X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

Beginner's Guide to Roster Construction

One of the most commonly used pieces of jargon in fantasy football analysis is roster construction. It is almost always used at the tail-end of a debate to reconcile two seemingly irreconcilable positions. Usually something along the lines of, “Well, I guess this really comes down to roster construction and how you want to build your team.” Too frequently the conversation ends there with no further discussion of just how roster construction plans would affect the pros or cons of any idea.

So just what is a fantasy football newcomer to make of an idea that is dependent on roster construction, something that is so rarely defined? This guide is designed to explain exactly what roster construction is and how you should think about building your team.

Roster construction is essentially a way to address the various trade-offs that come with each decision that you make when building your team. Some trade-offs are obvious. If you select Todd Gurley with the first overall pick, then you likely are not going to be able to also select Le’Veon Bell. However, some of these trade-offs can be a bit more abstract. This guide will review some of the biggest trade-offs and decisions that a fantasy owner would have to make in their draft. The aim isn’t to provide a single, fool-proof strategy guaranteed to win your league. Rather, it is just an attempt to give you a logical framework to make decisions over the course of your draft.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

 

Roster Constuction Overview

First, some basics. While roster construction and fantasy football are games of trade-offs, there a couple of concrete facts that lay the foundation of how to build a team.

Chief amongst those facts is the differences between positions. While there are many ways to evaluate individual players across positions, it is important to understand the different how the positions themselves behave. Namely, that we as a fantasy football community are much better at predicting the future performances of quarterbacks and tight ends than we are at predicting the future performances of running backs and wide receivers. This isn’t to say that anyone is particularly great at predicting quarterbacks, just that they are relatively better at it than with running backs. Another important fact: an elite running back or wide receiver is almost always more valuable than an elite quarterback or tight end. So in general, you are going to want to roster as many running backs and wide receivers as you possibly can. Both because you can’t be confident that any one of them will be great but also because it is very important to have one or hopefully more studs at those positions.

Another piece of the foundation is that you are limited by how many players on your team can start in a given week. There are many reasons why it may be the right decision to acquire a player who may not start for you. However, at some point you need to convert your assets into points.

Finally, you need to understand variability. Imagine two teams. The first team scores 95 points every single week. The second team scores 115 points every other week and 75 points in the rest. After 10 weeks, both teams would have scored the same number of points but the nature of that scoring is clearly different. The team that is consistent and scores 95 points week-in and week-out has low variability while the team that goes back and forth between 115 and 75 has high variability. There are times when you will want your team to be highly variable and times when you want to have lower variability. Regardless, you should always be aware of just how consistent your team is (or isn't).

So with all of that, let’s start talking about some the key decisions that you will have to make.

What To Do About Quarterbacks?

Keeping in mind that the biggest priority for a fantasy owner is finding stud running backs and wide receivers, how should you handle quarterbacks? Currently one of the biggest trends in fantasy is Late-Round Quarterback. This strategy suggests passing on most of the higher ranked quarterbacks earlier, then streaming, or rotating between, multiple quarterbacks depending on which defense they are playing against each week. By taking advantage of the matchups, a fantasy owner can essentially construct a composite quarterback who plays like one of the better signal callers in the league. The benefit here is that rather than using a higher pick on a quarterback, you can use it on a higher quality running back or wide receiver with more upside.

There are some drawbacks to this strategy. In order to be able to find a quarterback with a good matchup every week, you will likely need to take at least two quarterbacks in the draft. While there isn’t much opportunity cost in using a late round pick on a quarterback, that is still one less running back you will be able to roster. And once the season gets started, you will have to place a priority on quarterbacks during the waiver process.

Alternatively, you can select a quarterback earlier. If you were to pick Aaron Rodgers (not in the first two rounds) you can be relatively confident that he will provide strong production every single week. This means that you wouldn’t have to select any more quarterbacks. This frees up another roster spot for a running back or receiver. It also allows you to more aggressively pursue players at those positions on waivers. Remember that quantity is important at the running back position.

So in a way, how you handle quarterbacks really depends on how you want to pursue running backs. Do you want a single, highly-touted prospect or do you want to take a chance on multiple lower valued players? If it is the former, you should be taking a single quarterback in the draft preferably on the earlier end. If you want to pursue the latter option, you should wait until the end of the draft and take two or more quarterbacks.

