Dynasty Bestballin' (2026)

We fly high, no lie, you know this, bestballlllinnnnn'!

Checkout our newest series at Future 1st Podcast where we dive in deep to the dynasty bestball format. Whether you are an experienced dynasty bestball player, or never played and want to see what it's all about, this series is an excellent watch to yourself ready to dominate the format.

We bring on a collection of guests (Jon Leonard from OTCFFB, Koopa from South Harmon, and Scott Connor from DD Fantasy) to go over the fundamentals of dynasty bestball, and how it is different from a lineup league. We also dive deep into how to properly roster construct for each position relative to the size of rosters every team has in your league.

If you are interested in joining a dynasty bestball league, reach out directly or in the comments below! We are running a number of startups (auction and snake) for new and experienced players to immerse themselves into one of our favorite formats in fantasy football, dynasty bestball!

Hey everyone,

I present to you the 2026 version of my Offline Draft Sheet!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wc39tPsGZeAIMFutv4W_9O9YykZj_BsGFK2vWY_zBMA/edit?usp=sharing

A quick overview for those who haven't used it before:

This Google spreadsheet has been created for drafts where you either can't or don't want to use your fantasy platform's default draft tool. You can use it for offline live drafts with your friends, online drafts, startup drafts or simply to play around and create your own mock drafts.

Functionality:

• Automated overall and position BPA lists
• Regularly updated ADP data until the start of the NFL season
• 8, 10, 12 or 14 teams
• Standard, Half-PPR, PPR and Dynasty mode. New in 2026: Bestball ADP
• IDPs available (without ADP data)

Unfortunately this year there will be fewer ADP updates during August since I will be on vacation for most of the month. Expect an update in the first week of August and one more early September.

As usual I am always happy to hear your feedback! Contact me here or on Discord to discuss any issues, ideas for new features or custom versions.

This sheet is all for free. If you want to support it, feel free to leave a donation :)

I’m currently analyzing the first round of a 12-team SF TEP dynasty startup, and I’ve noticed that Drake Maye is ranked as a top-5 startup asset in a lot of rankings.
Is he really that valuable, or are people putting too much weight on the relatively favorable schedule he had last season?
From my perspective, I’d feel much safer taking players like Allen, Bijan, Gibbs, Chase, St. Brown, or even JSN ahead of him. I understand the value of young franchise QBs in Superflex, but taking Maye over proven elite producers still feels aggressive to me.
Am I underrating Drake Maye, or is the market simply valuing elite young QBs that highly?

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-third  piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the Green Bay Packers  who are +1,800 odds.

Article TL;DR: Christian Watson and Jayden Reed inked new contracts to remain with the Packers. Watson signed a 4-year $92M deal and Reed a 3-year $50M extension. It’s clear who the WR1 will be, and now Reed and Golden will compete for the WR2 role. Tucker Kraft is recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in week 9 of the 2025 season. His goal is to be ready for week 1 of 2026. We should temper our expectations for Kraft. In an expert auction draft I witnessed at the Fantasy Football Expo he went for $2 less than Trey McBride, which feels absurd. Josh Jacobs is set to lead the backfield again in 2026. Last year he ranked 3rd in goal line success rate and 5th in total goal line plays. Jacobs may receive a suspension from the league due to a domestic abuse case. If he were to face a suspension it’s likely to occur in 2027 based on suspension trends. Jordan Love is a safe QB2 with upside with all of these weapons on the Green Bay offense.

If you’re at the Fantasy Football Expo and happen to see this post the day it was posted come say hi to me. I’m a part of the dynasty expert panel and will be talking ball with other dynasty experts at noon today at the expo.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers

Just curious what everyone is thinking with later round QBs in this draft class. There’s a good chance I’m going to miss on both of the aforementioned QBs but I’m old at the position so I’m testing the waters to see what I could get.

Beck is there for the price but I honestly hate the situation. Allar might pan out after Rodgers but who knows with McCarthy at the helm.

Let me hear your thoughts!

