- No one can beat peak Christian McCaffrey: McCaffrey at his best has outscored every other active running back at their best.
- Brian Thomas Jr. found his rhythm: Over the last seven weeks, Thomas consistently scored fantasy points and had the third-most points among wide receivers during that stretch.
- Subscribe to PFF+: Get access to player grades, PFF Premium Stats, fantasy football rankings, all of the PFF fantasy draft research tools and more!
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
This perfect draft strategy for 10-team, single quarterback, redraft, PPR fantasy football leagues uses current average draft positions (ADPs) specifically from Sleeper to deliver a round-by-round guide for managers picking at the end of the draft — specifically from Picks 8, 9 or 10. To find more information about any player mentioned in this article, click on the player's name to find their fantasy football player profile.
Last updated: Wednesday, July 30
Round 1, Picks 8-10: Draft a wide receiver
Anyone picking at the end of the first round should aim for a wide receiver. Christian McCaffrey is the best running back available, and he will typically last until the early parts of the second round on Sleeper, although it partially depends on which wide receiver you want to target. If it’s Brian Thomas Jr., who has the highest ranking of the remaining wide receivers, then it’s fine to go McCaffrey first and Thomas second. However, Puka Nacua and Amon-Ra St. Brown are unlikely to last until the second round. It’s also perfectly viable to start with two wide receivers.
Top Target: Brian Thomas Jr.
Brian Thomas Jr. had a strong start to his rookie season and ended it among the league’s best fantasy receivers. In his final seven games, he gained at least 13 PPR points each week and averaged 21.5 points, third behind only Ja’Marr Chase and Puka Nacua. He played at least 84% of his team’s offensive snaps in all but one of those games. The team added Travis Hunter in the draft, and he will see a decent target rate, but typically, two great wide receivers can co-exist as long as there isn’t much more competition for targets. Thomas led all wide receivers in yards per route run out of the slot with 3.12, and new offensive coordinator Liam Coen has found a lot of success with his slot receivers in the past. An increased role in the slot could lead Thomas to remain among the top wide receivers in fantasy football.
Possible Targets: Puka Nacua, Nico Collins, Malik Nabers, Drake London, A.J. Brown
Round 2, Picks 11-13: Draft a running back or wide receiver
As mentioned last round, it’s OK to draft either a running back or a wide receiver with this selection. Sleeper tends to be more wide receiver heavy in the first round than other platforms, making it harder to find a good value at wide receiver at this pick. That leads running back to be the slightly better option here, especially if McCaffrey is still on the board. If not, there should be at least one or two top-10 wide receiver options still available, which would make the better choice.
© 2026 PFF - all rights reserved.