What’s the Best Strategy for Fantasy Football Drafts in 2025?

Summer is a great time of year. The weather is sunny. The grill is lit. The kids are out of school.

No, really, that’s great. Awesome, even. Right? Right?

But the best thing about summer? The part that is better than sno-cones, hot dogs and flip-flops combined.

It means fantasy draft season is coming.

Those drafts (mostly) still won’t happen for a while, although some folks are already drafting early, especially in “best-ball” formats. But as in so many things (including the Boy Scouts) it’s important to be prepared on draft day.

Player valuation is part of that preparation. So is the search for potential busts and late-round sleepers. But fantasy managers should also take the time to consider not just who to target, but how to target them—the best draft strategy.

There was a time not that long ago when fantasy draft strategy was pretty one-size-fits-all. But as the NFL has evolved, fantasy football has evolved with it. Now, there are numerous strategies—and a competitive team can be built in multiple ways.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the most prevalent draft strategies in fantasy football in 2025. Their benefits. Their drawbacks.

And which fantasy draft strategy rules them all.

Elite QB

(AP Photo/ Jeffrey T. Barnes

Lamar Jackson

The Elite QB Draft Strategy is easily enough explained. There are five quarterbacks with an Average Draft Position at Fantasy Pros inside the first three rounds or so—Lamar Jackson of the Ravens, Josh Allen of the Bills, Jayden Daniels of the Commanders, Joe Burrow of the Bengals and Jalen Hurts of the Eagles.

Elite QB Drafters make one of those high-end quarterbacks a building block for their team.

The Benefits

Quarterbacks are the highest-scoring players in fantasy football—and generally the most consistent. Every player who averaged more than 25 fantasy points per game last year was a quarterback.

High-end quarterbacks with rushing upside are especially valuable—after all, it takes just 10 rushing yards to tally the fantasy point that it requires 20 or even 25 passing yards to obtain.

The Drawbacks

Fantasy football value isn’t just about how many points a player scores—it’s a matter of how many points that player scores relative to other players at his position. And in leagues that require just one weekly starter, the “edge” between elite quarterbacks and lower-end weekly starters isn’t especially great.

Last year, the difference in PPR points per game between the QB1 and QB12 was 6.8 points per game. That was lower than the difference between RB1 and RB24 and WR1 and WR36. Positional scarcity matters in fantasy football—and quarterback is the game’s deepest position.

The Verdict

Playing in a “Superflex” or 2QB league changes the dynamic here a great deal, but generally speaking, the "edge" you gain by drafting an elite quarterback at ADP isn't as big as the hole you're digging at running back or wide receiver.

Unless the high-end quarterbacks drop in the draft, the value at quarterback lies later—whether it’s with a lower-end QB1 or our next fantasy draft strategy.

Late-Round QB

AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper

Drake Maye

The Late-Round QB strategy was coined by J.J. Zachariason (good dude) over a decade ago. As with most fantasy draft strategies, at its core it’s simple enough.

Since fantasy managers start just one quarterback as opposed to two running backs and (usually) three wideouts, that lowered demand makes patience at the position advisable. Wait to draft a quarterback on draft day.

And when I say wait, I mean wait. Be the last manager in your league to take a starter. Then grab an upside play or two. Or just draft a quarterback based on his early matchups and stream the position during the season with players off the waiver wire.

The Benefits

The benefits to this strategy are obvious—if you’re waiting to draft a quarterback, then (in theory) your team will be stronger at the other positions. You can load up at running back and wide receiver. Draft an elite tight end.

It’s also possible to find quarterbacks late who emerge as weekly starters in-season. Last year, Jared Goff of the Lions (QB15), Baker Mayfield of the Buccaneers (QB21) and Bo Nix of the Broncos (QB23) all had an asking price of 15th or later among quarterbacks.

All three finished in the top-eight among quarterbacks in fantasy points.

