Best ball fantasy football is all the rage and Fantasy Alarm has you more than covered here in the NFL preseason. You want best ball draft strategies? We’ve got them. You want to talk best ball ADP? We’ve got you covered there too. Late-round draft value picks? Lineup stacking? We’ve got it all. Just check out our FREE fantasy football draft guide. And to show you how to bring it all together, we’ve been doing a number of best ball drafts and writing up the results to help you see the varying strategies in action.

On Saturday, I took part in the final “Do Good Fantasy” Best Ball Drafts run by my friend and fantasy sports industry colleague Dan Clasgens from Fantistics Fantasy Football. If you are unfamiliar with the “Do Good Fantasy” initiative, it is a series of best ball fantasy football drafts where the all the fees and proceeds (and added donations) go to DAV (Disabled American Veterans) who help over one million veterans and their families. It is an absolutely amazing initiative and I truly feel blessed to have been brought into it by Dan. 

As for Saturday’s draft, well allow me to just say that this room was one of the toughest. Everyone who was in that draft room knew the player pool backwards and forwards. They had fantastic strategies, sharp picks and there were even a few from #FANation who were ready to snipe my favorite picks. Now, I say “everyone who was in that draft room” because there was one who was not. I’m sure there was a very good reason, but if not, at least we can walk away from the experience having learned what it is like to draft with someone who is on auto-draft and hasn’t set up a queue. Your strategy starts to change throughout the draft because you may have a sleeper or a favorite pick you are targeting, and if that player sits atop the queue, you aren’t going to get him because of the auto-pick. Again, it sucks, but things happen, even in your home league, so you have to know how to roll with the punches.

One obvious note as you look at the draft board and prepare to read the breakdown of my results is that this was a superflex best ball draft. The recent ones I have been doing and writing up have all been single-quarterback leagues, so this presents a nice wrinkle, especially if you are thinking about doing a superflex best ball in the future.

 

 

Best Ball Fantasy Football Superflex Draft – July 30, 2022

  • Starting Rosters: QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, Superflex (QB/RB/WR/TE), D/ST
  • Scoring: Full-point PPR

 

The Draft Strategy

The key factor in doing a superflex draft is reading the room to determine whether or not you have to follow the herd and take quarterbacks super-early or if you can wait a little bit and grab some of that elite value at the other positions that is routinely available. People go bonkers for quarterbacks in superflex and while I do like grabbing one of the top guys if I have an early pick, where I was picking (ninth overall), I much prefer to read the room and see if I can hold off. Once established, I planned on taking elite running backs early if I didn’t have to jump into the QB frenzy first, grab a couple of top wide receivers and then punt the tight end position. I figure I don’t want to wait too long for quarterbacks, so if there is a position to suffer in this draft, let it be the tight end. I also wanted to see about doing some stacking in this format as well. I won’t let it dictate my draft, but pairing up all of my quarterbacks with at least one receiver seems like a good idea, especially if I can build three solid stacks. Yes, I know superflex doesn’t always mean using a quarterback in that spot, but that’s only something people who miss out on a decent third QB say. 

 

 

Quarterbacks

 

Russell Wilson, DEN – Pick 3.09

 

 

With only five quarterbacks coming off the board in the first two rounds, I knew a run of some sort was coming. Only Matthew Stafford came off in the third before me so I figured I would grab someone who was easy to stack with and then plan on a second strong QB to start a run and preserve some of the value at RB and WR for my fifth-round pick. Do I need to lay down details of why I like Wilson this year or do you just want to check it out in the AFC West Coaching Systems article? That’s what I thought. 

Derek Carr, LV – Pick 4.04

 

 

After I took Wilson, Dak Prescott and Kyler Murray came off the board. As I said above, my intention was to create a quarterback run to preserve some of the better running backs and wide receivers. If I don’t take Carr here, I’m not really sure what would have happened, but after I took him, we saw five more quarterbacks come off the board before my next pick. Mission accomplished.

Jameis Winston, NO – Pick 9.09

 

 

I’ve always been a big fan of taking three quarterbacks in a superflex league just to keep myself covered for injuries or a bye week. Obviously, I don’t HAVE to use a quarterback in the superflex spot, but considering they often score the most points each week, it’s a move I like to make. Quite a few quarterbacks came off the board and we were nearing very dangerous territory that could have left me garbage for that third spot. Instead, with Winston, I have a viable QB to be used for any week and also someone who can be stacked with some high-quality receivers.

 

 

Running Backs

 

Austin Ekeler, LAC – Pick 1.09

 

 

Only four quarterbacks came off the board in the first round, so I felt very comfortable passing on the position and grabbing a running back here. Like I said, I wanted strong RBs and, according to my fantasy football player rankings, Ekeler is the No. 2 back in fantasy. Love him and I love the offense in which he plays. We identified him last year in Joe Lombardi’s offense and I think he takes it even further this season.

