. During Weeks 1-3 of last year (you know, when he was healthy), Jackson averaged 27 fantasy points per game (QB1), while handling 16% of Baltimore’s designed rush attempts. Jackson also averaged 240.7 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and 39.3 rushing yards per game in that span.

And then Week 4 happened.

During a loss to Kansas City, Jackson suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him for three games. And when he returned in Week 9, he just wasn’t the same. Seemingly on the injury report every week, Jackson battled ankle, back and hamstring issues the rest of the way. From Week 9 on, Jackson was clearly not playing at close to 100%, and the per-game results showed it.

Weeks 9-18:

186.7 passing yards
20.3 rushing yards
13.7 FPPG
8% scramble rate
7% designed rush rate

Post-injury, Jackson’s designed rush rate was cut in half, while he ranked as the QB19 in fantasy. Anyone who watched the Ravens would agree that Jackson’s down season was almost exclusively injury-related. A clean bill of health and potentially an uptick in pass volume from new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle will have Jackson once again contending for overall QB1 status in 2026.

Round 5

5.01: D’Andre Swift
5.02: Christian Watson
5.03: Mike Evans
5.04: Drake Maye
5.05: Quinshon Judkins
5.06: Bhayshul Tuten
5.07: David Montgomery
5.08: Jameson Williams
5.09: Joe Burrow
5.10: Rome Odunze
5.11: Jalen Hurts
5.12: DJ Moore

Takeaways

Given the revolving door of injuries he continues to walk through this summer, Round 5 is too rich for Mike Evans.

At least for me.

And this is coming from the guy who wrote over 1,000 words on why Evans has so much upside in Kyle Shanahan’s offense this season. But we have to be fluid with our takes and stances. Even though I do still firmly believe Evans has immense potential in San Francisco, his latest injury issues admittedly make me more hesitant to draft him with a top-55 pick.

Oh. And for anyone wondering, yes, I drafted Christian Watson again.

Round 6

6.01: Tucker Kraft
6.02: Parker Washington
6.03: Terry McLaurin
6.04: Tyler Warren
6.05: Jadarian Price
6.06: Trevor Lawrence
6.07: Caleb Williams
6.08: MarShawn Lloyd
6.09: TreVeyon Henderson
6.10: Carnell Tate
6.11: Rhamondre Stevenson
6.12: Harold Fannin Jr.

Takeaways

A few things stand out here.

Let’s start with suddenly the most popular player in fantasy football, MarShawn Lloyd. His updated consensus Fantasy Life rank is RB25, which is exactly where he comes off the board here. There’s obviously still some uncertainty with the Green Bay backfield, as we don’t know when/if Josh Jacobs will play this season. But if we were guaranteed that Lloyd would be the starting running back for the Packers all year long, he’d probably be a top-50 pick. Because if Jacobs is unavailable, there is a massive, fantasy-friendly role that is Lloyd’s for the taking.

Jacobs’ Ranks Since 2024:

6th in carries per game (16.7)
3rd in rushing TDs per game (0.88)
1st in goal-to-go carries per game (1.94)
10th in PPR PPG (16.5)

Right after Lloyd was honestly a head-scratching selection. TreVeyon Henderson, who is already a backup, has yet to be cleared for full practice. And yet, he’s drafted a few spots ahead of where I selected New England’s actual starting running back, Rhamondre Stevenson. There should be literally zero drafts where Henderson comes off the board before Stevenson.

Round 7

7.01: Marvin Harrison Jr.
7.02: Chris Godwin
7.03: Justin Herbert
7.04: Jonathon Brooks
7.05: Brian Thomas Jr.
7.06: Jayden Reed
7.07: Josh Downs
7.08: DK Metcalf
7.09: Jaylen Warren
7.10: Rico Dowdle
7.11: Kyle Pitts
7.12: Stefon Diggs

Takeaways

Not a ton standing out here, outside of Stefon Diggs being drafted with the final pick of Round 7 when De'Zhaun Stribling was still on the board. Of course, Team 12 went on to draft Stribling with the first pick of Round 8, so it ultimately didn’t matter.

Oh, and three consecutive Steelers came off the board, so that was kind of cool.

Round 8

8.01: De’Zhaun Stribling
8.02: Makai Lemon
8.03: Jaxson Dart
8.04: Tony Pollard
8.05: George Kittle
8.06: Sam LaPorta
8.07: KC Concepcion
8.08: Blake Corum
8.09: RJ Harvey
8.10: JK Dobbins
8.11: Quentin Johnston
8.12: Kenneth Gainwell

Takeaways

With it sounding more and more like George Kittle will be active Week 1, Round 8 is looking more and more like a serious value, especially with so many other San Francisco pass catchers currently banged up. He’s entering his age-33 season, but when healthy last year, Kittle remained an elite tight end, ranking fourth at the position in yards per route run (2.18).

Meanwhile, although it was only one pick, it was interesting to see RJ Harvey drafted ahead of presumed starter J.K. Dobbins.

Round 9

9.01: Alec Pierce
9.02: Dak Prescott
9.03: Travis Kelce
9.04: Dalton Kincaid
9.05: Michael Wilson
9.06: Jacory Croskey-Merritt
9.07: Jakobi Meyers
9.08: Michael Pittman Jr.
9.09: Jordan Addison
9.10: Chuba Hubbard
9.11: Jordan Mason
9.12: Brock Purdy

Takeaways

Honestly? Not much to see here. I like the value on both Jordan Mason and Jacory Croskey-Merrit in Round 9. Meanwhile, Dak Prescott remains my favorite value quarterback. He’s arbitrage Joe Burrow.