The Drawbacks

There’s no guarantee that a signal-caller drafted late is going to pull a Goff or Mayfield and shatter his ADP and break into the top-10. Fantasy managers who wait at quarterback can find themselves in a hole at the position.

Streaming signal-callers on a weekly basis also isn’t for the faint of heart—and depending on how many teams are doing it, pickings on the waiver wire can become depressingly slim.

The Verdict

This analyst will usually roll this strategy out at least a couple of times a year, if only because it can be fun to play “QB Chicken” with the only other manager in the draft who hasn’t taken a quarterback.

Looking for a couple of potential Late-Round QB targets in 2025? Justin Fields of the Jets (QB15) and Drake Maye of the Patriots (QB18) are a pair of young quarterbacks with lower asking prices and rushing ability.

Robust RB

AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Saquon Barkley

First off, I hate this name. “Robust.” Blah. I prefer “Classic RB,” because this strategy hearkens back to the long-ago days of 2010, when nine or 10 picks in Round 1 were consistently running backs.

In this old-school strategy, fantasy managers prioritize high-end running backs early on draft day. Usually, at least two of the first three picks are running backs, and it’s not unusual to see a Robust RB drafter start a draft with a pair of backs.

The Benefits

Running backs are more volatile than wide receivers in fantasy football. This can’t be argued. But the bust rates for running backs are at their lowest in the first few rounds of a draft.

Also, while running backs are more volatile, they are also scarcer. One running back (Saquon Barkley of the Eagles) averaged 20 carries a game last year. Only six backs had 275 carries. As more and more teams turn to committee backfields, true three-down backs have become rarer--and more valuable.

Robust RB also helps fantasy managers steer clear of the “RB Dead Zone,” at least where starters are concerned. There’s an area in the middle rounds (it varies, but Round 5 to Round 8 is as good an estimate as any) where the gap in bust rates between backs and wide receivers is at its widest. Avoiding those risky ball-carriers isn’t a bad idea.

That’s the point of Robust RB—attempting to maximize upside with 300-touch backs while minimizing risk.

The Drawbacks

There are reasons why this strategy isn’t as popular as it once was. With so many fantasy managers wailing away at wide receivers early, taking two backs means fantasy drafters are going to have to find values at the position in later rounds.

It also likely means that taking either an elite quarterback or an elite tight end is out—fantasy managers just can’t do both and take two backs early. It turns the hole at wide receiver into Snake River Canyon—and your team into Evel Knievel.

Finally, while this strategy may minimize risk in the backfield, it doesn’t eliminate it. Running backs are riskier—period. If one (or both) of those backs bust, trouble is brewing.

The Verdict

Call me a geezer, but this analyst still uses the Robust RB strategy with regularity. It’s just personal preference—I feel more comfortable building a team around two workhorse backs, and more confident that I can flesh out my wide receivers (a deeper position) later in the draft.

Hero RB

AP Foto/Adrian Kraus

Derrick Henry

“Hero RB” (or “Anchor RB”) is an attempt to find something of a middle ground between “Robust RB” and “Zero RB” (Don’t worry, we’ll address that shortly). To have the best of both worlds.

In Hero RB, fantasy managers expend an early pick on a top-10 (or at least top-12) running back. He’s the “Hero.” Then they wait to draft a second running back until the rest of the starting lineup has been filled—and sometimes later than that.

The Benefits

In theory (isn’t it reassuring how I keep saying that?), the point of Hero RB is balance. A roster without a glaring weakness at any one position.

The “Hero” back offers a stable floor for the backfield. Selecting a high-end quarterback or tight end is on the table. And the wide receiver corps should be formidable.

That kind of balance can be very appealing to fantasy managers—especially risk-averse ones.

The Drawbacks

Of course, every draft strategy has some risk—and Hero RB is no different.

The biggest is the same that faces Robust RB drafters—that the early-round back will fail to meet expectations. Only here, that can be even more disastrous. Without a steady second starter and (probably) less-than-ideal depth at the position, if the “Anchor” back falls flat, the team is in big trouble.

