Guillotine Leagues™️ 2025 Lessons Learned: Who Kept You From Getting Chopped?
Guillotine

Guillotine Leagues™️ 2025 Lessons Learned: Who Kept You From Getting Chopped?

Adam Ronis reflects on the 2025 Guillotine Leagues season and offers some lessons learned for seasons ahead.

Even veterans who have played fantasy football for more than 20 years always reflect on the season at the conclusion and learn lessons. For many people, this was the first season for participating in Guillotine Leagues™ and there was a lot to learn.

It’s difficult to have success in anything in life when first jumping in with little experience. The Guillotine League format is a different strategy than season-long. The mindset has to be different.

One of the biggest differences is playing for now. In season-long leagues, it’s easier to be patient with players. TreVeyon Henderson and RJ Harvey were drafted in the first four rounds of most leagues. There was an understanding it could take some time for the rookies to land a significant role and patience was required.

2025 Guillotine Leagues™️ Lessons Learned

In Guillotine Leagues™, there isn’t time to invest an early pick in an 18-team league on rookies with questionable roles. In the first eight games, Henderson and Harvey reached double-digit PPR points twice. The floor is way too low to invest in this type of player so early.

In season-long leagues, it’s easier to play for the long term if you consistently make the playoffs and manage a team well. In Guillotine Leagues, tunnel vision is needed. The immediate schedule is important. If a player has a difficult schedule for the next three weeks, they aren’t as appealing, especially as a free agent add.

At the beginning of the season when drafting, take players with certain roles. Javonte Williams wasn’t desirable in drafts because he was coming off a disappointing season with Denver. Based on the Cowboys depth chart, it was clear Williams was the guy. While Williams exceeded expectations in a big way, he was undervalued based on his workload.

Travis Etienne was in a similar situation. Two years ago Etienne was a Top 5 RB in PPR and disappointed last season due to injuries and a bad offense. Etienne was the clear lead back on the depth chart in a new offense under Liam Coen that produced great fantasy running backs in Tampa Bay.

Another thing to learn is how important FAAB is. It’s easy to get allured by the stud free agents who are available every week and spend a lot early. Discipline is key. Having enough money to spend in the middle of the season and the last few weeks is important. There will be elite players available every week. Obviously, if you have a bad draft then it’s important to bolster the roster. I learned a while ago to never spend a lot of money on a QB off the waiver wire. It’s much easier to find a fill-in for a bye or injury. Sam Darnold, Jacoby Brissett, Jaxson Dart, Mac Jones and Joe Flacco are examples of a few who could have been acquired for minimal bids.

The key is drafting to survive the first few weeks of the season knowing the waiver wire will help improve weaknesses throughout the season. In season-long leagues, we often draft rookies for later in the season. That’s not a viable strategy in Guillotine Leagues. A high-floor player is more valuable in Guillotine Leagues.

I didn’t love Zay Flowers in season-long leagues because the breakout season won’t happen because he doesn’t score a lot of TDs. He’s not a red-zone threat, the Ravens tend to run in the red zone or target the tight ends when they pass. Flowers has 12 TDs in 49 games. In Guillotine Leagues™, Flowers is more valuable. While the ceiling isn’t there, the floor is high. Flowers had at least 10.6 PPR points in 14 of 16 games. Jameson Williams was the opposite. While he had huge weeks, he had seven games of 6.3 PPR points or fewer, including two zero games. He wasn’t consistent until Sam LaPorta had a season-ending injury.

It’s ideal to target players with late-season byes or use it as a tiebreaker. Getting through the first few weeks of the season is the goal because the more teams eliminated means more good players on the waiver wire. Navigating a team with several players on bye early in the season makes it more challenging to survive.

The one thing we all learned is Guillotine Leagues are fun and there will be leagues for the postseason. Stay tuned.