Best-ball requires WRs to go ‘deep’
WITH the NFL season just around the corner, there is a new fantasy football format that seems to be all the rage right now. Welcome to best-ball leagues, a game that is all about the draft and has zero in-season management. If you love the prep work and you love the draft, but hate dealing with waiver claims and l i neup decisions, this is the game for you. The draft is 20-30 rounds and t he website takes your highest scoring players and inserts t hem i nto your starting lineup. It doesn’t get any easier. Though i ns eason maintenance is no longer required, you do need to formulate a strategy for your draft that will keep your team at its strongest each week. Many still believe in the best-player-available choice at each draft pick, but in best-ball, because you cannot adjust for injuries, you need to focus more heavily on your running back depth. To do that, you have to sacrifice elsewhere — and believe it or not, that sacrifice can be made at the wide receiver position.
One of the trickiest lineup decisions in seasonal fantasy formats is figuring out which wide receiver has the best match-up and may be capable of seeing extra targets both in and out of the red zone. How many times have you made that wrong decision and taken a loss because you started the wrong guy? Probably more often than you would like to admit and, oftentimes, it’s someone like Julio Jones who puts up a doughnut and kills your team.
But in best-ball, because the computer sets your lineup, you can beat the system simply by attacking it with volume. You can bulk up at the running back position early and then overstock your team with midlevel wide receivers. They may not be the marquee names like DeAndre Hopkins or A.J. Green, but loading up on guys in the Emmanuel Sanders, Nelson Agholor and Chris Hogan range will afford you a number of strong options from which the computer can choose. If your starting lineup requires just two or three wideouts and you draft eight or nine, you only need 25 percent of your receivers to hit each week to keep your team strong. Your elite running backs, coupled with your quarterback and tight end, can do the heavy lifting you need. With quantity over quality, the odds are in your favor.
The best-ball format may not be for everyone, as some enjoy the in-season work required to win a championship. But for those who struggle each week with lineup choices and making it to your waiver wire in time, this format affords you the opportunity to enjoy the fantasy realm at your leisure. Just remember, a successful draft is of the utmost importance and strategy is every-
Howard Bender is the VP of operations and head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 4-6 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy sports advice, and Post readers can get a free Ultimate Cheat Sheet download.