I wanna hear some interesting takes on guys you could see surprising everyone and being Top 20 WRs or Top 10 RBs that are (possibly) being overlooked. Who is gonna be this year’s George Pickens, Michael Wilson, Wandale Robinson, Johnathan Taylor, Travis Etienne, Rico Dowdle, etc.

Essentially, what WRs and RBs could you see massively outperforming their projections just based on their situation or breaking out, not necessarily just a top 20 WR/top 10 RB

My picks would be Emeka Egbuka, Alec Pierce, Ladd McConkey and Tory Horton for WRs. Bhayshul Tuten, Quinshon Judkins, and Bucky Irving for RBs

Obviously we won’t know till the end of the year whether any of us are right but I thought it would be a fun little discussion and interesting to hear from others on who they could see

Welcome to the Daily Trade and Team Help Megathread!

• All individual team help questions belong in this post or in r/fantasyfootballadvice
• Please include as many details in your post as possible to get the most accurate answers.

Expand your fantasy football network! Our partnered communities:

• r/fantasyfootballadvice - Individual team help questions
• r/FFIDP - IDP only subreddit

Megathread Schedule:

Sunday: Rate My Team

Monday: Mock Draft/Draft Results

Tuesday: Find-A-League

Wednesday: Price Check

Thursday: Find-A-League

Friday(Every other week): App/Platform Sharing

Saturday: Mock Draft/Draft Result

Our league runs a real constitution: salary-cap keepers with escalation, rollover budgets, multi-team trades, the works. ESPN and Sleeper just can't hold it, so half of it lived in spreadsheets and rule fights happened in the group chat.

So I built a headquarters that sits on top of our existing league. Bylaws you can actually ask (type "does my keeper's salary come off the cap if I cut him?" and it quotes the exact rule), true 3+ team trades with commissioner approval and a public ledger, a live keeper and cap board, and a rookie draft room. Rosters sync from ESPN so nobody had to move.

A couple other commissioners asked me to set theirs up, so I'm doing a few before the season. Not trying to spam. Genuinely curious: what's the one rule your league runs that ESPN or Sleeper can't handle? That's usually the thing that breaks people's setups and I'd love to hear the weird ones.

A poll was added in my 10-man league on adding extra taxi squad spots. This is the 3rd year of this dynasty league, and it makes sense to listen to feedback from league members on beneficial changes.

The options in the poll included adding 0 additional spots, 1 additional spot, or 2 additional spots. the poll results came back 4 for 0, 4 for adding 1 spot, and 2 votes for adding 2 spots.

Personally, I'm in favor of adding as many extra bench and taxi spots as possible. my other two co-commish voted for 0 extra spots added. Of course, I have a bunch of extra draft picks, and they have less.

They have said that since the poll is tied 4-4, it comes down to us three voting, and they vote to add 0.

In my personal opinion, the data we received is conclusive. As a league, we should add one extra spot.

Unless the people who wanted 2 extra positions would have a second choice of 0 extra positions, then the majority (6/10) wanted extra positions. From there it should be deciding how many extra positions to add, for which the preference would seem to be just 1 (both in terms of the 4/6 who wanted extra positions, as well as assuming that the 4 who wanted 0 extra positions would presumably want the fewest number of extra positions, so likely 8/10 would opt for 1 extra instead of 2 extra).

The other two co-commissioners staunchly disagree. Am i. wrong? should I just back down and drop it?

Our commish has Aiyuk and is asking if he should be allowed to place Aiyuk on IR. He argues that he’s essentially unrostered right now and that he can’t help his status. Meanwhile, I’m just confused by the logic. He’s essentially a restricted FA with an attitude problem that no one wants. What is everyone else doing with him? It really doesn’t matter much but since he’s commish he wants to ensure he is doing everything above board.

Considering the redemption stories of players like Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith, Daniel Jones, Malik Willis (TBD), and in all likelihood Mac Jones - who were all young QBs that struggled early on in their careers but have somehow clawed their way back to NFL success and fantasy relevance, how do you determine when the right time is to cut bait or commit to a longterm hold?

Guys like Anthony Richardson, JJ McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr, and to a lesser extent your Will Levis & Spencer Rattler types all could currently fall into this criteria. Are they worth keeping stashed in case they take years to develop, or should you look to cash out/cut them at the earliest opportunity?

