2026 Half-PPR Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Expert Strategy, Sleepers & Best Picks (Ep. 2135)

How should you approach a half-PPR fantasy football draft in 2026? Chris Welsh, Andrew Erickson, Derek Brown, and The Athletic’s Jake Ciely complete a full 12-team expert mock draft using the FantasyPros Draft Wizard.

The guys break down their strategies from different draft positions, including early running back vs. wide receiver decisions, the value of selecting an elite tight end, when to draft a quarterback, how league settings should change your approach, and which middle- and late-round players offer league-winning upside.

Follow every major decision involving Bijan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey, James Cook, Ashton Jeanty, A.J. Brown, Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, Zay Flowers, Rashee Rice, Ladd McConkey, Quinshon Judkins, Mike Evans, Jonathan Brooks, Bhayshul Tuten, Jayden Daniels, Jalen Coker, Deebo Samuel, Dalton Kincaid, and more.

The crew also uses the FantasyPros Draft Analyzer to review every roster, identify steals and reaches, examine alternative picks, and determine which analyst built the strongest team. 

Timestamps (may be off due to ads):

Intro - 0:00:00

Mock Draft Lobby- 0:02:42

Draft Format and Positions - 0:03:30

Draft Start - 0:04:09

Round 2 - 0:08:53

Round 3 - 0:13:03

Round 4 - 0:18:12

Round 5 - 0:23:16

Colston Loveland Signed Jersey Giveaway - 0:25:03

Round 5 continued - 0:25:47

Round 6 - 0:28:42

Round 7 - 0:35:59

Draft Intel - 0:38:21

Round 8 - 0:39:02

Round 9 - 0:42:53

Round 10 - 0:46:11

Round 11 - 0:49:47

Round 12 - 0:52:20

Round 13 - 0:54:27

Draft Results - 0:56:15

FantasyPros Discord - 1:08:25

Outro - 1:08:52

Helpful Links:

Draft Wizard - Dominate your fantasy football draft with Draft Wizard. Run fast mock drafts, test different strategies, build custom cheat sheets, get pick-by-pick draft advice, and learn your leaguemates' tendencies before draft day. Just download the FantasyPros App or head to fantasypros.com/draftwizard

Start Your Free FantasyPros Premium Trial - https://www.fantasypros.com/free/ -
Get three days free to unlock premium draft tools, rankings, analysis, and personalized advice.

Watch and Subscribe to The Tailgate  - https://www.youtube.com/@tailgatenfl - 
Just friends talking football. Get NFL storylines, weekly analysis, giveaways, and more from the FantasyPros team.

Subscribe to FantasyPros on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@fantasypros - 
Watch the latest fantasy football rankings, mock drafts, sleepers, breakouts, and draft advice.

Support the FantasyPros Fantasy Football Podcast - https://www.fantasypros.com/review/ - Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help support the show.

Real-Time ADP - Track up-to-the-minute draft trends across all major platforms: https://fantasypros.com/realadp

Follow us on Twitch - The team here at FantasyPros is taking questions all week, every week on Twitch. Follow us on Twitch at twitch.tv/fantasypros and never miss a stream!

Discord – Join our FantasyPros Discord Community! Chat with other fans and get access to exclusive AMAs that wind up on our podcast feed. Come get your questions answered and BE ON THE SHOW at fantasypros.com/chat

BettingPros Podcast – For advice on the best picks and props across both the NFL and college football each and every week, check out the BettingPros Podcast at bettingpros.com/podcast, our BettingPros YouTube channel at youtube.com/bettingpros, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.