2025 Fantasy Football Draft Guide: How to draft at each position to win your leagues

I've done over one thousand fantasy football drafts for real money so far this season between best ball, redraft, keeper leagues, dynasty and more. All of that knowledge culminates in this, just for you: my annual position-by-position guide for how to draft your teams in 2025. No matter your draft spot or league format, these guidelines can help you build a team that wins.

Remember, these are guidelines, not rules: Nobody knows your league and your leaguemates better than you. But these are the recommendations that I believe will be successful in 2025.

Without further ado, the 2025 Fantasy Football Draft Guide from Basement Brewed Fantasy Football.

Quarterbacks: When to go elite, when to wait

When it comes to quarterbacks, I generally want either an elite option or, more often than not, I'm waiting and grabbing an upside quarterback later in the draft.

The elite guys (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Jalen Hurts and even Joe Burrow) give you that matchup-proof, week-over-week stability that is great to have on your team. That being said, they tend to come with a very, very expensive price tag. This can be detrimental to building out the rest of your roster.

More often than not, I'm drafting an upside quarterback significantly later with the intention of streaming that quarterback most weeks. This means, even if I'm drafting a quarterback late, I'm only drafting one QB in my league drafts so I can use that precious bench space on higher upside players at the running back and wide receiver positions.

Basement Brewed Fantasy Football subscribers have access to our Week Winners Heat Map tool that identifies the top streaming quarterbacks on a week-to-week basis to help make this strategy even more effective in your leagues. Oh, and the 2025 Draft Dominator tool for BBFF subscribers will pretty much give away who my favorite quarterbacks to draft for upside are this season - I'll maybe even spoil some of it in some future mock drafts, so stay tuned for those.

Running Backs: I rarely start off with two straight RBs + how to best target pass-catching backs

In an ideal scenario, I'm walking out of the first two rounds with one running back, but you do not have to force it. More than ever, there are good running backs still available in the third, fourth, even fifth rounds of certain drafts that can act as your first running back on your team.

But why am I never taking two running backs to start? You'll see why in just a minute, but to semi-spoil it: I tend to build my teams around the wide receiver position more than anything else, and grabbing elite talents there helps me build out that construction. It's a lot easier to replace a running back on your team than it is a wide receiver. When a running back gets injured, there's usually a semi-clear-cut replacement for him: the backup, or backups, get the volume that the starter once had, albeit not as effectively. If Kenneth Walker III gets hurt this season, Zach Charbonnet is going to come in and handle the volume of work effectively. But if Justin Jefferson gets hurt, it's not like we can count on Jalen Nailor to become Justin Jefferson.

And for that reason, as we get towards the later rounds, I'm targeting other people's handcuffs that offer RB1 or RB2 upside if the starter gets hurt. Similarly, I'm almost never drafting my own RB's handcuff - because I've already made the bet on the starter staying healthy by drafting them. In the same scenario above, if I have Kenneth Walker III, drafting Zach Charbonnet essentially makes Charbonnet a dead roster spot that I will never start; meanwhile, if I had drafted Trey Benson instead, I can start Trey Benson and Kenneth Walker III if James Conner was the one that got hurt.

Wide Receivers: This position should be the backbone of every draft you do

I'm prioritizing the elite, high floor and high ceiling wide receivers early and often in drafts. For one, the demand for wide receivers in a starting lineup is greater than any other position in most fantasy football leagues because they'll take up the majority of your starting lineup. If your league starts three wide receivers and a FLEX position, which is the default in many places, it's possible that wide receivers make up 40% of your starting lineup week in and week out. If you walk out of your draft with the best wide receiver room in your league, you have a weekly advantage at the most highly demanded position in fantasy football.

And I mentioned it above, but wide receivers are much more difficult to place than running backs. That's also why often comes into play as well. If you can find ways to bolster the hard-to-replace position, it takes away from your opponents when a receiver inevitably gets hurt and protects you from the same scenario.

Tight End: Similar to QB, you can go elite or you can stream late

An early warning: my strategy for tight ends tends to be a bit extreme compared to anyone else out there that I usually see. Just like at quarterback, ideally I either want one of the most elite tight ends in the game that I can rely on every week, or I'm going back to the same streaming scenario as I did with quarterbacks and waiting as late as possible to draft one.

And when I say elite, I mean elite. If it's not Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, or George Kittle, who I am all-in on this season, then just give me whomever is left in the last few rounds of the draft.

That's not to say that there aren't any intriguing options in the middle rounds at somewhat okay prices. If a guy like Travis Kelce keeps falling in your draft, you shouldn't necessarily pass on that value just to fit the strategy. In other words, I'd be more likely to skip the middle rounds at QB than at TE if the costs work out.

Kickers & Defense: Just stream them

I did a research experiment last season to identify kickers that were more likely to be higher scorers than their peers each and every week, and that data, along with the best streaming options on defense, are exclusive to Basement Brewed Fantasy Football subscribers on the Week Winners tool. But in short, if you're taking a kicker or defense before your last two picks, you're hurting your potential upside in your drafts. Just don't do it.

Roster construction: My go-to round-by-round blueprint for 15-16 round leagues (and when to zig instead of zag)

• QBs: One, preferably a late streaming option

• K: One, drafted in the last two rounds, or if your league allows it, don't draft one and take another WR or RB instead

• DEF: Same as kicker

• TE: One of the three elites, otherwise treat it like kicker and either make it your third-to-last pick or don't draft one if your league allows it

• WR: 5 to 6

• RB: The remainder of your draft picks

What does this mean in practice? Well, assuming I go wide receiver heavy early on in the draft, such as three wide receivers in the first four rounds, then the majority of my bench will be made up of pass-catching running backs that can raise my floor and upside handcuff running backs, such as Zach Charbonnet, Trey Benson and Isaac Guerendo, to name a few.

Of course, all of these 1,000 drafts didn't fall this way. There's even been scenarios where everyone was going wide receiver heavy and I pivoted to drafting three running backs in a row to start to capture as much value as I could. There are going to be times where you need to zag from these recommendations; always read what the draft board, and your leaguemates, give you.

Superflex, dynasty, best ball and more

Obviously these strategies are specific to leagues that start one quarterback and allow for in-season moves to be made. If you have questions on your specific league, hit me up on my socials (LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook) or, better yet, join BBFF to access our private Discord server where other like-minded, sharp fantasy football players join me to talk strategy throughout the entire year.

2025 Fantasy Football Draft Guide + Draft Dominator tool + Week Winners + Discord = Winning your league in 2025

Our dynamic Draft Dominator tool can help you make smarter decisions when you're on the clock in your fantasy football drafts. Then, use our Week Winner tool (formerly Heat Map) to help you make more confident decisions on your way to a championship. And our private Discord server features sharp minds for DFS, sports betting, redraft, dynasty, best ball, and more. From draft to trophy, we have you covered with every decision along the way.

Sign up to Basement Brewed Fantasy Football today and start making smarter lineup decisions that can dominate through the 2025 NFL season.