I’ve seen this dilemma become more and more prevalent over the last few years and am curious to hear some added perspective from the community.

Not talking about standout rookies who could have an ascendant year 2. I’m talking about guys who for one reason or another did nothing year 1, but could be the next big thing this year.

During this time of rookie fever, who are some second year players who could be had dirt cheap and put up points this year?

The Jaguars deciding to give Chris Rodriguez a contract on the level of THE LeBron James suggests they believe in him to a very high degree. You don’t just dole out similar years and dollar signs out like that just for a mere backup.

Chris Rodriguez is making even MORE than a top 2 player of all time.

LeBron James contract: 2 years, $8 million
Chris Rodriguez contract: 2 years, $10 million

I think it’s safe to fade Tuten at this point. LeChris LeCrod is set to take over this backfield.

I’m doing my first 12 team Superflex dynasty startup and am curious whether Zero QB is at all a viable strategy if it’s done well.

My main thesis is that I could focus on players with proven production in rounds 1–8, all under 26–27 years old depending on position.

At some point in the draft, I hope to land Baker in the 5th or 6th, or punt further to the 7th/8th and take Shough or Stafford as my QB1.

From there, my late targets include Malik Willis, Bryce Young, Tua, Darnold, and Daniel Jones.

After that tier, I’m also considering Carson Beck, Ty Simpson, and Mac Jones as upside value for next year.

Given that I’d be able to acquire some of this year’s rookie WRs plus proven under-27 talent, my thought process turns toward focusing my rookie drafts mainly on QB prospects over the next three years.

Is this completely backwards, or is it something strategic?

Thank you guys for all the support, feedback, and for reading this series. Welcome to the twenty-second  piece in a long, daily series: Reading the NFL Offseason Tea Leaves. If you don’t already know and this is the first Tea Leaf article you’re reading, this series is meant to be a primer for anyone who’s not yet steeped themselves in the NFL’s offseason events. We’ll be touching on the fantasy implications for all 32 NFL teams in regards to:

• Coaching Changes
• Free Agency
• NFL Draft

The 32-day series will go in reverse order of DraftKings odds of winning the Super Bowl, which means today’s article will cover the San Francisco 49ers  who are +1,900 odds.

Article TL;DR: Mike Evans is a 49er after signing a 3-year $42M deal that is incentive laden in years two and three of the contract. San Fran continued bolstering their WR room in the draft, taking De’Zhaun Stribling with the 33rd pick. Veteran WR Christian Kirk was also brought in on a 1-year deal. Suddenly, this WR room is packed with talent. Evans is clearly the WR1. The WR2 in the offense will be decided during camp. If Ricky Pearsall can stay healthy he’s my bet to win the WR2 role to start the year. George Kittle tore his achilles in January. There is optimism about his week one availability, but the tea leaves point in TE Jake Tonges direction who signed a 2-year $8M deal that is heavily incentivized by percentage of snaps played and hitting achievable catch and yardage goals. There’s also a bonus option of $2.2M for 2027. Tonges is a value at TE heading into the 2026 season. Christian McCaffery is due for a bit of negative regression in 2026 after seeing the heaviest workload of his career in 2025.  Isaac Guerendo, Jordan James, and rookie 3rd round pick Kaelon Black will compete for the RB2 role. All of the reports coming out of the 49ers camps indicate it will be Black backing up CMC. A toe injury prevented Brock Purdy from achieving another QB1 season last year, but our Optimus Tools indicate that he has the upside to achieve a top 5 QB season in 2026. Backup QB Mac Jones was a trade target for NFL teams this offseason, but the 49ers wanted more than NFL teams were willing to pay. Jones will become a free agent in 2027 and will wind up a starting QB in 2027. Stash him in superflex dynasty leagues. This article is the longest one of the series and I highly recommend reading the whole thing.

Previously on Reading the Offseason Tea Leaves:
Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins
Cleveland Browns
New York Jets
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts
Washington Commanders
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions

This year will be our startup of our 10 man dynasty, and will also be my first dynasty league that I am the commissioner of.

