FastDraft Fantasy Origins: Best Ball ADP, Basics, Tips, and Strategy
We live in the golden age of fantasy football. There have never been more resources available for research. There have never been more fantasy football draft strategies. And there have never been more platforms and formats to enjoy. And the newest one, FastDraft, hits the sweet spot for fantasy gamers looking to get a head start on the 2025 NFL Season!
Once upon a time, you needed to find a bunch of people to create a new league, do a full draft, then play the whole thing out with waivers, trades, and lineups. And doing that in May didn’t make a whole lot of sense. FastDraft takes the best part of fantasy football (the draft) and allows you to put together teams in as quickly as five minutes. The “best ball” format then handles the scoring for you
Right now, they have multiple game modes available. Flex 4 is their flagship game that has all the offensive players available. Their D-Up game mode is an IDP version. But the one I’m enjoying the most and taking BIG advantage of is their Origins game mode that is only rookies. You and 9 other teams draft six rounds of rookies based on what you believe they will do in the 2025 NFL season. And their Origins Gamma contest opens right now, has $25,000 worth of prizes with only a $5 entry!
In honor of that, I’m going to take a quick moment here to cover the basics and share my favorite strategy tips from early drafts. If you want to get involved, go to FantasyAlarm.com/FastDraft and use promo code ALARM, where they will match 100% of your deposit up to $50 if it is your first time playing!
FastDraft Origins Basics
The draft itself is simple. It’s a 10-team snake draft that runs for six rounds. There are no position restrictions. That means that you don’t need to have a quarterback, or you can draft all running backs if you want - there is a lot of flexibility. Once the season starts, a “best ball” algorithm slots your four highest-scoring players into your lineup based on who has the best statistics each week. As mentioned in the intro, there are no manual lineup adjustments following the draft, so no waivers, no trades, and no lineup setting.
FastDraft Origins Scoring
The full rules for the contest can be found here on their website but here is a look at the scoring. It’s pretty typical for the modern fantasy football era.
- 0.1 points per 2.5 yards passing (1 point per 25 passing yards)
- 0.1 points per 1 yard rushing (1 point per 10 rushing yards)
- 0.1 points per 1 yard receiving (1 point per 10 receiving yards)
- 4 points per passing touchdown
- 6 points per rushing touchdown
- 6 points per receiving touchdown
- 1 points per reception
- 2 points per 2-point conversion passing
- 2 points per 2-point conversion rushing
- 2 points per 2-point conversion receiving
- -1 point for an interception
- -2 points for a fumble lost
FastDraft Origins Captain Boosters
Besides the quick drafts and smaller lineups, the Captain Boosters is the other aspect that makes FastDraft fun and unique. Of your six players drafted, you are allowed to assign Captain Boosters to four of them. These will multiply the fantasy points scored by those players, allowing you to plant your flag on specific players you think will excel. Here are the four Captain Booster options.
- 2.00 times the total fantasy points scored.
- 1.75 times the total fantasy points scored.
- 1.50 times the total fantasy points scored.
- 1.25 times the total fantasy points scored.
FastDraft Origins Entries and Prizes
For this particular contest, you are allowed a maximum of 150 entries with a $5 buy-in. The maximum number of entrants is 5,890, and the top 890 win some sort of prize. Per their website, 641st to 890th get their $5 back, and everyone above that makes a profit. There is $25,000 in total prizes - the top four prizes are all at least $1,000, and the top prize is $4K. Not bad for a $5 investment!
FastDraft Origins Tips and Advice
Put Your Seasonal Rankings Cap On
One thing was immediately evident to me when I first jumped into a FastDraft Origins lobby. Folks are drafting these players with dynasty rankings in mind. Which makes sense as the draft was fairly recent, and dynasty rookie drafts are still in full swing. But that’s not what this tournament is about.
Dynasty is about the long haul. This contest ONLY applies to this year. Yet the rankings seem to skew towards dynasty rankings. For instance, Emeka Egbuka is a good player, but his path to high-end upside is likely a year or two out with the decline or absence of Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. Jaxson Dart might not play at all this season behind Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, yet he and Egbuka both go in the second round of these drafts. Even a guy like Omarion Hampton could compete with Najee Harris for touches, while players like RJ Harvey and Tyler Shough have a fairly clear path to a starting gig. Obviously, we still want talented guys, but OPPORTUNITY is king for seasonal drafts.
Leverage Ownership For Unique Builds
In big tournaments like this, with almost 6,000 people in them, we could end up splitting hairs at the very top. A lot of folks could even have the same team. If your team is slightly different (and slightly better), that could mean the difference between splitting $4,000 or having it all for yourself.
I’ve found two ways to create unique builds. One is to reach for players at times to mix up the order. For instance, RJ Harvey typically goes towards the mid to back half of the first round. I’ve been taking him as high as 2 overall after Ashton Jeanty at times. Not only does that give me the guy I want, but I also get a different mix of players with Harvey at ADP in the subsequent rounds to create unique builds.
