Perfect Draft: 3rd in a 12-Team ESPN Full-PPR League

Aug 29, 2025

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In this article, I will walk through my favorite players in each round that should be available to me based on ESPN ADP and discuss my overall draft strategy from the No. 3 spot in a 12-team PPR league.

The 4for4 staff uses the Draft Hero software for all of our leagues. Draft Hero syncs directly to your league and optimizes each pick using projections and value-based rankings from 4for4. Draft Hero lets you customize your draft experience with settings on which rounds you want to draft a position, how many players you want at each position, and players to target or avoid.

For those new to Draft Hero, be sure to explore this walkthrough of the app.

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My Plan of Attack When Drafting From The 3 Spot

Roster Settings: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex (WR/RB/TE), 1 Kicker, 1 DEF, 6 bench spots

It is important to remain flexible during your fantasy drafts, but here’s a general overview of how I’d like to build my roster from the No. 3 spot:

First and foremost, I’m not drafting a kicker and defense until my final two picks.
In home leagues, I aim to go with an anchor running back approach, but I'm not opposed to having two running backs early.
I want to target quarterbacks with elite rushing floors and will try to pair my QB1 with one pass-catching target.

Continue reading for a breakdown of my favorite picks through Round 10 and a list of the best late-round targets at each position.

Round 1, Pick 3 (3) - RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions

I think it’s a really tough call between Gibbs and Eagles RB Saquon Barkley for the third pick, but in PPR I lean slightly to the Gibbs side. We saw the monster upside he had last season, and the Lions seem to want to give him more work this year. I don’t really think you can go wrong with the third pick this year. Either Bijan Robinson or Ja’Marr Chase fall to you, or you get one of the other top-tier talents.

My Top Alternatives: RB Saquon Barkley, WR CeeDee Lamb