We made it, everybody. Week 1 is here. We at Fantasy Life and Guillotine Leagues have spent all offseason sharpening blades, stitching hoods, and constructing giant wooden apparatuses with which to carry out fantasy football justice. We’ve also been up to some less-morbid and downright benevolent things as well, primarily giving you all the tools and advice you need to avoid said apparatuses and win your guillotine league.
I’m going into my fourth year of playing in and writing about Guillotine Leagues, and the other members of the staff here at Fantasy Life are seasoned vets as well. We’ll be posting this weekly mailbag for newbies and vets alike. Whether this is your first year trying a Guillotine League or you’ve been manually chopping rosters since the French Revolution, we’ll be here to help. Feel free to toss us questions at @MBFantasyLife. Let’s get into it!
What is the best bench construction? Rookie shots? Handcuffs? Skip on backup QB?
Yes, yes, and maybe! With 18 teams to start, it’s tough to craft a perfect bench. Unless you hit the jackpot (i.e. in 2023) in Rounds 10-14, odds are those picks won’t be on your roster by Week 6. By Week 12, you may only have your first four picks on your roster. The ideal bench construction in the first few weeks of the season is a mix of everything.
You want to have at least one player you feel comfortable starting in a pinch during the first few weeks. The goal is to save your FAAB, so if one of your top picks goes down early on, you can buy yourself a little more time before loosening the purse strings. Miles Sanders, Greg Dortch, and Zach Ertz are later-round guys I like to fit that mold at each position, and they may even be on your waiver wire. Check out this week’s episode of CHOP: The Guillotine League Podcast, in which Charch and Brian give several other great recommendations for players like these.
Handcuffs, regardless of whether you own the starter, are more valuable on your bench than longshot rookies, especially early on. Jordan Mason is a heartbeat away from the most valuable position in fantasy football. Malik Washington is an exciting player, but he’d need Tyreek Hill to start streaming Madden full-time, Jaylen Waddle to join his fellow penguins in Antarctica, and Alix Earle to publicly break up with Braxton Berrios in humiliating fashion before you feel comfortable starting him in a Guillotine League. Sometimes a longshot rookie doubles as a handcuff, though, so I’m definitely rostering the likes of Tyrone Tracy, Kimani Vidal, MarShawn Lloyd, and Jaylen Wright.
If you draft a quarterback before Rounds 8-10, you don’t need to waste a roster spot on a backup quarterback. The guy you drafted is going to provide you with a safe enough floor for the first four-plus weeks. A backup quarterback is only necessary if you waited past Round 10; you’ll want two so you can play matchups. Sam Darnold gets the Giants in Week 1 but faces the Niners in Week 2. Bo Nix opens with a tough matchup against the Seahawks, but has a softer matchup in Week 2 against the Steelers’ secondary.
What is a good strategy for roster construction during the draft compared to midway through the season?
During the draft, you should be eating your meat and potatoes. Naturally, your first couple picks will have built-in upside, but as the draft goes along, you’re drafting for floor over ceiling every time. Oftentimes, this means you’re taking veteran players in established roles: Austin Ekeler, Adam Thielen, and Zach Ertz, players like them. In other words, the “boring” players. The rejects. The old heads. These are your best friends, and they’ll keep you alive through the midway point. Avoid the rookies and younger players without established roles. Across the first two weeks of his rookie season, Justin Jefferson averaged 2.5 receptions for 35 yards. Jahmyr Gibbs didn’t eclipse 10 PPR fantasy points until Week 5 last season. Let your leaguemates draft this year’s De’Von Achane or Rome Odunze, get chopped, and then you can go get the fun guys.
At the midway point of the season, you have roughly eight weeks worth of data points for the season, especially on those younger players. Some of them may be starting to break out and establish full-time roles for themselves. Ideally, you’ve been saving your FAAB. This is when you can start to strike. Spend $100 here and there on a younger player with upside you think can help you down the stretch.
What players/positions should you be targeting with your FAAB?
In the first few weeks of the season, you should be channeling your inner Polyphemus and target nobody with your FAAB. Seriously! Pinch your pennies. Get frugal with your funds and miserly with your money. You should only be submitting $1 bids each week in case players fall through the cracks, unless you’re absolutely desperate. In Week 1, your odds of getting chopped are 1/18, or 5.5%. Those odds skyrocket to 5.8% in Week 2. You have a less than 10% chance of getting chopped each week through Week 8.
The only scenarios in which you should be spending more than 25% of your total FAAB before Week 8:
- You lost two or more highly drafted players to injury in the same week.
- You accidentally drafted a bunch of players with byes in Weeks 5-7.
That’s it.
Assuming you can make it through Week 8, this is where you can start spending. Start with addressing your weaknesses and planning ahead for bye weeks. Don’t make any “luxury” purchases until you reach the later stages of the season.
Does your strategy change as the season goes on?
Adapt or die. Literally! This coincides with the above advice about roster construction during the draft vs. midway through the season. Last year, I didn’t touch Sam LaPorta nor Jahmyr Gibbs in my drafts with a 39.5 foot pole. They ended up being staples of my lineup heading into championship weekend. Just like any fantasy league, you’re going to gain information as the season moves along. It’s on you to use that information to your advantage and avoid the blade. Might I recommend a handy FantasyLife+ subscription to help you digest all that information?
