Photo: USA Today Sports

On July 13th, six members of the Footballguys staff, along with six highly regarded writers in the fantasy football community, got together to complete a 12-team, 18 round, best-ball draft using DRAFT format. Before the draft, each of the participants answered questions regarding strategies, players they coveted and how they plan to attack the draft. Additional questions were asked after the draft based on the decisions they made. To top it off, Footballguys' Chad Parsons will provide an evaluation of each team's roster strengths and weaknesses, chronicling the strategies and decisions that were made by each participant.

The goal of this article is to give you a look into the minds of fantasy experts throughout the entire draft process. This includes preparation, decision-making, execution, and follow-up. What was their plan? Did they follow it? Why did they make the decisions they made? Some drafters had similar strategies and players of interest, but how they executed their plan and built their roster, varied from person to person.

We hope you will uncover or discover a strategy that might work for you in your draft(s) this year. Learn what players the experts are targeting and why. At Footballguys, when you win, we win! If we can help give you the tools and know-how to build a winning team, we've done our job.

LEAGUE PARAMETERS

Best Ball format - Each week, your top scoring players on your roster automatically start and will count toward your season total. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins. Top scores from the starting positions will count for your weekly score.

• 12 teams
• 18 roster spots
• Starting Lineup
• 1 quarterback
• 2 running backs
• 3 wide receivers
• 1 tight end
• 1 flex (either a running back, wide receiver, or tight end)

LEAGUE SCORING

• Offensive Players Only
• 4 points - Passing Touchdown
• 6 points - Rushing/Receiving Touchdown
• 0.04 points - Passing Yard
• 0.1 points - Rushing/Receiving Yard
• 0.5 point - Reception
• -1 - Interception Thrown
• -2 - Fumble Lost
• 2 - Two-Point Conversion

Draft participants

DRAFT GRID

Completed Rosters

DRAFT SLOT 1

Mike Tagliere, FantasyPros
Mike is a featured writer for FantasyPros. His signature in-season piece, "The Primer," is a massive 30,000-word weekly article that gives readers a full paragraph on every fantasy-relevant player from every game. He has twice finished inside the top-six in FantasyPros' accuracy competition. He also co-hosts the FantasyPros Football Podcast.

Follow @MikeTagliereNFL

PRE-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. Give us some advanced strategies you are looking to implement in this draft.
I've never been a strategy-based drafter, as I prefer to take the draft as it comes to me. With that being said, I'm sitting here with the No. 1 overall pick, which means I almost have to have some sort of strategy, as I won't be able to identify trends. Ideally, I'll get at least one of my top-10 receivers and one of my top-10 running backs (I will at No. 1 with Ezekiel Elliott). I'm not opposed to taking a tight end early, so long as one of the top-three is there at the turn.

2. Discuss drafting from the 1-hole. What will you do differently because of this draft slot?
Honestly, drafting from the No. 1 spot changes everything, as I'm forced to reach for my players rather than letting the draft come to me. I've always preferred the middle of the draft, as it's the best way to identify trends before they get out of hand, but it's much harder from the turn.

3. When do you plan to select your first quarterback?
I'll likely have my first quarterback by the seventh-round, as Aaron Rodgers has been falling there in most of my drafts.

4. When do you plan to select your first tight end?
If there's an elite tight end available at the 24/25 pick turn, I'll take one there, but outside of them, likely the 5-7 round range to ensure I'm not stuck with someone like Kyle Rudolph.

5. Name a few guys that you are looking to build your team around. What rounds do you expect to get them in?
Ezekiel Elliott in the first round, A.J. Green in the third round, O.J. Howard in the fifth round, and Aaron Rodgers in the seventh round.

6. Do you have any trigger points (ie players A and B are gone therefore I am looking to grab player C the next time I pick)
Not necessarily, outside of the top-three tight ends at the 2/3 turn.

7. What's your approach to rookies, injured players, and/or suspended players that may not have a full workload to start the season?
It all depends on the injuries they suffered, as I'm not so worried about ACL's as I used to be. Achilles on the other hand, those are typically career-enders. As for rookies, I attack running backs, lower wide receivers, and avoid tight ends. Suspended players typically go much higher than I'm willing to spend, so I rarely wind up with them.

8. Name five players you would love to choose in rounds 16-18
Jamison Crowder, David Moore, John Ross, Travis Benjamin, and Jamaal Williams.

DRAFT SELECTIONS

POST-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. You mentioned you would target an elite tight end at the 2-3 turn, but you picked A.J. Green and Aaron Jones with George Kittle still on the board. What made you change your stance on taking an elite tight end?

