Fantasy Football Guillotine League Strategy and Takeaways from a First-Place Team

My fantasy football guillotine league wrapped up this week, so I wanted to share my experience and give future advice for fantasy owners looking to play in this type of league.

This was a 14-team league done through Yahoo. I ended up winning the league, avoiding the lowest score in each of the first 13 weeks, with a team being eliminated after each week. 

Let's jump into things.

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The Draft

The draft for this league was done on Wednesday, August 6. We were given a minute to pick.

The starting spots were as follows: one quarterback, two running backs and wide receivers, one tight end and one flex. There were seven bench slots and an IR spot as well.

I was randomly given pick eight. I went into the draft hoping to draft established fantasy players to make sure I survived a few weeks.

I opened my draft by taking Puka Nacua. Sure, there was risk after he missed some games last year, but when healthy, he's a weekly fantasy stud, so that's a great player to include in a format like this.

I backed him up by taking Bucky Irving in the second round, then Tyreek Hill in round three. You might be wondering how in the world I won the league after those picks, but remember, the goal is to avoid the lowest score every week, and I was able to replace these two guys with others after avoiding the lowest scores.

In round four, I landed DeVonta Smith, then followed him up with my first gamble in Tetairoa McMillan. 

Brian Robinson was my next pick, so I thought I was going to be scrambling after he was traded to San Francisco.

I got Kyler Murray after that, then Ricky Pearsall, who was an early-season revelation for me. Javonte Williams was my next pick, which was probably my best value pick.

I took Jonnu Smith and Kyle Pitts Sr. after that to finally shore up my tight end position.

I took a gamble on Rico Dowdle after that, then grabbed Cameron Ward as a second QB option for week 1. I capped my draft by taking Kareem Hunt.

As you can probably guess from that lineup, I actually didn't draft the best, and injuries derailed many of my player's seasons. With strategic moves, I was able to slowly improve, and I navigated my way to the title.

The Early Season

For week 1, I actually just kept my roster as is and started Murray, Nacua, Smith, Irving, Williams, Pitts and Hill. Murray, Nacua and Williams had 18+ points each to save me from the lowest score.

Before week 2 waivers ran, I dropped Hunt, Ward and Dowdle. We had a $1,000 budget for free agents for the season, and I ended up spending $350 after week 1 to add Jayden Daniels, George Pickens and David Njoku. 

Looking back on things, adding Pickens might have been the top fantasy move I made with this team.

My lineup went off in week 2, with only Njoku failing to reach double digits. I wasn't as worried with waiver pickups after that showing, but still dropped Smith and Robinson to open some roster spots.

I ended up spending $100 more out of my free agent budget to snag Wan'Dale Robinson and Romeo Doubs ($50 each). With Daniels out that week, I added Jordan Love (for free).

I had another good showing in week 3, with Nacua, Murray, Hill and Irving all in double figures to help me survive another week.

I bailed on Murray after the week, and also bailed on Doubs. I spent $250 of my budget to land Justin Jefferson. I also took a free flyer on Joe Mixon, which obviously never paid off, but it didn't cost anything.

My team went off again in week 4, with Love, Nacua and Irving all over 20 points, and Jefferson and Williams also providing 17+ points each.

At this point, I feel like I had a good strategy down. Now it was about staying healthy.

Weeks 5-8

Hill was ruled out for the season after week 4 wrapped up, so he got dropped as week 5 neared. I scooped up Malik Washington hoping he could help replace Hill - that was another free move.

The only other moves I decided to do that week were dropping Mixon to re-add Hunt for free.

My team again went off in week 5, with each starting player scoring 10+ points, and Williams having 26.4 fantasy points.

I bailed on Washington after just a week, and also ended up dropping Robinson. I only added Jacory Croskey-Merritt for $50 that week, and then made another home run pickup by scooping up Rashee Rice for free. In hindsight, I don't know how that even happened.

I was close to getting the axe in week 6, but a 22.64-point outing from Daniels and a 16.4-point game from McMillan saved me.

That close call scared me into blowing 1/4 of my initial budget on Christian McCaffrey. I dropped Hunt to make that move. If you are keeping track, that was the rest of my FAAB, but with a great team, I was OK with that.

Before all the week 7 games were played, I swapped Njoku for Harold Fannin and Omarion Hampton for Pitts. Those were free moves, as are every other move I ended up making before my title in week 13.

Week 7 went pretty well for my squad, with CMC scoring 35.6 points to make that pickup worth it immediately.

With Tee Higgins sputtering a bit at that point, I was able to snag him for free after week 7 wrapped up, dropping Croskey-Merritt in a corresponding move. I also replaced Fannin with Pitts and Pearsall with Alvin Kamara before week 8.

Week 8 was another good one for me, with Love and Rice over 20 points, and only one starter (CMC) under 10 points.

Weeks 9-12

In another move that didn't seem likely, I was able to replace Kamara with Bijan Robinson. Again that was for free, so my early season plan of spending big early didn't end up costing me a chance at big-time players later on.

I also scooped up Bowers before the weekend slate of week 9 kicked off. I dropped McMillan to make that move.

Even while leaving 100.82 fantasy points on the bench, I still avoided the lowest fantasy score in week 9.

After week 9 wrapped up, I dropped Daniels and Pitts. I was able to scoop up Lamar Jackson and Ladd McConkey. I later dropped Love for DK Metcalf, and Hampton for Garrett Wilson as I tried to get through a week where four players got benched during their byes.

I survived that week because of double-digit outings from Jackson, Nacua, McCaffrey and McConkey.

I ended up dropping Wilson right away. Metcalf and Higgins also got let go before week 11 started. I was able to add Jalen Hurts, Nico Collins and Zay Flowers as replacements.

Sixty-plus points from McCaffrey and Robinson helped me survive that week.

I was so content with my team that I skipped making a move before week 12. A 30.86-point showing from Hurts that week, plus a 23.7-point outing from CMC helped me advance to the title game.

Title Match

With just two players left, I decided to really play matchups (for the most part) in an effort to win it all. 

I ended up dropping Flowers, Smith, Jackson, Williams, Rice, Hurts and McConkey before week 13 kicked off. I added Kyren Williams, Patrick Mahomes, TreVeyon Henderson, RJ Harvey and Stefon Diggs as the week went along.

The title match ended up being no contest, as I scored 136.64 points, with Mahomes, Robinson and Bowers all over 20 points. Collins, Chase, McCaffrey and Nacua rounded out my starting lineup and were all over 10 points. The other remaining team had just 82.32 points with a dud from Jaxon Smith-Njigba and injury to Amon-Ra St. Brown holding his score down.

Final Thoughts

There was some luck involved in the title match, and more along the way, but that's fantasy football for you.

I went into the season with a strategy, and it ended up working perfectly. Several fantasy owners I'd talked with and read about have taken a similar strategy, and I think that's the way to approach these guillotine leagues.

Make sure you draft established fantasy players to get you through the early portion of the season. Then don't be afraid to spend that FAAB to improve your roster.

By the time you are out of FAAB money, you should have a good enough lineup to get you near the finish line. A couple more moves here and there is all it takes to finish off your season with a title.

If you are curious, the top-three finishers made the most moves throughout the season, so that's also very important. 

So if you are looking for a new fantasy challenge next season, or need some advice on how to improve in a guillotine league for next year, give this strategy a chance. Again, luck is still a part of things, but this seems like a pretty great way to come out on top in these leagues.