Understanding Fantasy Football Redraft Strategies

A primer to understand the various draft strategies you can deploy in your fantasy football drafts

In the words of Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

These words ring true for fantasy drafters who get to the draft with a plan in mind only to see it fizzle as all their players are acquired before the plan can be executed. This can be painfully true when a drafter expects to go running-back heavy only to find an empty running-back queue when it is time to pick. What Tyson is missing in his famous assessment, and what many drafters miss as well, is that any plan must have contingencies. And, a true tactician has contingency plans for the contingency plans. 

What does this mean for your upcoming redraft league? It means that you need to be prepared with more than just one strategy and understand the critical moment to change the approach in real time.

What follows is a list of the most prevalent redraft strategies with insight on when the process is best used and the degree of difficulty to execute the strategy. Mock drafts from FantasyPro's Draft Wizard are provided for each plan, with notes on how the process unfolded.

A note on mock drafts: Mocks are a way to develop and practice your strategy. As any professional athlete will attest, practice is vital to developing skills over years of hard work, and practice has been devoted to getting to the professional stage. No two drafts will be precisely the same. Similarly, one mock draft will never go exactly as another mock. However, as you mock and practice your strategies, you build the muscle memory to use the strategy in the way you see the best fit. Also, the Example Drafts are there just as a possible way the process can be deployed. It would be best if you critiqued it based on your playing style. Hopefully, you finish saying something to the tune of “I would have had Player Y over Player X there, but I understand the reasoning behind the move.”

Now on to the strategies:

Strategy: Zero RB

Best Draft Position: Late; picking 9th-12th

Ease of Deployment: Moderate

Fundamental Belief: Wide receivers are safer early-round picks than running backs.

Main Tenets:

1. Double up on “elite” options at wide receiver on the turn.
2. Continue to build positional strength at wide receiver while others draft “injury-prone” running backs.
3. After round five or six, hammer the running back position with backs that can earn the No. 1 spot and handcuffs that will lead a team if/when the “elite” running back is injured.

Pitfalls: Although statistically less likely, elite wide receivers also suffer injury, sometimes catastrophic season-ending injury. Running backs must be identified pre-draft on who could lead a team. If they never do lead a team, your running-back position could be a weekly nightmare of guessing whom to start.

Example Draft:

Link Here

Strategy: Zero WR, Heavy RB

Best Draft Position: Early; picking 1st-6th

Ease of Deployment: Easy

Fundamental Belief: Workhorse running backs are most important.

Main Tenets:

1. Spend the first three to four picks, at least, on running backs. Depth at wide receiver produces several guys that can “boom” on any given week; draft these players.
2. A wide receiver that leads a lousy team may not be appealing for real football, but can be gold on a fantasy roster.

Potential Pitfalls: When a receiver is finally drafted, they finish outside of the top 24. The “boom” wide receiver only has “bust” weeks when you start them. The elite running back you drafted is injured throughout the season (think Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley in 2020).

Example Draft:

Link Here

Strategy: Modified Zero RB, One RB, Elite RB

Best Draft Position: Any

Ease of Deployment: Easiest

Fundamental Belief: At least one “stud” back should be drafted early to create balance.

Main Tenets: A stud running back, typically in the first half of round one, should be drafted, at the latest, before the end of round two. This strategy provides the most balance if your stud running back remains healthy. Wide receivers should still make up the majority of your early picks.

Potential Pitfalls: Your stud running back is really a dud. Despite the strength at wide receiver and one elite back, the rest of your runners were swings and misses.

Example Draft:

Link Here

Strategy: Value-Based Drafting (VBD)

Best Draft Position: Any

Ease of Deployment: Moderate to difficult

Fundamental Belief: Value can be determined by comparing a player’s projected finish to a baseline.

Main Tenets:

1. Positions are less important than whether the position or player scores more than the baseline.
2. Use mathematics as a basis for the draft by first projecting the fantasy points then subtracting each player’s projection by your baseline.
3. The result is their relative value and should be the basis of why you draft a particular player.

