Who’s ready for some best ball?!! Ok, let’s try that again. Who’s ready for some season long football?!! Am I getting warmer? Well, what if I told you to only focus on drafting for season long NFL? And, what if I told you no lineup setting, no trades, no waiver wire to watch? Just drafts. That’s “best ball” also known as MFL10s. DFS Army has access to one of the best minds helping us organize our thoughts, strategies, and game plans to dominate yet another area of DFS.
Season Long Sez (better known as Alan Seslowsky) is that mind. If you aren’t following him on Twitter, you should be. Just click the link. He’s full of small tips, rankings, and general strategies meant to guide you in your quest for best ball, or MFL10, domination. Below, is his podcast with FFootballgeek as they talk season long, the 2018 draft, and where all that fits into this year’s landscape.
What Is Best Ball / MFL10?
Best ball is a simple form of season long NFL based solely on the draft phase of the game. He who drafts best wins. Period. If you want a simple crash course, the game really is as simple as this image from PlayDraft says.
Today, I will be giving you Sez’s rankings for the running back position, but we will also have future articles for each position as he releases them. To see his QB Rankings, simply click the link.
From Sez: Here are my best ball ranks. They will be updated all off season when our on the ground intelligence changes. I rank by position. I find overall rankings not as useful as we are often looking to fill positional needs. Keep in mind in best ball that usually only the top 2 or 3 finishers get paid. We need to play the 75th percentile outcome on our picks. Unlike our season long regular leagues; we can’t claw our way into the playoffs as a 4 seed and hope we get lucky.
Best Ball MFL10 – RB Rankings
The Top 10
Todd Gurley – Auto Click at pick 1.1 for me.
Le’Veon Bell – Steelers plan on running him into the ground. Usage will be through the roof.
David Johnson – Such a high floor with his receiving ability. New head coach Steve Wilks is an old school defensive/run the football kind of guy
Alvin Kamara – Saints already planned on increased usage. With no Ingram for 4 weeks, Alvin will go bonkers. A league winning pick.
Ezekiel Elliott – Zeek will go #1 in some drafts. If you pick 5th and land him, you are off to a great start.
Saquon Barkley – Sexy pick, but understand there is risk. We have never seen him play in the NFL. ‘Quan is immediately a 300 touch player with 50+ reception upside.
Leonard Fournette– The big dog will continue to eat this season. Don’t listen to the chatter that he doesn’t catch the football. That skill set will be unleashed this season.
Kareem Hunt– Huge start last season then tailed off. He did have a nice finish to the season. Young legs in what projects as a great offense.
Melvin Gordon – Early drafters are split on Gordon. The Chargers didn’t draft a RB; rather they opted to stay with Melvin as the lead runner. Understand Austin Ekeler’s role will increase this year. I expect 15-18 touches/game for MG with high TD equity.
Dalvin Cook – Dalvin looked like an NFL all pro in the first few games of his rookie season. He is coming back from a major injury that could cause him to start slow. Early camp reports are positive for Cook’s health
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The Second 10
Devonta Freeman – Boring but rock solid pick in the late second round of your best ball drafts. He gets the goal line works and will continue to catch passes.
Christian McCaffrey – I had CMC as my RB8 in PPR leagues before the Panthers signed CJ Anderson. It was hard to envision CMC as a 200 carry guy, but Cam Newton gets a lot of the goal line work. His receptions buoy his value.
Joe Mixon – Team context is so important in the NFL. If Mixon was on a team with a top 3 o-line like the Saints, Rams or Bills he would like likely be my RB6.
Jerick McKinnon – The 49ers mad JM the highest paid FA runner this offseason. Kyle Shanahan hand picked him for the “Devonta Freeman role” in this offense.
Jordan Howard – A throwback bruising runner who is an elite goal line back. Some will point out that Tarick Cohen will assume all 3rd down work. That may be true, but the Bears should be in scoring position more often with their new young head coach, Matt Nagy.
Derrius Guice – I think he will be going as a top 15 runner by mid August. He is without a doubt my rookie RB2.
Kenyan Drake – Drake looked great when he took over late last year. Dolphins added Frank Gore who may not be a threat to Drake’s snaps, but certainly limits his upside.
Dion Lewis – Dion Lewis has been a dynamic runner at every team stop along the way. He won leagues for fantasy owners in last years playoffs. He is a higher injury risk than most top 24 RBs, but well worth his draft capitol.
Royce Freeman – Another rookie RB that will get some helium as draft season moves forward. It’s likely he can grab hold of the Denver backfield early in the season.
Mark Ingram – The 4 game suspension hurts, but you have a top 10 RB when he returns. I’m buying as much Ingram as I can in late round 3/early round 4.
Season Long Sez’ Podcast with FFootballGeek
Podcast featuring 2018 NFL Draft talk, implications, season long NFL strategies and how to apply the advice to win your leagues.
The Third 10
Rashaad Penny – First round draft capitol lands the rookie at 21 in my ranking. I’m a bit skeptical of the Seattle O-Line and early camp reports that Chris Carson is showing well.
Alex Collins – The best unknown and STARTING RB in this year’s fantasy draft.
Tarik Cohen – In Bears project to spread out the offense and pass more than they did a year ago. Cohen’s skill set is tailor made for this. I’m higher on TC than most of the industry.
Jay Ajayi – Chatter that he will take a larger role. Can he handle it?
Sony Michel – The Patriots did a very non Patriot-like thing drafting a running back in round 1. A fair NFL comp for Michel is Kareem Hunt.
Derrick Henry – I want to see it happen as much as everyone else. Hard to rank him higher.
Ronald Jones II – The industry is split on RJ. The landing spot in Tampa certainly sets up well for him.
Jamaal Williams – Has golden opportunity to take control of Packers backfield.
C.J. Anderson – Love his 8th round ADP.
Duke Johnson Jr. – Just signed a new multi year deal. Should remain a nice PPR/floor RB
If you love the season-long content and strategy, I recommend you peek at the our original general, FFootballGeek’s rankings, too. We have an amazing set of videos on site (2018 Geek’s Fantasy Football Rankings) and a VIP-only sheet with all the details, logic, and reasoning you used to follow in his blog that has grown, by demand, into what the DFS Army is today (a site with over 30 staffers, 20 contributors across all sports, 1500+ members in our private slack, the industry’s most accessible coaching, and a Wall of Wins that would lend credibility to anyone committed to helping you become a better fantasy sports player.
Notable Omissions (31-50)
Lamar Miller
Tevin Coleman
LeSean McCoy
Aaron Jones
Rex Burkhead
Marlon Mack
Marshawn Lynch
Isaiah Crowell
Chris Thompson
Carlos Hyde
Kerryon Johnson
Nick Chubb
Latavius Murray
Theo Riddick
Devontae Booker
Giovani Bernard
Austin Ekeler
LeGarrette Blount
Jordan Wilkins
Nyheim Hines
What Now?
If you like Best Balls and the rankings, keep on chugging down the road with Wide Receivers.
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