The preparation for your perfect 2025 fantasy football draft begins now.
Have a battle plan when you show up for your in-person draft or fire up the laptop for your online draft. But don’t make it a rigid plan.
Fantasy drafts are unpredictable. Average draft position goes out the window. Your competitors will make unexpected picks. You’ll occasionally get snaked on a player you wanted.
Be flexible. Be nimble. Be prepared.
And get those reps in before draft season arrives! Test your draft strategies by mock-drafting with the FantasyPros Draft Simulator.
Here’s an overview of the battle plan our analysts will be using for their 2025 fantasy football drafts. And you can find each of their perfect draft plans below.
- Fitz’s Perfect Draft Strategy
- DBro’s Perfect Draft Strategy
- Erickson’s Perfect Draft Strategy
- Fantasy Football Draft Kit
Perfect Fantasy Football Draft: Strategy, Advice & Targets
DBro’s Approach to Round 1
Round 1: Early-Round Players to Target
Last year, Ja’Marr Chase finished as the WR1 in fantasy points per game, crushing the competition. He ranked first in targets (175), red-zone targets (36), total touchdowns (17), receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and yards after the catch (787).
If those numbers weren’t enough, Chase also ranked 14th in yards per route run and 19th in first downs per route run, per Fantasy Points Data. It was an extraordinary season, and Chase is in a good position to attempt to match those numbers in 2025.
The Bengals’ defense remains a work in progress, and Joe Burrow will be tossing Chase the rock. Volume and efficiency shouldn’t be a problem for Chase in 2025 in his quest to repeat as the WR1 overall.
Bijan Robinson crushed last year as the RB3 in fantasy points per game. It was a tale of two halves. Atlanta began the season goofing around with his usage before it righted the ship. In Weeks 1-5, Robinson was the RB24 in fantasy points per game, averaging 17 touches and 87.2 total yards. In Weeks 6-18, he was the RB1 in fantasy points per game with 23.4 touches and 120.9 total yards per game.
After Week 5, Robinson saw his route share and target share jump from 54.5% to 60.4% and 10.7% to 13.4%, per Fantasy Points Data. If that usage continues in 2025, Robinson could be the RB1 overall this season. He posted strong tackle-breaking numbers last year, ranking 12th in missed tackles forced per attempt and 22nd in yards after contact per attempt.
If Michael Penix can take this offense to another level, Robinson could be the Fantasy MVP this season.
Saquon Barkley finished last season as the RB1 in fantasy points per game, finishing with 378 touches, 2,283 total yards, and 15 total touchdowns. This season, we have to have the volume conversation and the worries about that for Barkley’s outlook for 2025. It’s a similar conversation we had with Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry, and Josh Jacobs before him. Is it a concern? Yep. Is it so damning that it should put Barkley outside the top-three/top-five running backs in preseason fantasy football rankings? No.
My bigger worry is Barkley’s quietly meh tackle-breaking metrics last year. Among 46 qualifying backs, he had the fourth-best explosive run rate, but he was also only 28th in missed tackles forced per attempt and 35th in yards after contact per attempt, per Fantasy Points Data. The big thing that helped Barkley was Philly’s awesome offensive line. Among those 46 backs, Barkley had the highest yards before contact per attempt (3.55). Barkley was chewing up almost four yards per carry before he faced the opposition. That helped him a ton, but it will likely help him again in 2025, as Philly will once again have one of the league’s best offensive lines. Barkley remains a top-five back in 2025 despite some of my concerns.
Justin Jefferson has been the model of consistency. He has never finished lower than WR9 in fantasy points per game since his rookie season, and he’s been inside the top five in this category in each of the last four seasons.
With Sam Darnold at the helm last year, Jefferson was the WR3 in fantasy points per game as he ranked third in target share, fourth in raw target volume, fifth in red-zone targets, and second in receiving yards per game. Jefferson also excelled on a per-route basis, ranking sixth in yards per route run and 18th in first downs per route run, per Fantasy Points Data.
Jefferson still has WR1 overall upside this season if J.J. McCarthy can prove to be an upgrade over Sam Darnold for the Vikings in 2025.
