Different Strategies for Season-Long Drafting
Fantasy Football is a great game, and just about everyone is in some sort of league nowadays. Whether it’s with family and friends, work acquaintances, or hardcore fantasy football junkies, there are many different leagues, league sizes, formats, and settings that can make the game better (or worse). Today we will be touching on some of the best league settings that can help bring fantasy leagues to a new level. Of course, many of you reading this (a fantasy football magazine!) will be familiar with the large majority of what we’re talking about today, but hopefully, we can find a tidbit or two that can help everyone improve their league.
Base Formats
Point Per Reception – The base of every fantasy football league starts here. Are you playing in a standard (no points for receptions), PPR (Point Per Reception) or Half PPR (Half Point Per Reception). While touchdowns and total yardage are the base of how players score their points, this factor of counting receptions (or not) can create an enormous difference in who the top scoring Running Backs (RBs) and Wide Receivers (WRs) are. Especially in today’s game, RBs are taking on less of a role in the running game, so they’re even more reliant on those opportunities on dump-off catches and screens. Among the top 20 Fantasy RBs in 2023, just one (David Montgomery) had below 25 receptions, and that was due to the fact that his teammate (Jahmyr Gibbs) was accumulating all that volume. It’s now very common for RBs to produce 50, 60, or even 70+ receptions in a season, and those points could/will obviously shift matchups. Some would argue that giving players a full point for a reception is too powerful, and shifting to something like .5 per reception levels the playing field appropriately. I agree with that sentiment, especially with the dominance of slot WRs over the last decade, but boy are more points generally more fun.
1 QB or Superflex
A Superflex spot is a “flex” spot where you can start RBs, WRs and TEs… along with QBs. For many, many years, 1 QB league was the gold standard of fantasy football, and to a certain extent, it still is. However, in the last decade, we’ve seen a big shift in what people want from the quarterback position. While RBs and WRs will continue to be the main focus of any fantasy league, there is no doubt that positions where you only have to start one player Is vulnerable to not matter.Adding an option to add a second QB to everyone’s lineup does a couple of things. Mainly, it makes the most important position in football matter again. QB scoring is almost always higher on average than the other positions, and by allowing two you create a gold rush in your league to hoard QBs. It’s a great element that I highly recommend.
TE Premium
TE premium is when you give a bonus or extra milestone for TEs compared to RBs and WRs. Most of the time it’s tied to receptions (RBs and WRs are 1 PPR, while TEs are 1.5) While not nearly as powerful as a Superflex addition is for QBs, adding an extra bonus for TEs creates more value at the position. While there are more receiving TEs today than years ago, we still do not value the position much (beyond the top few options). Much like QB, unless you do something to create value at the position, many ignore it, and the TE spot essentially becomes a liability for the league. While I don’t think 1.5 PPR for TEs is the perfect solution, it does add a fun element where the position matters more and can generate league-winning weeks compared to other positions. TE will always be the weakest of the four positions, but anything to help average things out can make it more fun and, again, create value for a position that can be neglected.
Extra Flex Spots
An old adage from ancient history reads, “When in doubt, add a few more flex spots to your fantasy league”. I’m fairly sure that was Socrates, but don’t quote me on that. There’s been a lot of talk about Flex spots already today, and for good reason. The traditional starting lineup setup for a fantasy league is 1 QB. 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE and maybe one flex. Some leagues have a D (Team Defense) and K (Kicker) spot (which I don’t mind as much as some others) as well, but the base of all fantasy analysis is essentially working with that setup for QBs, RBs, WRs, and TEs. By adding more flex spots (and more bench spots if you want!), maybe two or three, you’re creating more depth in what production you need and creating more skill. The deeper the league, the more skill and research is required. Many leagues have chosen to get rid of their D and K spots in favor of regular flex or super flex spots, but if those are still near and dear to your heart, you can absolutely keep those in play. If you’re reading this magazine, you’re probably a die-hard fantasy football fan, and if that’s the case, I’d wager a lot of money you’ll enjoy an extra flex spot or two!
Best Ball
A best ball format is a league that requires no lineup submissions, and the best possible lineup is submitted every week from your full roster. One of the biggest parts of my job at FantasyGuru is helping subscribers optimize their weekly starting lineup. The blood, sweat, and tears that go into setting lineups, working the waiver wire, and overall grinding out a fantasy league for 17 or 18 weeks is a lot and tiring for some. Those with big families and/or busy (work) schedules can find it hard to be present for a full season, and that’s when errors like missed lineup submissions, starting injured/bye week players or overall having the wrong players in the lineup (while a bench player goes off!). The amount of frustration this type of thing causes every year is real, and if you can relate to this, a best ball league might be something for you to try. While it isn’t as personalized, and I wouldn’t recommend it for a home league, if you’re looking to play multiple leagues this year, a best ball format can make Waivers and lineup submitting much easier. It can also create a much more stress-free Sunday morning!
Extra
Prizes for Regular Season Points Leader – This is one of my favorite wrinkles for a fantasy league. Paying out at least some portion of the prize pool to the top-scoring regular season team feels like Justice, and even if that team craps the bed in the playoffs, at least they got something. I’ve seen many, many juggernaut teams destroy leagues all season, only to see their best players to throw up duds or not even play in the final weeks when the actual money is on the line. While I appreciate the luck factor involved in fantasy football, and know many enjoy that aspect of it, I do want the best teams to win. The base playoff bracket with seeding and an elimination-style tournament is fun and can be a great sweat, but it’s essentially saying the first 15 weeks of the season don’t matter. Every league has a full prize pool to split up after League Dues are paid, and my suggestion is to ponder the idea of paying out some type of reward to the top regular-season teams. Often times the best teams end up winning the whole thing.. but there are a lot of occasions where things go haywire with the luck-style bracket tournament.
