2026 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 12-Team Half-PPR Mock (1st Pick)
Updated: Saturday, September 5, 2026The best way to become good at something is to practice. So, what should you do if you want to draft a better fantasy football team?
Practice, of course!
Leading up to the start of the 2026 NFL season, we will use the fantasy football mock draft simulator to complete fantasy football mock drafts. And we will do so using a variety of scoring formats — point per reception (Half-PPR), Half-PPR, standard scoring and even 2-QB leagues — and league sizes. The goal is to provide you with a good representation of the team that you may be able to draft given your league settings while also providing the rationale of why we made the picks we did.
> Our 2026 mocks will be centralized here: Fantasy Football Mock Drafts.
That said, nothing beats practicing yourself so (check out the simulator) and complete a mock in a matter of minutes.
Half-PPR Mock Draft: 12 Teams, 1st Pick
Starting positions: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex (RB/WR/TE), 1 K, 1 DST; Bench spots: 6
1.01 - Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions
There is a clear top two — Gibbs and Bijan Robinson — atop draft boards this draft season. The the more favorable offensive environment in Detroit (over Atlanta) gives Gibbs the edge between these elite backs. Gibbs has racked up 3,768 yards from scrimmage and a league-high 38 touchdowns in 34 games over the past two seasons. Wheels up!
2.12 - Nico Collins, WR, Houston Texans
Collins has three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, averaging a 17-game pace of 88.6/1,384.3/8.5 with 15.6 Y/R over that span despite missing multiple games in all five of his NFL seasons. C.J. Stroud has regressed since winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, but Collins has still finished top-10 in fantasy PPG (half-PPR) in each of the past three seasons (among WRs who've played 8+ games): 14.7 (WR6), 14.7 (WR6) and 12.7 (WR10) in 2023-2025, respectively.
3.01 - Javonte Williams, RB, Dallas Cowboys
While Chris Olave is ranked higher in my overall rankings, I pivoted to a second running here knowing my next two picks (4.12/5.01) are in the middle of the sweet spot for some of my favorite WR targets. Williams should once again dominate backfield touches in one of the league's highest-scoring offenses. Among running backs with 100-plus carries, Williams finished fourth in yards after contact per attempt (3.56) last year behind only De'Von Achane (4.11), Bijan Robinson (3.95) and Derrick Henry (3.59), per PFF.
4.12 - David Montgomery, RB, Houston Texans
I would have been comfortable with Montgomery as my RB2 (had I taken Olave at 3.01), but I prefer the wide receivers in this range over the running backs that went in Round 5 (Bucky Irving, Jadarian Price, Bhayshul Tuten and TreVeyon Henderson). Joe Mixon missed all of 2025, but I could see Montgomery finishing with similar output to Mixon's last season (271 touches, 1,325 yards and 12 touchdowns).
5.01 - Luther Burden III, WR, Chicago Bears
Burden's offseason hype was slowed only by his groin injury, but it seems likely he will be ready to play Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers. Coach Ben Johnson has compared the second-year receiver this offseason to Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jarvis Landry, receivers he has previously coached, while also saying in May that he's "buying Luther Burden stock right now." Even if he starts slower than expected, Burden could turn into a tremendous value in Round 5.
6.12 - Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Arizona Cardinals
7.01 - Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Harrison's career is off to an underwhelming start, but he's worth a roll of the dice here as a post-hype sleeper. Lawrence was as good as it gets from Week 12 through the end of the season, averaging a league-high 26.3 fantasy PPG over that stretch. Over those final seven regular-seasongames, Lawrence averaged 265.1 passing YPG, 25.4 rushing YPG, and accounted for 22 touchdowns (18 passing and four rushing).
8.12 - Stefon Diggs, WR, Washington Commanders
9.01 - Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders
Back-to-back Commanders provide some depth for my roster. Diggs is coming off a 1,000-yard season with the Patriots, and Washington was an ideal landing spot for him in free agency. "Bill" should lead Washington's backfield in fantasy production.
10.12 - Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons
11.01 - Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Pitts took advantage of his opportunities with Drake London sidelined five games in 2025 — 35/422/3 on 44 targets, which included his monster 11/166/3 game in the middle of the fantasy playoffs. There are some concerns about his splits with/without Drake London and the team's offense could be a mess due to their quarterback situation, but what a value 120 picks into this draft. Liam Coen already has some built-in trust with Rodriguez due to their time together with the Kentucky Wildcats. Bhayshul Tuten's "co-starter" has averaged 4.6 yards per carry over his career and never averaged less than 4.5 YPC in any season. Moreover, he ranked top 10 in yards after connect per attempt (3.46) last season among back with 50-plus carries, per PFF.
12.12 - Denzel Boston, WR, Cleveland Browns
13.01 - Tyjae Spears, RB, Tennessee Titans
Boston and Spears provide end-of-bench depth to this roster.
14.12 - Pittsburgh Steelers DST
15.01 - Cam Little, K, Jacksonville Jaguars
MORE: View full mock