I've been doing a lot of research lately on running backs and what team-scoring has meant to them. Because of that, I've been sliding Jones up my board quite a bit. It came down to him or Kittle at that spot but knowing it was best-ball, I chose the running back. As for A.J. Green, he was a target all along and I refused to walk away without a top-12 wide receiver in my first three picks, as it was a long wait until the 4/5 turn.

2. You were able to draft a few players that you had your eye on in Ezekiel Elliott, A.J. Green, Aaron Rodgers, and John Ross. Talk about why you are high on these players.

Ezekiel Elliott has now played 40 regular-season games in the NFL. He's posted RB2 or better numbers in 92.5 percent of them. Only Saquon Barkley (93.8 percent) has a higher mark for his career. Not only is Barkley's percentage a small sample size, but losing Odell Beckham surely isn't going to help. Green is almost always a top-10 receiver. This decade, there are just four wide receivers who have posted WR2 or better numbers in a higher percentage of games than Green. Those players are Odell Beckham Jr, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, and Michael Thomas. Last year was the first year Rodgers played more than 10 games and didn't finish as the No. 1 or No. 2 fantasy quarterback. He threw just 25 touchdowns while playing through a leg injury and still finished top-six. The community is severely underrating him. As for Ross, he's not someone I need to have, but rather someone who can benefit from a change in the offense. With Zac Taylor taking over and using the Rams playbook as a blueprint, he could be used as the Brandin Cooks of the offense. In the best-ball format, he should have some big weeks.

3. You drafted Jerick McKinnon with pick 11.01. Matt Breida was selected four rounds later at pick 15.11 by Michael Rathburn. Share your thoughts on why you like McKinnon to return good value this year, particularly ahead of Breida.

I've heard people say that Breida is going to be the best running back on that team this year, but I'm not buying it. I've heard, "Just wait, Coleman or McKinnon will get hurt and he'll dominate." My response is that we've already seen that, in 2018. McKinnon was hurt and Coleman wasn't there. We still didn't know which 49ers running back to start every week. Kyle Shanahan has watched Breida for years now and still felt the need to go out and sign Coleman. Not just that, but they had the chance to cut McKinnon by April to save his $4 million salary, but they didn't. He's the primary pass-catcher with a chance to be more. Breida is the clear-cut No. 3 on this team.

Chad Parsons' EVALUATION

Strengths

Tagliere took a balanced approach, addressing all lineup positions by Round 8. However, his greatest strength is quarterback, finding Aaron Rodgers as QB4 in Round 6 and Drew Brees as an unreal QB19 in Round 10. Quarterbacks notoriously fall in industry drafts and this one was no different but saving a roster spot in best-ball (some teams took three quarterbacks) at the position with two cornerstone performers gives Tagliere a weekly and season-long advantage.

Weaknesses

Despite spending four picks in the first nine rounds on running back, this roster’s rotation is tenuous after Ezekiel Elliott at 1.01. Aaron Jones at 3.01 (RB14) is a rich investment for a back with a minimal track record as a lead option and Day 3 pedigree. James White in Round 5 is more for full PPR than this 0.5 PPR format and Ronald Jones, Jerick McKinnon, and Duke Johnson Jr were later round shots who are all sub-optimal size to expect feature work or turn into dependable RB2 types on this roster.

How He’ll Win It All

Tagliere will need health from A.J. Green as his cornerstone WR1 and Aaron Jones panning out as the clear Green Bay starter who be a huge shot in the arm. The critical players to supply quality starts for Tagliere will be Allen Robinson, David Njoku, and Tyler Eifert. If at least one or two of the trio turn in a string of impact starts in this best-ball format, Tagliere will be one of the stronger teams in the league.

DRAFT SLOT 2

Jim Day, FFChamps.com
Jim has written for many sites since he first started in 2001, including Fantasy Pros 911, Bleacher Report, XpertSports, GoAheadScore, Sports Outlaw, Scout Fantasy and several others. He was the Technical Editor for the Fantasy Football for Dummies book and is currently the Co-Director of FFChamps.com and the Co-Host of the Fantasy Football Frenzy podcast on the FNTSY Sports Network, the WTF! Fantasy Football Podcast and the FFChamps After Dark Podcasts.

Follow @fantasytaz

PRE-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. Give us some advanced strategies you are looking to implement in this draft.
It’s hard to talk about advanced strategies when drafting against a group of sharks like this. My only real strategy is being able to move with the draft and make changes to my thought process on the fly. The basic strategies will be the same for most in this draft; draft QBs and TEs late. Outside of that, this is the type of draft where you have to go after the players you want and throw ADP out the window. If you decide to wait on a player thinking you can get him in the next round in a draft full of sharks, most likely that player will be gone.

The one basic tenet of bestball leagues is that at each position the stronger your starters are the fewer players you need at that position. For example, if you have three stud running backs, then you can use some extra spots to solidify another position that has more need.

2. Discuss drafting from the 2-hole. What will you do differently because of this draft slot?
The only real big thing with any of the first four spots is being able to get one of the top tiers of RBs, which most would define as Saquan Barkley, Zeke Elliot, Alvin Kamara, and Christian McCaffrey. In this scoring, it would be hard to make a case against taking one of these four. My initial thoughts on the 2-3 turn would be to look hard at WRs with both picks because I like some of the RBs that I expect will be available in the 4th and 5th rounds.

3. When do you plan to select your first quarterback?
I won’t be surprised if I am one of the last to take a QB. This year there are a lot of good options with upside that can be drafted late. Based on my yearly projections, using 4 points per passing TD scoring, there is a less than 2 points-per-game difference between the 10th and 20th ranked QBs. With this being Bestball, I have no problem grabbing 3 late QBs because they will score enough each week to allow me to stock up on RBs and WRs early.

4. When do you plan to select your first tight end?
Unless one of the big three, Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz and George Kittle, fall to me in the 4th round, then I will wait until much later. There is a lot of good talent coming back into the pool this year with Hunter Henry, Delanie Walker and Jason Witten back in the mix. Plus there are some very good rookies like TJ Hockenson, Noah Fant and others that should have a decent floor even as rookies.

5. Name a few guys that you are looking to build your team around. What rounds do you expect to get them in?

Some of my favorite early picks are Zeke Elliot, Todd Gurley, Robert Woods, Julian Edelman, and Devonta Freeman. To get Elliot of course I would have to take him at 2 overall. Then if Gurley falls to me at 2.11, I would grab him, if not then Edelman and Woods would be my next options. Freeman just makes a great backup plan if any of those are not available.

6. Do you have any trigger points (ie players A and B are gone therefore I am looking to grab player C the next time I pick)
Basically, my trigger points are my tiers. I prefer tiers over rankings because by grouping players together that I expect to have the same opportunity and outcomes it allows me to easily see when I am about to bottom out on a tier.

7. What's your approach to rookies, injured players, and/or suspended players that may not have a full workload to start the season?
Just like any other player we need to decide how much opportunity is there for them and at what point in the draft do they represent value. Almost every player is draftable, trying to figure out when to draft them is the hard part.

8. Name five players you would love to choose in rounds 16-18
Mike Davis, Mohamed Sanu, Jalen Richard, David Moore, and Trey Quinn

DRAFT SELECTIONS

POST-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. You selected David Montgomery with pick 4.11 (RB23), ahead of fellow running backs James White and Mark Ingram. Share why you like Montgomery as an RB2 this year.
Montgomery moves into a solid situation in Chicago, as they ran more often than they passed in 2018 and most likely will follow that same game plan this year. With a top defense, they won’t often need to play catch up. Montgomery can do everything and while Cohen will still get his, Montgomery could easily see 200+ touches as a rookie and that should allow him to fall right into RB 2 territory.
I am just not as high on White as most are. He is a good back but it took a lot of missed time by other players to enable him to be used as much as he was. With the additions of Damien Harris, N’Keal Harry, and even Brandon Bolden, I expect White to lose a decent amount of opportunity.
With Ingram, I am a little concerned that his game doesn’t quite fit the Lamar Jackson-led offense. Then you have to worry that Jackson will steal a lot of opportunities from Ingram. Jackson along averaged 17 rushing attempts a game in 2018 and did rush for five touchdowns. You have to take this off the top of Ingram’s numbers and that alone had me passing on him.

2. You were hoping for Julian Edelman at the end of round two but instead selected Antonio Brown. What are your expectations for Brown this season with Oakland?
I was looking for Edelman at the end of the second, but I didn’t expect Brown to be there at that spot. I still expect Brown to see a very high number of targets and I expect his yardage and reception numbers to be among the best in the league, but I am thinking his touchdown numbers take a little hit. I did mess up in round 3 when I took Thielen over Edelman and I’m not sure why. I have Edelman ranked higher than Thielen, so this was a mistake on my part.

CHAD PARSONs' EVALUATION

Strengths

Even by waiting until the last team in the draft to take a quarterback, Jim Day emerged with a powerful mid-round trio between Tom Brady, Josh Allen, and Marcus Mariota. Allen and Mariota are best-ball specials with their rushing ability but also streaky passing profiles. Also getting Saquon Barkley anywhere but 1.01 is also an immediate strength for a team to kick off their draft. Considering their draft position as WR9 and WR11, older veterans Antonio Brown and Adam Thielen were quality selections at the Round 2/3 turn.

Weaknesses

After Saquon Barkley represents a major question mark for Day’s best-ball roster. David Montgomery (RB23), Darrell Henderson (RB29), and Jordan Howard (RB37) are all shaky bets to be starters for much of the season, if at all, without an injury on their respective depth charts, however, they were all within the opening eight rounds of cost in this draft. On the plus side, Justin Jackson in Round 17 was one of the savvier selections of the draft with Melvin Gordon’s holdout status at the time of drafting and publication. Jackson could return more value than any of Day’s non-Barkley earlier running back selections if things turn ominous with Gordon.

How He’ll Win It All

If Day gets the right depth chart break or two at running back, along with his tight end committee of steady Austin Hooper and upside shots Darren Waller and T.J. Hockenson, he will be a solid contender late in the season. Day’s wide receivers will need to weather the storm at WR3 and the flex position until, hopefully, his running backs emerge to the surface.

DRAFT SLOT 3

Graham Barfield, NFL.com
Graham is the managing editor of fantasy football at NFL.com. One-third of the NFL Fantasy Live podcast. Author of Yards Created.

Follow @GrahamBarfield

PRE-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. Give us some advanced strategies you are looking to implement in this draft.

Not very "advanced" but late-round quarterback is the only way to go this year since the quarterback position is so loaded. The opportunity cost of taking a quarterback well before ADP has never been higher.

2. Discuss drafting from the 3-hole. What will you do differently because of this draft slot?

Top-4 picks have a huge advantage this season. I know I'll get a workhorse running back and have a shot at players that I love at the 2/3 turn.

3. When do you plan to select your first quarterback?

I won't be targeting a quarterback until later in the draft.

4. When do you plan to select your first tight end?

This depends on the board. I do love the options available in the fifth and sixth round. Most notably O.J. Howard, Evan Engram, and Hunter Henry.

5. Name a few guys that you are looking to build your team around. What rounds do you expect to get them in?

There are two running backs whose names rhyme with "Smelliot" and "Camaro". I hope to have one of them at 1.03.

6. Do you have any trigger points (ie players A and B are gone therefore I am looking to grab player C the next time I pick)

Yes! When Geronimo Allison, Curtis Samuel, Keke Coutee are gone in the 8th/9th rounds I'm always looking for Dede Westbrook or Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

7. What's your approach to rookies, injured players, and/or suspended players that may not have a full workload to start the season?

For me, it all comes down to cost. Saying "no" to Miles Sanders in the 8th round is hard.

8. Name five players you would love to choose in rounds 16-18

DRAFT SELECTIONS

POST-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. You wanted to wait before drafting your first quarterback and you succeed by taking Matt Ryan at 9.03 and Dak Prescott at 10.10. Ryan was the 9th quarterback off the board and Prescott was the 17th, despite him being your pick only one round later. Explain your strategy of knowing when to draft your quarterback so you don't miss out on a player you covet.

I went RB/WR in my first eight picks and felt it was a perfect time to take Matt Ryan at 9.03 (QB9). Wentz, Murray, Mayfield, and Wilson all went before him. An unpredictable run of 9 quarterbacks in 10 picks broke loose in the 10th-11th rounds and it resulted in what I consider more great value in Dak Prescott (at QB17). Trubisky and Garoppolo went before Prescott, Brees, and Goff — which is something that doesn’t happen all the time.

2. Share your strategy on targeting specific players in best ball that you wouldn't necessarily pull the trigger on in a league with in-season management.

Best ball scoring should change your strategy in these leagues. Will Fuller is a great example of a WR I want to draft in the 6/7 rounds of my best-ball teams because of his week-winning upside, but I tend to shy away from players with his profile in weekly redraft leagues.

CHAD PARSONs' EVALUATION

Strengths

Barfield was one of the few teams to secure three clear Week 1 starting running backs in the early rounds. Alvin Kamara is one of the stock top selections in the draft, but Kenyan Drake and Mark Ingram in the RB20-25 range were sturdy values with known roles and a track record. Another strength was getting best-ball special and high upside Will Fuller outside the top-30 receivers and in his WR3 spot behind T.Y. Hilton and Keenan Allen.

Weaknesses

On paper, Barfield’s tight end group lacks much pop to be one of the better units in the league. Trey Burton has Adam Shaheen returning to the depth chart this season and Burton relied on several manufactured red zone plays for his fantasy value last season. Jimmy Graham has slowed considerably in recent years and Mike Gesicki showed little in his lost rookie season.

