Fantasy football: Best picks from each draft slot in 10-team leagues in Rounds 1 and 2 - ESPN

Stress. Who needs it?

Fantasy football draft day is a fun time, one of the highlight days of the entire season. And yet, year after year, so many fantasy managers sweat the small stuff, specifically which draft slot they'll draw.

Whether that results from a desire to draft a very specific first-round target, demanding you draw a draft slot early enough in the order — on an aside, that concern is why we advise also playing in leagues with a salary cap draft — or avoidance of the embarrassment that comes with making the wrong first-round pick, we get how you feel.

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That's where this column comes in. Each season, I walk you through the twists and turns of the first two rounds of your fantasy football draft, helping ease your stress and alleviate the worry of making mistakes. Here, I'll identify ideal picks from each slot in your draft order, the ramifications of positional combinations to begin your draft and potential consequences in future rounds (where applicable).

Remember, while you can't win your league in the opening rounds, you can certainly lose it. Let's try to make sure that doesn't happen.

This edition covers 10-team ESPN leagues with PPR scoring. You can find the 12-team version here.

Under each draft slot, you'll find «Optimal picks,» which are my recommendation for the best selections to make from each position, and «Unlocked» players, which represents the earliest slot from which you should consider the player, even if you're bullish on his 2026 prospects. The latter serves to prevent draft reaches.

Quick links to each draft slot: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

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