Another thing I will do if I have started out with a “chalk” draft is mix things up late. Sometimes, guys you really like just fall to you at the right spot. If you find yourself drafting a similar team from one draft to the next, mix up those late picks. You can actually see the rostership percentage for players on the app. Guys like Jeanty and Hampton are drafted in 100% of the leagues, but if you scroll down to someone like Elijhah Badger of the Kansas City Chiefs, he’s only rostered on 1.7% of teams so far. If you draft a lot of these teams like I plan to, hitting on a guy in that range could change everything.
Take Advantage of the Multipliers
The other crucial aspect to remaining unique and not splitting the pot is using the multipliers to your advantage. If you put a 2X multiplier on a guy like Jayden Daniels or Brian Thomas last year, you were certainly sitting pretty. This gives you the option of staying fairly close to ADP if you want, while also differentiating yourself from the field if you put a multiplier on the right sleeper.
This is where you’ll also want to keep positional factors in mind. For instance, there is no dedicated tight end spot, and there’s no tight end premium scoring. As much as I personally love the TE position, a tight end has never finished as the top flex play in fantasy football. Seasons like the one Brock Bowers just had do happen, but they are also insanely rare. Meanwhile, a quarterback taking over the job can obviously move the needle in a big way. You want to use your multipliers to create as much leverage as possible with guys that offer the highest ceiling.
Set Your Own Rankings
This is absolutely crucial for any game that has a fast timer and fast draft. The app is literally called FastDraft. I have my rankings already set because I like doing the Turbo Mode they offer, where your team is picked off pre-determined rankings, but it’s a smart move regardless because this is a new product, and sometimes the regular drafts don’t fire right away when you join. You’ll want to have your custom rankings in there as a safety net in case you aren’t right there to make the pick. Luckily, they are easy to set with a drag and drop feature.
How To Get Started With FastDraft
Getting set up and started is fairly easy. Go to FantasyAlalrm.com/FastDraft and use promo code ALARM, where they will match 100% of your deposit up to $50 if you are a first-time player. As long as you are in an approved location, you should be able to create an account and start drafting today! The rookie contest discussed in this article is the Origins Tournament, so make sure you select the right one if you are looking to play that version. And good luck out there!
Player News
Seahawks released TE Noah Fant.
Chiefs signed EDGE George Karlaftis to a four-year, $93 million extension through 2030.
The deal includes $62 million in fully guaranteed money. The Chiefs exercised Karlaftis’ fifth-year extension this offseason, keeping him under contract through 2026. Perhaps, watching Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt sign record-setting extensions prompted the Chiefs to smartly get this one done ahead of schedule—and more importantly, ahead of more market resets. Karlaftis has racked up 173 quarterback pressures, 26 sacks and 67 tackles through three NFL seasons, sufficiently returning value on his first-round draft capital from the 2022 NFL Draft.
Cowboys worked out free agent EDGE Jesse Luketa.
Luketa declined to sign his restricted free agent tender this offseason, ending a three-year run with the Cardinals, who drafted him in the 2022 NFL Draft’s seventh round. Luketa and Micah Parsons played together at Penn State from 2018-2019, and the two remain close friends. The former Cardinal earned a career-best 84.2 PFF run-defense grade and tallied a career-high three sacks last season, is a capable special teamer and can contribute as a linebacker. Bringing him aboard would be a smart, under-the-radar signing. The Cowboys also worked out DE Kameron Cline and DE James Houston.
Bengals signed QB Desmond Ridder, formerly of the Raiders.
Ridder, 25, spent last offseason with the Cardinals only to be cut and later sign with the Raiders. The former third-round pick appeared in six games while making one start last season, throwing for 458 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions on 85 attempts. Ridder has started 18 games in his three-year career, but shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than camp competition for QB3 Logan Woodside.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports Micah Parsons will report to Cowboys training camp despite not having signed a long-term contract extension with the team.
Parsons continues to show signs of good faith during negotiations. The star pass rusher reported to mandatory minicamp in June after skipping out on voluntary OTAs the previous month, and now appears set to join the team at camp before things officially kick off on July 22nd. While Parsons will be present at camp, it remains to be seen whether he will participate in practices, as hold-ins have become a common way for players to avoid fines for absences while negotiating a new deal. Parsons stands to become the highest-paid non-QB when his new deal is done after the Steelers signed T.J. Watt to a three-year extension worth $41 million a year. Parsons totaled 12 sacks in 13 games last season and will be 26 at the start of this season.
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper believes Chargers TE Oronde Gadsden “can be an impactful player in the passing game.”
The Chargers haven’t had a padded practice yet, so take this with a grain of salt. With that in mind, Popper writes that the rookie tight end “served as the bright spot for the offense in Saturday’s practice” while highlighting a handful of plays made by the fifth-rounder. Gadsden has been a standout throughout the offseason and was once compared to Darren Waller by offensive coordinator Greg Roman. While he’ll still have to battle with veterans Tyler Conklin and Will Dissly for playing time this season, a strong training camp could change how coaches view their tight ends room.