Josh Shepardson | Fri, Jul 28th 2017, 11:26am EDT

How to Target Each Position in DRAFT Best Ball Leagues (Fantasy Football)

If you’re a veteran of traditional season-long leagues, but you’re relatively new to best-ball formats, there are some nuances you’ll want to account for when drafting. Below, I’m going to point out strategy for targeting at the individual positions, but let’s start by getting some house keeping and a general rule of thumb out of the way. First, here are the rules for DRAFT’s Best Ball leagues, and just like in their weekly NFL drafts, scoring includes 0.5 PPR. As for the general rule of thumb for all positions, ceiling rules the roost. Boom-or-bust players are more desirable than steady performers, all other things being equal. That’s not to say steady producers don’t have value if they are available at a certain point in drafts, but forfeiting ceiling for floor is unwise. Still, at a certain point elevating floor can have value if a steady producer is available late enough. Now, let’s move on to the various positions.

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Quarterback

The highest ADP for a quarterback in DRAFT leagues currently is Aaron Rodgers at 24.5. He’s followed by Tom Brady (31.9) and Drew Brees (44.3), as the only other two selected within the first 50 picks on average. Andrew Luck (59.6), Matt Ryan (66.8), Russell Wilson (76.4), Jameis Winston (88.3), Cam Newton (92.9), Marcus Mariota (93.0), Kirk Cousins (95.5), and Ben Roethlisberger (95.5) bring the total to 11 quarterbacks selected on average within the top 100 picks. Comparatively, standard leagues have 14 quarterbacks being selected within the top 100 picks, according to the consensus ADP data. In addition to fewer quarterbacks being selected in the top 100, the top picks are being selected a little bit later in DRAFT leagues. Out of the Big 3 — Rodgers, Brady, and Brees — Brees is my favorite choice, and not just because he’s going later than the other two. Brees’ has huge home/road splits, and those play well in best-ball games. Brees can post decent numbers on the road, but he’s capable of putting up eye-popping home numbers. Grabbing him and a running quarterback like Tyrod Taylor (124.4) or a cheap-ish option with weekly upside like Carson Palmer (135.3) sets a high-scoring tone at signal caller with Taylor/Palmer (or similar alternatives) picking up the slack during Brees’ occasional road clunker. I’m not opposed to drafting either of the other two Big 3 options if they slip a little lower than their ADP, but, again, I’d prefer to wait a little longer and grab Brees.

If you whiff on Brees or his ADP gets bumped up into the late-20s or early-30s, I’d suggest bypassing the trio of Luck, Ryan, and Wilson. Winston is intriguing, but I love the duo of Cousins and Roethlisberger. Cousins has put up back-to-back big years and looks undervalued even after considering he’ll need to develop chemistry with some new receivers. Jordan Reed returns, and that’s truly the apple of his eye anyway. As for Roethlisberger, like Brees, he has huge home/road splits. Big Ben’s home/road splits don’t extend back as far as Brees’, and he’s only performed much better at home than on the road the last three years, but the gap in production is stark and somewhat mind boggling since he doesn’t have the added edge of playing indoors at home like Brees does. Regardless, the idea of drafting Big Ben is the same as with Brees. You’re banking on big home games with the occasional solid road showing, and backing him up with someone (or someones) who can pick up the slack in his road tilts.

How many quarterbacks should you draft?

The longer you wait on quarterback (namely if you wait until outside of the top-100 picks and top-11 signal callers), the more inclined I am to advocate drafting three instead of just two. If you spend on the Big 3, your season is likely in disarray if they miss significant time anyway, so burning two bench spots on backups is wasteful. You’re better served embracing the volatility that comes with only rostering a pair and shooting for the moon since that’s your best shot at cashing. Conversely, if you spend heavily on elite talent at the other positions and roll the dice at quarterback, you’re banking on your studs at other positions staying healthy and delivering the goods while looking to have multiple shots at big weeks from average or lesser quarterbacks on a weekly basis.

Running Back

When you pair elite talent with a massive volume of work, you end up with a super stud. That idea carries over from standard leagues, and it explains David Johnson (1.1) and LeVeon Bell (2.0) sitting first and second in ADP among all players. They’re the cream of the crop, and they’re ranked accordingly. The value of volume in best-ball formats changes a bit, though. Sure, more touches and targets pushes a player’s ceiling up as well as their floor. That’s obvious. However, if the player getting the volume of work has a middling skill set — think Robert Kelley, for instance — then their ceiling probably still isn’t that exciting, and the elevated floor doesn’t carry them as far as it does in standard leagues. In best-ball formats, it can pay off in spades rolling the dice on a talented player with a murkier workload. For starters, the more talented players don’t necessarily need as great of a volume of work in order to pile up points. Perhaps more importantly, though, if they emerge with a greater role than expected they can be league-winning players. Guys like Tevin Coleman, Mark Ingram, and even Thomas Rawls — if you believe he’ll recapture his pre-injury explosiveness — come to mind as talented running backs in crowded backfields who could be huge difference makers.

