Best Ball Strategy: Staff Draft Insights Vol. 2

The first staff draft was so much fun we had to run it back with another. How else are we going to build a reliable RotoWire best ball ADP?

We opened it up to a new group of drafters to get a fresh look at how RotoWire's football minds are approaching best ball this year. Here are the combatants.

Draft Order

1. Alan Seslowsky
2. Andrew Parr
3. Kurt Kroll
4. Paul Mammino
5. Matt Restivo
6. John McKechnie
7. Jim Coventry
8. Kevin O'Brien
9. Dylan Ramsey
10. Ryan Pohle
11. Jake Letarski
12. Jagger May

Draft Board

In Their Own Words

Alan Seslowsky, Team 1

I went robust RB right out of the gate; Bijan Robinson at 1.1 and Breece Hall back at 2.12,  to lock in maybe the best RB1/RB2 anchor in the room, then chased receiver value with Chris Olave, Jaylen Waddle and Parker Washington before grabbing Justin Herbert as a steady QB1 without overpaying.

In bestball when you can't use the waiver wire, securing 2-4 RBs with locked-in roles is a massive advantage.

The strength is clearly the top of my roster, where those two backs plus a deep WR group give me both a high floor and ceiling. My weak spots are tight end, where I'm riding a boom-or-bust Kyle Pitts as the anchor, and the depth behind my studs, where Bhayshul Tuten and Kenneth Gainwell carry some risk.

Strategy: Robust RB at the turn (Bijan + Breece to open)

Snipes: Having done so many drafts, I am never shocked when a player goes ahead of ADP; I'm always ready with a backup option 

Stacks: This is a contained league with no large field contests. Stacking ahead of ADP is sub-optimal and provides no advantage 

Kurt Kroll, Team 3

Securing a top-3 pick (Ja'Marr Chase) was a welcome outcome, as I see a clear drop-off in talent beyond that tier. I was glad to take Brock Bowers in the second, since I view him and Trey McBride as light-years ahead of the rest of the tight end market. I had hoped to get Joe Burrow in the sixth round but missed him by two picks, which was unfortunate given that a Burrow/Chase stack could have been a real advantage. I like my starting lineup, but bye weeks may be my downfall.

Strategy: Secure an elite TE and QB

Stacks: NO stack (Tyler Shough/Travis Etienne/Juwan Johnson)

Snipes: Burrow (had hoped for a CIN stack)

Jim Coventry, Team 5

If the Chargers offense explodes the way I expect, this will be an excellent team with Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston and Oronde Gadsden. I didn't anticipate the first QB run well enough, so I missed out on Justin Herbert, which would have perfected the stack. Otherwise, I built my squad around three bell cow RBs to provide an anchor. I'm excited to see if part of the late-round combo of De'Zhaun Stribling, Antonio Williams and Terrance Ferguson can put my team over the top. The potential weak spot on the team is proven WR depth.

-Strategy: Robust RB (Jeanty, Henry, Judkins, Mason)

-Sniped: Jordan Addison at 102.

-Stacks: LA Chargers (McConkey, Johnston, Gadsden)- Paired Jaguars (Lawrence/Thomas Jr.)

John McKechnie, Team 6

Getting a mid-round draft slot allowed me to pull off an RB-heavy start that has been harder to execute when picking on the ends. Jonathan Taylor and Chase Brown is a nice way to get things rolling. I wove in a Commanders passing stack with Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin without having to jump ADP much. I also continue to be happy to click Bucky Irving when he falls to me in the fifth, as I think there's a real chance he's a mid-fourth round guy again by August. 

This team has nice WR and TE depth but if the injury bug bites me at RB with just two taken after the fifth round, I could be in trouble. Best values were Marvin Harrison 11 picks past ADP, Jordan Addison 16 picks past ADP and Deebo Samuel 22 picks past ADP.

-Strategy: RB-RB start, Fragile RB

-Sniped: Sam Laporta in the 8th

-Stacks: Washington (Daniels/McLaurin/Okonkwo)

Kevin O'Brien, Team 8

I would have taken Jaxon Smith-Njigba over several players taken directly in front of him, so I was plenty pleased to get him at the No. 8 spot. I really liked how things shook out afterward, with the next five players assured of high-volume roles and Tucker Kraft being perhaps my favorite sleeper on the board. 

-Strategy: Balanced start at the RB/WR spots

-Snipes: Quinshon Judkins (5.7)

-Stacks: Can you tell I'm a Packers fan? I'm also putting some stock in the young Titans duo.

Jake Letarski, Team 11

Drafting out of the 11-spot, I didn't have the luxury of "getting my guys" or orchestrating robust stacks. I let the draft come to me, taking who I viewed as the best player available without thinking too much into any bigger picture. Still, I was satisfied with my Lamb/Barkley start and firmly believe I have the best WR room in the draft. QB is definitely my weak spot — if Lamar misses any time due to injury, I'm in a world of hurt.

-Strategy: WR-Heavy start

With 3WR and 1 FLEX in this format, it's always important to me to go heavy on WR. Lamb/Higgins are my foundation. Sutton is still a WR1. Pearsall is one of my big sleepers. Pittman/Mitchell/Bateman have big-game potential but are inconsistent — perfect for Best Ball.

-Snipes: Chris Godwin (9.10)

I was also hoping Bo Nix would fall to me at 11.11, so I could pair him with Sutton, but KOB ended the Nix slide at 11.8.

-Stacks: Baltimore (Jackson/Bateman); Seattle (Price/Charbonnet)

Projected Standings

Here's what the Underdog projections have to say about our draft. Paul Mammino is once again near the top of the projected standings. John McKechnie and Matt Restivo round out the top 3. Interestingly, they all picked next to each other from slots 4-6.