Guillotine Leagues End-Game Strategy: The Best Players To Add Based on FAAB Left
Guillotine Leagues are down to the "every team has all-stars" part of the season. How should you be spending your FAAB?
I’ll be here once per week answering questions from you, the readers. If you have a specific Guillotine-related question you want answered in this column, shoot me a tweet @jakenagy98 on the former Twitter.
I followed everyone’s preseason advice and exclusively drafted players with byes in Week 11 or later. Now, I’m getting nervous. What should I do?
This is a situation in which I find myself in a few of my guillotine leagues, so let’s figure out the solution together. We can attack this differently based upon how much FAAB we have left.
65% or more FAAB remaining
This one’s easy. Simply go out and body your league mates for the incredible players hitting your waiver wire each week. This is why you saved your FAAB. Bijan Robinson and James Cook were among the top 10 most commonly chopped players last week! Go get them! In my opinion, the second most fun part of a Guillotine League, besides winning, is this: having so much more FAAB than your league mates that you can name your price for whomever you want and there’s nothing they can do about it.
Between 35% and 65% FAAB remaining
You should be looking at shorter term solutions among the middle-tier players that have already had their bye. Now, the definition of a middle-tier player has shifted since October. In October, a middle-tier player could be somebody with a Utilization Score in the 50-60 range. In November, we need to be looking in the low 60’s to low 70’s range for our middle-tier guys. Remember: anyone with an ~80 or higher is an endgame player. These players should go for 2-5% of your FAAB and look something like this:
Running Back:
- Rachaad White (60 Utilization Score)
- Quinshon Judkins (66)
- Travis Etienne (71)
Wide Receiver
- DK Metcalf (63)
- Marvin Harrison (69)
- Jordan Addison (70)
Tight End
- Sam LaPorta (71)
- Harold Fannin (71)
35% or less FAAB remaining
We’ll need to get creative. Here are some guys you can get on the cheap that should be startable most weeks through Week 14:
Quarterback
- JJ McCarthy: It hasn’t been pretty on the field, but it’s worked out just fine in the fantasy box score. McCarthy gets a plus matchup against the Bears this week and another against the Commanders in Week 14, both at home.
- Jared Goff: The Lions could be in some shootout-style games against the Eagles this week, Giants if Jaxson Dart plays next week, and Cowboys in Week 14.
Running Back
- Sean Tucker: Tucker has seen his Utilization Score climb through each of Tampa’s last three games, culminating in a 43% rush share last week. I truly hope you don’t need Sean Tucker at this point, but he gets a Bills run defense that just got gashed in Miami, plus a couple soft matchups at home against Arizona and New Orleans in Weeks 13 and 14, respectively.
- Trey Benson: Double-check your waiver wire for Trey Benson! If your league mates forgot about him during his IR stint, he gets three consecutive neutral matchups against San Francisco, Jacksonville, and Tampa Bay.
Wide Receiver
- Jerry Jeudy: Hitch your wagon to the Browns’ rickety offense at your own risk, but Jeudy has a few soft matchups against the Raiders, Niners, and Titans over the next four weeks.
- Jameson Williams: I’m not willing to put such a boom-bust player in my lineup just yet, but he’s worth rostering ahead of a stretch of potential shootouts. Last week, he posted a season-high 85 Utilization Score in Dan Campbell’s first game calling plays.
Tight End
- Just play a weekly game of “Who plays the Bengals?” The Steelers tight ends are tough to pick, but Hunter Henry and Dawson Knox are probably free on waivers and get the Bengals soon.
On the other side of that same coin, should I be looking to upgrade over any players with looming byes?
Running Back
The New England backfield could get very messy very quickly. Rhamondre Stevenson and Treveyon Henderson could both be viable flex options in standard formats down the stretch, but neither will provide you the floor nor ceiling you need for Guillotine if both are on the field. Henderson can be started against the Jets this week if Stevenson sits, but you should be prepared to move on ahead of their Week 14 bye.
Wide Receiver
There are a couple of presumed WR1s that are getting overtaken by their understudies right before our eyes, plus a crowded room and an underperforming top wideout.
- Michael Pittman is the top wideout in an offense that leads the league in several metrics, right? The last four weeks would say otherwise; Alec Pierce leads the Indy receivers in Utilization Score over that stretch. Neither are reliable endgame starters, but should be rostered through their bye this week.
- Courtland Sutton has paced Denver in routes each of the last four weeks, but that’s it. During that span, Troy Franklin has led the Broncos in virtually all other meaningful utilization metrics. Both are viable through Denver’s Week 12 bye, but you should have an upgrade by Week 13, especially if Bo Nix is still playing poorly.
- Each of the three Chargers wideouts cannibalize each other week-in and week-out. Ladd McConkey will likely remain viable post-bye, but should not be relied upon consistently in the endgame. Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston should be phased out of lineups if not already.
- It brings me no joy to report that Tetairoa McMillan has not demonstrated a ceiling remotely close to what we’ll need in Weeks 15 through 17. Even if we see Andy Dalton down the stretch, the passing game just is not where it needs to be.
Tight End
The above blurb about the Chargers applies to Oronde Gadsden as well. The quad injury is unfortunate, because those few breakout weeks were incredibly fun. You should look to have Trey McBride, Brock Bowers, Tyler Warren, or George Kittle going into the endgame.