Also, depending on when fantasy drafters target their second starter in the backfield, it may be smack in the middle of the “RB Dead Zone.” This isn’t to say that viable RB2 can’t come from that area of the draft (Tony Pollard of the Titans and Najee Harris of the Steelers did in 2024), but the odds aren’t in your favor.

The Verdict

If this analyst doesn’t go “Robust RB,” then I’ll usually use some variation of “Hero RB”—with a twist. The twist is this—I will have a list of a handful of RB2 targets who I expect to perform well, even if their ADP lies in the “RB Dead Zone.” If I have to grab one of those back before my quarterback or WR3, so be it.

Executed properly, this dog will hunt.

Zero RB

AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman

Chuba Hubbard

“Zero RB” is something of the shiny new toy of fantasy draft strategies, but it’s really not that new—Shawn Siegele is generally credited with coining the phrase back in 2013.

The core of the concept is this. Running backs are inherently the most volatile position in fantasy football. So in order to avoid that volatility and build the strongest possible roster, fantasy drafters should just avoid running backs—period.

Hammer wide receivers early. Draft a high-end tight end and quarterback. And then, in the later rounds when bust rates between wide receivers and running backs start to flatten back out, finally address the running back position with high-upside youngsters or backups. If they don’t pan out, hit the waiver wire early in the season.

It’s a bold strategy—one that appeals to managers who aren’t afraid to roll the dice.

The Benefits

If Zero RB pays off, it can pay off big. Wide receivers (in PPR formats, at least) generally score more points and are more consistent than running backs. By loading up on higher-end wideouts, fantasy drafters can build a sizable edge.

Tack on an elite tight end and/or quarterback, and Zero RB proponents can create an advantage at multiple positions.

Hit on a couple of running backs in the double-digit rounds (like JK Dobbins of the Chargers and Chuba Hubbard of the Panthers a year ago), and you have a team that’s tough to beat.

The Drawbacks

Zero RB can be high-reward. But it’s also high-risk—for a couple of reasons.

The first is trying to build a RB corps late. Yes, the bust rates between backs and wideouts flatten out later in the draft, but that’s because just about everyone in the late rounds is a crapshoot.

Also, as Zero RB has become more popular and more fantasy managers realize how important those young backs and backups can be, demand for late-round running backs has increased. Values aren’t as easy to find as they once were.

And any running back with a pulse is going to be a hot waiver add—no guarantee you’ll land one when it’s needed most.

The Verdict

I can’t say that I have never tried a Zero RB build—when you’re in dozens of drafts every year you’re going to try just about everything at some point. And as with any draft strategy, it can be successful if things fall the right way.

But to me, Zero RB attempts to mitigate the volatility of running backs by creating volatility at running back. Everything hinges on hitting on a couple of players late at a position where hitting on players late isn’t easy.

If you don’t, your backfield will be a dumpster fire—and the edge you have at wide receiver will be wiped out by that blaze.

Elite TE

AP Photo/John Locher

Brock Bowers

“Elite TE” is a strategy that became more popular when Travis Kelce of the Chiefs was a one-man wrecking ball who would regularly outscore every other tight end by a massive margin.

There isn’t really a tight end worth a first-round pick in 2025 as Kelce was in past years. But Elite TE still dictates taking a top-tier player at the position early. This season, it would probably be either Brock Bowers of the Raiders or Trey McBride of the Cardinals.

The Benefits

Let’s see…how shall I put this? The tight end position is a nightmare this year. Easily the shallowest position in fantasy football. You can count the number of truly reliable weekly starters on one hand—and probably have fingers left over.

Having one of those reliable weekly starters is like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night—it just feels good. And at that position, fantasy drafters know they have an edge.

The Drawbacks

The question is whether that edge is worth it.

Last year, the No. 1 tight end (Bowers) scored 15.5 PPR points per game. The No. 12 tight end (Cade Otton of the Buccaneers) scored 10.2 PPR points per game. That’s a difference of just 5.6 points per game—the lowest between “best” and “worst” starter of any position.

