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Knowing the types of strategies when drafting a Best Ball fantasy team is paramount to success. Having that knowledge will help you easily navigate your drafts. Today, I will detail the most predominant strategies to use on Underdog and how to maximize them for tournaments.
Draft Strategies
Zero RB
The Zero RB strategy has seen its parameters shift slightly over time as the community has come to value running backs differently. It was bred to avoid the volatility of early running backs, who tend to get injured more frequently than wide receivers, and to bypass the running back dead zone completely. Normally, Zero RB teams don’t select a running back before round seven, but that round can vary year to year based on ADP.
Zero RB teams emphasize taking elite players at quarterback and/or tight end while stacking up wide receivers. Zero RB teams are built in such a way that a wide receiver will almost always act as their flex. They’re just looking to get enough production at running back to keep them afloat at the position while they have dominant scores at the other positions.
The kind of running backs that a Zero RB team will look for is a bit narrower than other strategies. These teams need to find both cheap immediate production and potential massive ADP outperformers from the later rounds. Frequently, the immediate production will come from aging veterans who still have solid roles like D’Andre Swift or Aaron Jones. Then Zero RB teams will fill in their depth with handcuffs who will be big producers in the event of an injury, like Tyler Allegeier, and young players who have a wide range of outcomes, like Bhayshul Tuten.
Hero RB
Hero RB was born from the Zero RB draft plan, with the change that you draft one early running back you feel very confident to be the “hero” of your running back room. With this strategy, you expect your hero running back to be in your lineup every week, consistently making an impact. Then, all you need is one of your other running backs to do just enough to make your lineup with a decent score.
RB2 is the most replaceable position in fantasy football. Every year, we see many running backs pop up out of nowhere, whether through injury or ascending a depth chart, to provide RB2 numbers. The Hero RB strategy looks to capitalize on this by locking down your RB1 and letting variance take over at RB2. Which running backs qualify to be your Hero RB has varied each year and will vary person to person as well. Generally, they’re selected in the first four rounds, and they’re someone you’re confident will be a reliable producer like Chase Brown.
Everything else remains similar to Zero RB. You still want to load up at wide receiver and spend higher picks on quarterback and/or tight end to ensure you’re strong everywhere else. You also want to target similar running backs to fill our the rest of your room.
Robust RB
Robust RB is the counterpart to Zero RB. This strategy puts a heavy emphasis on drafting running backs early and often to ensure top production at the position. Robust RB was the strategy for most of fantasy football’s history, as running backs were king. As the NFL has changed, and passing has become so important, the landscape has changed. Robust RB isn’t as popular these days, but it isn’t without merit.
Finding reliable elite production at running back can be tough, and most teams in any given league will have trouble doing so. Robust RB looks to corner the market and dominate the rest of the league at the position. When done right, no other team in the league will be able to come close to matching the production and will have to try to make it up elsewhere. The best running backs each year also always finish at the top of the highest scoring players. Finding multiple of them on the same team can make winning easy.
You will need to spend fewer total picks on running backs since you’re relying on the early ones you drafted to carry the position. Robust RB drafters will then need to take extra shots on wide receivers to make sure they’re still able to have respectable production at the position. When drafting this strategy, wide receivers that represent more floor than ceiling (and are priced accordingly) become more attractive.
Punt QB/TE
The Punt QB and/or TE strategy is defined by waiting for as long as possible to draft either position. This is done to ensure strength at running back and wide receiver, since they make up the bulk of your lineup. This strategy can be used in conjunction with others, but it isn’t always. The most important facet is making sure you’re one of the last people to address one or both of quarterback and tight end.
This strategy also takes advantage of the occasional minute difference between most quarterbacks and tight ends. In any given season, there will only be a small difference between QB12 and QB24, making it more worthwhile to wait at the position. There’s no point in paying the price for a low-end QB1 if you can confidently draft a quarterback much later who will provide similar production. The same is true for tight ends.
While you wait to draft your quarterbacks and/or tight ends, you hammer running back and wide receiver, building strength at those positions. Those positions make up the largest portion of your lineup, so it makes sense to want to be as strong as you can there. This strategy relies on you being able to find values at quarterback or tight end, though. If you can’t, it won’t matter how good the rest of your team is. You’ll be outscored too much at quarterback and/or tight end to make up the difference.
Team Building
Stacking
Drafting a fantasy football team is like making a bunch of individual bets on every player you draft. You’re betting that each player will outperform their draft position. Stacking correlates two or more of those bets to increase the chances your team hits on as many of those bets as possible.
Let’s do the mental exercise on how. You’re in a fantasy draft, and you’ve selected CeeDee Lamb. You’ve now made a bet that Lamb will have a fantastic season. If Lamb does have a great season, there’s reason to believe that Dak Prescott has also had a good season to help facilitate Lamb’s. Adding Prescott to your team means you’ve now made a correlated bet that Prescott and Lamb will have a great season together. Every other quarterback has zero impact on Lamb’s season.
Week 17 Correlation
A newer component of drafting a good best ball team is building week 17 correlation in your lineups, specifically on Underdog. The final week of Underdog tournaments is one large pod of players in week 17 battling for the grand prize. Because of this, we want to maximize our teams for that week to give ourselves the best chance to win
Week 17 correlation comes from weekly DFS. In those weekly DFS tournaments, you’re playing against a large field of players, where you need to hit a very high-end outcome to win, just like the final week of Underdog tournaments. To find that high-end outcome in weekly DFS, players try to find the game with the highest potential fantasy scoring and stack players within that game to capture as much of it as possible. We can do this in best ball by drafting players from the team that our main stack plays against in week 17.
It’s Time to Draft
Now, you’re ready to draft a best ball tournament team and have a leg up on most of your competition. Many people go into drafts without understanding the basics of building a proper team. You’re not those people.
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