2026 Draft Playbook

Fantasy Football Fight Club 10-team · ½-PPR · $240 salary-cap auction Draft: Tue Sep 1, 8:00pm EDT

Your budget

$240

You kept nobody — tied for most in the league

Roster spots open

Clean slate, total flexibility, about $14 per slot

Tight end

Top 5 gone

Bowers, McBride, Loveland, Warren, Kraft all kept

Your main rival

Scotty $240

Also kept nobody — you two will bid against each other

Two teams now hold the whole top of the market: you and Scotty, both at $240. That is the position Teddy KGB won the title from last year — he kept only $17 of players, walked in with $223, and bought CeeDee Lamb ($62), Ashton Jeanty ($59) and Nico Collins ($55). You have $17 more than he did, but unlike him you have a direct equal. Expect Scotty to chase the same elite players you want, so plan a second and third choice at every tier.

What the keepers did to the market

Eight of ten teams have declared. 21 players and $516 are off the board, leaving roughly $1,884 chasing about 149 roster spots. Dollars removed nearly match the value removed, so overall prices stay close to normal — but the positional damage is very lopsided, and that is your edge.

Tight end got wiped out

All five of the top-5 tight ends were kept. Sam LaPorta is now the best available and his price roughly doubles to about $14. Either pay early for LaPorta or Kittle, or punt the position and stream it. The middle tier is a trap.

Every elite receiver is available

Scotty keeping nobody puts Ja'Marr Chase back in the pool. Along with Puka, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, Drake London and Nico Collins, this is by far the deepest position on the board — which means you should not overpay for any single one.

Lamar is back too

Scotty also released Lamar Jackson, so the two best quarterbacks are both available and only 3 of the top 20 are kept. In a 1-QB league with 4-point passing scores, never pay more than $8. Dak went for $5 last year and finished as a top-six scorer.

Two rivals crippled themselves

Fab's torched $75 on Mahomes ($39 for a $3 asset) and Chuba Hubbard ($36 for $6). Vishal paid $56 for Malik Nabers, worth about $24. That is roughly $135 of dead money that will not compete with you.

One team left: Big Grub has not declared. Based on last year they may keep Joe Burrow (~$21), Evan Engram or Deebo Samuel. Burrow is the only player still flagged At risk on the board.

Draft board

Click any player to see their age and the last three seasons of fantasy points. Struck-through rows are already kept by another team and show what that team paid. Prices on available players are adjusted for the post-keeper market.

NFL teams and where the openings are

Every NFL team's projected starters. Struck-through names are already locked up by a rival's keeper, so a team with none of those is fully available to you. Green dollar figures are my estimated auction price; a dash means the player is outside my top 30 at his position and should cost about $1. Use the star to add anyone to your target list.

My targets

Star any player on the Board or NFL Teams tab and they land here. Drag to reorder by priority, then type the price you would actually bid — the roster on the right fills in your draft order and recalculates your budget live. Click a name to see age and recent scoring.

Checking storage…

Sleepers and high-value rookies

The cheap players who can win you the league. These are the $1–12 bids to make after you have your anchors — the Little Giants won 1,901 points on exactly this kind of buy (Jaxon Smith-Njigba at $10, Javonte Williams at $3).

How to use this list: do not chase these early. Fill your starting lineup first, then in the last third of the auction spend your remaining $30–40 on six or seven of these names at $1–8 each. You only need one to hit. Prioritize the ones with a clear path to volume — Jalen McMillan (inherits Mike Evans' targets), Jordan Mason (new scheme fit), Isaiah Likely (finally a starting job) and Jadarian Price (open Seattle backfield).

League rosters and budgets

Every declared keeper, what they paid, and whether it was a bargain. Surplus is my 2026 value estimate minus their keeper price — green means they stole value, red means they burned budget. Sorted by money left to spend.

League history

Two seasons of results. The pattern that matters for you: you have scored like a contender in both years and finished in the bottom half in both years.

Your two-year story in one line: in 2024 you scored the 6th-most points and finished 9th. In 2025 you scored the 3rd-most points in the entire league and still finished 8th. Both years you also absorbed one of the three highest points-against totals — you have been drawing opponents on their best weeks. That is mostly schedule luck rather than roster quality, and it is why a full $240 rebuild is a reasonable swing rather than a panic move.