The same view can be applied to tight ends. There are a couple of important considerations. First, tight ends tend to produce even less value than quarterbacks so you should wait on them even longer. Secondly, tight ends are a little bit less predictable than quarterbacks, so you may want to stay away from more aggressive strategies that could leave you exposed.

Starting Lineup vs Depth

This tradeoff is more relevant to leagues that utilize an auction draft rather than a snake draft. However, over the course of a season every team will interact with the problem. Should you frontload your roster, have stars across the various starting roles, but have no quality back-ups? This is sometimes called the “stars-and-scrubs” approach. Or should you pursue fewer stars and try and build value throughout your roster?

The benefit of frontloading your roster should be obvious. You need the most amount of points in your starting line-up as possible to win. So, building your team in a way that gets most of its scoring output in the starting lineup will lead to more wins. The downside to this is that your team is going to be more vulnerable to injuries and busts than if you had invested more resources on your bench. Everyone has a different tolerance for risk, so you should be calibrating your roster to your own preferences.

There are some important things to keep in mind when deciding upon your approach. First, if you are going stars-and-scrubs you may want to avoid riskier players. While Odell Beckham has tremendous upside, we do not know exactly how well he will return from injury. While there would be no hesitancy on my part to select him if my team’s value was going to be evenly distributed, I would second-guess the choice if my team was already risky just based on how it was built. Another thing to keep in mind is that you can compensate for a lack of depth by aggressively playing the waiver wire. If you like to play the waiver wire, you should maybe be inclined to go with a stars-and-scrubs approach. However, if you generally avoid that resource, spending more on your bench may be necessary.

Distribution of High Ceiling vs High Floor Players

In fantasy football parlance, a player’s ceiling represents the absolute best possible production from a player, whereas their floor is the worst-case scenario. Ideally, your starting lineup will be filled with players who have both a high floor and a high ceiling. Meaning that you can be confident that the player will still do well in their worst games, but has the potential to dominate when they play well. When it comes to bench spots there is generally a trade-off.

You will be forced to decide upon players who have a lot of upside but at the current moment may not be able to be relied upon consistently (high-ceiling, low-floor) or a player that produces consistently but is likely to never have a dominant game (low-ceiling, high-floor). The high-upside players are what is going to help you win your league in the long run. They can break out and give a big boost to your starting lineup. A good example of this is Alvin Kamara last year. His situation prevented him from producing right away, but with Adrian Peterson’s departure, Kamara was able to reach his potential. You should also keep in mind the many players who do not pan out like Kamara. Last year, for instance, Derrick Henry had a lot of potential if he were to take over primary ball-carrying responsibilities for the Tennessee Titans. However, Henry never became a player you could trust enough to feel good about starting.

Loading up your roster with high-upside guys has some clear benefits. It improves the overall ceiling of your team. It also increases your odds of finding long-term solutions to holes in your roster. However, if you have too many your roster can become vulnerable to injuries in the short-term. If a key starter on your roster is injured, you need a player that you know will deliver points for you the following week. If your bench is filled with prospects and the waiver wire is empty, you may be left with no options. In this scenario, you would prefer to have a reliable player at that position. So, the more high-upside guys you have the more fragile your roster but the higher your team’s ceiling. The more reliable, but low-upside players on your roster the more resilient it will be to injuries but the worse off it will be in the long term.

Generally, you won’t need more than one low-ceiling/high-floor player at a position in case of injury. You will also need to consider how many of each type of player to have at each position. If you picked bunch of wide receivers at the top of the draft and feel more confident in that position, you may want to load up on more high-upside running backs later in the draft. If you went running backs early then vice versa.

Stacking

Stacking is the concept of putting multiple players on the same NFL team into your lineup. Our own Brett Mitchell recently broke down how to do a Deep Stack, if you're into that sort of thing. If you are deciding between two wide receivers who you view relatively equally, but you already have the quarterback of one those receivers on your team, then you should be aware how that changes the equation. Assuming that the two receivers are equivalent, you will not score more over the long-term with either one over the other. However, your scoring will be more variable if you select the wide receiver whose quarterback is on your team. This is because if that quarterback does well, the wide receiver is more likely to have a big game. If the quarterback does poorly, the opposite is true. So you are tying the performance of two players with each other. In general, if you are trying to mount an upset, you should try and be more variable. If you are the favorite in a game you want to limit variability. These are the types of decisions that should be made during the season and shouldn’t have much of an effect during the draft. So the things to remember are that a quarterback-wide receiver stack will increase variability and a quarterback-running back stack will decrease variability. This isn’t true in all circumstances, but the rule generally holds.

