My general approach: have a draft list based on projections and a VBD-like adjustment (with bonuses for playoff value). Try to stay relatively close to my draft list with a bit of fudging (especially later in the draft)
1.14 WR Brandon Marshall CHI, 2.03 WR Julio Jones ATL, 3.14 TE Greg Olsen CAR, 4.03 WR Andre Johnson HOU
In the early rounds, don't screw around with positional balance. Take the guys who will score a lot of points. That is usually mostly WRs & TEs in these leagues - my impression this year is that RBs were getting overdrafted, as were QBs outside the top 3. I got 3 elite WRs with these picks, along with a TE who is probably his team's top receiver. Julio's foot and Andre's holdout are a bit of a concern, but I'm less concerned about that sort of risk in this league than in other formats since it's a 16-team league and I'm going to need some breaks to go my way to win it.
5.14 RB Frank Gore SF, 6.03 WR T.Y. Hilton IND
Once Roddy White (5.08) went off the board, the positional values were more balanced. That meant it was time to pay a little more attention to need. I was hoping Bush, C Johnson, or Sankey would fall, but settled for Gore (who has pretty good odds of only a modest decline in production from last year). Any of the RBs available at 6.03 would've been a reach, which left me choosing between Hilton, Wright, and Heath Miller; Hilton seemed like the safest option of the 3.
7.14 RB Pierre Thomas NO, 8.03 QB Dolphins (Tannehill) MIA
Similar to the 5/6 turn, most of the RBs I liked didn't make it to me so I settled for one (Thomas, who is likely to retain a big role in passing game with Sproles gone) and then looked elsewhere on the flipside. Tannehill is a safe bet to be decent; basically the next David Garrard with a little upside on account of his youth.
9.14 WR Greg Jennings MIN, 10.03 RB Knowshon Moreno MIA
Was hoping for FJax and/or MJD on this turn. Jennings has a nice combination of safety (very good chances of being a top 50 WR) and upside (look at what he did last year while Cassel was at QB). I'm not thrilled with Moreno here - I normally don't like RBs in this format who might end up only playing a bit part in their offense - but I feel like he still has a chance to beat out Miller for the lead job. And the next set of RBs had major concerns about injuries (Stewart, McFadden) or their role (West, Hyde).
11.14 QB Browns (Manziel/Hoyer) CLE, 12.03 PK Justin Tucker BAL
I'd been eyeing Johnny for a few rounds. QB Browns is a boom or bust pick which could finish dead last (Hoyer to Burleson?) or top 10 (Johnny rushing for 700/7?). I'll take that gamble here, now that the R/W/T group has thinned out. Also worth looking at Def & PK options now; I went with a kicker because the safe starters run out.
13.14 WR Odell Beckham NYG, 14.03 PK Graham Gano CAR
Rookie WRs who seem headed for starting roles (at least in 3 WR sets, for teams who use a lot of them) offer a nice mix of safety & upside at this point in the draft. Just missed out on Lee, but I like Beckham too (in part because I'm not sold on Rueben Randle). I still need a RB & a TE but I suspect that there won't be much dropoff there over the next two rounds, so I was okay with taking my flex WR and my second safe good kicker.
15.14 RB Shonn Greene TEN, 16.03 TE Zach Miller SEA
Boringest pick combo in the draft? A couple veterans with relatively safe, modest roles. I'd been targeting Chandler as my TE2 but settled for someone with even less upside.
17.14 Def Washington Redskins WAS, 18.03 Def Atlanta Falcons ATL
Glad to be able to wait this long and not get stuck with Oakland or Jacksonville. Defenses are unpredictable, so getting these two is not so bad. Though if I'd known how far some kickers with safe jobs would fall (like Scobee & Cundiff) then I probably would've grabbed my defenses sooner (e.g., New Orleans & Buffalo) and waited on kicker.
I'm not thrilled with this team - it seemed like value wasn't falling the way it sometimes does - but I feel like I'm in pretty good shape, with a nice mix of safety & upside.