Round 1: Mid-Round Players to Target
Jahmyr Gibbs was awesome last year, finishing as the RB2 in fantasy points per game. The loss of David Montgomery for the final three weeks of the season helped him, but it’s not like Gibbs wasn’t awesome before then. In Weeks 1-15, with Montgomery in the lineup, Gibbs was the RB4 in fantasy points per game (18.9), averaging 16.1 touches and 103 total yards. In Weeks 16-18 (without Montgomery), Gibbs went bonkers with 32.6 fantasy points per game as he decimated opponents with 25.6 touches and 162.4 total yards per game.
I’m not trying to detract from his season, but it helped. In Weeks 1-15, Gibbs still didn’t hold the goal-line or red-zone role on the ground. During that stretch, Montgomery had 25 rushing attempts inside the 5-yard line compared to 18 for Gibbs, per Fantasy Points Data. Gibbs will be efficient with whatever workload he’s allotted after he ranked first in explosive run rate, fifth in missed tackles forced per attempt, and third in yards per route run. He’s a top-three back, no matter how you slice it.
Despite dealing with a shoulder injury for much of the season that limited Dak Prescott to eight games, CeeDee Lamb still finished as the WR8 in fantasy points per game. Among 85 qualifying wide receivers, he ranked 15th in target share (24%), 12th in receiving yards per game (74.6), 16th in yards per route run (2.36), and 21st in first downs per route run (0.107, per Fantasy Points Data).
With George Pickens added to the offense, a healthy Prescott returning to the huddle, and Lamb back to full strength, he has WR1 overall upside again in 2025.
No matter how you slice it, Ashton Jeanty is a top-five back out of the gate. He has a true three-down skillset and should get all the volume he can handle. He’s a tackle-breaking maven. A skill that I have no doubt will translate to the NFL. Across his final two collegiate seasons, Jeanty ranked first and third in yards after contact per attempt and first and second in elusive rating, per PFF.
Las Vegas will feature the run prominently, and Jeanty’s receiving upside gives him an insane ceiling for 2025. During Chip Kelly’s tenure in the NFL, his offenses have never ranked lower than 11th in rushing attempts. Also, in three out of Kelly’s four years as an NFL offensive coordinator, his backfields had a 16.6-17.7% target share, but he also flooded his Philly backfield with targets in 2015 (28.7%). Jeanty could push for near the top end of that range.
In 2023, Jeanty ranked first in receiving grade and second in yards per route run. Jeanty is primed for a rookie season that could rival Saquon Barkley‘s rookie year.
Round 1: Late-Round Players to Target
Breaking news. This just in. Puka Nacua is still really good at football. In the nine games last year he played at least 50% of the snaps, he drew a 34.9% target share, produced 104.9 receiving yards per game, had 3.88 yards per route run, commanded a 44.6% first-read share, and churned out 0.185 first downs per route run, per Fantasy Points Data.
Among 85 qualifying wide receivers last season, Nacua would have led all wide receivers in each of those statistical categories. He also averaged 21.8 fantasy points per game in that sample, which would have ranked second behind only Ja’Marr Chase. Nacua remains a game-changing pick in drafts this season, who, despite the addition of Davante Adams, still has WR1 overall upside.
Christian McCaffrey’s 2024 season was derailed by bilateral Achilles tendonitis. Yes, I know it crushed many fantasy teams. Yes, I know that if you drafted him last year, you’re probably saying, “hell no… I won’t be walking down that road again.” I’ll get this out of the way quickly. I’m back in.
George Kittle had similar issues with his Achilles, but after he received stem cell infusions, it hasn’t remained a problem. McCaffrey had a similar treatment last year and enters this season fully healthy from all reports. In the small sample we got from McCaffrey last year, his numbers remained strong.
In the three full games McCaffrey played, he averaged 18.6 touches and 93.7 total yards, all while playing 81-94% of the snaps. McCaffrey’s 22% missed tackle forced rate and his 1.80 yards per route run were strong, per Fantasy Points Data. Among those two statistical categories, McCaffrey ranked eighth-best (70 qualifying backs) and sixth-best (53 qualifying backs). McCaffrey has at least one more big season left. I’ll be investing heavily in him for 2025.
Amon-Ra St. Brown has been a model of consistency as a top-10 fantasy wideout in each of the last three seasons (WR10, WR4, WR4). Talent is fueling this, but back-to-back seasons as a top-five option at wide receiver have also been aided by elite red-zone usage as he has averaged 11.5 receiving touchdowns per season while ranking second and third in red-zone targets.