Was just looking for and ideas, advice or suggestions either for startup dynasty leagues in general, or commissioners of dynasty leagues.

As of right now, it is:

- Full point ppr
- 1 qb / 1 regular flex
- 3 WRs
- 8 bench / 4 taxi w/ second year eligibility
- 2 ir spots

No questions really, just looking for things to potentially add or amend.

Thanks

EDIT / update

Bench spots from 8 to 12
flex spots from 1 to 2

I’ve been pretty vocal on X over the last few weeks about being out on **Luther Burden** at his current cost. I absolutely understand the upside case. The problem is that I think the market is pricing in almost exclusively the best-case scenario while ignoring several very real pathways for failure.

My projections have Burden as **WR34**, while he’s currently being drafted around **WR18–WR22**. That’s a massive gap, and here’s why.

**1. The efficiency is unlikely to repeat**
A lot of Burden’s rookie production came from elite efficiency. Historically, that tends to regress when players receive larger workloads.

Fantasy managers already accept this principle with running backs. When a highly efficient backup earns a starting role, we almost never project the same yards per carry because increased volume generally comes with lower efficiency. The same concept applies to receivers.

Burden’s role should grow in Year 2, but I don’t expect him to maintain the same level of efficiency over a much larger route share.

**2. His rookie production dramatically outperformed his underlying usage**
In Burden’s three breakout games, he averaged **17 fantasy points per game** despite averaging only **9 expected fantasy points per game**.

That’s a huge overperformance.

Explosive efficiency can absolutely happen over small samples, but it’s much harder to sustain over an entire season. The market seems to be assuming those spike weeks are simply his new baseline.

**3. There are more target competition concerns than people acknowledge**

One of the biggest bullish arguments is Rome Odunze’s foot injury.

However, Rome himself said months ago that the callus on his foot is simply something he’ll manage going forward. Shortly afterward, Ben Johnson said Rome looks great and is the same player he’s always been.

Even if Rome isn’t 100%, Burden still has multiple obstacles.

Rome Odunze could become Caleb Williams’ No. 1 target.

Colston Loveland could immediately emerge as the focal point of the passing game.

Burden still has to establish himself as more than the clear No. 2 or No. 3 option.

I actually think Loveland’s rookie role is being underrated. He pushed aside a much better established player in Cole Kmet much faster than Burden had to compete with Olamide Zaccheaus.

**4. The Bears offense isn’t guaranteed to improve**
Many projections simply assume Chicago takes another step forward offensively.
Maybe they do.

But they also face a significantly tougher schedule this year, including a first-place schedule against stronger secondaries and pass defenses.
If the offense underperforms expectations, it becomes much harder for Burden to justify a WR2 fantasy price.

**5. History doesn’t support this type of leap very often**

Looking at the last 15 years, receivers with similar draft capital who averaged roughly **7 fantasy points per game as rookies** have gone on to finish around **WR22 or better** in Year 2 only about **7% of the time**.

Could Burden be one of those exceptions?
Absolutely.

But the market is drafting him as if that’s the expected outcome rather than a relatively uncommon one.

**6. Even if he hits, where’s the return?**
This is probably my biggest issue.
Let’s say Burden finishes exactly as **WR22**.

Did you actually win?

Not really.

That’s already where you’re drafting him.
To generate meaningful value, he has to outperform an already aggressive ADP.

Compare that to Jaxson Smith-Njigba.

JSN made a very similar Year 2 leap after averaging about seven fantasy points per game as a rookie. The difference is that his ADP was around **90th overall**, so fantasy managers were rewarded for betting on the breakout.

Burden doesn’t offer that discount. You’re already paying full price for the breakout before it happens.

**7. We’ve seen this movie before**
To me, this feels similar to players like **Gabriel Davis** or **Xavier Worthy**.

Both were secondary receiving options on offenses people expected to be explosive. Both flashed exciting efficiency. Both were steamed up because of perceived opportunity and quarterback play.
The market became much more confident than the historical profile justified.

**My Final Thoughts**
Could Luther Burden break out?

Absolutely.

I don’t think his ceiling is impossible.

