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Top 10 Mistakes in Fantasy Football

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.

18 min

Duration

Estimated from transcript

Aug 7, 2026

Published

Fri, August 7, 2026

28

Player insights

27

Players mentioned

Topics

Carnell TateBaker MayfieldBijan RobinsonBrian RobinsonBrock BowersBrock PurdyCaleb WilliamsCalvin RidleyDak PrescottDarnell MooneyDerrick HenryDrake MayeGeorge KittleHunter Henry

Player analysis

Player insights

28

Baker Mayfield

NegativeUsage7:08

The source advises against drafting Baker Mayfield as a backup quarterback if you have already drafted an elite starter like Josh Allen, suggesting the roster spot is better used on a running back.

Bijan Robinson

NegativeUsage18:50

The source identifies Bijan Robinson as the primary starter whose potential injury would create a significant league-winning opportunity for his backup, Brian Robinson.

Brian Robinson

PositiveSleeper18:42

The source identifies Brian Robinson as a high-upside late-round target, noting he has a clear path to becoming a week-one starter should Bijan Robinson suffer an injury.

Brock Bowers

NegativeValue5:59

The source notes that if you draft Brock Bowers in the second round, your default plan should be to start him every week, making it unnecessary to draft a backup tight end. In 12-team formats with multiple flex spots, elite tight ends like Bowers are projected to fall to the end of the second round, while in eight-team leagues, he is a value around pick 14.

Brock Purdy

NegativeValue0:55

The source warns against drafting Brock Purdy in round nine, as he is likely to remain available until the 10th or 11th round, making an earlier selection poor value.

Caleb Williams

PositiveProjection0:22

Caleb Williams is listed as one of the seven elite quarterbacks that the source recommends drafting to secure a positional advantage.

Calvin Ridley

PositiveBust17:22

The source classifies Calvin Ridley as a late-round wide receiver who lacks the upside to become a league winner, arguing that roster spots are better utilized on running backs with higher potential for sudden production spikes.

Carnell Tate

NegativeProjection13:28

The source cautions against drafting rookies like Carell Tate with the expectation of immediate help, suggesting they should be held on the bench for long-term value.

NegativeProjection13:40

The source emphasizes that when drafting rookies like Cardell Tate, managers should be prepared for them to occupy a bench spot early in the season and hold them until they break out.

Dak Prescott

NegativeValue0:55

The source advises against drafting Dak Prescott in round eight, noting that he will likely be available in the 10th or 11th round, making an earlier pick poor value.

Darnell Mooney

PositiveBust17:22

The source lists Darnell Mooney as an example of a late-round wide receiver who lacks the necessary upside to be a league winner compared to running back alternatives.

Derrick Henry

NegativeValue13:25

The source notes that Derrick Henry's draft value is highly format-dependent: he is a clear first-round pick in non-PPR leagues, but drops to a mid-to-late second-round value in full PPR formats.

Drake Maye

PositiveProjection0:22

Drake Maye is included in the elite quarterback tier, suggesting he is one of the top options to target before the position depth drops off.

George Kittle

NegativeInjury10:32

The source advises that drafting injured players like George Kittle is only recommended if you have an IR slot to avoid limiting your roster flexibility early in the season.

Hunter Henry

NegativeUsage6:57

The source advises against drafting Hunter Henry as a backup tight end if you have already secured an elite option like Brock Bowers, as it is a waste of a roster spot that should be reserved for running backs.

Jalen Hurts

NegativeProjection0:22

Jalen Hurts is identified as an elite quarterback who should be drafted early to avoid being left without a top-tier option.

Jauan Jennings

NegativeBust17:14

The source argues that late-round wide receivers like Jauan Jennings lack the upside to become league winners, as no preseason event can vault them from a bench spot to a top-six roster player.

Jayden Daniels

PositiveProjection0:22

Jayden Daniels is included in the elite quarterback tier, making him a priority target for fantasy managers. He is also considered a round-one pick in superflex league formats.

Jeremiyah Love

PositiveProjection12:23

Jeremiah Love is highlighted as an exception to the rule that rookies shouldn't be expected to produce early; if drafted in the second or third round, he is expected to be a week one starter.

Joe Burrow

PositiveProjection0:22

Joe Burrow is listed as one of the seven elite quarterbacks that fantasy managers should aim to draft before the position becomes scarce.

Josh Allen

PositiveProjection0:22

Josh Allen is part of an elite quarterback tier that provides a significant competitive advantage, especially in non-PPR or 10-team formats with fewer flex spots. He does not require a backup quarterback on your roster, as drafting one like Baker Mayfield is a waste of bench space. In superflex formats, his value increases significantly, making him a round-one pick.

