DraftKings Best Ball – A New Approach to Fantasy Football
Ever sit staring at your daily fantasy football lineup after the final game of that week, mentally kicking yourself for playing a particular player instead of another? The player not on your roster blows up the fantasy projections, points that might have put cash in your DraftKings account.
Hindsight in DFS would make millionaires out of otherwise occasional winners. Well, what if all you had to do was to be good on draft day, and then watch as only the best options count towards your weekly total? DraftKings has come up with a perfect solution for the proverbial “start ’em or sit ’em” conundrum.
They’re calling it DraftKings Best Ball. Each entry will pick a lineup via a snake draft. Each week of the NFL season, the top point producers on your roster will automatically be your starters. Let’s see how DraftKings’ Best Ball works, plus talk about some strategy that could boost your chances of winning.
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DraftKings Best Ball Basics
Don’t let the odd name for a fantasy football contest confuse you. While it relates to the concept of best ball in golfing terms, it’s simply the method in which your actual point producing fantasy football lineup will be scored.
There are various DraftKings Best Ball contests. Each has a different prize structure based on the entry fee. The number of entries varies, as does the number of maximum lineups any single DFS player can own.
Once the contest is full, DraftKings will launch a snake draft. You can use auto pick, or receive a notification when your league draft begins. We always recommend personally drafting your own lineup.
Once the draft ends, the lineups lock. There are no trades, waivers, or roster changes required. As each week of the NFL season unfolds, the best fantasy point producers will automatically become your lineup.
Winners will be determined and prizes awarded based on a cumulative total amassed by your best ball lineup throughout the season. Scoring follows the standard DraftKings NFL fantasy football format.
Lineups are the same, except you will not draft a defense. You will have a standard 1-QB, 2-RB, 3-WR, 1-TE and 1-Flex. There will be 12 players on your bench. It’s really that simple.
There are also two Best Ball formats. The Sit and Go is a cumulative counting tournament spread over 16 weeks. The Best Ball Tournament format is different. Each week the winning team will advance until the winning team emerges week 16.
DraftKings Best Ball Strategy
DraftKings has removed all the hard decisions over who you should stick into your starting lineup. However, being the proud owner of a strong roster will certainly prove lucrative. This is why we discourage allowing auto-pick to select your players.
So, what kind of strategy might we employ to boost our chances of winning some big cash playing the DraftKings Best Ball? There are a handful of good old weekly fantasy football strategies that will help.
Keep in mind, DraftKings Best Ball contests are played out in four rounds across 16 weeks of the NFL schedule. Round 1 goes from opening week all the way through week 13. Rounds 2, 3, and 4 will be played one week each from NFL week 14 through 16. Take this into account when you think about these three strategy tips.
Bye Week Bombs
Balance your roster looking at bye weeks. There is a theory that loading up one week heavy on your players taking a rest is a winning philosophy. Certainly, your point total that one week may be the lowest in the league. However, your bye week problems will be all but over.
Schedule Weaknesses
This might take a little research, but if you can stick in a few periodic sleepers on your bench players, these players could make a lot of noise during certain weeks. When you preset your draft ranks, look for weeks when players face weak matchup projections.
Having even a sense of when three or four players could skyrocket your cumulative point total can boost your odds of winning. Remember, even if these players tank the other weeks, they will do nothing but take up space on your bench.
Multiple Entries
The third strategy to consider is one that requires you to do nothing but hit the enter button after completing your draft. Each lineup in a particular DraftKings Best Ball contest will be a unique opportunity to win.
Blend the two previous strategies together to spread balance across all your entries. Sure, you’ll still only score as well as each individual roster scores. Nevertheless, if you spread some balance across players from different teams, you improve your odds of producing high point totals.
The Sit and Go format is a season-long event, owning multiple lineups can work to boost your best lineup’s odds, plus help to knock competitors off the money board. Tournament formats can open up a strategy of loading up on different positions for different entries. Draft wisely, but most importantly draft often.
DraftKings Best Ball Prizes
The DraftKings Best Ball prize pool will be spread out across the full 16-week NFL schedule. The most important number to keep in mind is the top prize. At the end of week 16, someone will bank $1,000,000 as the DraftKings Best Ball champion.
The total prize pool for the entire event is $3,025,000. This will be dispersed as cash prizes for tournament spots that do not advance. Lineups that do not accumulate winning totals can also win various cash amounts at the end of each of the first three rounds.
All 100 seats that survive the 15-week tournament format will win cash. Places 61 through 100 will each win $1,000. The prize awards increase as your point total climbs the final leaderboard. Second place wins $100,000, and of course the top score becomes a millionaire.
Start your research today to develop your strategy for building the perfect DraftKings Best Ball roster. However, the best strategy is to have as many chances of winning as possible. Enter your best lineups and enter them often. The more lineups you have, the better your odds become of becoming a DraftKings Best Ball millionaire.
