Redraft Strategy, Drafting for the Playoffs

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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.

Do you draft with a winning lineup in mind for the playoffs, or is that too far in the future to plan? Explain your thought process here.

CRAIG LAKINS

Like bye weeks, I don't pay much attention to a player's playoff schedule when drafting. If anything, it's a tiebreaker for me if I'm torn between two players. It's something I start considering a few weeks into the season if I know my team is primed for a playoff run. Stashing away a player or defense with a good Week 14 match-up is a smart play.

CHAD PARSONS

I rarely plan for the playoffs in the draft. There are so many twists and turns from player health, matchups looking strong or weak, waiver wire addition, and more from August until December, it is tough to have a true coin flip decision in a draft where a bye week or late-season matchup or two determines the selection.

BEN CUMMINS

I’m drafting with this mindset in best ball since all the money is won during the playoffs, especially Week 17. Thus, I’m optimizing for upside, stacks, and game correlation. But I’m rarely thinking about these things other than favorable fantasy playoff schedules when drafting redraft teams.

JASON WOOD

No disrespect to those who say they plan for the playoffs, but empirically it's a fool's errand. Given the injuries that befall NFL rosters and the total unpredictability of opposing strength of schedule from year to year, trying to craft an optimized roster for the final few weeks almost guarantees you'll miss the playoffs because you won't have optimized for the first 13 weeks. Suppose you're in a super deep league (25+ roster spots), and the waiver wire is essentially a non-factor during the season. In that case, I think you can build your end-game roster with players you think are more likely to crest late in the season but might not help early on -- for example, some developmental rookies or players entering the season hurt.