Justin Herbert

NegativeProjection0:32

The source classifies Justin Herbert as a quarterback outside of the elite tier, noting that managers should prioritize the top seven options before considering him.

Ladd McConkey

NegativeInjury18:51

The source uses Ladd McConkey as a hypothetical injury example to illustrate that even if a wide receiver's teammate gets injured, the receiver often lacks the necessary upside to become a league winner.

Lamar Jackson

PositiveProjection0:22

Lamar Jackson is categorized as one of the seven elite quarterbacks that fantasy managers should prioritize drafting. In superflex league formats, he is considered a round-one pick.

Mike Washington Jr.

PositiveSleeper19:54

The source highlights Mike Washington as a last-round pick with the potential to become a top-20 running back if the starter goes down, qualifying him as a potential league winner.

RJ Harvey

PositiveValue14:26

The source warns against blindly following platform ADP, noting that while RJ Harvey might appear as a sixth-round value on Sleeper, he is actually closer to an eighth-round pick based on accurate personal rankings.

Tre Harris

PositiveBust17:22

The source advises against drafting Trey Harris in the final rounds, noting that even if a teammate like Ladd McConkey gets injured, Harris does not possess the upside to become a league winner.

Zach Charbonnet

NegativeInjury10:32

The source suggests drafting injured players like Zach Charbonnet only if your league has an injured reserve (IR) slot; otherwise, they clog your bench and limit waiver wire flexibility.

Full transcript

Episode Transcript

158

0:00I'm going to go over my top 10 mistakes that I see both experienced and new fantasy football players making. Now, I'm going to first start us off with a

0:08couple honorable mentions that didn't make it inside the top 10. The first one being is drafting mid quarterbacks and tight ends too early when your league

0:16mates already have good options. So, if you go through in your fantasy draft this year, you will see that there is

0:22obviously a tier of elite QBs. This tier includes guys like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Drake May, Joe Burrow, Jaylen Herds, Jaden Daniels, Caleb Williams.

0:32And since there are seven quarterbacks on that list, before you even get to guys like Justin Herbert, what you're going to eventually see is you're going

0:41to see that once those quarterbacks are gone, half your league no longer needs one. If you don't draft one of those top

0:48QBs, it will be yourself and only four other league mates that still need to draft a quarterback. So, if all of a

0:55sudden you're taking Dak Prescott in round eight, you're deciding to draft Brock Party in round nine, you're doing so for really no reason because they

1:03would probably make it to you in the 10th or 11th round. Anyway, now going over to our other honorable mention, we

1:09have drafting good defenses without checking in on their week one matchups.

1:14If I'm looking at ADP across fantasy football platforms at the moment, some of the top defenses in fantasy are obviously the best defenses in the

1:23league. This would include the Los Angeles Rams, right? Where if we go through and look at the Rams after adding in Miles Garrett, not only do

1:31they expect to be the best team in the league, but they also expect to have one of the best defenses in the NFL and

1:38should be put in very favorable spots. I mean, throughout pretty much the entire year. However, if we go through and if

1:44we actually look at their schedule through the first five weeks, the first game they have to play against the San Francisco 49ers, then they get the

1:52Giants, the Broncos, the Eagles, and then the Buffalo Bills. So, their first five weeks pretty damn tough matchups.

2:00Now, of course, they are such a good defense that if you wanted to go through and if you wanted to draft them in the

2:05final few rounds of your draft, I'm fine with it. But where I would begin to get a little concerned is if you decided to

2:12go through and take them like round 11, right? Just cuz you were so excited about how good the unit projects to be.

2:19Going over and looking at another elite defense, we actually have the Houston Texans. But if we check out their early season schedule, they have to play the

2:27Bills week one, the Bengals week two, then you get a good matchup against the Colts, but then you have to go and play

2:33the Dallas Cowboys. So, what I typically prefer to do with defenses specifically, is I would rather take a look at their

2:40week one matchups, week two matchups as well, and try to go through and target maybe a defense in the final two rounds

2:48that is going to give us a better projection for those first two weeks, knowing I'm probably going to stream the position anyway. A good example of this

2:56would be drafting the Los Angeles Chargers in the final round of your draft where they get to go up against the Arizona Cardinals week one and

3:04they're like eight and a half point favorites. They get to go up against the Las Vegas Raiders in week two at home.