I don’t see that changing in 2025, so St. Brown could easily be headed for a third consecutive top-five fantasy wideout campaign. Last year, among 85 qualifying wideouts, St. Brown ranked ninth in target share, 13th in receiving yards per game, and fourth in first downs per route run, per Fantasy Points Data. St. Brown is one of the safest fantasy football picks you can make.
Overall, last year, Brian Thomas Jr. was a stud as the WR11 in fantasy points per game, ranking fifth in deep targets and 15th in red-zone targets. As good as those numbers are, they still underrate his upside in 2025 if he can continue what he did down the stretch last year.
Favs for WR1 overall this year:
Ja’Marr Chase
Justin Jefferson
CeeDee LambDarkhorse candidates:
Brian Thomas Jr.
Drake London— Derek Brown (@DBro_FFB) May 20, 2025
In Weeks 13-18 last season, Thomas was the WR2 in fantasy points per game. During that span, among 72 qualifying receivers, he was fourth in target share (31.6%), seventh in yards per route run (2.78), fifth in receiving yards per game (98.8), and 17th in first downs per route run (0.108, per Fantasy Points Data).
Thomas posted those numbers with Mac Jones tossing him passes. What do we think he’ll do in 2025 with Liam Coen at the controls and Trevor Lawrence back? It could be a magical season for Thomas.
Check out DBro’s complete Perfect Fantasy Football Draft Strategy 
Erickson’s Approach to the Middle Rounds
Approach to Round 5
At the start of the middle rounds of drafts, you must come prepared with an optimal and flexible approach. Following up on a strong start is critical to your success. The player pool isn’t as strong as at the beginning of the draft, but the difference in hitting on the right guys in this range can make or break your roster.
Don’t try to be perfect; get as many shots on net as you can.
Four rounds deep, you have already drafted a good chunk of your team. This is your core. Your strategy may differ slightly depending on the foundation you built during the early portion of your draft. Ergo, if you already roster three strong running backs for some reason (or at least ones you spent high draft capital on), there’s virtually no need to address the position in any capacity. Depth, especially in leagues where you have access to the waiver wire, tends to be overrated in fantasy football.
The overarching approach to the middle rounds remains static for the most part, regardless of what you have already done. The focus is still on drafting the best player available. Too often, drafters make the mistake of drafting for need in the middle rounds, when the priority should be filling your roster with as many potential level jumpers or league-winners as humanly possible. Especially at the wide receiver position. Because it’s easy to find plug-in production (especially at running back) later on. Focus on drafting players that have difference-making upside in their range of outcomes.
The name of the game with wide receivers is to scoop up value in the middle-to-later portions of drafts, with the position counting for the biggest part of your roster in leagues that require you to start three receivers. Take advantage of wideouts who fall in ADP, while other teams “reach” on running backs they think they need. The same goes for the reverse narrative. Take advantage of backs that fall in ADP while others reach on subpar wide receivers they think they need.
You will be shocked how quickly the wide receiver position dries up despite the false narrative that the position is deep every year. It’s not deep. If anything, it’s extremely diluted outside of the top 12, which makes it much more essential you draft the remaining wideouts toward the start of the middle rounds. You’ll feel (and perform) much better knowing you aren’t trudging out wideouts ranked outside the top 40 as your weekly WR3.
Wide receivers in the middle rounds tend to take massive leaps and vastly outperform their ADP. Others comically crash and burn, but we just need one or two hits for a net positive return.
When in doubt, keep drafting wide receivers who have breakout potential. Chances are they all won’t hit… but all you need is one to hit big to reap the benefits. Draft rookie wide receivers. Aggressively.
Draft Tetaoria MacMillan. I know everybody loves the No. 1 WR role in Kansas City. But the top wideout in Carolina under Dave Canales is extremely underrated.
For more on finding the next breakout wide receiver, check out my full article on the topic.
The WR18-WR50 ADP range remains the richest pool for first-time WR1s. The sweet spot lies from the end of round three to round eight.
Gravitate toward the pass-catchers in a high-powered offense with some target ambiguity versus the guy who has a more obvious high-end target floor in a bad offense. And do not shy away from the real-life No. 2 WRs… as these players often represent the best fantasy values because their ADPs are almost always suppressed as they aren’t their team’s “No. 1 WR.”
But be wary that you need to be price-sensitive to these WR2s. For example, in 2023, the most expensive WR2s — Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and Tee Higgins — failed to live up to expectations.
