Guillotine Strategy, Drafting RBs and WRs

Photo: Kirby Lee, 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.

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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:

Jason Wood, Pick 1.01

You were one of only two drafters to take three running backs in the first five rounds. Was this planned? Explain this strategy.

When drafting at the turn in an 18-team league, you have to be flexible. Fortunately, this league only requires 2 WRs (along with 2 RBs) and has two flex spots, so it allows taking a "best player available" approach without worrying about positional scarcity. When my fourth- and fifth-round picks came up, I knew I wanted Tom Brady because I feared losing out on the elite quarterbacks (and another six came off the board before I drafted again). Then with my fifth pick, it looked like there were still plenty of receivers I liked, but the sure-fire starting tailbacks were drying up. That made Miles Sanders an easy pick, even though he was my third running back.

Alfredo Brown, Pick 1.05

You were one of only two drafters to take three wide receivers in the first four rounds. Was this planned? Explain this strategy.

It wasn't necessarily planned, but I do like this strategy for a guillotine league - I figured I should zig while others zag. As soon as I saw how the board might play out, I began to look at starters that are more likely to give me season-long value. I know that sounds like the most rudimentary strategy, but in a guillotine league, availability matters so much more. Last season, 23 of the top-24 WRs played at least 15 games, while only 13 of the top-24 RBs played in 15 games or more. With this being a PPR league, it also made more sense to go with WRs that could command a target share. Last season the top-24 WRs in PPR scored an average of 16.5 points per game, while the top-24 RBs scored a full point less on average.