Strategies for Best Ball Fantasy Football Tournaments Part 3 of 4 – Roster Construction

by Primetime Playaz · Published August 12, 2023 · Updated August 16, 2023

In this article, I am going to break down roster construction for Underdog Fantasy (Underdog) and DraftKings (DK) tournaments and how many players at each position you should take. My recommendations are based partly on Mike Leone’s research, as well as my own research. Note that Mike’s article only covers Underdog, and I’ve added DraftKings to mine. I say this to acknowledge that there are two extra roster spots on DraftKings, which is a big difference. His article will go down as one of the greatest best ball articles ever written and is a must-read. My goal is to help you win money and not advising you to read his article would be a failure on my part. I’ve gone down the wormhole of roster construction with so many articles and podcasts, and also have three years of experience playing best ball (over 25 years playing fantasy). I am here to try and make it easy for you so you don’t burn your money like I did the first two years playing.

The numbers I provide are just suggested numbers. How you start a draft will dictate how your final roster will look. If you don’t get a starting QB until late, you may need to get three. But if you got a top QB early, you probably only need two. These are all suggestions based on advance rates. No two years are alike so things will change.

Let’s get down to business. Here are the ideal roster construction builds according to averages taken from the finals in both major tournaments.

UNDERDOG

Ideal Minimum & Maximums

2 QBs (2 min, 3 max)

6 RBs (4 min, 7 max)

8 WRs (6 min, 10 max)

2 TEs (2 min, 3 max)

DRAFTKINGS

(note, two extra roster spots vs UD)

Ideal Minimum & Maximums

3 QBs* (2 min, 4 max)

6 RBs* (4 min, 8 max)

8 WRs* (6 min, 11 max)

3 TEs* (2 min, 4 max)

*Determining whether you use your two extra roster spots in DK for QB, RB, WR, or TE depends on what you went with early in your draft. If you wait on RBs, you may need to take a 7^th. If you went RB-heavy, then you probably need an extra WR. Also, having 3 QBs or 3 TEs in DraftKings isn’t horrible if you got your first one late. The structure is a little more flexible on DK.

Wide Receivers

When building your roster, the order in which you fill the positions matters. Having a strong squad of wide receivers seems to be the way to go on both UD and DK but that doesn’t mean you can’t get an elite QB, RB, or TE as well. This is where experts start to differentiate and where you can get creative. The way I see all of the different roster construction strategies is how they all revolve around the WR. Maybe you wait on QB, RB, or TE but you don’t wait on WR. Yes, there are more available WRs than RBs but you also start 3 WRs and only 2 RBs. When properly stacked with a QB, the WR dividends are huge. We talk about stacking in our next article.

A good benchmark is the 5:10 rule. Get 5 WRs by round 10.

What about the other three positions then? Depends who you ask. My answer would be to see where the draft takes you. I don’t want to lead you down a path here, but instead, give you options. I think there are valid reasons to wait on different positions outside of WR, but you must know what you’re doing. Otherwise, I recommend a balanced line-up such as grabbing 3 RBs, 1 QB, and 1 TE along with those 5 WRs in your first 5 picks. Where you take a QB is up to you. To me, waiting on a WRs is like running a marathon with ankle weights on. Don’t do that to yourself.

Quarterbacks

Ultimately you want to have a highly successful QB so if you feel you can wait to get one, that’s your choice. Most of the successful line-ups I’ve seen or compiled had a top-5 (or near) QB at the end of the season, which makes sense, especially if they were stacked. Notice I didn’t say top-5 drafted QB. Where the QB finishes is what matters here, whether you drafted them in the 2nd round or the 10th. If you know you can get a top-5 QB in season fantasy points in the later rounds then go for it. I can tell you I am peppering the draft button on Justin Herbert’s name. What you shouldn’t do too often is punt QB. Don’t wait until the later rounds and just load up on three average QBs (unless you are certain two of them are undervalued and will finish in top-10).

When I say punt, I mean waiting to start taking QBs after the first 15 or so are off the board. I don’t mean you have to get Justin Herbert or better. That’s just what I’m doing in about 30% of my drafts. Waiting for the ones beyond the 15th round can work but you’d have to nail them all. They’d have to have spike games at different times because you know they aren’t going to have that many of them, like a Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes. And who is to say they will even have any spike weeks? It would be an uphill battle. If you’re entering a lot of line-ups, then I say go for it a few times. Maybe you’ll find this year’s Geno Smith, who had great value last year and went undrafted in many drafts. People were drafting Drew Lock because they didn’t know who the QB was going to be in Seattle. I know I said I wouldn’t lead you down a path on the other positions so think of this as more of an “opinion.” As I’ve said in other articles, every year is different.

Running Backs Draft Strategies

In terms of running backs, below are some different strategies with fancy names. You can find someone online arguing adamantly for each one of these strategies, so take your pick. I can tell you I’ve been doing a double-anchor in about 65% of my drafts since WRs got pushed up this year, and RBs got pushed down. Which could be an argument for Zero RB? I need to back off and do a little more Hero RB builds. The definition of the terms I’m about to provide varies depending on who you ask but are based on what I found to be most accurate to what people define them as. It at least gives you a good idea. The numbers you see after the definitions, marked **, are advance rates to the UD Best Ball Mania II playoffs and finals from the 2021. These are provided by Peter Overzet, who is another best ball must follow.

Light (hyperfragile) Draft 3 RBs in first 6 rounds and then only 1 more RB, so only 4 total. Advance rate to UD playoffs in 2021 was 12.9% and 0.02% to finals (worst)**

Double-Anchor RB – Take two RBs in first 4 rounds. Advance rate to UD playoffs in 2021 was 25% (highest) and 0.10% to finals (3^rd of 5)**

Heavy (Robust) RB – 4 RBs before round 7. Advance rate to UD playoffs in 2021 was 9.3% (worst) and 0.07% to finals (4^th of 5)** . This was one of the worst strategies to use.

Hero (Anchor) RB – Take first RB in first two rounds, and next one starting in round 6 or after. Advance rate to UD playoffs in 2021 was 19% and 0.16% to finals (2^nd best of the 5 RB strategies)**

Zero RB – Don’t take a running back until round 6 or after. Advance rate to UD playoffs in 2021 was 14% and 0.24% to finals (highest)**.

In reviewing Peter Overzet’s numbers, it aligns fairly well with all of the stats I’ve seen come out of BBM III in 2022. The worst RB strategies in terms of advance rates are Heavy and Light RB. This also agrees with what I was saying about the importance of wide receivers but also tells us we can’t completely skimp out on running back. For those that go Zero RB, they probably end up getting 6 or 7 RBs. You can’t go Zero RB and only draft 4 total and expect to win. I mean, there is a chance but it has to be near the same odds as hitting the lotto.

Tight Ends

The tight-end position is a mess. There is one elite player, Travis Kelce, then everyone else. Will anyone else take a step up this year to his tier? Mark Andrews did in 2021, can he do it again? Will the middle tier drive everyone crazy again with the mediocracy? If you waited on TE, I wouldn’t blame you. If you do wait to get your first TE past round 10, you may want to end up drafting three. If you get two solid TEs, you may not need a third in UD, but could be ok in DK. I know I am being vague with Tight End but it really depends on the rest of your build and how you view the position. I’ve taken some of the big names at their average draft position, and I’ve also waited to get three young but starting tight ends. If I had to give you advice I would say get one of the top 10 TEs.

This should give you enough fire power to understand roster construction so let’s finish with stacking, since it’s a close relative.

In Summary: All positions are important but WRs are most important. Don’t at me.