In 2024, Brandon Aiyuk, Cooper Kupp and Jaylen Waddle (again) were busts as the three most expensive WR2s. See a pattern?
But the majority of cheaper real-life WR2s by ADP (outside the top-24) — Tee Higgins, Chris Godwin, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Brian Thomas Jr., Jameson Williams — were excellent value selections who drastically beat their ADPs.
Some of my favorite wide receivers to targets from rounds 5-9 (picks 50-100) include Tetairoa McMillan, Jameson Williams, Jaylen Waddle, Calvin Ridley, Jauan Jennings, Rome Odunze, Jakobi Meyers, Ricky Pearsall, Jayden Reed and Josh Downs.
In 2025 early drafts, some of the cheaper real-life No. 2 WRs (outside top-24) include:
Jameson Williams, George Pickens, Chris Godwin, Jaylen Waddle, Jordan Addison, Rome Odunze, Deebo Samuel, Ricky Pearsall, Matthew Golden, Cooper Kupp, Darnell Mooney, Michael Pittman Jr., Keon Coleman, Jayden Higgins, Tre Harris, Rashid Shaheed, Rashod Bateman and Marvin Mims.
Make sure you are getting the real-life No. 2 WR discount. Because you should be, or else it’s bad business.
In round five specifically, you’ll want to bolster depth with the next tier of wide receivers and/or running backs. But do your best to push running back out as much as possible in this range, coined the RB Dead Zone. Note that this is specific to non-rookie backs, who I wouldn’t categorize as Dead Zone RBs. They are more like breakout wideouts based on their large range of outcomes.
Try to go wide receiver, rookie running back or even elite tight end first before another running back. Elite quarterbacks may also be drying up at this point, so don’t be afraid to pull the trigger if a top-tier passer falls.
James Conner has some optics of a Dead Zone RB, but he goes late enough that I feel the price to pay for his healthy early-season production is justified if your roster needs some stability at running back (maybe you waited longer for your Hero RB).
Round 5 Players to Target
Approach to Round 6
Many of the elite quarterbacks will be off the board before this round. If you desire a quarterback, draft whichever top-tier passer, if any, remains. The opportunity cost of drafting an elite quarterback is so much better in rounds 5-7 versus rounds 2-4.
And as always, don’t feel pressured to draft a signal-caller because there are still plenty of great options in the following rounds.
Again, to hammer your edge at wide receiver, you need to hit on these discounted No. 2 WRs in the middle-to-late rounds as the actual difference-makers/level-jumpers. The RB Dead Zone and the WR Shred Zone are the same.
Last year’s group in round six featured Tee Higgins, Chris Godwin and Terry McLaurin as major hits.
Another thing to consider is that scoring tends to be flatter. Again, you have the elite elite wideouts at the top. In 2023, the top five scorers were at 17+ PPG. They were also in the top seven overall picks in ADP.
In 2024, the top five scorers were at 15+ points per game. The ones who played a full season were drafted as top-eight overall picks in ADP.
If you can draft a truly elite fantasy wideout in rounds 1-2, as alluded to at the top, it’s worth it. But after the elite guys, we see things stagnate and scoring flatten. Wideouts ranked sixth to 21st fluctuated between 15-14.7 and 12.5-12.1 PPG. Receivers from 22nd to 46th score between 12 and 9.5-9.0 PPG. Ergo, non-elite fantasy wideouts are basically all just fantasy WR2s. And low-end fantasy WR2s are just a massive tier that leaks into the WR4 range.
The significant point drop after the elite tier, although admittedly there is a strong tier behind Chase/Jefferson/Lamb, is a flatter scoring curve for the wide receivers ranked 10th and beyond, up to the WR4 range (top-48).
In past years, the data suggested it’s a viable strategy to wait on drafting wide receivers after the elite options are off the board, particularly in drafts where the value of securing top performers at other positions (such as running backs or quarterbacks who may have a steeper drop-off in scoring) could outweigh the benefits of selecting an elite or pseudo elite wide receiver outside the top 10. The reasoning here is that you might still be able to draft wideouts with similar scoring expectations later, allowing you to maximize value at other positions in the earlier rounds.
But this year, with wide receiver at the top being a bit deeper because of the 2024 WR class, we as drafters can have our cake and eat it too. We can access elite WR1 seasons later in round one and round two because of how great it is at the top. The exact tiering might vary, whether it’s eight, 10 or 12, etc. But I’m finding it hard, if not extremely difficult, not to select at least one of my top-12 ranked wide receivers in the first two rounds.