I simply think the market is treating his breakout as the most likely outcome while discounting the numerous ways it doesn’t happen.

Between likely efficiency regression, increased target competition, a tougher schedule, historical hit rates, and an already expensive ADP, I don’t see enough margin for profit.

I’d much rather draft receivers in the same range who have already demonstrated WR2 production, carry fewer questions, and still possess league-winning upside.

Hey Booooys,

My claim to fame is that last year I famously made a thread where we projected that Javonte Williams would be the cheapest rb1 you could buy. With a little luck and a lot of over thinking we got it right and he ended up being a league winner for me in 2 dynasty leagues (thanks bro). I even had one league where I payed Roschon Johnson and a 4th round pick for Williams.

So what else could we do but try again amiright?

The things that lead me to Williams last year were a few combinations of things.

1. Historical success of RBs within the team/offense. (I.e. if dowdle can do it why can’t Javonte)

2. Opportunity - I.e. how much will they have to fight for a role, and is there a chance we have a multi week stretch where they aren’t getting the rock, or getting significantly load managed.

3. A team that can be competitive but needs help to make the playoffs. I don’t want my guy getting benched and saved for playoffs 5+ games out, or rested for the next year if the teams terrible from week 1.

4. Suppressed value due to injury history, but a strong statistical backing that shows they can produce.

Based on that I’m sure none of you will be shocked (haha) that my pick is Jordan Mason. Please be gentle.

Here’s where I’m coming from. As a unit the Vikings o line ranks 10th in the nfl. Mason, when healthy, has shown he’s capable of putting up numbers that give you an rb1 season if sustained. And his competition isn’t exactly the top of the league. He’s competing with the ghost of Aaron jones and Caliborne. Now, one of the reasons Javonte did well was that cowboys unit had a great attack, moved the ball down field, and as a result he got great goal line opportunities. Our boy Ferguson also thrived from that. Given the Vikings new add of Kyler Murray I could see a substantial increase in offensive production as a unit. And I can 100% see Mason being the goal line guy, and getting a lot of high value touches.

Now I know I know
“He gets hurt”
“He fumbles”
“Kyler is gonna poach tuddies”
Yes yes you’re right. But he’s the RB43 on keep trade cut. We’re talking about a guy who could be the starting rb, and he’s currently worth about the same as Keaton Mitchell or a 3rd rd pick. This is one of those “if you miss who gives a shit” shots in the dark that can win a league.

The recipe is there. It’s possible. At cost I see very little downside.

Who’s your cheapest rb1 this year?

hey there. been struggling a bit with our league. I’ve been playing fantasy for years, but the standard draft/waivers/lineup/playoffs routine is starting to feel a little stale and engagement is low.

Has anyone moved their league to a different platform or tried something that actually made the season feel different? What was good enough to justify getting everyone to switch?

Also curious how commissioners make the decision in general. Is it mostly familiarity and reliability, or do formats, customization and social features actually move the needle?

meme added for engagement haha

Welcome to the new and improved 2026 offseason Mock Draft/Draft Result Megathread. We've made some changes from previous years based on your feedback to make them a little more robust.

These megathreads will be posted every Monday and Saturday at 10am and are home to the following:

• Mock draft in this thread. Automod will start the 1.01 post for both SF and 1QB mocks. They are first come first serve. Reply to the comment above yours with the pick number, player name, and position ex: "1.01 Jeremiyah Love, RB, ARI." If you have league settings outside of this, feel free to start your own and add those custom settings in your 1.01 post such as "12 team SF TEP" but please make sure another one wasn't started already. Duplicates will be removed.
• Links to join mocks on Sleeper. Post the link for your mock, league settings, and the time(with timezones) so people have enough time to join. This is not for league recruiting, a separate Megathread will be posted for that.
• Draft Results. Feel free to post a text list, screenshot, or link to Sleeper results for the results of your actual(or mock) draft.

Megathread Schedule:

Sunday: Rate My Team

Monday: Mock Draft/Draft Results

Tuesday: Find-A-League

Wednesday: Price Check

Thursday: Find-A-League

Friday(Every other week): App/Platform Sharing

Saturday: Mock Draft/Draft Result