Larejo is a mid-stakes tournament mastermind who specializes in outmaneuvering 150-max players with a small number of entries
One of the more interesting aspects of Best Ball tournaments is how much money gets tied up in players who could get benched, demoted, traded, or otherwise at any point in the season. Whether you like it or not (because you know, everyone is sharing!), you’ll rarely find a player with the highest exposure being a star player (e.g., first or second round pick). The reason for this is obvious, because we don’t control what pick you are given, so therefore loading up on a player in the first few rounds isn’t an available strategy. The outcome ends up being an attachment of a lot of funds into players picked from say rounds 8 or later, with sometimes the highest ownership levels coming from rounds 17-20 (if Drafters or DK). It’s a scary world out there, but for every poor last-round pick, there’s a Bill Croskey-Merritt. The Best Ball sites don’t market their games with these borderline professional athletes because it wouldn’t sell. But Best Ball players know them well, we can tell you that second-string rookie TE, the castoff 2nd round wide receiver on his third team in five seasons, and the scatback RB who can pile up receptions in the two-minute drill. The point is that these players win tournaments! It’s cool when a CMC, Saquon, Justin Jefferson, or the old Travis Kelce has a huge game on your roster, but it’s these “Best Ball tweeners” who give the leverage needed to win. It likely wasn’t CMC’s score that was the lowest-owned on your roster and catapulted you up the leaderboards. Oh no, no, no…it was actually the CJ Anderson’s, Brock Osweiler’s, Will Fuller’s, or Alge Crumpler’s of the world (told myself I’d work Alge into an article this season!).
THAT is the point of Willing to Lose. I guess there’s an inherent connection to the beauty of Best Ball, but really, the reality in this space every week is that I’m looking to give you the plays that fit the mold of a guy who really could not have a role by the end of the season. Or, he could be someone who is incredibly down, narrative and reputation-wise, at the current moment. Or, this strategy could pop up with two or three players who just don’t seem to fit right together, and may not long-term, but with volume and game environment, this week could be the leverage you need.
If you’ve been reading WTL over the years, you know I lose a lot. Contest selection is my weakest DFS trait (but it’s getting better thanks to StatATL), and I am far too stubborn in some of my thoughts to have adjusted my fundamentals as much as I should. But as we dive in this week, in the week where we all think we know everything, I hope this space will continue to provide a different perspective than anything else you read all week. Godspeed.