Non-elite fantasy wideouts tend to just be fantasy WR2s. And low-end fantasy WR2s are just a massive tier that leaks into the WR4 range.
So it’s not WR1, WR2, WR3, etc. It’s more like elite WR, WR2 and WR4 as the 3 tiers of wide receivers based on last year’s scoring.
This supports the strategy of potentially waiting to draft wide receivers after the top performers are off the board, as the variance in performance increases, but it doesn’t drastically change once you move past the top 20 at the position.
Focus on players who could make major leaps based on archetype. Not necessarily their median projection.
If a receiver in the middle rounds looks and smells cheap, they probably are. And the same goes for if you feel they are overvalued.
Because inherently the way receiver scoring is, those with higher ADPs are more difficult bets to return on their ADP. They are preferred for a reason — upside arguments, etc. But there’s no denying you can always grab another wide receiver a round later that will probably meet or potentially exceed a player before them in scoring.
However, you must acknowledge you can’t keep punting the position because there is another cliff after the WR4 tier. Eventually, you need to compile points at the position, even if it’s a neutral or negative-EV selection at the time of drafting.
There’s a reason the “late-round receiver” strategy hasn’t caught on like its late-round counterparts. It does not work nearly as successfully compared to waiting at the other positions. And why is this? Two-fold. Wide receivers are just tough to project year to year because they are more dependent on their surroundings (quarterback, offensive line, etc.). And most leagues require three starting receiver slots by default, with a fourth eligible in the Flex sport. High demand, low supply.
Be firm and concise in creating three or four tiers for receivers, with an elite tier (potential for top-five scoring), a pseudo elite tier (just on the cusp), a top-20 tier and then a 21-48 range tier where you can pick your flavor. Based on your platform’s ADP, you can mix up your receiver exposure in this range.
For me, the top three wideouts are clear as day. After that, I could see a lot of arguments for the next 6-8 guys.
It’s not until we get to Terry McLaurin that things start to taper off in the back-end WR2 range.
And after we hit George Pickens as my WR36, there’s a clear drop-off in the wide receiver rankings with rookies, second-year receivers and third-year receivers entering the conversation.
Round 6 Players to Target
Approach to Round 7
Once you’ve got a plethora of breakout and staple wideouts to work with (after all, late-round wide receiver is not usually a winning formula), I now permit you to dive back into the running back pool before we enter the double-digit rounds.
I can guarantee you will feel better about overloading with receiver breakouts than settling for an RB2 because you have to in the first six rounds.
Because after wide receivers, breakout running backs are the next target in the middle rounds. Specifically, once the drafts enter the late RB2/early RB3 range (RB20-RB38) or running backs with a top-40 ADP.
That group has traditionally had the greatest hit rate for fantasy running backs.
However, last year was not the case — RB20-RB36 was terrible. Part of that was due to the majority of BACKS staying healthy last season without any rookies rising to the occasion. Last season was not the norm.
For whatever it’s worth, we still did see a few running back hits toward the later portion of this range: Chase Brown, Chuba Hubbard, J.K. Dobbins, and Rico Dowdle (RB37-RB44 range).
Here are some of my favorites in 2025:
RJ Harvey, James Conner, TreVeyon Henderson, Kaleb Johnson, Isiah Pacheco, Jaylen Warren, Jordan Mason, Travis Etienne, Javonte Williams, Bhayshul Tuten, J.K. Dobbins, Trey Benson, Braelon Allen and Rico Dowdle.
Identify running backs with the potential to see/possess goal-line roles in high-scoring offenses. Pinpointing a team’s primary red-zone back is an easy way to hit on a fantasy running back.
Last year’s examples? James Cook and Brian Robinson Jr.
If you are low on the “starter,” you should naturally be higher on the No. 2 RB in the same backfield. Didn’t believe in Rachaad White? You should have drafted more of Bucky Irving (I wish I did).
Target impending free agent running backs.
The biggest hits from 2022 include Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard, Miles Sanders and Jamaal Williams. In 2023, it wasn’t as successful, but I wanted to see if this was a trend or more of an outlier. In 2024, we saw a ton of running backs on new teams hit in a big way after signing big contracts.
What’s interesting, though, is that many who were forced to play on one-year deals, such as Dobbins, Jones, Conner, Harris, Dowdle and Hubbard, provide solid ROIs.
