Four ways to build a roster, when each one is right, and the traps that cost people their season. Written for a standard, non-PPR league that pays 6 points for a passing touchdown — the format most home leagues still use. Where full PPR flips the advice, it says so.
Almost every ranking list you'll find online is built for full PPR. If your league doesn't pay for catches, four things change before you make a single pick.
With no points for a reception, volume and goal-line work decide everything, and only a dozen or so true three-down backs exist. Pass-catching specialists — slot receivers, third-down backs — lose most of their value, while touchdown-scoring workhorses gain it. Get an anchor back early.
Elite passers gain real points, but so does the quarterback your rival streams off waivers, so the replacement level rises with them. The genuine edge is the rushing quarterback, whose runs score 6 on top of the passing. Take one early or wait and stream two — see the timing table below.
Only about 90 players start in any given week, so real talent survives into the late rounds. Spend early picks on ceiling, not safety — you can fill a third receiver, a tight end, a defence and a kicker from the pile long after the good rosters are decided.
From the ends you draft in pairs — back-to-back at the turn, then a long wait — which suits taking two of a scarce tier at once. From the middle your picks come round evenly, with no boom-or-bust wrap. Either way you can't count on a specific player surviving the round, so plan in tiers rather than names. The mock room asks which seat you want before every draft, so run the same plan from seat 1 and seat 10 and see what it costs you.
These are the same four playbooks the draft room can coach you through. Pick one before you sit down — the worst rosters come from switching plans halfway through round 5.
Hammer the scarcest position. Backs with your first two picks, and a third by round 4 or 5. You corner the workhorse market everyone else in a non-PPR league is also chasing, and you stop caring what the board does after that.
Works because it locks the position that dries up fastest and gives you a high, stable weekly floor. Costs you receiver quality — you will stream a WR3 all year.
One anchor back, then simply take the best player available every time your turn comes round. You end up with two or three backs and three or four receivers, plus an elite quarterback or tight end if one happens to fall.
Works because it adapts to how the board actually breaks and catches falling value. Costs you a clear identity — it takes discipline not to end up good everywhere and elite nowhere.
Anchor at running back, then take one of the top rushing quarterbacks around round 3. You buy a large, repeatable weekly edge and never think about the position again.
Works because a rushing quarterback's floor and ceiling are both a real advantage when touchdowns pay 6. Costs you a premium pick — and in a 10-team league perfectly good passers are still available five rounds later, so the edge has to be worth it. If your league pays 4 points per passing touchdown, this plan gets noticeably weaker.
Only if the elite backs empty out before your first pick and receivers are falling. Load up on receivers and a tight end early, then attack running back hard in rounds 5 through 8 where the price has collapsed. Commit fully — half-measures fail.
Works because it corners elite receivers while everyone else reaches for backs. Costs you the position that matters most in this format, and it needs your middle-round backs to hit. In full PPR this is a far stronger plan — receiving points are exactly what it's built to harvest.
In a 10-team, one-quarterback league there are only ten starters, so passers are abundant. There are two good answers and one expensive mistake.
| Tier | Who it describes | When to draft |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Elite dual-threat the biggest winners from 6-point passing TDs |
Quarterbacks who run for touchdowns as well as throw them. | Rounds 3–6. Take exactly one, and only if it falls to your turn. |
| 2 · High-volume passers | Pocket quarterbacks on offences that throw a lot. | Rounds 7–10. Plenty of twenty-point weeks without the early cost. |
| 3 · Streaming pool | Everyone else with a starting job. | Round 11+. Take two and play the matchups. |