Joe Mixon, CIN – Pick 2.04

 

 

Only Lamar Jackson was taken in between my first and second picks, so I knew this group wasn’t overvaluing the QBs in this superflex draft. I figured I could bulk up at running back with Mixon here and then worry about quarterbacks with my third or fourth pick. Again, just click on my rankings and you’ll see how bullish I am about Mixon. The Bengals use the pass to set up the run and he’s going to continue to see strong carried each and every week.

Chase Edmonds, MIA – Pick 7.09

 

 

This seemed like a good spot to grab some more running back help and while I know Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is going to rotate in his running backs, I truly believe Edmonds is the guy who will end up with the lion’s share of touches. Now removed from that Air Raid system in Arizona, he’s going to a much better team to highlight his skill-set. I will be sure to handcuff him with Raheem Mostert as those two seem like the primary choices.

Isaiah Spiller, LAC – Pick 8.04

 

 

A fair number of running backshad been coming off the board and I knew I wanted to handcuff Spiller to Ekeler. Spiller may very well have some standalone value, but the key is to ensure having the Chargers backfield as the system dictates plenty of touches and if anything happens to Ekeler, I am fully covered and likely won’t miss a beat.

Snoop Conner, JAC – Pick 17.09

 

 

Looking for some RB depth and Conner does just that in Jacksonville. Both Travis Etienne and James Robinson are coming off major injuries and if Doug Pederson still likes to rotate his backs like he used to in Philadelphia, Conner could see a little early-season work. If that opens the door for him even just a little bit, good things should come.

Kenyan Drake, LV – Pick 19.09

 

 

More depth here and, who knows…? Maybe Carr and Drake can team up for some red zone screen passes every so often.

 

 

Wide Receivers

 

Mike Williams, LAC – Pick 5.09

 

 

When you wait until the fifth round to take your first wide receiver, you cannot expect to land a true No. 1. However, Williams is pretty close as the X-receiver for the Chargers. The scheme dictates plenty of targets his way and while Keenan Allen remains the security blanket for Justin Herbert, Williams is still looking at over 1,200 yards and double-digit touchdowns this season. Knowing how strong my quarterbacks and running backs are, I am perfectly content with Big Mike as my top guy.

Courtland Sutton, DEN – Pick 6.04

 

 

I was pretty psyched to see Sutton still on the board for my sixth pick. I can pair him up with Wilson and build a Broncos stack pretty easily. I believe Sutton to be the No. 1 in Denver and he should excel now that he actually has a legitimate guy throwing him the bal. Sutton can take it over the middle, he can tack on yards after the catch and he can also stretch the field and take it deep. I am expecting a career-best season for him.

Allen Lazard, GB – Pick 10.04

 

 

He’s going to be Aaron Rodgers’ No. 1 target this season and I’m getting him in the 10th round? Yes, please.

Chris Olave, NO – Pick 11.09

 

 

This is the time of the draft where I start loading up on wide receivers. You only need three to pop each week, so let’s take a look at the Saints now that I have Winston as one of my quarterbacks. Sure, Michael Thomas is there but the guy hasn’t played since 2020 and it seem unlikely that the Saints will force-feed him targets. Olave was a big pick for them and they’re going to want to unleash him as early as possible.

Jarvis Landry, NO – Pick 12.04

 

 

I have him everywhere. Let Thomas and Olave fight for the top spot. No matter what, Landry is the No. 2. He’s a great route runner, handles all sorts of work over the middle and should be the go-to guy for Winston when he needs to move the chains. Also gives me one heck of a Saints stack.

Tim Patrick, DEN – Pick 13.09

 

 

I was actually lining up Raheem Mostert here so I could lock down the Miami backfield. Unfortunately, he went the pick right before me, so grabbing Patrick and completing my Denver stack seemed like the right pivot to make. Patrick is so underrated and could even end up as the Broncos No. 2 guy.

 

 

Tight Ends

 

David Njoku, CLE – Pick 14.04

 

 

This is what you get when you punt the tight end position. I actually don’t regret it based on the rest of my team, but I don’t expect to do this too often the rest of the way and I certainly won’t be doing it in re-draft or keeper leagues. Njoku should be a viable option given the struggles under center for Cleveland, not to mention the fact that they just don’t have a strong receiving corps. You’ve got Amari Cooper and then a ton of question marks. Njoku should get a decent target share, all things considered.

Gerald Everett, LAC – Pick 15.09

 

 

Just wanted to make sure I had a quality back-up tight end for the bye weeks. And who knows…? Maybe we get a few big games out of Herbert’s newest toy. Everett was added to the team for his pass-catching work, so if I can get 600 yards and six touchdowns here, that’s a win.

C.J. Uzomah, NYJ – Pick 18.04

 

 

Maybe, just maybe Mike LaFleur starts to use Uzomah like he used George Kittle back in San Francisco? That would certainly be nice, wouldn’t it?

 

 

Defense/Special Teams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Pick 16.04

One of the top units coming into the season. Should be a solid play each week.

New York Jets – Pick 20.04

Total homer pick as most of the other good defenses were already drafted.

So there you have it! That’s the squad, for better or for worse. I’ll let you know how it all turns out in January 2023.

 

 

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