Three teams renamed between 2024 and 2025. Your own team was Alex Little Things Poppin before becoming Big Things Poppin. Scott's Swag Team is now Scotty two cents, and To Infinity and Bijan ! is now Green Eggs & No Hampton. All three renames are confirmed.

Strategy playbook

Three things in order: how to use your nominations, the habits that win auctions, and the evidence from your own league that backs both up.

Nomination strategy

Nominating is the one lever you control all draft long, and most managers waste it. The single rule: prices are highest early, when every team still has a full wallet, and lowest late, when nobody can bid. Your nominations decide when each player hits the block, so use them to make other people spend before you do.

Never nominate a player you want early

If you open with Christian McCaffrey and you want him, you will pay peak price against nine full budgets. Put your own targets on the block only after the room has thinned out.

Open with expensive players you do not want

Your first three or four nominations should be genuinely good players you have no intention of buying. Someone will pay, and every dollar spent there is a dollar that cannot outbid you later.

Nominate the elite quarterbacks first

This is your biggest edge. Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are worth about $17–20 in a 1-QB league with 4-point passing touchdowns, but early auction excitement routinely pushes big names past $30. You plan to pay about $5 for a quarterback. Let someone else burn $35.

Drain Scotty specifically

He has your exact $240 and no roster. He is the only manager who can match you dollar for dollar on an elite player, so the earlier his budget shrinks the cheaper your anchors get. Nominate the players he is most likely to chase.

Use tight end as bait, or wait

The top five tight ends are already kept, so whoever nominates Sam LaPorta early will watch the room pay a scarcity premium. If you are punting the position, put him up early. If you actually want him, keep quiet and buy him late.

Buy in the middle

Roughly nominations 25 through 75 are the value window: enough money has left the room to suppress prices, but the good players are not gone. This is when you should be winning bids, not at the start.

Track what everyone can actually bid

A team must keep $1 for every open roster spot, so a manager with $50 left and 10 spots to fill can only bid $41. Once you know a rival is capped below your target price, you can bid freely.

Have fifteen names ready for the end

The last stretch is all $1–3 players, and it moves fast. Come with your sleeper list already written down — that is where the Little Giants found Javonte Williams for $3 and got RB7 out of it.

Your opening script: nominate Josh Allen, then Lamar Jackson, then an elite receiver you are not planning to buy (there are six available, so you can afford to let one go). If the room bites on the quarterbacks you have already won the auction before spending a dollar. Then sit on your hands until the middle window and take your anchor back at a discount.

The habits that win leagues

Twenty rules, grouped by when they matter. The first block is draft night, the rest is the season you play afterwards.

Auction execution

Write your max bid on every player before the draft

Decide the number when you are calm, then never go more than a dollar or two past it. Auctions are won by the manager who is willing to lose a bid.

Budget by tier, not by name

There is no single player you must have. Group players into tiers of roughly equal value and be happy with anyone in the tier — that is what stops you from panic-bidding.

Always keep $1 for every empty roster spot

With 17 spots, spending down to your last dollar too early means fielding a roster of minimum-bid scraps. Check your remaining-dollars-per-slot after every buy.

Know every rival's true maximum bid

A manager with $50 left and 10 spots to fill can only bid $41. Once you know a rival is capped below your target price, you can bid freely and stop guessing.

Open by nominating players you do not want

Prices are highest early when every wallet is full. Put good players you have no intention of buying on the block first and let other people spend.

Win the last third of the auction

The Little Giants bought their three best players at the very end, when nobody could bid. Patience is worth more than any single ranking.

Never bid in round numbers

Going to $31 instead of $30 wins more auctions than it costs, because most managers set mental limits at round figures.

Roster construction

Two anchors, then value

With $240 you can afford one elite back and one elite receiver, which most teams cannot. Everything after that should be upside per dollar, not another safe starter.

Never pay for kicker or defense

Both are $1 streamers. Draft the cheapest viable options and rotate them weekly on matchups — in your scoring a good matchup is worth more than a good unit.

Two flex spots means load up on backs and receivers

Your lineup starts as many as four backs and receivers beyond the required pairs. Depth there plays every week; a backup quarterback never does.

Draft your bench for upside, not safety

A veteran who scores 8 points a week does nothing for you. Fill the back of the roster with players who could become starters — handcuffs, ascending second-year players, rookies with a path to touches.

