Fantasy football draft strategy is unlike anything else, and the emphasis should land on one wordfantasy.In a real NFL draft, front offices around the league strategize for more than a year before grabbing the best player available at a position of need while thinking about upside more than anything else.Even in some weird realm where actual NFL teams had to redraft the entire league, quarterbacks would take precedence over everyone else in the opening rounds, with front offices waiting to fill out the rest of the roster later.That doesn't apply to fantasy football draft strategy, however. To visualize this, here's a look at a two-round sample mock draft for a 12-team standard league:Quarterbackis by far the easiest position to draft in fantasy football.This year it's perhaps easier than everCam Newton and Aaron Rodgers should be the first players off the board at the spot. This would likely start in the third round because the position should fall further than ever.Why' Newton scored 373 points last year. That sounds great, and he did lead the position, but 12 other QBs scored 272 or more. An owner in a 12-team league has plenty of time to secure a viable weekly starter. Among those names' Ryan Fitzpatrick, Kirk Cousins and Blake Bortles.There's no reason to give up value at another position with so many functional players at quarterback. Remember, too, owners can strike it big in the late rounds on an injury risk such as Tony Romo or take a gamble on a face in a new place such as Brock Osweiler.Running back is where fantasy owners will make the most headway.Of course, that means it's also the most difficult position to dissect. Even casual fans of the game understand running backs continue to lose value by the year, not simply because of a bigger emphasis on the passing game but due to a growing committee approach in the backfield.One stat paints the perfect pictureattempts. Back in the day, many backs would go north of 300 rushes, which made drafting simple. Last year, Adrian Peterson was the only back to breach the barrier with 327and he didn't finish as the top scorer.Times are changing, folks. Devonta Freeman wound up as the top scorer with 230 points to Peterson's 217 because he caught 43 more passes. Not only did he rush 265 times for 1,056 yards and 11 scores, but he caught 73 passes for 578 yards and three more touchdowns.Versatile backs now rule the day, not counting Peterson and Todd Gurley. And owners have to get their hands on these quality backs early and often because the chances of winning the lottery are probably better than nailing down a quality back in the middle rounds.The New York Post's Drew Loftis painted this picture well:Look back at last year. If you employed a wait-for-RB plan until the third or fourth round, you were choosing between Carlos Hyde, Justin Forsett, Melvin Gordon, Joique Bell, Arian Foster, Rashad Jennings, etc. You stood no better a chance at hitting on the secondary RBs than you did the top tier. And what are the chances such an unlikely sequence of events that happened last season befalls the top picks again this season'Wide receiver makes rolling the dice on running backs so much easier.Not only is there more passing than ever, but wideouts are plentiful and simple to project. Last year, a jaw-dropping seven wideouts caught more than 100 passes, with the top 10 target leaders recording a minimum of 147 looks.Target hogs such as Julio Jones (204), Antonio Brown (195) and DeAndre Hopkins (192) aren't going anywhere thanks to their respective offenses and the trends around the league.Granted, wideouts will come off the board faster than ever this year. But loading up on the position in the middle rounds isn't risky, not when guys such as Amari Cooper, Mike Evans, Randall Cobb and Julian Edelman posted middling fantasy numbers last year but have the upside of top-10 scorers.Tight end is by far the most interesting position to draft, with Rob Gronkowski distancing himself from the pack as usual. The New England Patriots superstar scored 176 points, while no other player at the spot breached the 150-point mark.In fact, Gronkowski was one of three players to score double-digit touchdowns at the position last year, with Jordan Reed matching his 11 scores and Tyler Eifert leading the way with 13. Just nine players received more than 100 targets last year, ranging from the expected (Jason Witten, 104) to the surprising (Benjamin Watson, 109).There's a case to draft Gronkowski in the first round if an owner doesn't like how the rest of the board has fallen. Getting a surefire positional leader in Round 1 makes sense, though Tom Brady's four-game suspension looms over the situation.Otherwise, tight end is about as easy to predict as wideout because owners can look at each offense and go from there. It's advisable to only take the spot over the first three rounds if an owner wants a safe option; otherwise, it's best to load up on wideouts and running backs to increase the chances of success at those volatile positions. All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as arepoints-against info and ownership stats. Statistics courtesy of ESPN.com. Average draft position (ADP) courtesy of Fantasy Football Calculator.
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