Expert Fantasy Football Mock Draft Recap: 12-Team Half-PPR (August 2025)

We’re heading into the biggest draft weekend of the year, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get the band back together for one final Half-PPR mock to see how some of your favorite 4for4 folks are approaching drafts.

The ADP I’ll be referencing throughout the article comes from our fantastic ADP tool.

2025 Fantasy Football Mock Draft Settings

• Roster Settings: 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 2 FLEX (RB/WR/TE), 5 BENCH

• Scoring: Half-PPR

The First Three Rounds

Takeaways

The first round was split right down the middle, with a half-dozen wide receivers and a half-dozen running backs taken. Earlier in the year, it took until pick 16 to get to our RB5, and this group was largely the same as the drafters in that mock.

There were 16 wide receivers and 14 running backs taken in the first 36 picks. The onesie positions split the remaining six picks down the middle, with the top trio of quarterbacks and tight ends all going in the second and third rounds.

These three rounds were largely uneventful. There were some shifts by a couple of picks in either direction compared to ADP, but nothing too surprising.

Rounds 4-7

Takeaways

Through the 7th Round, we see 41 WRs (49%), 30 RBs (36%), 7 QBs (8%), and 6 TEs (7%) taken. The 9th Round was where our drafts began a big WR run with 9/12 of the picks that round being wideouts.

This portion of the draft wasn't overly surprising if you've been drafting much lately. There's a clear tier break at wide receiver once you get past Jaylen Waddle (who went at 6.02). If you look at the receiver run in Round 5 and extend it a few picks out in either direction, you can see that 12 WRs were taken within 16 picks.

You'll often find that quarterbacks go later in these types of "expert" mocks compared to your traditional home league, but Patrick Mahomes all the way at the end of the 7th seems like solid value. He's going in the 4th round on some platforms at the moment.

Rounds 8-10

Takeaways

As we hit this part of the draft, only half of the league had a QB1. By the end of these three rounds, there were 13 QBs selected altogether, with one team even drafting a QB2. In these three rounds specifically, the tides began to shift towards running backs and completing starting lineups.

Two teams left in Round 10 without a complete starting lineup, one without a QB1, while the other was without a TE1. Two teams had five running backs, while seven teams had five wide receivers. The average for each position was 3.8 and 4.3 for running backs and wide receiver selections, respectively. In addition, no team had a TE2.

Rounds 11-13

Takeaways

Over the last three rounds of the mock, drafters turned their attention back towards lottery ticket wide receivers and filling out the onesie positions. Only 22% of the final 36 picks were running backs.

Roster Construction Takeaways

When all was said and done, here’s a look at the overall picks.

Unsurprisingly, no team took a third quarterback, while eight stuck with just one signal-caller. In managed leagues, I’m usually of the mindset of taking just one of both onesie positions and using the waiver wire if necessary. That, of course, can backfire, but I tend to take players in the top 5 or so of both of those positions to avoid carrying backups and clogging up possible running back and wide receiver churn at the back end of my roster.

Most teams drafted four or five running backs in these first 13 rounds, with one team sticking around at three and another two teams drafting six. Usually, I’d say that’s a mistake, but given the format where you could potentially start four running backs, I think it’s a bit more of a viable strategy.

One team drafted four wide receivers, while two teams drafted seven, leaving the remainder at five or six. Through 13 rounds, I believe that six is the sweet spot there. You know you need a QB and a TE, and that leaves you with five shots at the running back position.

Eight of the twelve teams stuck with one TE, while the other four went with two.