Conclusion

With all of this knowledge, you should have a good framework in which to start planning for your draft and the season as a whole. It is these types of trade-offs that make fantasy football challenging, but if you are able to embrace them will also lead to more winning and more fun.

More Draft Prep and Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Sitting Out With Foot Issue
Isaiah Neyor

Impresses at Minicamp
Houston Rockets

Jock Landale Waived by Rockets
Bo Bichette

Back in Blue Jays Lineup
Jonas Valančiūnas

Jonas Valanciunas Considering Returning to Europe
Miles Sanders

Works With Starters During Mandatory Minicamp
Jabari Walker

Signs Two-Way Deal With Sixers
Chimere Dike

Titans Could Move Chimere Dike Inside
Keandre Lambert-Smith

KeAndre Lambert-Smith not Guaranteed Roster Spot
Anthony Bradford

Working Hard to Win Back Starting Job
Byron Young

Still Improving?
Cody Simon

Jonathan Gannon has Been Impressed With Cody Simon
SirVocea Dennis

has Impressive Offseason
Trevor Penning

Could Still Have a Role in New Orleans
Jonathan Kuminga

Warriors Decline Recent Offer for Jonathan Kuminga
Orlando Magic

Moritz Wagner, Magic Agree to One-Year Deal
Clarke Schmidt

Placed on Injured List
José Soriano

Jose Soriano Throws Gem Against Braves
Robbie Ray

Earns Ninth Win in Complete Game
T.J. Watt

Likely to Reset the Edge-Rush Market
George Springer

Blasts Two Homers, Drives in Four
James Wood

Goes Yard in Five-Hit Night
Bradley Beal

Suns Discussing Potential Buyout
Los Angeles Lakers

Jaxson Hayes Staying with the Lakers
NBA

Damian Lillard "Open" to Signing With a Team This Offseason
Max Muncy

Out at Least Six Weeks
Clarke Schmidt

Leaves Start with Forearm Tightness
Colson Montgomery

Promoted to the Major Leagues
Pittsburgh Steelers

Omar Khan, Steelers Agree to Three-Year Contract
Max Muncy

Goes on Injured List With Knee Bruise
Max Muncy

Out of Thursday's Lineup
James Wood

Joining Home Run Derby
SJ

Sharks Claim Nick Leddy Off Waivers
Max Scherzer

Cleared to Start on Saturday
SJ

Sharks Sign Dmitry Orlov to Two-Year, $13 Million Contract
CAR

Nikolaj Ehlers Joins Hurricanes on Six-Year Contract
Kodai Senga

Could be "in Play" to Return Before All-Star Break
Ha-Seong Kim

Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim From Injured List
Christian Moore