3:11So here defenses specifically, I would be excited to go ahead and draft them in the last round primarily focusing in on

3:18their early season schedule. Now let's go ahead and let's move inside the top 10. Now, the 10th mistake that we are

3:25going to have is going to be drafting backup tight ends and quarterbacks when you already have an elite option. So, if

3:31you decide to go through and draft Josh Allen in the third round this year, I'm not going to fault you for doing so,

3:36right? Especially in certain league formats where if you're in a nonPPR format or you're in a league that's maybe a 10 team format where you only

3:44start two wide receivers and one flex, they're the elite quarterbacks are going to give you such an advantage over the rest of the field. And obviously as you

3:53go down with the amount of flex spots that you have, the elite tight ends will become more appealing as well. But if

3:59you take Bowers in the second round, if you take Josh Allen in the third, your plan by default is I am starting this

4:07player every single week regardless of what happens. Now, of course, during an injured spell, during a by-week, you will have to go ahead and hit the waiver

4:17wire, but since that waiver wire is going to be available for you regardless, it makes no sense on a Brock Bowers team for you to go ahead and

4:24draft Hunter Henry near the end of your draft. It makes no sense on a team in which you took Josh Allen to draft Baker

4:31Mayfield. Instead, I would rather just go ahead and add another running back for our bench. Now, the ninth mistake that we are going to have is trading for

4:40depth before the season starts. Now, obviously, y'all know me. You've seen me in the Flock League. Right after the draft has happened, I typically draft

4:48the most valuable players and then try to work myself into deals. I'm out there wheeling and dealing. But every single trade I try to make, I am looking at it

4:58through the lens of how do I get the best player in the deal? I am not trying to make trades to improve my bench

5:05because what we are going to see early in the season will be massive hits off the waiverwire where the final few bench

5:12spots that I want to have I kind of want them to be garbage players. That way I have no problem dropping them to pick up

5:18the hot waiverwire name. So for me during the beginning part of the year especially before the season even starts whenever I am approaching my league

5:27mates for trades it's always hey can I make this two for one deal? Can I make this three for one deal? But obviously

5:34before you make any trade, for the love of God, reference the trade calculator on flockfantasy.com. I know most of y'all have already got your season pass

5:41by now, and you're going to get unlimited access to the trade calculator all year round. Now, if you haven't got your season pass yet, it's still only

5:49$34 on flockfantasy.com. Not only are you going to get trade calculator access, my team's page access, but you're also going to get a custom draft

5:57sheet for your exact league settings in the exact draft platform that you're on.

6:02You're going to get real time draft assistance as well for your Sleeper, your ESPN, and your Yahoo leagues. And if you sign up with Code Flock, you are

6:10also going to be getting free questions that you can ask me during the live streams, which I'm going to be streaming

6:15every single night during this season.

6:17You can find that link in the description as well as the comment section. Now, moving over to our eighth mistake. We are going to have drafting

6:24injured players with no injured reserve slot. Now, this is only going to apply to a small percentage of people watching this video. But before you go through

6:32and decide, okay, I'm going to draft Zack Charbanet or maybe I'm going to go through I'm going to draft George KD.

6:39these players that have injuries going into the season that could miss the beginning section, I am completely fine doing so. If you have that injured

6:48reserve slot where you can draft Zack Charban in the double digit rounds, you can throw him immediately into the IR.

6:54You can pick up another player off the waiverwire and it's not going to limit your flexibility in the beginning portion of the season. That is the spot

7:01where you want to be going through and drafting those guys. However, I know some people watching this, y'all don't have injured reserve spots in your

7:09league. And in that case, if you were to go through and draft that player like Zack Charbanet, it is going to be

7:14incredibly difficult for you to make waiverwire moves throughout the beginning portion of the season when they matter most because you're going to

7:21have a player there just clogging a roster spot on your bench that you're no longer able to work with. Now, the

7:27number seven mistake that we have is going back to the trades aspect. And I know it's pretty early to be talking

7:33about this, but I want you to understand before you draft a rookie in your fantasy draft, you should not expect them to be giving you much production at

7:43all at the beginning portion of the year. Now, Jeremiah Love going to be a different example of this with Jeremiah Love specifically. If you take him in

7:50the second or third round of your fantasy draft, you're doing so with the plans of putting him in your lineup week

7:55one. But if you grab somebody like Jordan Tyson, Jadarian Price, Carell Tate, Mai Lemon, you should not draft them and then all of a sudden three,

8:06four weeks into the season think, "This guy isn't helping me. Let me try to package him up in a two for one deal to

8:13get somebody that I can put in my starting lineup." When you draft that rookie such as Cardell Tate, you better be prepared for him to be on the bench

8:21early in your season and you not getting upset when he's not producing and hold him until the breakout because that would be the entire reason you are

8:30drafting these rookies in the first place. Now, the number six mistake that we have is feeling like you have to wait

8:36until the final two rounds to draft defenses or kickers. Now, I know we just talked about deciding to get the defenses with good week one matchups as

8:45opposed to just drafting the best defense like the Los Angeles Rams. I think probably the best example I can give of this is I actually have the

8:53Brandon Aubrey jersey right here, right?

