Guillotine Strategy, Drafting QBs and TEs

Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski, USA Today Sports

Links to Guillotine league discussions:

A Guillotine league usually consists of 18 teams. Each week, the lowest-scoring team is eliminated. The players on their roster then become free agents.

Your strategy needs to change with such a high number of participants and other format changes.

To help you with this unique format, we asked our staff questions. Here is the latest.

Eighteen Footballguys staff members got together for a Guillotine league. After they drafted, we asked a few questions about their teams. First, here is the draft:

And now, here are their questions and answers:

Ben Cummins, Pick 1.02

You were one of only two drafters to take a single quarterback and two tight ends. Was this planned? Explain this strategy.

This was not planned and instead was just how the board fell for me. I believe Jonnu Smith should've been selected higher (I took him at 14.02) as I'm bullish on him having somewhat of a bounce-back year.

Matt Montgomery, Pick 1.03

You were one of only two drafters to take a quarterback and a tight end in the first three rounds. Was this planned? Explain this strategy.

This was planned. In an 18-team league, I felt taking top guys at each position was important. Patrick Mahomes II and Darren Waller are perennial fantasy studs who will impact the game. Pair them with my top pick of Cooper Kupp and I have a top guy at three positions. These are also players with game-winning potential, meaning they’re liable to have some of the top single-game scores at their respective positions. I felt that running back was a deeper position than last year. I can pick up second/third tier guys that will still score enough points for my studs to carry me ahead of my competition.

Sigmund Bloom, Pick 1.06

You were one of only two drafters to take a tight end in Round 1. Was this planned? Explain this strategy.

I was hoping for Kelce to fall to me because he has the highest weekly ceiling and floor of any tight end and because tight end is the position with the lowest floor among players who will be starting. As many as half of the teams will have to start a tight end with a 1- to 2-catch floor, whereas QB/RB/WR later-round options are much safer plays than the late-round tight ends. I think this will help me avoid the chopping block early in the season, and give me a chance to land an impact RB/WR I passed on for Kelce via waivers.