NFL preseason games are over, drafts are happening constantly and average draft position (ADP) is moving daily. If you’re picking at the 1.12 or perhaps want to do some research into what your opponent might do at that spot, this is the article for you.
This series will give you an overview of what you can expect to see, no matter which first-round pick you draw. In what feels like a very strong first round, nailing your picks will be more important than ever.
Let’s dive into our approach for the fantasy football 1.12 pick for upcoming drafts. We look into the players likely to be available, those to target/avoid and a mock draft from the pick to help you prepare for your fantasy football draft. All ADP is taken from our new Real-Time ADP tool, so we can be sure to show you exactly what is actually happening.
Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: Pick 1.12
Players to Consider at 1.12 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
Here are players likely to be available when you make your selection:
Players to Target at 1.12/2.01 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
There might never have been such a good year to be picking at the back end of drafts, and at the 1.12 pick, you’ll get to double-dip on two high-end players. Unfortunately, it does mean that you’ll miss out on the highest tier of players, but there are plenty of options that aren’t far behind those top options.
Malik Nabers (WR – NYG)
One of the true bright spots of 2024 fantasy football was Malik Nabers, who broke Puka Nacua’s record for rookie receptions with 109. If it weren’t for Brock Bowers getting to 112, he might be talked up even further.
The argument against drafting Nabers last year was his poor quarterback situation, and while it isn’t exactly perfect this year, Nabers showed enough to assuage any doubts. Current reports suggest it’s a true battle between Russell Wilson and Jaxson Dart for the QB1 job, with Jameis Winston a distant third choice.
Any of those options could be better than last year’s quadrant of poor options. Among quarterbacks with 50+ dropbacks, Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito and Tim Boyle all ranked in the bottom 20% of yards per attempt (YPA), and only DeVito ranked above 40th in quarterback rating (33rd).
Wilson ranked 16th in quarterback rating and 18th in YPA, while the Giants believed in Dart enough to spend a first-round pick on him. Nabers continues to have minimal competition around him, with Wan’Dale Robinson the most noteworthy. Nabers should be set for another top-10 positional finish, having finished as the fantasy WR6 in 2024.
Nico Collins (WR – HOU)
Since the start of the 2023 season, Nico Collins has led all wide receivers in yards per route run versus man coverage, and his journey from zero to hero has been truly impressive. There are still reasons to doubt his ability to crack the top of the wide receiver chart, but he’s an interesting upside swing at this point in the draft.
Collins is the clear alpha in an offense featuring two new rookie receivers, the often-injured Christian Kirk and Tank Dell, who potentially could miss the entire season. According to FantasyPoints.com, Collins is the only wide receiver to have ranked inside the top 10 in yards per route run versus zone and man coverage in back-to-back years.
In Weeks 1-5 last season, Collins was the WR2 overall, averaging 21.6 points per game before missing time with a hamstring injury. The injury history might be enough to put some people off, but one thing we’ve learned in fantasy football is that you’re injury-prone until you’re not, and that presents an opportunity.
Ashton Jeanty (RB – LV)
Whenever we draft rookie running backs this high, it’s worth remembering that since 1984, the only rookie to finish as the RB1 was Saquon Barkley in 2018, but it’s also worth considering that Ashton Jeanty belongs right in the same prospect tier as Barkley when he entered the league.
Jeanty possesses rare qualities in his vision and pass-catching abilities, and with Geno Smith at quarterback, he’ll play with someone comfortable getting the ball to his best players. Jeanty averaged over six yards per carry in each of his last two seasons and only caught fewer passes in his final season because he was routinely taking the ball to the house on his carries.
For what it’s worth, Smith targeted running backs at the eighth-highest rate in 2024, and more of the same would be very fruitful for Jeanty. The Raiders had no problem drafting Jeanty with the sixth overall pick, and it’s hard not to want to do so in fantasy drafts when he could be a lock for 300+ touches in his rookie season.
Drake London (WR – ATL)
While ADP might not be quite this high on Drake London, the simple fact is that he’s not coming back to you in round three, so if you’re interested, now is the time to secure him.
London is coming off a breakout season where he set career-highs in targets, receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, despite Kirk Cousins’ ropey play at times. London saw an astronomical 39 targets in the three full games Michael Penix played, turning them into 352 yards and two touchdowns. Despite 2024 being the best season of London’s career, it feels like there’s still more ceiling potentially available.
Players to Avoid at 1.12/2.01 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
With having two picks back-to-back in this range, we want to hit on them because the quality of players coming back will be substantially lower than the ones now available.
Josh Jacobs (RB – GB)
For the majority of the offseason, Josh Jacobs has gone in the back end of round two drafts in best ball, but in the more running back-hungry redraft contests, we’re seeing Jacobs getting pushed up closer to the turn.
It’s fair to point out that Jacobs has very little competition with MarShawn Lloyd unable to stay healthy, but the Packers have indicated they want to pass more than last year with the addition of Matthew Golden, and Jacobs has long been a running back reliant on volume. Jacobs is unlikely to be a league winner, and there are clear league winners in this range.
Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND)
Perhaps with Daniel Jones at quarterback, Jonathan Taylor gets enough checkdowns to boost his fantasy value. However, Taylor has never been a special pass-catcher, and the team sounds like they might want to get DJ Giddens involved in that aspect of the game, keeping Taylor fresh for the between-the-tackles work.
Taylor was a disappointment for much of the 2024 season, finishing as the RB13 or worse in eight of his 13 games. He came to life in Weeks 16 and 17, and was a potential league-winner, if he hadn’t killed your chances by then. Taylor scored 42% of his points for 2024 in just three games. That spike week potential is interesting, but the amount of dud weeks is less alluring.
A.J. Brown (WR – PHI)
It was a strange 2024 season for A.J. Brown, with him having the second-highest target share among wide receivers (31.1%) and the fifth-most receiving yards per game (83), but translating to just a WR16 finish in total PPR points. Even on a per-game basis, he was only the WR13.
Brown’s 7.5 targets per game ranked 23rd among receivers, which highlights the uphill battle he had to relevancy while Saquon Barkley had a season for the history books. Perhaps if Barkley regresses this year, or if the Eagles trend differently under new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, Brown can move back into the top tier of receivers. For now, the 1.12 pick is too costly for a player with question marks.
Roster Constructions to Consider at 1.12 Fantasy Football Draft Pick
The 1.12 opens up many roster construction possibilities, but it will largely come down to how you start your draft for how you want to proceed. Having the chance to double-dip is a huge advantage as you control your own destiny.
We can draft a wide receiver, such as Nico Collins or Malik Nabers, and then take a running back like De’Von Achane or Ashton Jeanty with the next pick. You might find it easier to construct Hero RB builds with these two back-to-back picks. If you lean into a Dual RB build, you’ll have a very high floor, but it can become much harder to build a nice wide receiver room.
Fantasy Football Mock Draft From the 1.12 Pick
We used our FREE fantasy football mock draft simulator to show you an example of a draft from the 1.11 position. You can sync your league for free and mock draft against your fantasy football league settings to prepare more specifically for your draft.
Here’s how our fantasy football mock draft from the 1.12 position turned out.
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