The Re-Draft Roundtables Series
The Footballguys staff looks at various strategies to help you in redraft leagues.
Participating in a redraft league is a process that starts with the draft and hopefully ends with a championship. The Footballguys staff has answered several questions about various strategies to help you achieve your championship dreams. From the beginning to the end and everything in between, we've got you covered to give you the tools and knowledge needed to dominate your redraft league.
Let's talk about pre-emptive waiver claims - Explain the importance of this and how you approach this strategy.
BEN CUMMINS
Pre-emptive waiver claims are important because they allow you to get out in front of a heavy waiver wire/FAAB run where everyone is going for the same player. This guarantees you get the player and save you waiver priority or FAAB. To do this, I target players I view to have extreme upside should something happen to a teammate in front of them on the depth chart. Another possible application is zigging while everyone else is zagging after an injury. The masses are often overly confident about who the next man will be after an injury. If there is any gray area at all, grabbing the other player on the cheap can be genius if the dominos fall the right way.
JASON WOOD
At a high level, being proactive on waivers is vital to success. As someone who isn't particularly passionate or effective at aggressive in-season trading, my success generally hinges on aggressive, effective, smart waiver play. The way to get this right is to not fall in love with your bench. Be merciless in your willingness to part ways with players who aren't in your weekly roster in favor of others whom you can see being instant starters if one more domino (e.g., an injury right above them in the depth chart) falls.
CHRISTIAN WILLIAMS
There's nothing more important than tackling the waiver wire with precision and swiftness. A lot of the success on waivers hinges on a point I made about taking players with unclear outlooks but with answers coming soon. If there's an unclear outlook for one of your rostered players and clarity from someone on waivers presents itself, picking up the latter can be a league-changing move.
WILL GRANT
Leagues are won and lost on the waiver wire. The teams that make the playoffs always have a high number of transactions each season. If an owner is not making one or two bids a week, they are incredibly lucky or losing and near giving up. It's a big part of why I only draft one tight end, kicker, and defense - there are always good players with favorable matchups that you can pick up for a week and then drop them the following week. I'm usually checking out the hot waiver wire report on Monday and looking to see who is available in my league. I'll submit one or two immediately, expecting I won't get either. By Tuesday morning, I'll typically submit another or two and have up to four live for Wednesday when they are processed. Then when it comes to FCFS, I will add players right up until kickoff - especially if there is a late scratch or key announcement that could give me a couple of extra points that week.
ANDY HICKS
In life, not just fantasy football, it is always better to be proactive rather than reactive. Planning a week or more gets you better bye-week coverage for your kicker and defense, maybe even a tight end or quarterback. Seeing a struggling running back and his backup sitting on the wire. Of course, you have the major injuries and every trying to grab the new starter, but looking retrospectively at waiver wire transactions, you can see the breakout stars usually a week or two before they are taken.
CRAIG LAKINS
My first move after a week ends is looking at who performed well on the waiver wire. This isn't always an indicator of future success, but it's a great starting point. The next thing to consider is whether someone projects for an elevated role. For example, if David Montgomery sustains a 4th-quarter injury and is questionable for the following week, you can expect Khalil Herbert to get a lot of touches in Montgomery's stead. Thinking ahead in these situations will pay major dividends if your league-mates aren't as forward-thinking.
CHAD PARSONS
This is my bread and butter strategy, but tougher to execute in shallow redraft formats. The idea is to acquire (and hold) players before they are the 'hit fantasy leagues over the head with overt appeal' pickups, like a backup running back thrust into the lead role. When roster size ventures into the 20 or more range in redraft, this is appealing when depth chart changes point to an available running back with a stronger chance to be the benefactor with an injury in front of them. Another key aspect of this strategy is stashing backup quarterbacks in premium formats, especially if the starter is playing through an injury or (possibly) poor play. The overall goal is to save waiver position (or blind bidding funds) by spending less, or nothing, with a pre-emptive pickup days or a week before.
GARY DAVENPORT
The waiver wire is an important part of success in fantasy football, and being proactive is an important part of success in making waiver claims. It's not just a matter of looking at injury news and a given week's hottest names. You have to look two or even three weeks down the road. It's especially true with players who are making a return from injury. If a weekly starter at running back or wide receiver is set to make a return in Week 8, you should be ready to target them on the wire in Week 7. Keep an eye out for players who could be set to get the hook as well—getting speculative regarding which players could be set for a larger role two weeks down the road can be risky. But the potential reward (landing a league-swinging player) is more than worth it.
VICTORIA GEARY
I am as active as I can be on the waiver wire all season. You do NOT win your league at your draft. Easier said than done, but it helps to master the art of your waiver wire and your bench. Don't be overly loyal to your bench players just because you drafted them, but also give those bench players just enough time to prove if they are worth saving or if you can drop them for someone hotter. I also love to look ahead a week or two for waiver claims. This is so important to gain an edge over your league-mates, who are likely only beginning to read waiver wire articles the night before waivers run at 11:30 pm.
ADAM HARSTAD
There's not much to add here other than I won the championship in one of Footballguys' staff leagues last year specifically because I made a Week 17 claim of two running backs and a defense I didn't plan on using but didn't want my opponent using against me, either. They wound up being the margin.
It's more useful in the fantasy playoffs, where the number of teams competing for the player pool is lower and your need for depth is lower. In the championship week, especially, depth is meaningless. The only purpose of your bench is holding on to players you don't want to be used against you.
Sometimes it's useful to play defense and offense on the wire.
SAM WAGMAN
Being proactive on the waiver wire is extremely important, particularly early in the season when roles are still murky. You also have to be willing to let your bench players go, especially in leagues with a very small bench. It’s always good to relegate percentages of your FAAB (if you play with it) to tiers of waiver claims.
ZAREH KANTZABEDIAN
Hitting on a preemptive claim offers so much leverage over the rest of your league. You are picking up a significant contributor for free while preserving your waiver priority or free agent acquisition budget.
Pay close attention to in-season weekly practice reports. If a running back misses a day of practice, go ahead and stash his back up. If the starter misses time, you can use him or play keep away from your opponents.
JEFF BELL
Look for the guy behind the guy. Especially in situations where you are not entirely sure who rises in value with injury. Pay attention early in the season to see who has a surprise role in an ambiguous backfield, and always target players with a clear path to value should an injury occur.