Everyone likes to tell you that fantasy football isn’t won on draft night, and it isn’t. You have to manage your team well throughout the year. However, if you have a really good draft, you can put yourself in a really good spot, and if you have a really bad draft, no amount of managing can help you get back into the fight.

Your draft position is arguably the most important part of draft night. You can win your league from anywhere, yes, but there are certain draft positions that put you in a much better spot. So, if you’re in some competition to determine your draft order or you want to know what position you should hope to get in a randomized draw, I went through and took a deep dive into every draft position so you don’t have to.

Here’s how I’d rank each draft position by how happy I would be if I got them on draft night.

1. Pick 6

We’re starting with a bit of a risky one, but I love the sixth position in fantasy football drafts. Christian McCaffrey is a top-10 pick every year, but he’s also one of the most undervalued players in all of fantasy. When he’s played the entire season, McCaffrey has finished as the RB1 or RB2 every time outside of his rookie year. People will say he’s super injury-prone, but he’s only missed significant time in one of his last three seasons. I’d be thrilled to get him at No. 6.

But getting CMC isn’t the only attractive thing about the sixth pick. You’re in the middle of the round, meaning you never have to wait long for your next pick, and you can come back in round two and have a lot of options. Want to go Hero RB? You can get Saquon Barkley, Jeremiyah Love, Chase Brown, or maybe even Omarion Hampton. Want to snag a receiver? Malik Nabers, Nico Collins, and George Pickens are all right there.

Then in round three, you’re in range for someone like Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson, Rashee Rice, or Tet McMillan.

If I could leave the first three rounds with any combination of those players, I’d be absolutely thrilled.

2. Pick 2

I’m sure most of you have had the first overall pick at some point in your fantasy career and ended up making a choice you regretted. This year, I think that choice is a bit easier, given Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs seem to be the clear best two fantasy players, but by picking second, you still get an elite fantasy player without having to kick yourself for making the wrong selection at No. 1.

On top of getting one of those two guys, you get two selections in four picks at the round two and round three turn, so you could pair them with two of Chase Brown, George Pickens, Chris Olave, Brock Bowers, Josh Jacobs, Josh Allen, or A.J. Brown.

If I walked out of the first three rounds with Robinson/Gibbs, Olave/Brown, and Allen, I would feel really good about my team heading into the season.

3. Pick 9

With the ninth pick, you tend to miss out on the early running back run, but that means you’re in a prime position to take advantage of the value at the wide receiver position. Based on Sleeper ADP, with the ninth pick, CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Justin Jefferson are all going to be sitting on the board (at least two of them should be), and then just six picks later, you’re back up on the clock in round two.

If you’re feeling antsy and want to lock down at least one running back, De’Von Achane, Kenneth Walker, Ashton Jeanty, and Omarion Hampton are all going in this range, but if you want to go with the Zero RB strategy, you could also snag Malik Nabers, Nico Collins, or even Trey McBride.

You have quite the wait until your pick in the third round, but you’re still in range of a Lamar Jackson, Kyren Williams, or Garrett Wilson.

The ninth pick is the perfect spot to take advantage of value after the early running back run. I’d consider a Zero RB strategy if you end up with this pick.

4. Pick 3

Would it suck to just lose out on Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson? Yes. But the third pick is still a great position to be in. You then get your pick between Ja’Marr Chase, Puka Nacua, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in round one, and then have very close picks in rounds two and three to pick two more stars.

Your pick comes late in round two, yes, but you could pair a Chase or Nacua with Chase Brown, Josh Jacobs, George Pickens, or Chris Olave (or Brock Bowers, anyone?). Then you come back four picks later and could take a Josh Allen to secure the top quarterback, or add more support at receiver or running back with A.J. Brown or Derrick Henry.

I’d rather have the second pick and be in a similar position in round two with Bijan or Jahmyr, but I don’t think being in that position with Chase is a bad option, either.

5. Pick 1

I have the first overall pick just below the third overall pick. There’s not much rhyme or reason for it other than, if you make the wrong pick between Bijan and Jahmyr, you have to live with it all season long.

The first pick puts you in a very similar spot in rounds two and three to the third overall pick, so there’s very little between them other than the threat of making the wrong choice at the top of round one.

6. Pick 4

I don’t usually love early picks, but this year, the top of the draft is loaded, and I don’t love the depth at the end of the first round, so once again, a top-five pick enters this list.

With the fourth overall pick, you get the leftovers from the third pick. They take Chase? Cool, take Nacua. They take Nacua? Cool, take Chase. You can’t go wrong with either one of them, and while I’m not as high on JSN as those two, you also can’t go wrong picking him at No. 4.

