Best Draft Position Fantasy Football: 10-Team 2024

Your draft position plays a big role in the fantasy football team you’re able to put together in a 10-team league.

You can certainly build a championship-winning team from any spot. But after running the numbers you'll see below, it's clear that some draft positions are more advantageous than others.

Let's look at the best draft position for 10-team fantasy football drafts -- and how you can optimize your draft from any spot.

What’s the Best Draft Position in Fantasy Football 10-Team Leagues?

The best draft position in 10-team leagues varies from year to year depending on the fantasy landscape.

What’s shaping up as the best draft position for 2024? We ran the numbers … and the results might surprise you.

Best Draft Position for 10-Team PPR Leagues

The best draft position for 10-team PPR leagues changes drastically depending on how closely you follow ADP. You can get a big edge over your competition by shunning ADP and drafting optimally. Let's look at the specifics.

Based on ADP

The table above shows the total fantasy value (we call it 3D Player Value) you would capture from each draft position in a 10-team PPR league, according to the most recent ADP data.

Draft positions are ordered from most total 3D Value points to fewest.

Here’s a more detailed look at where ADP lands players at each draft position:

The No. 8 pick is the best draft position in 10-team PPR leagues if you draft according to ADP. The eighth pick lands Justin Jefferson in Round 1 and then strong relative values in Rounds 2 (Puka Nacua), 3 (Jalen Hurts), and 6 (Malik Nabers).

Pick Nos. 1 and 3 are next-best spots in 10-team PPR leagues. Those draft positions land strong values such as Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, Marvin Harrison, and Deebo Samuel.

The No. 9 spot is the worst draft position in 10-team PPR leagues, according to ADP. Our projections show A.J. Brown (Round 1), Mike Evans (Round 3), and Anthony Richardson (Round 5) as relatively poor values from that draft spot.

The No. 9 pick captures 12.4% fewer 3D Value points than the No. 8 pick.

Based on Draft Sharks Rankings

We just looked at the best draft positions if you were picking exactly by ADP.  That's clearly not optimal. You can do better.

How much better?

We ran through the same exercise as above ... but instead of picking based on ADP, we picked the most valuable player at each spot according to the custom and dynamic fantasy football cheat sheet on the Draft War Room.

The result was a significant increase in total 3D Value -- and a new answer to the question of best draft position.

In 10-Team PPR, the best draft position is pick No. 3

Drafting optimally from the No. 3 spot in 10-team PPR drafts nets you 305.5 3D Value points. That marks a 7.6% increase over the 283.9 points you'd land by picking straight from ADP from the No. 3 spot.

Best 12-Team PPR Draft Positions Ranked

Here's how all 10 spots stack up in terms of maximum 3D Value points in 10-team PPR drafts. You'll also find the 3D Value at each spot drafting by ADP, plus the percent increase you'll get using Draft Sharks rankings.

The Draft Sharks optimal nets at least 5.1% more 3D Value points at every single draft position -- and 8.8% or more at eight spots.

Best Draft Position for 10-Team Half-PPR Leagues

The No. 1 spot is NOT the best draft position in 10-team half-PPR leagues, whether you're drafting by ADP or optimally with Draft Sharks rankings. Let's dive into the numbers and find out where you want to pick from.

Based on ADP

The table above shows the total fantasy value (we call it 3D Player Value) you would capture from each draft position in a 10-team half-PPR league, according to the most recent fantasy ADP data. Draft positions are ordered from most total 3D Value points to fewest.

Pick No. 3 checks in as the best draft position in 10-team half-PPR drafts, followed closely by Pick Nos. 8 and 1. There's then a 15-point drop in 3D Value points to the next-best draft position.

Here’s a look at where ADP places players by draft position in 10-team half-PPR leagues:

The No. 3 pick lands strong values with CeeDee Lamb in the first and Deebo Samuel in the fith.

On the flip side, you don’t wanna be drafting by ADP from the No. 2 spot in half-PPR leagues. You'll be stuck with a 38.8 fewer 3D Value points than the No. 3 spot.

Based on Draft Sharks Rankings

We just looked at the best draft positions if you were picking exactly by ADP.  That's clearly not optimal. You can do better.

How much better?

