DraftStreet NFL Strategy Guide

by Jon Bales (JonBales) Last Updated 2014-02-22 01:29:50

DraftStreet is a leader in the daily fantasy sports space, and their daily fantasy football selection is among the best in the industry. Among the major players in daily fantasy sports, DraftStreet is set up such that it best minimizes the luck involved in each sport. That can and should affect your DraftStreet football strategy.

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In NFL, for example, DraftStreet doesn’t require that you start a kicker. Of the “big three” daily fantasy sites, DraftStreet is the only one to have that setup. Coupled with their tight pricing, DraftStreet is one of the top destinations for experienced daily fantasy players. The best tailor their DraftStreet NFL strategy to coincide with the site’s scoring and starting requirements.

Note that the content below is intended for novice daily fantasy players. If you have daily fantasy football experience, be sure to check out our more intermediate and advanced material at GrindersU. The NFL section is split into Undergrad, Masters, and PhD sub-categories. There, we walk you through topics such as building a foundation of NFL research, using the Vegas lines to help you pick players, understanding game variance, and the best approach for winning tournaments. Just sort through the drop-down menus on the left side of GrindersU to take advantage of all of the free, in-depth content.

DraftStreet NFL Starting Requirements

On DraftStreet, you are required to start two quarterbacks, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, two flex positions, and a defense. This is a unique set of starters that many users find enjoyable.

The two-quarterback requirement in particular can have a profound impact on your strategy because quarterbacks are projected differently than other positions. Because they usually have a relatively high number of attempts, quarterbacks have high floors; they’re normally the easiest position to predict.
Because of that, many daily fantasy players like to pay for two high-priced quarterbacks in head-to-heads, 50/50s, and other leagues in which a high percentage of players get paid. In those leagues, safety is key. You want consistency, and the elite quarterbacks provide it. Even though it necessitates going lower at other positions, selecting two top-tier quarterbacks is a sound heads-up strategy on DraftStreet.

As noted, you do not need to pick a kicker on DraftStreet. Because kickers are volatile from week to week, and thus difficult to project, this eliminates a lot of the luck involved in the game. That’s a great thing for players who anticipate being long-term winners.

In addition, DraftStreet has two flex spots (running back, wide receiver, or tight end). Again, this greatly enhances the skill required to win because it gives daily fantasy players options. Not only do you need to project players at each position, but with a flex spot, you need to compare players at different positions. In some cases, it’s smart to start a tight end (or even two) in the flex spot, for example, because they’re typically cheaper than running backs or wide receivers.

On some sites, the flex decision is fairly obvious just because the positions aren’t priced evenly. On some sites, for example, wide receivers as a whole are much cheaper (relative to their production) than running backs, and thus are almost always superior flex plays.

That’s not the case on DraftStreet. The site prices their players so well that pretty much every position is in play for flex consideration.

In terms of value, the positions are usually comparable on DraftStreet, which means you want to customize your flex choices to fit your league type. In general, you want to favor consistency in smaller leagues and upside in larger ones. Of the possible flex positions, running back has the most week-to-week consistency because the players have the largest workloads. While running backs don’t make great flex plays on some sites, it’s not a bad idea to double up on backs in both flex spots in a DraftStreet head-to-head or 50/50 league.

In large-field leagues, wide receivers often make the best flex plays because their fantasy points tend to come in bunches. They might give you relatively little, but they can also explode for 10 catches, 200 yards, and two scores.

Part of the reason that running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends are all about equal in value is because of DraftStreet’s scoring system. Let’s take a look.

DraftStreet NFL Scoring

DraftStreet’s scoring system is very much standard, with one exception.

You can see the site awards just a half-point per reception. That levels out the playing field a bit; whereas wide receivers are often the best flex plays on full PPR sites, that’s not always the case on 0.5-PPR sites like DraftStreet.

Awarding 0.5 points per catch also favors those who do their own research. Whereas many players have a pretty good sense of value in standard or full PPR leagues, that’s not always the case in 0.5-PPR leagues. Most either treat such leagues as if catches don’t get any points or get a full point, which can throw off projections and rankings. Those who do their math will come out on top on DraftStreet.
Also note that DraftStreet awards four points per passing touchdown and one point per 25 yard passing, while taking away a point for each interception. This doesn’t do a whole lot to separate quarterbacks as much as some other sites. On sites that give six points per passing touchdown or take away two points per pick, for example, the top quarterbacks have a little more value.

That means that while paying for at least one elite passer is often smart in small leagues, you don’t need to do it in tournaments. If you can find quarterback production at a bargain, it will really open up things at the other positions, particularly wide receiver where you can jump on the variance that’s inherent to the position to increase your upside.

Understanding Consistency and the Flex

Again, a big part of playing daily fantasy football at DraftKings is beating others at the flex position. Much of successful flex thinking involves tailoring your choices to your league type, favoring consistency when you want a high floor.

At GrindersU, we have a bunch of content on consistency and upside that will really help you on DraftStreet, such as how to use targets, opportunity, and percentage of workload stats to make projections and increase either safety or upside. We also talk about when to take on risk and when to minimize it.

Finally, there’s some good information on how to use the ceiling and floor stats in the NFL Incentives Package to target the right types of players. When you’re trying to compare a running back to a tight end for use in the flex, for example, the consistency stats can go a long way. The best daily fantasy football players understand which types of players to select for each league just as much as the exact names to choose.

As always, make sure you get our DraftStreet NFL Incentives for free by signing up for the site through any of our links, and check out all of the content at GrindersU.