Placed on Injured List With Thumb Sprain
Luis L. Ortiz

the Subject of Gambling Investigation
Jordan Lawlar

to Miss Multiple Weeks With Hamstring Injury
Yordan Alvarez

Receives Encouraging News on his Hand
Chau Smith-Wade

Having Stellar Offseason
Ace Bailey

Inks Rookie Contract With Jazz
Divine Deablo

Could be the Quarterback of the Defense
Isaiah Rodgers

a Likely Starter for the Vikings
Jacob Monk

Sees Plenty of Work With Starters
Avonte Maddox

has Impressed Dan Campbell
Boston Celtics

Josh Minott Inks Deal With Celtics
Chicago Bears

Ruben Hyppolite Shows Notable Improvement
Sandro Mamukelashvili

Heading to Toronto
Daron Payne

Commanders Coaches Impressed With Daron Payne
Danny Gray

Makes Impression During Offseason Workouts
Jared McCain

Not on 76ers Summer League Roster
Dane Belton

Should Have a Role in 2025
Kaiir Elam

Flashes During Offseason Workouts
Dylan Harper

Unavailable for California Classic
COL

Brent Burns Inks One-Year Deal with Avalanche
STL

Blues Land Pius Suter on Two-Year Deal
Morgan Frost

Agrees to Two-Year Extension with Flames
WPG

Gustav Nyquist Moves to Winnipeg
Cody Glass

Devils Re-Sign Cody Glass to Two-Year Deal
PIT

Anthony Mantha Joins Penguins
Riley Greene

Homers Twice, Drives in Six on Wednesday
Cleveland Cavaliers

Larry Nance Jr. Headed Back to Cavaliers
Eric Gordon

Remaining with 76ers
Los Angeles Lakers

Deandre Ayton Joining Lakers
Emil Heineman

Signs Two-Year Deal with Islanders
Simon Holmstrom

Re-Signs with Islanders for Two Years
UTA

Nate Schmidt Signs Three-Year Deal with Mammoth
UTA

Brandon Tanev Moves to Utah on Three-Year Contract
NJ

Evgenii Dadonov Joins Devils on One-Year Deal
BUF

Sabres Snap Up Alex Lyon on Two-Year Contract
Dallas Mavericks

Dante Exum Returning to Dallas
Ryan McLeod

Inks Four-Year Extension with Sabres
NAS

Predators Bring in Nick Perbix on Two-Year Deal
Jaren Jackson Jr.

Has Surgery to Repair a Turf Toe Injury
LA

Cody Ceci Moves to Los Angeles
DET

James van Riemsdyk Joins Red Wings on One-Year Contract
Viktor Arvidsson

Traded to Boston
Charlotte Hornets

Spencer Dinwiddie Lands With Charlotte
Bud Cauley

in Great Form Ahead of John Deere Classic
Christiaan Bezuidenhout

a Player to Avoid at John Deere Classic
Jake Knapp

Riding Momentum Ahead of John Deere Classic
PGA

Sungjae Im Looking for Consistency at John Deere Classic
Ryan Gerard

a Solid Option at John Deere Classic
Rickie Fowler

Looking to Rebound at John Deere Classic
Cameron Champ

a Volatile Option at John Deere Classic
Jackson Suber

Staying Below 70 is Key to Success for Jackson Suber
Kevin Roy

Playing Better Heading into John Deere Classic
Justin Lower

Hoping for Something Positive in Illinois
Ben Kohles

a Long Shot at John Deere Classic
Stephan Jaeger

Attempts to Stop Roller-Coaster Ride
Beau Hossler

Needs a Challenge in Illinois
Harry Higgs

Has Potential at John Deere Classic
Nick Dunlap

Keeps Plugging Through Tough 2025 Season
PHI

Dan Vladar Links Up With Flyers on Two-Year Deal
Milwaukee Bucks

Taurean Prince Staying in Milwaukee
Jeff Green

Signs One-Year Deal to Remain in Houston
Kevin Yu

a Near Must-Play at TPC Deere Run
PGA

J.T. Poston Returns to John Deere Classic Looking for Another High Finish
Thriston Lawrence

a Decent Fit For John Deere Classic
Tom Kim

Not Finding Much to be Happy About Ahead of John Deere Classic
Si Woo Kim

is a Prohibitive Fade at John Deere Classic
Ben Griffin

is the Appropriate Favorite at TPC Deere Run
Daniel Suarez

and Trackhouse Racing Parting Ways After 2025 Season
Ilia Topuria

Becomes The New Lightweight Champion
Charles Oliveira

Knocked Out At UFC 317
Kai Kara-France

Alexandre Pantoja Submits Kai Kara-France
Kai Kara-France

Submitted At UFC 317
Joshua Van

Extends His Win Streak
Brandon Royval

Drops Decision
Renato Moicano

Loses Back-To-Back Fights
Beneil Dariush

Gets Back In The Win Column
Felipe Lima

Suffers His First UFC Loss
Payton Talbott

Bounces Back
Alex Bowman

Competitive Run Ends With Third-Place Finish at Atlanta
Erik Jones

Secures A Top-Five Finish After Adversity In Atlanta
Tyler Reddick

Collects A New Career-Best Finish At Atlanta
Chase Elliott

Ends Winless Skid With Atlanta Victory
Brad Keselowski

Falls Short of Atlanta Victory
Carson Hocevar

Recovers From Big One to Finish 10th at Atlanta
William Byron

Caught up in Atlanta Big One but Retains Points Lead
Denny Hamlin

Top In-Season Challenge Seed Denny Hamlin Eliminated in Lap 70 Crash
Ty Dillon

Bottom Seed Ty Dillon Upsets Denny Hamlin to Advance in In-Season Challenge
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF