Strategy, Tips & Advice for Shallow Leagues (2022 Fantasy Football)

Not all fantasy football leagues are the same. Your draft strategy and mindset can drastically change depending on your league size. You want to be more conservative and play it safe in deeper leagues. The more you miss in your draft, the harder it will be to win the championship. Meanwhile, you want to do the opposite in shallower leagues and take more chances.

These four tips will help you win your shallow leagues of 10 teams or fewer.

Now’s the time to try your new secret weapon for your draft: Draft Intel! Draft Intel analyzes up to 5 years of drafts and breaks down all your league-mates’ draft tendencies. See who waits at quarterback, how people approach the early rounds, and tons more insights to get an edge in your draft. Best of all, it’s totally FREE! Check out your league’s Draft Intel today!

Draft a QB Early

Whether you play in a 1QB or a Superflex league, you should draft a quarterback early. That doesn’t mean you need to draft a quarterback in the first two rounds in 1QB leagues. However, don’t wait till the double-digit rounds to grab a quarterback. Instead, use a pick in rounds 3-5 on an elite quarterback.

Over the past three years, the top-three quarterbacks ended the year averaging 23.3 fantasy points per game. That average was 9% higher than QBs4-6, 13.7% higher than QBs7-10, and 27.9% higher than QBs11-15.

You do not want to have a weekly disadvantage at quarterback in exchange for bench depth. The smaller your league, the sooner you should grab a quarterback.

Draft a TE Early

Similar to quarterbacks, you want to grab a tight end early. However, unlike quarterbacks, you want to spend a first or second-round pick and secure an elite tight end. Not only will it keep you from having to stream off the waiver wire, but it gives you a tremendous advantage every week.

*Averages are based on PPR scoring*

Over the past three years, the top-three tight ends ended the year averaging 15.7 fantasy points per game. That average was 21% higher than TEs4-6, 32.5% higher than TEs7-10, and 40.8% higher than TEs11-15.

Furthermore, you want to pay the price and secure Travis Kelce or Mark Andrews in the second round.

*Averages are based on PPR scoring*

The top two tight ends have averaged 17.4 fantasy points per game over the past three years. On a points per game basis, the TE3 averaged 14.4% fewer fantasy points per game than the top two tight ends, while the overall scoring TE3 averaged 28.7% fewer fantasy points per game.

By the end of the fourth or fifth round, you should have a top-tier quarterback and tight end. If you wait until the later rounds, you’re giving your league mates a great weekly advantage over you.

Be More Aggressive/Chase the Upside

The most important thing to remember when drafting in a shallower league is to chase the upside. Don’t be afraid to take Christian McCaffrey with the first overall pick. If he has another injury-filled season, the waiver wire will have better replacement options in an eight or 10-team league than in a 12 or 14-team league.

Similarly, don’t draft safe floor wide receivers in the 11th round like Tyler Boyd (132.2 ADP | WR49), Jarvis Landry (150.5 ADP | WR52), and Jakobi Meyers (158.7 ADP | WR58). Their appeal to fantasy players is the certainty of getting 10 PPR fantasy points out of your flex position. In 12, 14, or 16 team leagues, that is great. However, those receivers shouldn’t make it into your weekly lineup in eight or 10-team leagues.

Instead of drafting those three wide receivers, you should target high-upside rookies. While the high upside guys are more likely to bust, they have the potential to be league winners. If they bust, you will have replacement options on the waiver wire. Furthermore, let your league mates draft those safe-floor wide receivers. They will likely cut those receivers early in the year, allowing you to grab them off the waiver wire if needed.

The three guys I would target with an ADP later than those three wide receivers (160 ADP or later) are George Pickens (165.3 ADP | WR60), Jahan Dotson (186.5 ADP | WR64), and Romeo Doubs (196.5 ADP | WR67). All three could become weekly starters for your fantasy team or on the waiver wire by Week 3. Either way, they are a better use of your draft capital than a safe floor wide receiver.

Adjust for your Roster Size

Sometimes shallower leagues have more bench spots, especially when they have a Superflex starting spot. If your league is the prototypical 16-man roster with nine starters and seven bench spots, you want to target high-upside players when filling out your bench.

However, you will want to consider a more traditional blend of safer floor and high upside players if your league has extra bench spots. This tip might seem contradictory to the previous one, but it isn’t. While you should target high upside rookie wide receivers over safe floor veterans, you want a solid blend of safe floor and high upside running backs.

Furthermore, the deeper your bench is, the more aggressive you should be drafting handcuffs. You can afford to burn a roster spot for the entire season on a handcuff (whether it’s yours or a league mate’s) if you have eight or nine bench spots. However, you shouldn’t roster handcuffs if you have a roster with five or six bench spots.

Similarly, know how many players you need to start. Shallower leagues tend to have a Superflex spot in the starting lineup. They also usually have a third starting wide receiver spot or a second flex spot. Knowing your league’s starting lineup will impact your draft plans.

For example, you will want to target wide receivers early in the draft if your league is PPR scoring and has three starting wide receiver spots. Meanwhile, you don’t want to target wide receivers until the middle rounds if your league is non-PPR scoring and has only two starting wide receivers spots.

There isn’t a hard and fast plan when drafting in any size league. So, you need to prepare for your fantasy draft. The best way to prepare is to use the FantasyPros mock draft simulator. It allows you to draft with your league settings (PPR vs. non-PPR, 1QB vs. Superflex, two vs. three wide receivers), while group mock drafts on sites like ESPN limit those options.

If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant, which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.

Mike Fanelli is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @Mike_NFL2.