Guys like Conner/Hubbard earned extensions before the season ended after showing out. What’s even more interesting is that these two backs played on the two teams that invested some of the highest draft capital into running backs in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Notable running back free agents at the end of the 2025 season include:
Jaylen Warren, Najee Harris, Austin Ekeler, Travis Etienne, Javonte Williams, Rico Dowdle, J.K. Dobbins, Nick Chubb, Elijah Mitchell, Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker III, James Cook, Miles Sanders, Rachaad White, Brian Robinson Jr., Tyler Allgeier and Isiah Pacheco
Target running backs on quality offenses (cumulative offensive ADP deemed above average). I will be dropping more on this topic soon.
Aim for running backs on teams with no clear-cut starter — aka ambiguous backfields. This is where breakout running backs are often found.
Other major hitters were running backs who boasted pass-catching chops. Volume is and remains king. When in doubt, draft the guy who has a proven track record.
Bet on explosive backs who can make plays as receivers.
Bet against running backs on offenses that have not yet proven to be above average, while treading lightly on running backs that don’t have a lot of job security.
With running backs, ask yourself: What would it take for RB “X” to lose the starting job?
Seriously. Do it.
Fade expensive early-season opportunities in favor of late-season production when the weeks and points become more critical in specific formats. You need to strike a balance between early and late-season production. Drafting the upside rookie early is fine as long as you draft the dusty old veterans later on to backfill the weeks while the rookies get ramped up.
Hitting on the right running back late can be the true difference-maker.
Also, this is specific to best ball, but Patrick Mahomes is going egregiously late (outside of the top 80 picks). This is almost late-round quarterback territory. If he’s available that late and you don’t love the rest of the players on the board, just take him.
Round 7 Players to Target
- Patrick Mahomes, Ricky Pearsall, Quinshon Judkins, Rome Odunze, Kaleb Johnson, Aaron Jones, Isiah Pacheco.
Check out Erickson’s complete Perfect Fantasy Football Draft Strategy
Fitz’s Approach to the Later Rounds
Approach to Rounds 7-10
If you’ve decided to play the waiting game at QB and/or TE, address those positions in this part of the draft.
The talent at RB and WR starts to drop off in this portion of the draft, although some worthwhile targets still fall into this range at both positions. Scoop them up.
Approach to Rounds 11+
Continue to build depth at WR and RB.
When drafting RBs late in the draft, try to get pieces of unsettled backfields where the pecking order could abruptly change.
Consider grabbing a second quarterback if you’re in a league with 14 or more teams or a league with a lot of roster spots.
Some leagues require you to draft a team defense and a kicker. If your league has those positions but doesn’t require you to actually draft one of each … don’t. Instead, throw an extra couple of darts at late-round RBs. At worst, you’ll drop those late-round RBs right before the start of the season to get your defense and kicker. But maybe a preseason injury to a starter turns one of those late-round RBs into a winning lottery ticket.
Other Considerations
Here are some other things I’ll be thinking about during my drafts.
Anticipate injuries.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “mission accomplished” after you’ve drafted your starters for Week 1. The injury gods are cruel. Few fantasy teams escape a season unscathed by injuries.
Try this thought exercise: Imagine that your top RB and top WR both get hurt in Week 1. What will your starting lineup look like in Week 2?
Build a deep, robust roster that can weather RB and WR injuries. Depth at QB and TE is less important in 1QB leagues since there are usually playable options available on waivers. You need to have viable backup options at RB and WR.
Don’t handcuff your RBs.
Dedicating two roster spots to the RB position on a single NFL team is a suboptimal strategy. You’re better off spreading your bets around and trying to strike gold in a different backfield.
Drafting the backup to one of your starting RBs robs you of a chance to find the next Bucky Irving – the sort of late-round gem who can tilt the balance of power in a fantasy league. Don’t pick a handcuff RB to solidify your team’s floor; use that pick to try to raise your team’s ceiling.
Draft defenses and kickers in the final rounds.
Don’t be among the first people to draft a team defense or kicker. Scoring is too volatile and unpredictable at these positions to justify addressing them with middle-round picks.
Target defenses and kickers with favorable matchups in the first week or two of the season, then play waivers at these positions the rest of the season, seeking the best possible matchups each week.
Check out Fitz’s complete Perfect Fantasy Football Draft Strategy
