Above the (Best Ball) Field

BY :: SONIC

Hey, Guess what? The Chiefs Play the Broncos in Week 17!

If you’ve tuned into any media concerning our big Best Ball tournaments, you’ve encountered a bombardment of discussion revolving around the huge importance of Week 17 matchups. By that time, the field will have been whittled down to only a few hundred, essentially turning into a mid-sized GPP tournament. On Underdog, 470th place will earn $1,000 while 1st place will rake in a cool $2,000,000. Quite a difference. Week 17 has been hyped so much that some voices in our business are beginning to pivot and rage against the very concept of its utmost importance. Do not listen to these people. I don’t care that there’s only a .1% chance of advancing a team to the final round… that’s where the money is!

Just promise me you won’t sacrifice too much value because you reached 14 spots to take a bring-back opponent from your 3rd quarterback’s Week 17 matchup.

You do want to structure your rosters to maximize your players’ ceiling weeks while minimizing the damage when they inevitably experience a floor.

Correlation in Best Ball rosters is obvious when you think about stacking. But under the surface lies an edge in building rosters with positional players that complement each other from a floor/ceiling standpoint. You maximize your players’ ceiling weeks while minimizing the damage when they inevitably experience a floor game.

There’s a real-life example in my household. Mrs. Sonic and I function well together emotionally because I have massive highs and lows, and she is solid as a rock, maintaining a level head despite her surroundings. My volatility leads to plenty of excitement…while she keeps our lives from going completely off the freaking rails.

I’ve also done 229 Best Ball drafts already this season, and considering “divorce lawyer” hasn’t appeared in her internet history yet, I think I’ve married well.

Many assume that players with a boom or bust reputation are perfect for Best Ball, and there’s some truth to that. They’re certainly better for this format than managed leagues where you can completely screw yourself when you roster a dude like Marquez Valdez-Scandling, and he gives you a 1/7/0 line, only to bench him the following week when he catches multiple bombs.