Fantasy: Top industry experts go head to head in our latest mock draft

Get ready for your season with theScore's 2018 Fantasy Football Draft Kit.

For our latest mock, theScore brought together some of the industry's best analysts to see how they're approaching drafts heading into the 2018 season.

For a quick overview of the entire draft board, you can visit myfantasyleague.com.

Draft Participants

• J.J. Zachariason (numberFire)
• Jeff Ratcliffe (Pro Football Focus)
• Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros)
• Sean Koerner (The Action Network)
• Mike Wright (The Fantasy Footballers)
• Jake Ciely (RotoExperts)
• Justin Boone (theScore)
• John Paulsen (4for4.com)
• Pat Fitzmaurice (The Football Girl)
• Bill Enright (FFChamps)
• Matthew Freedman (FantasyLabs)
• Patrick Daugherty (Rotoworld)

This is a 12-team, 12-round PPR league with the following roster spots: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, FLEX, BN, BN, BN, BN. We left off defenses and kickers since they normally get selected in the final two rounds.

Round 1

Round 1: While there are varying opinions on the order they should be taken, the first five selections are locked in, according to current ADPs. ... I have Elliott outside the top five in my latest PPR rankings, behind Hopkins, Kamara, and Beckham. However, it's a case of splitting hairs, since each player averaged between 19.1 and 20.7 fantasy points per game in their most recent season. ... Barkley's projected volume, especially in the passing game, was too enticing for a renowned Giants fan like Ciely to let it slide. It requires a slight leap of faith to invest so much in a rookie talent, but few running backs have the upside Barkley offers, making him worth the risk in the middle of the first round.

Round 2

Round 2: The elite talent runs deep into the second round this year, with names like Green and Freeman available in the 20s. Both players have the ability to be top five at their positions, with Green accomplishing the feat multiple times and Freeman being just two years removed from a No. 1 overall finish. ... McKinnon and McCaffrey are set up for major roles as pass-catchers out of their backfields, pushing them above some of the household names in this format. My apologies to Koerner for swiping McCaffrey before he had the chance. ... McCoy, who was once a rock-solid first-rounder, is seeing his value decline due to his age and the overall state of the Bills' offense. ... Gronk sneaks into the second, as he should. Despite his injuries, you could argue that no player gives you as much of a weekly advantage at his position as the Patriots tight end.

Round 3

Round 3: There will never be a universally successful strategy in fantasy drafts, but in the third round, we start to get a feel for how our experts are building their rosters. Only one owner, Fitzmaurice, has decided to go WR-WR-WR, and he's done well with Beckham, Allen, and Diggs. No one has elected to begin with a running back-heavy approach, yet quality RB options are already beginning to dry up. Most teams remain balanced to stay on a best-player-available course. ... If I miss out on one of the top three tight ends, I tend to wait on the position, so I was pleased to secure the services of the tight end who ended the year with the most fantasy points in each of the last two seasons: Kelce. It appears Paulsen viewed TE in a similar light, as he chose to scoop up Ertz one pick later.

Round 4

Round 4: Tate has hauled in 90 or more receptions per season since arriving in Detroit. Unsurprisingly, that's resulted in four straight finishes as the WR22 or better. He's a savvy pick in this range of PPR drafts. ... Michel and Collins are running backs I'm targeting in all formats. Given the draft capital invested in Michel, it would be a shock if the Patriots didn't slot him into the Dion Lewis role. Collins came on down the stretch with six touchdowns over his last seven outings and started to see more work as a receiver during that time. Both players have RB1 upside. ... The same can't be said for Guice and Jones. Guice will struggle to carve out passing-down usage playing alongside Chris Thompson in Washington, and the Bucs' coaches have suggested that Jones will also be forced to split time in an offense that will be without Jameis Winston for the first three weeks of the season.

Round 5

Round 5: Guice and Jones are exciting new toys for fantasy owners, but Round 5 sports some veteran rushers who have higher ceilings. Lewis was a league-winner as a late-round or often undrafted fantasy player in 2017. Miller excelled with Deshaun Watson under center and will have a chance to recapture his lead job with D'Onta Foreman coming back from an Achilles injury. Ajayi is the man in Philly now that LeGarrette Blount is gone, and should see plenty of scoring opportunities in one of the league's best offenses. Ingram will miss the first four games due to suspension but has been a top-10 PPR back for three consecutive seasons, including RB6 with Kamara on the team last year. Coleman has weekly flex value, while also carrying lottery-ticket upside if Freeman is sidelined. Even 32-year-old Marshawn Lynch will get a chance to be featured in Jon Gruden's iteration of the Raiders' attack.