8:55And if we go through and if you look at the players that are going to be drafted in the final two or three rounds of your

9:01fantasy leagues, almost every single time, those are players that are going to be cut before the season starts, week one or week two. And you can extend this

9:10all the way until like round 12 of your fantasy draft. So specifically in very very rare instances, if you can identify

9:20a kicker or a defense such as Brandon Aubrey where you know, hey, this guy's going to give me a serious edge at one

9:27of those onesie positions that I'm not going to be able to find in the final two rounds. It's okay to go through and

9:34draft one of those guys in round 12.

9:36Now, of course, if you're playing with the most casual of fantasy football drafters, maybe you see Brandon Aubrey go off the board in the seventh round.

9:43But I'm definitely trying to make sure you know not to do that. But like if you're playing with everybody that views

9:49themselves as a very serious fantasy drafter, it's a competitive league. I mean, you'll see typically everybody waiting until the final two to three

9:58rounds to start drafting their kickers and defenses. You can go ahead and just do so four rounds before the draft ends

10:05because that player you'd probably end up cutting regardless. Now, speaking of the very end of your fantasy drafts, the fifth mistake that we are going to have

10:13will be rostering wide receivers at the bottom of your team versus running backs going into the season. Because if we go

10:20through and if we look at some of these wide receivers that may be drafted at the very end of your fantasy draft and

10:25compare them to running backs, there's very little that can happen with final three round picks of the wide receiver position where they turn into a league

10:34winner early in the season. Some examples of this would be a wide receiver like Jawan Jennings, a wide receiver like Jaylen Naylor, a wide

10:42receiver such as Trey Harris, Darnell Mooney, Jeremy Bernard, Calvin Ridley.

10:47If you take somebody like that, there's no action that can all of a sudden vault them up to being the third to last pick

10:55on your team to all of a sudden being a borderline top six player on your roster. Whereas, if we look at the

11:03running back position on the other hand, before the season starts, I am not wishing this on anybody. Obviously, injuries are the worst part of fantasy

11:11football, but they're a part of the game. And if we can think through the range of outcomes here, maybe it can

11:17give us an advantage if our league mates aren't thinking this way. If you decide to draft Brian Robinson instead of Trey

11:23Harris, there's a very clear path to Brian Robinson turning into a week one starter for you. That's Bejian Robinson going down before the season, right?

11:31Like if you draft Trey Harris and Lad Mcconi gets injured, you're still not starting Trey Harris, it's not like he turns into a league winner. So for me,

11:38as I have my drafts before the season starts, my final few roster spots, I would prefer to focus those in on

11:48running backs over receivers, just in case we get a preseason injury. And if Genty goes down and my last round pick

11:55was Mike Washington, he could potentially turn into a top 20 running back and if you get that production in the last round, that's a league winner.

12:03Now, the fourth mistake that we have here is going to be a little bit nuanced, but this is going to be not

12:08accurately adjusting to your league settings. So, there are some very, very obvious adjustments that people know that they need to make. Like when you're

12:15playing in a superflex league, obviously all of a sudden Josh Allen's a round one pick, Jayen Daniels is a round one pick,

12:22Lamar Jackson's around one pick. That's obvious. But what people don't really comprehend is how the minor changes with their league settings impact overall

12:31player value. Like if you're playing in an eight team league as opposed to a 12 team format, the way that you should

12:38value wide receivers in comparison to those elite tight ends completely changes. Like if you're in an eight team format, I would actually go ahead and

12:46rank Brock Bowers in that kind of league up near about pick 14 in my ranks.

12:52Whereas if you're in a 12 team format where you have multiple flex spots where all of a sudden wide receiver depth's

12:57going to be a hell of a lot more important, then the elite tight ends like Brock Bowers will fall to the end

13:02of the second round in my rankings.

13:04Another example of this is obviously if you're in a full PPR league versus a nonPPR format, you're going to be making

13:10the adjustments on how you value running backs versus wide receivers. Like if you are using the draft sheets on flockfantasy.com, again, we have over 70

13:18custom draft sheets available for you all based on your exact league settings and your exact draft platform. You'll see that Derrick Henry is a round one

13:26pick for me and it's not even a question in a non-PR league. However, if we transition over to a full PPR format

13:33there, he's going to be a mid to late second rounder just because the way that fantasy points are scored. So, please

13:39make sure you are making the accurate adjustments based on your exact league settings. Obviously, that's a little more complicated, which is why we spent

13:46so much time building out those draft sheets as well as building out those real-time draft assistance for y'all.