Roles in RBBCs are of great importance, too. Goal-line vultures are far more desirable in best-ball formats than in standard leagues. You don’t run the risk of having a multi-TD plunge effort from a goal-line vulture rotting on your bench in best-ball formats. Finally (and I probably should have added this as a rule of thumb in the intro), being tied to high-scoring offenses is preferable to the alternative. The higher scoring the team, the higher the ceiling for all members of that offense.

How many running backs should you draft?

When it comes to how many running backs to roster, things are a little less cut and dry than quarterback. If you have one of the top two picks and select Johnson or Bell, you’re counting on them scoring enough to fill one of two RB spots every week they play. That leaves a second RB spot needing points and the flex position as a possibility for a running back to fill. Running backs also take a ton of punishment, so you need to account for being unable to make post-draft moves in DRAFT leagues should injuries strike your backfield. Even with Johnson or Bell seemingly accounting for one RB spot every week, I’d still suggest nabbing at least five running backs and with six or seven being a fine total. If you double dip with backs with your first two picks, you’ll be banking on those top two picks typically filling the roles of RB1 and RB2, so I’d lean toward taking five or six backs but no more than that. If you instead spend on quarterback, tight end, or wide receivers early, you’ll want to draft running backs more heavily since you’ll be selecting less “sure-things” at RB, and selecting seven or even eight running backs isn’t unreasonable. I’m a believer that wide receiver is extremely deep and suggest getting at least one workhorse back in the first two rounds, but all draft strategies should leave wiggle room in the event studs at other positions fall.

Wide Receiver

In standard leagues, I’d caution against having too many boom-or-bust receivers. In best-ball formats, feel free to load up on them. An extension of the goal-line vulture scoring two touchdowns on the bench in standard leagues hypothetical situation is the home-run receiver catching three balls for 112 yards and a pair of scores on the bench. You don’t have to worry about that effort being wasted in DRAFT leagues. Tweaking the idea a bit, investing in talented players in crowded offenses is a better move in DRAFT leagues than in standard leagues. The Patriots immediately come to mind as a talent-rich offense with pieces I might shy away from in standard leagues, but I’ll flock to in DRAFT leagues. Brandin Cooks was a massive acquisition for the offense in the offseason, but he’ll have to compete for touches with Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, among others. I recently cautioned that will lead to volatility for Cooks, but that volatility is welcome in DRAFT leagues since his weekly ceiling is through the roof. The Patriots are likely to hang points in bunches this year, and that will create fantasy-relevant players beyond their stars. I’d also suggest grabbing ancillary pieces in the offense, too, such as James White, Chris Hogan, and Malcolm Mitchell.

How many wide receivers should you draft?

As I noted above in the running back’s write up, I’m a firm believer there’s a ton of talent at wide out. With that in mind, gamers don’t need to panic if they fail to pop a wide receiver with their first one, two, or, hell, even three picks in DRAFT drafts. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should bypass Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, or Odell Beckham Jr. in favor of Devonta Freeman just to make sure you get an RB1. If you do end up with an elite wide receiver with your top pick, don’t be afraid to wait a bit to select your next one. Again, though, if value falls into your lap, don’t stick to a rigid draft strategy just for the sake of doing so. DRAFT teams require three starting wide receivers every week, and then there’s the FLEX position that can be filled by running backs, tight ends, or receivers. The need to fill three spots every week as well the the potential for a receiver filling the FLEX makes this the position that should be the most heavily drafted. If you find yourself having to draft a little more heavily at running back as a result of waiting at that position and pop seven of them, then you can draft just seven receivers (my assumption is that the reason you need to draft heavily at running back is probably the product of spending premium picks on at least a few receivers). Seven is the absolute lowest number of receivers I’d draft, though. Eight receivers is more along the lines of the standard target goal I have in mind.

Tight End

The top three tight ends — Rob Gronkowski (18.1), Travis Kelce (30.5), and Jordan Reed (35.4) — have higher ADPs in DRAFT leagues than the consensus ADP for standard leagues. On the flip side, the rest of the top-10 tight ends are being drafted lower by a few picks in DRAFT leagues than their standard league consensus ADP. I’ve thoroughly touted the importance of chasing ceiling, but I’m unlikely to take the plunge drafting any of the top three tight ends at their respective costs. Gronk and Reed are especially unlikely to end up on most of my rosters due to their extensive injury histories. In standard leagues, I’d be more willing to roll the dice on either of those two and stream if they miss time or swing a trade if the injury is serious. There are no transactions after the draft in DRAFT leagues, though, and that depresses the value of injury-risk options like Gronk and Reed. I’d much rather start shopping for tight ends after pick 80 and double dip on middle-tier options such as Martellus Bennett (90.1) and Hunter Henry (106.0). This is my preferred strategy.

How many tight ends should you draft?

You’ll want at least two tight ends, but grabbing just one middle-tier option with a pair of lotto tickets bringing the total to three is a viable strategy.