Overlay alert! We are now less than 24 hours from the start of the NFL playoffs, and the main Drafters Playoff Best Ball contest — $20 entry, $35,000 to first place — is just over 50% full. The format is different from other best ball sites, but it’s simple. And fun!
If you are interested in trying out Drafters for the first time:
- Read this brief explanation of the contest, with some tips on how to approach it.
- Use promo code STOKASTIC for a first time deposit match bonus up to $100.
Contest Details:
- Join by entering a six-person draft.
- You’ll draft a team of 12 players. Each week of the playoffs, you’ll get points for one quarterback, one running back, two wide receivers, one tight end, and one flex player. Your highest scoring player at each position will automatically be put into your starting lineup each week, and the other six players will be on your bench.
- The scoring is relatively standard. Check out the full breakdown in the contest itself, but the main points to know: full point per reception (PPR), negative 2 points per turnover, no yardage bonuses.
- The format of the contest is unique to Drafters. On other sites, you are competing against the people you drafted against in the first week, and only top teams advance, after which you are put into new pods that you compete against the following week, and so on. That is not the case on Drafters. After the draft, you are put into the large pool with every other team in the contest. Nobody is eliminated. Your players on teams that lose will stop accruing points when they’re no longer playing, of course, but your team will continue to compete regardless of how it does each week. The team with the most cumulative points after the Super Bowl wins.
It sounds simple, and it is. Just a few tips:
- The “cumulative” nature of the contest can trip people up. It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t just get a player’s cumulative points at the end of the contest. It is scored weekly.
- As an example, if you draft assuming the Cincinnati Bengals will make the Super Bowl, and the Minnesota Vikings will be eliminated in the first round, you might assume that Tyler Boyd will score more points for your team than Justin Jefferson. But that’s not necessarily the case. For the sake of simple explanation, let’s assume that Jefferson scores 30 points in week one, but the Vikings lose. Let’s also assume that the Bengals make the Super Bowl, and Boyd scores 10 points in each round of the playoffs. If you just got each player’s cumulative points, you’d get 40 points from Boyd and 30 points from Jefferson. But because scores are calculated weekly, you have to keep in mind each player’s barrier to entry: the other players on your team. To keep it as simple as possible, let’s assume that you draft four other receivers, and three of them make it to the third round. Each of these other receivers scores exactly 15 points per game. If this is true, Jefferson will be worth 15 points to your team in the first round (30 minus 15). Boyd will be worth zero points in the first three rounds, as he has been outscored by other receivers each round. Even if other receivers are eliminated in the conference championships, Boyd is only worth 10 points to your team, while Jefferson is worth 15.
- The cumulative nature of the contest means you should generally be taking a holistic approach to your lineups, rather than trying to squeak by the first three rounds and field a great Super Bowl lineup. It particularly makes studs from teams who are unlikely to play past the first round or second round more valuable than on other sites, as their points should increase your chances of winning even if they play only one or two games.
- It is still best to correlate your lineups and try to build in a way that you could field a full roster, or close to it, if you get the Super Bowl matchup right. While each round has the same value in these contests, the barrier to entry for a player to score points during the Super Bowl is generally lower than in earlier weeks, as players from just those two teams are still accumulating points. Going back to the Boyd versus Jefferson example: Boyd was worth 10 points to your team, not far behind the 15 Jefferson was worth, and Boyd can generally be drafted several rounds later.
- The same is true for the first round: remember that the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles each have a bye. If you’re drafting Chiefs and Eagles, still try to make sure you can field a full, good team in the first week.
That’s it! Pretty simple. Follow these steps, draft well, and you should be set up for success. And again, if you haven’t already signed up, click here and use promo code STOKASTIC for a deposit match bonus up to $100. If you deposit $100, and get the bonus for another $100, you can play 10 lineups in the main $20 contest.