Round 6

Round 6: Conscious of the depth at receiver this year, I felt comfortable addressing other positions after taking Hopkins in the first round. Entering the sixth, it was time to find a suitable WR2, and I would've been happy with several wideouts in this round. Anderson's off-field issues have driven his stock down, but his WR16 finish in 2017 was filled with week-winning performances. Garcon is Jimmy Garoppolo's top target in an offense that's expected to see more time in the red zone. With improved quarterback play in Denver, Sanders is poised for a bounce-back campaign. ... Ultimately, I chose the receiver who I expect to have the biggest breakout in 2018: Davis. The fifth overall pick dealt with hamstring issues during his debut season before blowing up for big games down the stretch and in the playoffs. With a new coaching staff, a healthy Davis has WR2 potential. ... After taking a couple rounds off, tight ends returned to the mix, with Engram being selected as the TE4. As a receiver in a tight end's body, his pass-catching talent is undeniable. However, Engram will have far more competition for targets with Beckham, Barkley, and Sterling Shepard in the lineup, which bumps him down to TE8 in my rankings.

Round 7

Round 7: After Rodgers was taken in the fourth round, we finally have our second quarterback off the board. I will caution that most of your home leagues will likely see quarterbacks being drafted far earlier than this. Unless it's a 2QB or Superflex format, expert mocks almost always involve a waiting game at the position. We can thank Zachariason for that, given all the work he's done to promote the late-round QB strategy. Take a look at past drafts in your league to get a feel for other owners' tendencies. Using QB tiers can also help you determine the right moment to snatch a signal-caller. But with the abundance of usable fantasy passers, it's normally a smart move to hold out as long as possible before pulling the trigger on your starter. As it turns out, this is outstanding value for Wilson, who's a perennial top-five fantasy quarterback.

Round 8

Round 8: Even in a PPR league, it's hard to argue for Montgomery over Williams in Green Bay's backfield. Recent reports have suggested that Montgomery will still have a role, but he's failed to sustain any level of success during his opportunities the last couple years. Williams is the best pass-blocking back on the Packers and at least has a chance to beat out Jones for the starting job. ... Stills was my target in this round, and I may or may not have slapped the desk when Paulsen took him one pick before me. The consolation prize was Lee, who quietly finished as the WR37 in 2017, despite missing a pair of contests. If we tack on two games of production using his season averages, Lee would've been a borderline WR2, and that's with limited TDs. There's a lot of young talent in the Jags' receiving corps, but Lee is the most talented of the bunch and a player capable of making a leap now that he's the clear No. 1 option.

Round 9

Round 9: At this point in the draft, you should be aiming for pure upside. You won't win a fantasy title by playing it safe in the late rounds. Receivers like Golladay and Williams have high ceilings if the star wideouts ahead of them on the depth chart are injured, while running backs like Foreman and Booker could become fantasy starters if everything falls their way in 2018. ... Watson will be one of the most debated fantasy players this season after a historic handful of games early last year. The small sample size is a concern, but even if he experiences obvious regression, Watson will still be impossible to keep out of your lineup. As mentioned before, quarterbacks went extremely late in this mock. Watson will more than likely be a fifth-rounder in most leagues, but he's one of the few QBs I'm willing to pay up for.

Round 10

Round 10: Even in a draft where QBs went late, getting Wentz in the 10th round seems like a robbery. Yes, he's returning from a torn ACL suffered in early December, but all signs point to a complete recovery. Vegas has given him the third-best odds at winning MVP this season, behind only Rodgers and Brady. Wentz had the fourth-most fantasy points among quarterbacks last year, despite missing the final three games. He's bounced between QB4 and QB5 in my rankings, but he's in the running to finish the year as fantasy's top quarterback.

Round 11

Round 11: Grabbing Bryant at this stage is a smart move since his ADP is bound to skyrocket when he signs with a team. Dez has a declining skill set, but it's hard to image he won't make some level of impact with a new team. ... In Breida, you get a player who could post sneaky flex numbers similar to what Tevin Coleman did as the backup RB in Kyle Shanahan's Falcons offenses. And if McKinnon is unable to maintain a starter's workload, Breida is next in line to lead the 49ers' productive rushing attack. ... Daugherty selected Luck as his only quarterback, which, given the situation, may seem foolish, but the depth at the position allows him to roll the dice. He can let the waiver wire be his backup QB, since Dak Prescott, Marcus Mariota, Matt Ryan, and Patrick Mahomes went undrafted.

Round 12

Round 12: Keep swinging for the fences in the final rounds. Backup RBs like Ware, Bernard, and Ekeler are all one injury away from significant fantasy value. ... Allison is very underrated as a late-round lottery-ticket WR. The Packers' third receiver has produced for fantasy owners in the past, and if Adams or Cobb are sidelined, Allison will be in the conversation as a fantasy starter. ... It's a similar situation for Godwin in Tampa, playing behind Evans and Jackson. ... Hines and Miller are rookies who could earn big roles in year one and warrant serious consideration as PPR sleepers.

Mock Drafts

• 10-team
• 12-team
• 12-team PPR (Experts)