Once again, rounds two and three are pretty similar to picks No. 2 and No. 3, so I won’t spend too much time talking about it, but if you can come away with Puka Nacua, Chase Brown, and Derrick Henry, I think you’d be very happy. And that’s a real possibility at this pick.

7. Pick 7

Want to go Hero RB this year? I think the seventh pick is the perfect place to do it from.

In round one, you miss out on the top-two running backs and receivers, but you will end up with Jonathan Taylor or James Cook (or, if you’re lucky and someone is scared of CMC’s health, you could even land him). Then in round two, based on Sleepers’ ADP, you’re likely to land one of Saquon Barkley, Omarion Hampton, Jeremiyah Love, or Chase Brown.

With your running back position locked up, you can turn to receiver in round three while everyone’s trying to pick up the running back scraps and take someone like Rashee Rice, Tee Higgins, Tet McMillan, or Garrett Wilson. Or, if you want a quarterback, Lamar Jackson will probably still be on the board as well.

Another plus is you’ll never wait more than 10 picks to make your next selection, so if a QB run starts in round four or five, you can still get a solid guy.

8. Pick 8

The eighth pick isn’t a whole lot different from the seventh pick, except you’d need two people to pass on CMC to get him, and if they don’t, you’re probably ending up with James Cook instead of Jonathan Taylor. Cook could end up being the better of the two, but Taylor’s ceiling is much higher than Cook’s, in my opinion.

I still like where the eighth pick puts you in round two and three, though. You can still run the hero RB strategy with someone like Saquon Barkley in round two before getting your receiver or quarterback in round three.

Eighth pick isn’t a bad place to be, but it’s not great, either.

9. Pick 5

With the fifth pick, you’re still getting a top-five talent, but I think Gibbs and Robinson are a clear step above the other running backs, and I believe Chase and Nacua are a clear step above the other receivers. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a great player, but with Klint Kubiak gone and a lot of questions about their run game, I think his production could fall off a bit in 2026.

I also don’t love where it puts you in round two. You’re picking too late to get a Saquon Barkley or Malik Nabers, so you’ll probably end up settling for rookie Jeremiyah Love, who is in a bad situation, or Nico Collins, who has an injury history and subpar QB play.

You do get a fairly early pick in round three, but the top players on the board are likely to be Bucky Irving, Rashee Rice, and Tet McMillan. Derrick Henry could still be there (and he’d be my pick if he was), but if he’s gone, I don’t love any other option.

This feels like a spot where you’re going to be reaching for players, and I just don’t love that.

10. Pick 10

I usually am a fan of having a late pick and getting to double back early in the second round, but this year, the final three picks in the first round kind of suck.

With the 10th pick, you’re still likely landing someone like Amon-Ra St. Brown or Justin Jefferson, which are both good picks, but if you miss out on the Kenneth Walker/Ashton Jeanty/De’Von Achane run in the late first/early second, you’re probably taking Malik Nabers or Trey McBride and hoping you can get a running back late in round three, and then you’re stuck with Breece Hall or Kyren Williams as your RB1.

There’s a world where you get lucky and land Amon-Ra St. Brown, De’Von Achane, and Lamar Jackson from this pick, but there’s also a world where you end up with Justin Jefferson (with bad QB play), Malik Nabers (who’s injured), and Breece Hall, and I just don’t like that at all.

11. Pick 11

The 11th pick isn’t much different from the 10th, but you’re almost guaranteed to end up with Justin Jefferson. It’s crazy that that’s a bad thing, but with his quarterback situation, who knows how well he’s going to perform in fantasy this year?

In round two, you should be able to land one of the three running backs I mentioned with the 10th pick, and then you get to come back in round three with someone like Kyren Williams or Lamar Jackson, but again, I just don’t love the worst-case scenario here, where you get Justin Jefferson, Ashton Jeanty and Breece Hall, and they all end up being duds.

13. Pick 12

Without a doubt, the worst pick to have this year is the 12th pick. I think there are a clear top-11 players in fantasy football, and then it becomes a bit of a toss-up. I’m not trying to hate on Drake London, but if my first round pick ended up being London, who has Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix throwing him the ball any given week, I would be a bit upset.

You do get the benefit of securing your pick of the litter when it comes to Kenneth Walker, De’Von Achane, and Ashton Jeanty in round two, but then you have to wait until the end of round three to pick again, and then you’re taking a gamble on someone like Luther Burden III, Jaylen Waddle, or Garrett Wilson.

The 12th pick is the worst place to be in fantasy drafts. If you pick from there, you might as well kiss your championship hopes goodbye.