Best Draft Position Fantasy Football: Ranking Which Pick is Best for 2021

Fantasy football draft season is rapidly approaching. That means fantasy managers are naming their teams, scouring rankings and digging for sleepers

Some leagues add an extra wrinkle to the draft process: allowing managers to pick their draft slot. This can be based on a pre-draft competition, random draw or standings from the past year.

That can be a tough decision, but The Duel is here to help with a ranking, from worst to best, of the best draft positions for fantasy football in 2021, based on 12-team snake draft leagues.

Best Draft Position Fantasy Football 2021

12. 12th Overall

Picking back-to-back can give owners a sense of control over their rosters, but there's a big tier of players with an average draft position (ADP) in the early to mid second round that are all comparable values, meaning you've got the worst first-round pick without getting much of an edge in Round 2.

11. 11th Overall

This is pretty much the same story as the 12th overall pick.

10. 10th overall

More of the same at No. 10. The perk here is that you have the best chance of this group to have a mid-tier first-round pick fall into your lap.

9. 1st Overall

Getting to take your pick of any player in the draft always feels good, but watching another 22 go off the board before you pick again does not. With a top tier of about four players (Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Derrick Henry and Alvin Kamara) in 2021 Drafts, picking first isn't really giving you any edge over the rest of the early picks.

8. 2nd Overall

Ditto for second overall. The end of Round 2 sees a drop-off in value, and having that 23rd overall pick doesn't leave you in a great spot. Having 20-pick gaps can also make it tough later in the draft to react to runs on positions, potentially leaving you high and dry at certain positions.

7. 7th Overall

After that top tier of four RBs, Saquon Barkley and Ezekiel Elliott form a tier 1-A. Unless one of them fall out the top six, picking No. 7 leaves you with the top pick in the following tier — not an ideal spot.

6. 5th Overall

This ranking follows the same reasoning that hurts picking No. 7. You're likely making the first pick two comparable players in Round 1, while going one spot lower in Round 2.

5. 6th Overall

It's like picking No. 5, but better.

4. 3rd Overall

As mentioned above, the top four RBs form the top tier in drafts this year. Picking third keeps you in that tier while also having a shot at one of those mid-second rounders.

3. 4th Overall

The best early pick in this year's draft, by ADP this leaves you picking one of the top-four RBs and still having a great shot at one of the second-tier second-rounders. Pairing Derrick Henry or Alvin Kamara with someone like Calvin Ridley or Joe Mixon is a nearly ideal start.

2. 9th Overall

The early second round has a tier of four players based on ADP (Austin Ekeler, Stefon Diggs, Najee Harris and DeAndre Hopkins) who could all be argued for as late first-round picks. That means the 15th and 16th overall picks are two of the most valuable in the entire draft. Getting the 9/15 combo is just about as good as it gets this year.

1. 8th Overall

The edge in value of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 pick is larger than the edge from 15 to 16, making the No. 8 pick the best you could ask for. There's an outside chance that a top-six RB falls to you in Round 1, and also getting that higher third-round pick is hard to complain about.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.