SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Football Draft Guide
16-team, PPR, 1QB SE Expert Draft
Last Updated on June 17, 2025 12:45 pm by André Lemos | Published: August 27, 2024
We just completed a 16-team, 1-QB, PPR snake draft with 16 experts from SportsEthos. Below is a review of the draft and a comprehensive breakdown of the best picks in each round. There is three WR slots this season as opposed to last season where we had a Superflex and only two WR. This makes WRs slightly more valuable, but we still saw three straight RBs go to start the draft. There were plenty of interesting strategies on display as everyone finally had to reveal their cards after hyping up various players all summer.
| Round 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Christian McCaffrey(SF – RB) | Brian Shade’… |
| 2. | Breece Hall(NYJ – RB) | Patrick’s Dy… |
| 3. | Bijan Robinson(Atl – RB) | Nasty Nate |
| 4. | Tyreek Hill(Mia – WR) | Adam’s Aston… |
| 5. | Amon-Ra St. Brown(Det – WR) | Joshua’s Unr… |
| 6. | CeeDee Lamb(Dal – WR) | AQfresh |
| 7. | Justin Jefferson(Min – WR) | AintDunneYet |
| 8. | Ja’Marr Chase(Cin – WR) | Anthony’s Am… |
| 9. | A.J. Brown(Phi – WR) | Wowie Woseman |
| 10. | Jonathan Taylor(Ind – RB) | EthosKeith |
| 11. | Garrett Wilson(NYJ – WR) | Chris’s Crus… |
| 12. | Kyren Williams(LAR – RB) | Worthy of Love |
| 13. | Marvin Harrison Jr.(Ari – WR) | Larry V.’s L… |
| 14. | Saquon Barkley(Phi – RB) | Saquads |
| 15. | Jahmyr Gibbs(Det – RB) | Jay’s Rad Team |
| 16. | Puka Nacua(LAR – WR) | Sports’s Swa… |
Round 1 went pretty smoothly, but we saw Lamb drop due to his contract situation which has since been resolved, so there’s some value there. St. Brown is a favorite at SE and it will be unlikely he goes top-five in your home league, but it’s impossible to argue with his floor. A 16-team is a little different than 12-team and it’s important to secure your team’s floor more than the ceiling because teams are going to be a lot thinner and more susceptible to injury. I took Nacua on the turn who has returned to practice, so I feel great about that pick. No real surprises except that elite RBs are now in favor and Hall and Robinson going second/third might be the new trend. There is definitely a tear drop after pick 10/11, so keep that in mind when drafting in the first round.
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