The value just isn’t there—not when the fifth tight end this year comes off the board over five rounds later than Bowers.

The Verdict

This is just like “Elite QB.” Sure, it seems like a good idea, but the “edge” being gained at tight end isn’t worth the potential hole created at running back or wide receiver.

Again, unless Bowers or McBride experiences a draft-day drop, let someone else overpay and aim for a mid-range option a handful of rounds later.

Value-Based Drafting

AP Photo/Matt Patterson

CeeDee Lamb

Value-Based Drafting (or VBD) was created by Joe Bryant of Footballguys almost 30 years ago. Its guiding principle is this—"the value of a player is determined not by the number of points he scores. His value is determined by how much he outscores his peers at his particular position.”

Using a set of statistical projections, a “baseline” is set of the “worst” starter at every position (QB12, RB24, WR36, TE12). Players who are projected to score above that baseline have VBD points. If a wide receiver is projected to score 30 more fantasy points than the baseline player, his VBD is +30.

In the early rounds, fantasy drafters don’t worry about a position as much as those VBD points—about how much a particular player will outscore the “baseline” guy. Then later on, positional needs play a larger role.

That’s value. And value is king in fantasy football.

The Benefits

Again, value is the single most important concept in fantasy football—the key to a successful draft. In theory (there that is again), VBD helps fantasy managers identify those values. Target the players who will outscore their peers the most.

VBD is also flexible. You don’t have to go into a draft intent on targeting running backs early. Or avoiding them like the plague. In the early rounds especially, you just go where the value takes you.

That can come in handy when the draft inevitably goes sideways on you.

The Drawbacks

Value-Based Drafting is based largely on projections for the upcoming season. I know quite a few fantasy analysts who spend a great deal of time, effort and research on creating those projections. But they are still a subjective set of numbers.

If those projections turn out to be inaccurate, then the player values derived from them will also be off.

And by the time fantasy managers realize that, they are usually 2-5 and day-drinking.

The Verdict

I don’t generally roll into draft day having projected 300-plus players—or carrying a set of someone else’s—regardless of how much I respect the people who created them.

But elements of VBD are evident in just about every team I draft. I may not have projections, but my rankings have the “baseline” players marked and are tiered into groups of similarly-ranked players that tell me where the drop-offs are.

Those concepts were culled from VBD. So is trying not to stubbornly stick to a certain positional strategy—my pathological need to take running backs early notwithstanding.

There’s a reason VBD is still widely used and viable 30 years after its creation.

The Best Strategy

AP Photo/Ben VanHouten

Justin Jefferson

So, what’s the best strategy to use? The plan that will insure fantasy dominance and make all the other managers in your league cry?

Ready for the answer? The final, definitive, answer?

All of them. And none of them.

OK, most of them. Elite QB and Elite TE are out—the value isn’t there.

And that’s all that matters in fantasy drafts—value.

If you go into a draft fanatically adherent to any one strategy and refuse to deviate no matter what, you are almost certainly going to be disappointed by the results. The next time I participate in a draft that goes exactly how I planned will be the first—and I’ve been in hundreds and hundreds of drafts.

Doing some VBD-based research ahead of time is a good start. It doesn’t have to be projections, although if there’s a set that turns your gears have at it. But just having a solid set of tiered rankings with baselines set can be a huge help in identifying where the value is when your turn to pick rolls around.

But once the fun starts, be flexible. If half the league goes Robust RB, then there will be bargains at wide receiver available. If everyone goes Zero RB bonkers, then scoop up those values in the backfield. If everyone has a starting quarterback by Round 6, then giggle like the Joker as you load up at both spots before Late-Rounding a quarterback.

The pathway to success in fantasy football (again) lies with finding value. When you can. Where you can.

And nine times out of 10, flexibility is how you find that path.

Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow Gary on X at @IDPGodfather.