The setting that affects my draft strategy the most is the number of wide receivers you’re required to start. If a league only requires you to start two WRs weekly, I won’t be wedded to either a WR-heavy or RB-heavy strategy. But if a league requires you to start three WRs, I’m going with a WR-heavy draft every time.
Think about it. If the configuration is 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 TE, and 1 flex, 37.5% of your starters (excluding defenses and kickers) will be wide receivers, and it jumps to 50% if you start a WR in your flex spot.
Nothing against running backs. Many people consider them the lifeblood of fantasy football, and there’s no denying that winning a fantasy championship with substandard production at the RB position is challenging.
But the robust-RB people should probably acknowledge that there’s a high injury rate at the position and that we see running backs emerge from the fog every year to be fantasy-relevant, if not fantasy-dominant. How many times have running backs with ADPs of RB60 or higher stepped into high-leverage roles due to injury and sparked huge bidding wars on waivers? It happens every year, often more than once
This approach requires me to set another guideline for myself: I might draft a TE early, and I might draft a QB early, but I won’t draft both a TE and a QB early.
Approach to Rounds 3-6
Tags: strategyfantasy-football
Note: But this is fertile ground for WRs, and I still want to throw more punches at that position. My colleague Matthew Freedman wrote something that struck a chord with me in his article about his perfect 2022 draft:
“This area in the draft is sometimes referred to as the ‘Running Back Dead Zone.’ I prefer to think of it as the ‘Wide Receiver Power Alley.’ ”
In principle, I think the Zero RB approach is viable and savvy. In practice, I’m not entirely comfortable with it and prefer going with a Hero RB approach or grabbing a couple of running backs in this portion of the draft.
But this is fertile ground for WRs, and I still want to throw more punches at that position. My colleague Matthew Freedman wrote something that struck a chord with me in his article about his perfect 2022 draft:
“This area in the draft is sometimes referred to as the ‘Running Back Dead Zone.’ I prefer to think of it as the ‘Wide Receiver Power Alley.’ ”
Approach to Rounds 7-10
If I don’t have a QB yet, I’m getting one in this portion of the draft.
If I don’t have a TE yet, I’m (probably) getting one in this portion of the draft.
I’m probably grabbing another RB in this range and throwing another log on the WR fire.