We ran through the same exercise as above ... but instead of picking based on ADP, we picked the most valuable player at each spot according to the custom and dynamic fantasy football cheat sheet on the Draft War Room.

The result was a significant increase in total 3D Value at every spot.

In 10-Team Half-PPR, the best draft position is pick No. 3

Drafting optimally from the No. 3 spot in a 10-team half-PPR league lands you 315.9 3D Value points. That's an 8.0% increase over the 292.6 points by picking straight from ADP at the No. 3 spot.

Best 12-Team Half-PPR Draft Positions Ranked

Here's how all 10 spots stack up in terms of maximum 3D Value points in 10-team half-PPR drafts. You'll also find the 3D Value at each spot drafting by ADP, plus the percent increase you'll get using Draft Sharks rankings.

The best spots in 10-team half-PPR drafts reside at the front of the draft. Picks 1, 2, and 3 allow you to lock up Christian McCaffrey or CeeDee Lamb in Round 1 and strong values Jalen Hurts, Deebo Samuel, Jaylen Waddle, and Tee Higgins in Rounds 3 through 6.

Pick Nos. 9 and 10 are the worst draft positions in 10-team Half-PPR. Still, drafting optimally nets you 15.7% more 3D Value points than drafting straight by ADP from the 9 and 8.2% more from the 8.

Elsewhere, we see huge gains in 3D Value. The Draft Sharks optimal is better by at least 9.5% at six spots -- and by more than 15% at three spots.

Best Draft Position for 10-Team Non-PPR Leagues

The gap between the best draft position and worst in 10-team non-PPR leagues is wide. Let's dig into the numbers -- and look at how you can save your fantasy season even from a bad draft spot.

Based on ADP

The table above shows the total fantasy value (we call it 3D Player Value) you would capture from each draft position in a 10-team non-PPR league, according to the most recent fantasy ADP data. Draft positions are ordered from most total 3D Value points to least.

The No 1. spot checks in as easily the best draft position according to ADP, with a whopping 37.1-point gap down to the second-best draft position.

Here’s a look at where ADP places players by draft position in 10-team non-PPR leagues:

The No. 1 pick has the advantage of landing Christian McCaffrey, who is easily the most valuable player in non-PPR. The No. 1 spot also lands strong values in Rounds 3 (Derrick Henry) and 5 (Cooper Kupp).

The No. 5 pick is the worst draft position in non-PPR, netting 18.9% fewer 3D Value points than the No. 1 pick.

Based on Draft Sharks Rankings

Luckily, you don't need to draft straight by ADP. In fact, you shouldn't. You can assemble a strong team from any draft position using Draft Sharks rankings and 3D Values.

We ran through the same exercise as above ... but instead of picking based on ADP, we picked the most valuable player at each spot according to the custom and dynamic fantasy football cheat sheet on the Draft War Room.

The result was a notable increase in total 3D Value at every draft position ... and a new answer to the question of best draft position.

In 10-Team Non-PPR, the best draft position is pick No. 2

Drafting optimally from the No. 2 spot in 10-team non-PPR drafts nets 311.3 3D Value points. That's a huge 18.1% increase over the 263.6 points by picking straight from ADP at the No. 2 spot.

Best 10-Team Non-PPR Draft Positions Ranked

Here's how all 10 spots stack up in terms of maximum 3D Value points in 10-team non-PPR drafts. You'll also find the 3D Value at each spot drafting by ADP, plus the percent increase you'll get using Draft Sharks rankings.

The gap between the best and worst draft positions isn't nearly as big drafting optimally as it is drafting by ADP. And we see big gains in 3D Value by drafting optimally from any spot.

In fact, the worst draft position picking by Draft Sharks rankings (No. 10) nets more 3D Value points than the second-best draft position by ADP.

The takeaway: You can win your 10-team non-PPR league from any draft position.

Beat Your Draft Position By Picking Smarter

Most fantasy players aren’t able to choose their draft position. That means you might get stuck in a bad spot.

Here’s the good news: You’re not restricted by ADP. You can draft smarter with a custom, dynamic fantasy football cheat sheet on the Draft War Room.

ADP is just one of 17 value indicators the Draft War Room considers to help you make the best pick every time you’re on the clock.

Learn more about how the Draft War Room works.

Jared Smola, Lead Analyst

Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and My Team tools. He currently ranks 1st among 133 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.