13:52The third mistake is going to be not bringing rankings to your draft. So, y'all know I drafted a ridiculous amount of baseball teams, right? I mean, on the

14:00live stream all month, May, June, July, I was drafting best teams every night, and they're in best baseball platforms.

14:08The ADP's really good. Like, you can go to the draft, you can build a good team just by looking at the ADP list. But if

14:15you're drafting on ESPN, Yahoo, Sleeper, CBS, the ADP is so bad that if you don't have a good set of rankings, you are

14:26just straight up cooked. like you may be in a sleeper draft where RJ Harvey supposedly is a sixth round pick. He may

14:33slide to you in the seventh round and you're going ahead and taking him because he looks like a massive value on

14:39the board. Whereas obviously if you have a good set of rankings, you should know, hey, he's actually probably closer to an

14:44eighth round pick and I could wait another round and get them. So please, for the love of God, bring a draft

14:50sheet, bring some sort of rankings.

14:52Whether they're your rankings, whether they're my rankings, whether they're rankings that you pulled up on Google, it doesn't matter. But don't rely on the

14:59platform ADP that you're drafting on.

15:02Have your own set of tools and your own sheet specifically. Now, the number two mistake that I see fantasy drafters making, and this goes from experts to

15:12actual just pure brand new guys, is going to be worrying about by-weeks as you draft. So, if we look at the draft

15:19interface for almost any major fantasy platform, one of the first few things that you're going to see when you go to

15:25click a player is, oh, he has a a week six buy. Oh, he has a week seven buy, right? And maybe you go ahead and you

15:32take a running back with a week six buy in round one, and then all of a sudden in round two, you're taking another

15:38running back with a week six buy. You may sit there and go, "Oh crap, I I really need to avoid this week six buy."

15:44And in your later rounds, you may avoid running backs that share that same by-week. But here's the deal. You have to think about how far away week six is,

15:53week eight is, week 12 is. Like, it is almost impossible to draft too many players that share the same week 12 buy.

16:01Because by the time you're actually in week 12, even if your league is one that doesn't make trades, you will have made

16:08so many waiverwire moves that almost the bottom half of your team is going to look completely different than it did at

16:14the time of your draft. So, as you go through and draft, your team is just going to be significantly better if you

16:21worry about who's the best player on the board, what position do I need? even if you stack a lot of week 12 buys, by the

16:28time week 12 gets here, it's probably not going to be a problem anyway. And then the number one mistake that I see

16:34as people draft is thinking that they need to fill out their roster. Now, it is very silly, but some people do view

16:42it this way that if you draft two running backs in the first two rounds, some people will look at their starting

16:47lineup requirements and go, "Crap. Okay, so I got my two running back slots filled. Now I need a couple wide receivers. I need somebody to put in my

16:54flex. I need somebody to put a quarterback. I need tight end. Or maybe somebody's through the first five rounds of their draft. They've taken two

17:01running backs. They've taken three wide receivers. They've filled their running back slots. They've filled their wide receiver in flex. And they're thinking,

17:07"Oh, okay, great. Let me go ahead and draft a quarterback. Let me grab a tight end." Realistically, you're going to be

17:13much better off just going ahead and maybe taking another running back at that pick, taking another wide receiver.

17:19Because even though you have that empty quarterback slot, you have that empty tight end slot, you have that empty kicker and defense, the options that

17:26you're going to get in the later rounds are just as good as the middle round names where obviously you're going to

17:30see that drop off at running back and wide receiver. So, don't worry about filling out your entire starting lineup as you go. You're probably a lot better

17:38off just going through and drafting a couple running backs to put on your bench before you go through and think that you need to draft a tight end. But,

17:45I think that's all I got for you with this video. Please, if I missed any mistakes, drop them in the comment

17:50section. And again, the best thing that you can do to win your fantasy league this year is make sure that you are

17:55showing up with those custom draft sheets to your exact league settings with the real-time draft assistance with the trade calculator through the course

18:02of the season. It's all on flockfantasy.com. It's only 34 bucks for the entire season. And if you use code flock, you're going to get free

18:09questions that you can ask me in the live streams. And I'm live streaming every single night until Christmas. Link is in the description. It's in the

18:16comment section. Much love.

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