I drafted so much Brandin Cooks last offseason. He was coming off of four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and seemed destined for another in what looked like one of the league’s most potent offenses. He finished the season with 110.5 points and a 2.9% win rate — the fourth-lowest win rate among all players drafted in at least 200 drafts. Here’s the thing: I’m going to…...

If you’re not weak of memory you’d remember how Minnesota started the 2019 season. It was something bizarre, so strange, in fact, that there were virtually no modern-era comparisons to what Kirk Cousins and the rest of the Vikings put together during the first three to four weeks of the season. For those who have forgotten about it, here is a quick refresher: Through three…...

Tyler Boyd was an afterthought. He entered the 2018 season as the Bengals’ WR3 behind A.J. Green and John Ross. He was coming off of a season in which he averaged just 3.2 targets and 22.5 receiving yards per contest. His best ball ADP was WR143. Boyd didn’t get the message. He racked up 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns in only 14 games en route…...

In the first three parts of this series, we looked at running backs and wide receivers drafted in the “RB Dead Zone” — Rounds 3 through 6 — and those drafted in the double-digit rounds. Today, we’ll combine everything we’ve learned (with some help from the Fanball Roster Construction Explorer) to talk about one of the most potent strategies in fantasy football. A Quick Refresher…...

It was an awesome year for rookie wide receivers. Six rookie wideouts finished with a double-digit best ball win rate, matching the total from the previous four years combined. As such, you can expect guys like A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf, Terry McLaurin, and Deebo Samuel to fly off the board fairly early in drafts this offseason. But who’s going to be the unheralded sophomore who…...

In the first two parts of this series, we looked at running backs and wide receivers picked in Rounds 3-6 of best ball drafts in 2019 and talked about what your strategy should be in those rounds in 2020. Today, we’re going to do the same thing for RBs and WRs drafted in Round 10 or later. How did late-round RBs do in 2019? Not…...

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the performance of running backs who were drafted in Rounds 3 through 6 of best ball drafts — also known as the “RB Dead Zone” — and found that the 2019 group scored 29.2% more fantasy points than the 2015-18 average. However, despite posting such high point totals, the average win rate for these RBs was…...

Last July, I wrote an article about the running back dead zone — basically, RBs picked in Rounds 3 through 6 have busted at incredible rates since 2015. That article — along with several others which had similar findings — fundamentally changed my strategy in best ball drafts. Oops.[1]Maybe. Leonard Fournette, Aaron Jones, Chris Carson, Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, Mark Ingram, and James White (just…...

We spent all offseason discussing roster construction strategies to hack our way to a positive win rate in fantasy football best ball leagues. We’re now six weeks into the 2019 NFL season and can start to see trends emerging in Best Ball Player Win Rates. Last week, Shawn Siegele highlighted the players with the highest win rates through five weeks. Before we get to the really interesting…...

You know that feeling when you finish a draft and can’t find any mistakes? Everything just falls perfectly in line with your plan and you wouldn’t change anything. Today we’ll be taking a look at one such perfect draft in the DRAFT Best Ball format. The “Perfect” Draft From Pick No. 9 in DRAFT Best Ball Round 1 Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns My favorite roster…...

Now that we have entered the optimal month to draft in the DRAFT Best Ball Championship, I’m looking for every edge RotoViz can create to improve our chances of taking down the $1 Million first-place prize. RotoViz has published a variety of articles detailing how to approach best ball drafts for 2019. Shawn Siegele’s Best Ball Workshop is the most comprehensive best ball article series…...

Tight end premium scoring is one of the best elements of the FFPC. In many other formats, drafters can simply spend the single-digit rounds loading up at running back and wide receiver. The FFPC forces you to consider TE, and consider it early. Travis Kelce currently sits at 6.6 in FFPC drafts, five slots earlier than he’s going in Fanball. George Kittle and Zach Ertz…...

The superstars may be insulated, but for everyone else, livelihoods rest on the result of each training camp practice. Fantasy owners sit on the edge of their collective seats, waiting for each new highlight, each new beat report, each new coaching interview. Missing a single solitary revelation could be the difference between drafting D’Onta Foreman 15 minutes after he’s been released or waiting too long…...

Most fantasy analysis is devoted to sorting the order of players likely to have an immediate impact, but every year there are a handful of overlooked deep sleepers who emerge to fill a starting role in redraft. Last year, it was guys like Phillip Lindsay and James Conner at running back. Deep sleepers at WR are a little harder to find, but we did tell you to watch out for Curtis Samuel,…...

I recently asked the gang to get together for a round table discussion looking at all of the biggest questions in best ball. I wanted to dive into the actionable intel found in the FFPC, Fanball, and DRAFT dashboards, as well as the Roster Construction Explorers for each format. Joining me today are some of the more decorated best ball players in the industry. Monty Phan and…...

Most fantasy analysis is devoted to sorting the order of players likely to have an immediate impact, but every year there are a handful of overlooked deep sleepers who emerge to fill a starting role in redraft. Last year, it was guys like Phillip Lindsay and James Conner at running back. Deep sleepers at WR are a little harder to find, but we did tell you to watch out for Curtis Samuel,…...

I recently asked the gang to get together for a round table discussion looking at all of the biggest questions in best ball. I wanted to dive into the actionable intel found in the FFPC, Fanball, and DRAFT dashboards, as well as the Roster Construction Explorers for each format. Joining me today are some of the more decorated best ball players in the industry. Monty Phan and…...