How He’ll Win It All

A healthy Will Fuller for most of the season will go a long way towards a strong finish for Barfield. Also, Kenyan Drake and Tevin Coleman being true lead backs for the first extended periods in their NFL careers would be beneficial. Geronimo Allison being the unchallenged WR2 for the Packers insulates Barfield from any missed time by Fuller. Finally, Michael Gallup is a bestball special with his deep threat role in Dallas to provide a few start-worthy outings.

DRAFT SLOT 4

Dan Hindery, Bio

Follow @Hindery

PRE-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. Give us some advanced strategies you are looking to implement in this draft.
Considering there are only 12 teams and no playoffs, I will play it more conservatively than I would if I was drafting for one of the large tournaments with thousands of entries. Even playing it relatively safe, there is still merit to the strategy of stacking. Drafting a top pass catcher and quarterback from the same team is a correlated play that increases your chances of finishing first or last instead of the middle of the pack. Some of my favorite teams to stack this season are Carolina (Cam Newton with D.J. Moore or Curtis Samuel) and Arizona (Kyler Murray with Christian Kirk, Larry Fitzgerald, or Andy Isabella).

2. Discuss drafting from the 4-hole. What will you do differently because of this draft slot?
The 4th slot is the easiest position to draft from in 2019. There is a clear top tier of four (Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel Elliott, and Alvin Kamara). You simply grab the one of the four who is still available at 1.04.

I prefer the wide receiver options available near the 4/5 turn over the running backs likely to be on the board, so I want to make sure I draft my RB2 either in the second or third round so I don’t feel forced to gamble on a running back I’m not completely sold on in the fourth or fifth round.

3. When do you plan to select your first quarterback?
The 9th to 11th round feels like the sweet spot for a quarterback this year. I expect to take my first at 9.05 and will probably take my backup soon after. I always try to keep an open mind and adjust to the board and would consider a quarterback a little bit earlier if one slides well past ADP, though.

4. When do you plan to select your first tight end?
The earliest I plan on considering a tight end is O.J. Howard if he makes it to 5.04. If not Howard, then it probably won’t be until the 10th or 11th round. Zach Ertz and George Kittle are popular options near the 2/3 turn but I prefer targeting other positions that early in the draft.

5. Name a few guys that you are looking to build your team around. What rounds do you expect to get them in?
Alvin Kamara is almost always the 1.04 and I will happily my team around him. Cam Newton is my favorite quarterback this year. I will reach for him by a round or so to grab him in the 9th round. I have a hard time passing on A.J. Green midway through the third round, even though his ADP is half a round later and there is a decent chance he will find his way onto my roster.

6. Do you have any trigger points (ie players A and B are gone therefore I am looking to grab player C the next time I pick)
I always want to select at least one wide receiver in the first three rounds. The early draft spot guarantees running back will be the pick in the first round and there are also plenty of solid running back options in the late-2nd and early-3rd round. If I take a running back at 2.09, I will take a wide receiver at 3.04 (probably A.J. Green or T.Y. Hilton).

7. What's your approach to rookies, injured players, and/or suspended players that may not have a full workload to start the season?
In tournaments, I am always looking to try to take any discount I can get on injured or suspended players given how much more important the playoff weeks are. In a normal 12-team draft like this, I try not to take too many risks on guys like that. I am also slightly less likely to roll the dice on a rookie, especially in the early rounds. Week 1 production is every bit as valuable as Week 16 production and I want to get off to as fast a start as possible.

8. Name five players you would love to choose in rounds 16-18
With bye weeks and the inevitable injuries that occur at running back, it is really helpful to get at least one late-round running back who can at least provide you some decent RB2 weeks without needing an injury ahead of him on the depth chart. Players like Giovani Bernard, Duke Johnson Jr, and Mike Davis should get at least a handful of touches in every game. I also like the being able to grab at least one late-round wide receiver and will target guys like Deebo Samuel, Ted Ginn Jr Jr., and Quincy Enunwa as my WR7 or WR8.

DRAFT SELECTIONS

POST-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. You indicated an interest in targeting Cam Newton and you were able to draft him with pick 9.04 as the 10th quarterback off the board. Explain your high level of interest in Newton this season.

Newton looks to be in a great position to put up a top-5 fantasy season. We know Newton is capable of top fantasy numbers. He has finished as a top-4 quarterback four times in his career, including a QB1 finish in his MVP season of 2015. Newton was on also on pace for yet another top-4 quarterback finish last year (QB4 heading into Week 14) before his injured shoulder became too much for him to deal with.

In addition to Newton’s elite physical ability and proven fantasy upside, he also might boast his best supporting cast ever. The speed and well-rounded skill sets of C