Fanball ‘MFL10s’ Best Ball Draft Primer

We’re living in a year-round football world. And now, thanks to Fanball’s MFL10’s we’re living in a year-round fantasy football world, too. MFL10s are a new (relatively) way to get that draft-day fix while the off-season drags on and on.

In this article I’ll go through a brief history of the MFL10 format, the rules, my experience doing these drafts for three years now, some tips and tricks to make this a profitable venture, and then I’ll talk a little bit about the players who I think are good values right now.

What does ‘MFL10s’ mean?

“MFL10s” is shorthand for MyFantasyLeague.com best-ball drafts with a $10 entry fee. MyFantasyLeague.com is a fantasy league hosting site for players who want more out of their league hosting service than the ‘you’ll take what we give you’ providers like ESPN and Yahoo.

Earlier this year, Fanball.com bought the MFL10 format from My Fantasy League. So, this year, we’ll be drafting our MFL10s over on Fanball.com.

The Rules

These leagues are all best-ball. In best-ball, you do not make any starting lineup decisions. Your team’s weekly score is automatically calculated as if you’d made all the right decisions in setting your starting lineup.

Each team has 20-man rosters. The ‘starting lineup’ each week will be:

• 1 Quarterback
• 2 Running backs
• 3 Wide Receivers
• 1 Tight End
• 1 Flex (RB, WR, or TE)
• 1 Defense/Special Teams

These drafts begin as soon as 12 people register for the contest, and the draft order is randomly generated. Each drafter has 4 or 8 hours (depending on which type of draft you choose) to make their selection in each round. PSA: You don’t have to wait the full time to make the selection!

Knowing exactly how the scoring works is vital to performing well in fantasy, so take a look at the scoring for these leagues:

In traditional MFL10s, first place gets paid $100. 2^nd place gets you a free entry next year. Third place offers the valuable lesson that not everyone gets a trophy (and you should be ashamed of yourself!). Fanball expanded to offer a few different pay-out structures this year. So, again, make sure you visit this page and read all the rules before you play.

My Experiences

Every year we debate which regimented draft strategy is the best. Last year, Zero RB was all the rage. With the big running back performances we saw in 2017, though, the market is over-correcting. This is driving RB costs higher and higher. So remember, be flexible.

Draft early and often. These drafts are great for honing in your draft strategy for your year-long leagues. Mock drafts can have value, but what I love most about MFL10s is that no one is going to draft six defenses just to screw with your draft. This means you’re put in real situations where you have to choose between Le’Veon Bell and David Johnson. How do you feel about Golden Tate versus Larry Fitzgerald? After getting a few of these drafts under your belt, you’ll know how you felt after making that selection in a draft where money is on the line.

The ‘what is the optimal roster construction’ question is lot like ‘what is the best draft strategy’ question. The ranges below reflect my general strategy. If I spend a relatively high pick on say, Quarterback, then I’ll usually only take 2 QBs. Or, if I wait a while before drafting my first running back, I’ll usually draft 6 RBs.

Quarterback: 2 to 3

Running back: 4 to 6

Wide Receiver: 6 to 9

Tight End: 2 to 3

Defense/Special Teams: 2 to 3

While I don’t believe in hard and fast rules, I’ll generally only draft 2 QBs, 2 TE, and 2 DST, taking more shots WR and RB.

Tips and Tricks

This offseason, we’ll see players’ draft values swing wildly based on the news of the day. It is both important to pay attention to the breaking news, and not let every blurb send you running away from a player. We’re going to see players move to new teams, sign new contracts, absolutely kill it in OTAs… Remain calm.

Rotoviz.com has an amazing Best Ball ADP tool here. The tool has countless features which I can’t live without. Subscribing to RotoViz’s football package gets you access to the best ball tool.

There is a whole MFL10 community on Twitter, and many of the brightest fantasy football minds create content for this particular format. If you’re not already a Twitter person, go ahead and sign up. I’ll be rolling out several MFL10 value articles throughout the offseason (@NFLClark).

And last, remember what the great Reese Bobby once said; “If you’re not first, you’re last”.

Players to watch early this year

While I don’t recommend being completely reckless, you’ll have to take a some chances to win. Here are a few guys I think the market is undervaluing.

Allen Robinson: He’s coming off a terrible ACL injury, and yes, he had a down year in 2016. I’m happy to chase this upside, though. With Robinson’s value so depreciated, I want in early and often. Regardless of the landing spot, Robinson making it to the 4^th or 5^th round is a clear sign the market has simply not caught up on this one yet.

Sammy Watkins: The flashes I’ve seen from Watkins are enough for me to bet on him (again). The only thing holding Sammy back is injury. But last year with the Rams, he made it through all 17 of their games. Watkins will be a big get for some team out there (I’m looking at you San Francisco). Once we know where he lands, and we start to get excited about what might be, the days of getting Watkins in the 7^th will be long gone.

Doug Martin: At least early in the season, the MFL community is over-correcting against the zero-RB strategy. This dries up the ‘sure thing running back’ market near the end of the first round. With Tampa Bay, Martin, as a fantasy back, showed us he could be the best in the business. He also showed us he could play iceberg to that indestructible vessel you drafted. I’m betting on a bounce-back for Martin this year, a bounce back to ‘at least a valued member of a committee’. With where you can pick him up (still available here in the 11^th in one draft), he’s a bargain.