Potential Pitfalls: You will most likely need to find a source that compares projected fantasy points to calculate who is more “valuable” than someone else. This is all based on predicting the future, which humans are typically bad at doing.

Example Draft:

Link Here

Strategy: Best Player Available (BPA)

Best Draft Position: Any

Ease of Deployment: Easy to moderate

Fundamental Belief: Positions do not matter. Select whomever you think will score the most points.

Main Tenets:

1. Whoever you think is the best player should be your next pick regardless of position.
2. If a valuable player falls, you should take them regardless of how your roster is being constructed.

Potential Pitfalls: If you disregard entirely positions (not recommended), you could end up severely lacking in a specific position. This also is predicated on the assumption that we know during the draft who the best player will be during the season.

Example Draft:

Link Here

The following entries are more tactics than strategies because they can be used in tandem with the leading strategies above or each other. Taking a quarterback or tight end earlier than others is done to ensure a positional advantage. However, this can backfire in various ways.

Tactic: TE Early

Best Draft Position: Can be used anywhere

Fundamental Belief: A top-tier tight end provides an unparalleled positional advantage.

Main Tenets:

1. Drafting one of the top three tight ends is the easiest way to secure that position.
2. The ledge from TE3 to TE4 is so significant that you need to get that positional advantage.
3. There are more gradual gaps at other positions, so you lose less by passing from the WR15 to the WR20.

Potential Pitfall: Selecting a tight end early in the draft reduces the chances of snagging top-tier players in other positions. If your tight end struggles (think George Kittle in 2020), you missed the opportunity to draft a skilled player.

Example Draft:

Link Here

Tactic: QB Early

Best Draft Position: Can be used anywhere

Fundamental Belief: A difference-maker at quarterback will create consistency at the position.

Main Tenets:

1. If you pick your quarterback early, you will not have to worry about “streaming” and can use the waiver wire to attack skilled positions.
2. The early quarterback can be expected to start every week and produce 20-25 points minimum each week.

Potential Pitfall: Like taking a tight end early, a quarterback early takes away the opportunity to pick up one of the coveted skilled position players in the early rounds. If the mid- and late-round players you draft don’t hit, you’ll be stuck with a great quarterback with not much else.

Example Draft:

Link Here

Tactic: Punting TE, TE Late

Best Draft Position: Can be used anywhere

Fundamental Belief: There isn’t much difference in late-round tight ends, so there’s no reason to reach for one.

Main Tenets:

1. Once the top tier of tight ends is drafted, there is no rush to scoop up one, so wait for as long as possible.
2. As others are using early- to mid-round picks on a tight end, you are spending those rounds on skilled players and strengthening your starting lineup or bench.

Potential Pitfall: You can wait so late that your best option at tight end is C.J. Uzomah (my SFBX draft). This strategy requires you to stream the position, which opens the door for guessing wrong on whom to draft late or pick up off the waiver wire.

Example Draft:

Link Here

Tactic: Late Round QB (see JJ Zachariason)

Best Draft Position: Can be used anywhere

Fundamental Belief: Streaming a quarterback is just as viable as starting a single “stud” quarterback each week.

Main Tenets:

1. There is little difference between the QB10 to the QB20 especially compared to the RB10 to RB20 or WR10 to WR20.
2. An intelligent (really lucky) streamer can find the correct quarterbacks to stream to rival a top-flight quarterback.

Potential Pitfall: Unlike tight end, you will get a “decent” quarterback even if you wait to be the last person in the draft to select one. However, you might not be able to compete with other teams with higher scoring quarterbacks. There is also the risk of starting the wrong streaming quarterback weekly.

Example Draft:

dw.fantasypros.com/w/SgX9nhQa

Ultimately your draft strategy should be decided by how your draft board unfolds. To be best prepared to react, do several mock drafts. This will help you feel confident in our first strategy and help you see opportunities to adjust your strategy.

Happy Drafting!