Do not fill a position just because it is empty

An empty starting slot midway through the auction is fine. Reaching for a mediocre starter because the good ones are gone is how you end up with a $30 player worth $12.

Check bye weeks before you stack a position

Three starting receivers on the same bye turns one week into an automatic loss. Spread the risk, especially across your top six players.

Age curves matter more at running back

Backs fall off a cliff around 28 to 30; receivers hold value into their early thirties. Pay for a 33-year-old receiver before you pay for a 30-year-old back.

In-season management

Work the waiver wire relentlessly

The champion made 54 in-season moves and found a top-six quarterback for free. You made 46 last year, so you already do this — just be more aggressive in the first month when breakouts surface.

Save about a quarter of your FAB for the playoff run

Your playoffs are weeks 15 to 17. Injuries in weeks 12 to 14 decide titles, and that is exactly when everyone else is out of waiver money.

Stream defenses on matchup, never reputation

In your scoring, points allowed and turnovers drive everything. A mediocre defense facing a backup quarterback beats an elite defense facing a good offense.

Buy low after two bad weeks, sell high after two good ones

Managers overreact to small samples. The two weeks after a star's slump is the cheapest you will ever be able to trade for him.

Set your lineup every single week

The simplest edge in fantasy football. A forgotten bye week or an inactive starter costs more points over a season than almost any draft mistake.

Mindset

Points scored matters more than your record

You have finished 6th and 3rd in scoring while placing 9th and 8th. That gap is schedule luck, not process. Keep maximizing weekly points and the record follows.

Do not chase last year's points

Production follows opportunity, not reputation. Ask who gets the touches and targets this season, not who scored the most last season.

Losing a bid is not losing the auction

Every player you miss frees money for two you get. The manager who wins every bidding war usually finishes with the worst value per dollar.

The winning blueprint

Last year's highest-scoring team — the Little Giants — put up a league-high 1,901 points and finished runner-up to Teddy KGB. Their method is the one to copy: hoard budget and pounce late. Their three best players were bought at the very end of the auction, when everyone else was broke.

Little Giants buy	Paid	2025 finish	Verdict
Jaxon Smith-Njigba	$10	WR1 · 300 pts	Steal of the draft
Trey McBride	$16	TE1 · 253 pts	League-winning value
Jahmyr Gibbs	$48	RB3 · 328 pts	One big swing, nailed it
Javonte Williams	$3	RB7 · 225 pts	Absurd value
Drake London	$46	WR11 · 168 pts	Fair price
Brian Thomas Jr.	$43	WR47 · 114 pts	Bust, survived it anyway

Last year you did the opposite, locking $128 of $240 into three keepers — the most in the league — and finished 8th. This year you have gone to the other extreme and are better positioned than either finalist was.

Team	Keepers	Locked up	To draft	Result
Big Things Poppin — 2026	0	$0	$240	Tied for most in league
Teddy KGB — 2025	2	$17	$223	🏆 Champion
Little Giants — 2025	3	$74	$166	Runner-up · most points
Big Things Poppin — 2025	3	$128	$112	8th · 6–8

Buy two anchors, not one

With $240 and nothing locked up you can afford what most teams cannot: two elite starters. Target one top-five back ($60–70) plus one elite receiver ($50–62), then build depth. That is roughly $125 on two studs with $115 left for fifteen spots.

Have a plan B at every tier

Scotty has the same $240 and will chase the same names. Do not get anchored on one player — decide your maximum bid before the auction and let it go at $1 over. There are six elite receivers available; you only need one.

Let quarterback come to you

Only 3 of the top 20 QBs are kept and both Josh Allen and Lamar are available. In a 1-QB league never pay more than $8, and be happy paying $2–4 for Purdy, Lawrence or Herbert.

The draft only starts you

The champion made 54 in-season moves and found a top-six quarterback on the wire. Work the FAB budget all year and hold back about 25% for playoff-run injuries.

Suggested shape for your $240: about $65 on an elite back (McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor or Achane), about $55 on an elite receiver (Puka, Chase, CeeDee or Jefferson), about $35 on a second back, about $30 across two more receivers, $14 on LaPorta or $2 on a streaming tight end, about $5 on a quarterback, and the remaining $35 spread across sleeper darts at $1–8. Stay disciplined in the $25–45 range — that is where auctions are usually lost.