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With any game we play, we must adjust our strategy to the rules and scoring. In this article, I will dive into how I am adjusting my strategy for DraftKings best ball tournaments. This game is by no means solved, and I personally am continuing to adjust my strategy as I complete and analyze more drafts, learn from others, and evolve my thinking. I’ll take it position by position and provide insight into how I’m thinking about roster construction and players in that group.
Before jumping into each position, it’s important to think about things structurally. In DK drafts, we have two extra roster spots, full-PPR scoring, and bonuses for 300 passing yards and 100 rushing or receiving yards. Thinking about how we can capitalize on those two extra positions while also building lineups that favor pass catchers will give us a substantial edge in these drafts.
Quarterbacks
Three key ideas drive my DK drafting strategy for quarterbacks: 1) Quarterbacks make up a lower percentage of team points compared to Underdog due to the full-PPR scoring, 2) The gap between running quarterbacks and passing quarterbacks is mitigated with the 300-yard bonus, and 3) The extra roster spot makes three-QB strategies less cost-prohibitive.
To the first point, quite simply, there is more overall scoring when using full-PPR vs. half-PPR scoring, and the QB is the only position that does not benefit from that extra half-point per reception. RBs, WRs, and TEs all benefit, but the gap is most extreme with the highest-scoring players at each position (i.e., the top 10 WRs last year scored on average 49 more points in full PPR than half PPR, while the 41st-50th ranked WRs only scored 28 more). We should inherently want to spend less draft capital on a position that has a lesser impact on our team’s overall scoring.
To the second, while I strongly value quarterbacks with a rushing floor/upside combo, that advantage on DK is mitigated by the pocket passers being more likely to hit 300 passing yards and earn the 3-point bonus. Of course, there are outliers that have the possibility of getting the 100-yard rushing bonus, but those are outliers, and outside of Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels, it’s not worth projecting. I still want those rushing QBs, but we have to accept they’re a tad bit less important on DK.
And the third point is the extra roster spot. With 18-man rosters, I am very particular with my roster construction and try to avoid three-QB builds because of the opportunity cost of that roster spot. With 20-man rosters, I find myself far more willing to draft a late third QB who I think can significantly outperform their ADP. It helps that, in many drafts, you can grab a starting QB or at least one with a line of sight to starting in as late as the 19th and 20th rounds.
Each one of these alone probably isn’t enough to completely change my best ball draft strategy for quarterbacks, but in combination, we learn we should be: slightly prioritizing finding elite/breakout talent at other positions, a bit more content with drafting QBs who are pocket passers, and open to drafting more three-QB teams. These together have historically led me to primarily avoiding the top 10 or so QBs and instead trying to grab two QBs in the 10th-13th rounds, combined with a third QB in the 16th-20th rounds. These are far from hard-and-fast rules, and I’m always willing to take value when it comes or draft stack partners, but overall, this is how I have moderately adjusted my QB strategy.
Running Backs
PPR scoring and the 100-yard bonus make the elite RBs more valuable, make more RBs playable, and it means our flex spot should almost always be a WR. And the extra two roster spots mean we potentially have an extra roster spot to grab a late RB. This has led me to primarily use either Hero or Zero RB structures. If I can get an elite RB, I’ll take him. Those players have league-winning upside, and since I’m only looking for one more RB, I can wait quite a while and still grab four more without using much draft capital. Otherwise, I’m mostly leaning toward Zero RB and loading up on WRs in the early rounds and perhaps an elite TE or QB.
I don’t have data on this, but I’ll try to express one way I have been thinking about this. Let’s consider a second-round draft pick of Derrick Henry versus one of the WRs or elite TEs, assuming you started with your hero RB in the first round. Last year, Henry averaged 18 carries, 0.9 receptions, and had 16 TDs. That’s 16.4 PPR points per game in a fully healthy season. It’s fair to assume a similar projection for 2026, perhaps docking him for age but giving him a boost for a healthy Lamar Jackson and better Ravens offense. You’re expecting RBs taken in the first two rounds to be your every-week RBs. What happens with all of your other RBs? Unless you manage to hit on a league-winning pick, you may only have a couple of weeks they fill in above your top two RBs, but they will rarely be used in the flex. Mostly, they’ll be superfluous on your bench. If you don’t draft Henry, you can take an elite WR or TE and make a bet that your other RBs can together fill that RB slot at a level equal to or similar to Henry while also getting that elite production from the additional WR or TE you’re taking in the second round. Now, sure, you could also argue that you could draft fewer RBs and find later talent at WR, but historical data has shown it is easier to piecemeal 80% of elite production at RB than with WRs.
That’s a specific situation, but it conveys my larger thought process around RBs in this format: Other than the truly elite guys, I don’t think they matter much. This does not mean you should simply ignore RBs after the first round, as often we’ll see those second-rounders end up elite, and pairing one of those with an early Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs can win leagues. But in many cases, I am okay with giving up RB points (especially at RB2) if it means I can absolutely dominate the WR and TE positions. As for the Zero-RB strategy that has weakened in recent years, if you want to try it, DraftKings is clearly the site to do so. I personally do not have it as a major part of my portfolio, but I expect to use it in maybe 10% of DK drafts this year.
Wide Receivers
Early, often, and it’s hard to have too many. I’m expecting to start four every week and want to leave every draft room having one of the strongest and deepest WR corps in the room. I have started drafts with six straight WRs because they are that valuable in this format. And the position is deep enough that you can still be grabbing starters in the 20th round.
Beyond adjusting by using the ETR DK projections, my strategy for which WRs to draft doesn’t drastically change. Yes, high-volume guys with less big-play ability may be better PPR plays, but given I am often drafting nine to 11 WRs in a draft, they often lack the season-breaking upside I am looking for. Pick the guys you like, try to complete your stacks, and, when in doubt, draft a WR.
Tight Ends
The temptation is to treat TEs like QBs because you only need to start one. But this would be a mistake. TEs in this format benefit from the full point per reception, can be used in the flex, and have larger gaps between the elite and replacement-level TEs.
I find myself looking for pockets of TEs where they can provide substantial upside that makes up for the opportunity cost of WRs at that point in the draft. This often aligns with ETR ranks and where there may be value compared to ADP. In 2026, we are seeing the return of the elite TEs with Brock Bowers and Trey McBride, who provide a median projection not far behind what we saw in peak Travis Kelce/Rob Gronkowski years. We also have second-year Colston Loveland on their heels, showing similar upside but far more risk, given he lacks the multi-year track record of the TEs above him.
Beyond them, we have a tier of about four TEs who have high weekly upside, but also high week-to-week volatility. They can provide the spike weeks you’re looking for in the playoffs but also could hurt your advance rate and push you to spend additional capital at the position. When you get to the mid-rounds, you hit what appears to be a strong pocket of TEs compared to what is available at other positions. This is where I’m often finding myself grabbing two TEs, ideally stacked with my QBs.
Late-round TEs this year lack the youth and athleticism we’re usually hoping for, but they can provide decent floors for their cost. I’m not initially as interested in three or four late-TE builds as in past years, but we’ll see how ADP shifts throughout the summer.
These suggestions will hopefully help as you develop your process and think about how to adjust your strategy. Keep in mind all the other best practices for best ball still likely apply here. Just use that as your foundation and consider how these slight adjustments may impact how you draft. Best of luck to everyone over the next few weeks of drafting, and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to me @JustinHerzig on Twitter.
