Fantasy Football Strategy, Advice & Tips for Shallow Leagues (2023)

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.

• More Fantasy Football Advice
• Snake Draft Pick Strategy: Early | Middle | Late
• Draft Targets for Every Round: Early | Middle | Late
• Fitz’s Draft Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE

Strategy Tips for Shallow Leagues

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 should draft a quarterback in the first round in 1QB leagues. However, don’t wait till the double-digit rounds to grab a quarterback. Instead, use a pick in rounds 2-4 on an elite quarterback.

Over the past three years, the top-three quarterbacks ended the season, averaging 23.9 fantasy points per game. That average was 10.9% higher than QBs4-6, 16.7% higher than QBs7-10, and 28.9% higher than QBs11-15.

Furthermore, there was a significant gap between having Patrick Mahomes (QB1), Josh Allen (QB2), and Jalen Hurts (QB3) and the QBs4-6 last season. Those top three guys outscored the next three by five fantasy points per game. By comparison, the top three quarterbacks outscored QBs4-6 by only 2.2 fantasy points per game in 2021 and 0.6 in 2020.

You do not want the 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 also gives you a tremendous advantage every week.

Over the past three years, the top-three tight ends ended the season averaging 15.6 fantasy points per game. That average was 28.2% higher than TEs4-6, 35.9% higher than TEs7-10, and 37.2% higher than TEs11-15.

Furthermore, you want to pay the price and secure a top-two tight end.

The top two tight ends have averaged 17.3 fantasy points per game over the past three years. On a points-per-game basis, the TE3 averaged 17.9% fewer fantasy points per game than the top two tight ends. Meanwhile, the overall scoring TE3 averaged 28.9% fewer fantasy points per game.

Furthermore, Travis Kelce is worthy of a first-round pick again this season. The future Hall of Famer scored 316.3 PPR fantasy points last year, 100.9 more than any other tight end. He averaged 18.6 fantasy points per game, 5.9 more than the TE2 overall (T.J. Hockenson) and 5.2 more than the TE2 on a points-per-game basis (George Kittle).

By comparison, only three running backs and four wide receivers scored more total fantasy points than Kelce in 2022. While fantasy players shouldn’t draft the future Hall of Famer over Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Cooper Kupp, and Christian McCaffrey, Kelce is worthy of a top-five pick, especially in shallow leagues.

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. Last season the superstar stayed healthy and played all 17 games. However, he played only 30.3% of the contests over the previous two years. 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 PPR wide receivers like Jakobi Meyers, Adam Thielen, and Tyler Boyd. Their appeal to fantasy players is the certainty of getting 10 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. The smaller your league size, the more you want to treat it like a best-ball draft and shoot for the most possible upside.

Instead of drafting those three wide receivers, fantasy 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.

Adjust for your Roster Size

Sometimes shallower leagues have more bench spots, especially when they have a superflex starting slot. In a prototypical 16-man roster with nine starters and seven bench spots, fantasy players want to target high-upside players or dart throws when filling out their bench.

However, if your league has extra bench spots, you will want a more traditional blend of safer floor and high-upside players. This tip might seem contradictory to the previous one, but it isn’t. While you should target high-upside young 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 at drafting handcuffs. Fantasy players can afford to burn a roster spot for the entire season on a handcuff (whether yours or a league mate’s) with a deeper bench (eight or more slots). However, you shouldn’t draft 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 and/or a second flex spot. Knowing your league’s starting lineup will impact your draft plans.

If your league has PPR scoring and three starting wide receiver spots, you want to target wide receivers early in the draft. 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 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.

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