Each of the past two seasons I have written an article like this, where I share my guillotine league strategy and give examples of players to target and others to avoid. Naturally, I end up with a fair share of both hits and misses. I can take a victory lap for recommending Baker Mayfield, Chase Brown and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, while advising to avoid Marvin Harrison, Jonathon Brooks and Hollywood Brown last season. On the flipside, I did say not to buy Malik Nabers or Brock Bowers at cost.
Despite the misses, my strategy isn't changing in 2025. I will still favor players I view as proven "safe" players over more potentially volatile players. After all, with a guillotine league the goal isn't necessarily to have the best team; it's about not having the worst team any given week. There's no reason to take big risks.
What is a Guillotine League?
In a guillotine league, you're not matched up against a single opponent each week. Instead, you're competing against the entire league. The goal is straightforward: avoid finishing last. Each week, the team with the lowest score is eliminated, and their players are released to waivers, giving the remaining teams a chance to claim them. This continues weekly until only one team is left standing — the champion.
Most guillotine leagues begin with 16 or 17 teams, without divisions or a fixed schedule, though you can adjust the league's size and timing based on preferences. While some fantasy
Each of the past two seasons I have written an article like this, where I share my guillotine league strategy and give examples of players to target and others to avoid. Naturally, I end up with a fair share of both hits and misses. I can take a victory lap for recommending Baker Mayfield, Chase Brown and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, while advising to avoid Marvin Harrison, Jonathon Brooks and Hollywood Brown last season. On the flipside, I did say not to buy Malik Nabers or Brock Bowers at cost.
Despite the misses, my strategy isn't changing in 2025. I will still favor players I view as proven "safe" players over more potentially volatile players. After all, with a guillotine league the goal isn't necessarily to have the best team; it's about not having the worst team any given week. There's no reason to take big risks.
What is a Guillotine League?
In a guillotine league, you're not matched up against a single opponent each week. Instead, you're competing against the entire league. The goal is straightforward: avoid finishing last. Each week, the team with the lowest score is eliminated, and their players are released to waivers, giving the remaining teams a chance to claim them. This continues weekly until only one team is left standing — the champion.
Most guillotine leagues begin with 16 or 17 teams, without divisions or a fixed schedule, though you can adjust the league's size and timing based on preferences. While some fantasy platforms are built specifically for guillotine formats, virtually any platform can run one. For example, my longest running guillotine league is on ESPN, where the commissioner manually drops the eliminated team's players each week. In addition to that league, which is entering its eighth season, this season I am in multiple guillotine leagues at NFFC, home of the RotoWire Online Championship. In fact, if you'd like to compete against me, there are still openings on Aug. 29 at 8:30 p.m. EDT ($50 entry) and Aug. 30 at 10:30 p.m. ($200 entry).
Guillotine League Strategy & Advice
1. Draft a balanced roster
While fantasy football draft strategy like "Zero RB" might work in traditional redraft leagues, a more balanced approach is better suited for guillotine formats. Prioritize building the strongest possible starting lineup in the early rounds and shift your focus to adding depth as the season unfolds.
It is critical that you know the league's roster settings. I have completed one guillotine league draft so far, and the running back pool dried up fast. However, in that league we only start two wide receivers, so there are plenty of receivers available, allowing drafters to put a premium on running backs. In my NFFC guillotine leagues, we start three wide receivers, so I expect the receivers' value and ADP to rise.
2. Make "safe" draft picks
You don't need to have the highest-scoring team — just avoid finishing at the bottom. Rather than chasing high-risk, high-reward players, prioritize those with consistent usage. Focus on building a stable lineup with players who offer dependable, high-floor production. For example:
- Draft Jakobi Meyers over Travis Hunter
- Draft Tony Pollard over RJ Harvey
3. Avoid pairing and stacking players who have early bye weeks
I have high hopes for Chicago with its upgraded coaching and offensive line, and I have drafted a lot of Caleb Williams, pairing him with DJ Moore or Rome Odunze in Best Ball and Redraft leagues. However, for guillotine leagues, their Week 5 bye is problematic. Unless you are very aggressive with waiver bids in the first month of the season, you probably will not be able to build enough depth to make up for multiple starting fantasy players sitting in Weeks 5 or 6. Nearly every Bears, Packers, Falcons, Steelers, Texans and Vikings player takes a slight dip in my rankings because of an early bye. For example:
- Draft Chase Brown over Josh Jacobs
- Draft Jake Ferguson over Colston Loveland
4. Pick players with favorable schedules, avoid players with tough schedules early in the season
I refer to RotoWire's Strength of Schedule tool to find advantages. It helps me find the best matchups using rankings that are adjusted for quality of opponent, and I can custom sort by any time period. For this exercise, I looked at the first four weeks:
- Draft C.J. Stroud, who has the most favorable schedule for a fantasy quarterback in the first four weeks, over Justin Herbert, who faces some of the toughest matchups
- Draft Travis Etienne, who has the second-most favorable early schedule for running backs, over Tyrone Tracy, who has the fourth-toughest early schedule
- Draft Calvin Ridley, who has a top-10 early schedule, over George Pickens, who has the toughest series of early games for receivers
5. Monitor injury reports and suspensions
This may seem obvious, but it's especially crucial in a guillotine league. With player depth being a concern during the early weeks of the season, a single poor performance could end your season. Therefore:
- Draft Ricky Pearsall over Jordan Addison
- Draft Deebo Samuel over Chris Godwin
6. Try to grab a top-5 TE.
Gain an advantage by focusing on a scarce position. With the early success of rookie tight ends in recent years, I don't feel as strongly about this strategy as I did in previous years because I believe there are more 900-yard potential tight ends than ever. However, in a league like this, the gap between the No. 5 tight end and the No. 17 is still significant.
As teams are eliminated, you'll have ample chances to pick up high-end RBs and WRs from waivers. Consider these options:
- Draft T.J. Hockenson over Kaleb Johnson
- Draft George Kittle over Mike Evans
7. Push QBs down the draft board
I absolutely want to have either Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels or Jalen Hurts on my roster by midseason, but I won't draft any of them. I would rather draft positional players who I can count on to get targets or carries early in the draft. I feel confident that there are about 20 quarterbacks who will produce enough during the first few weeks to keep me alive, which means I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the last person to pick a QB in my guillotine leagues this season.
8. Act swiftly on the waiver wire when a team is eliminated and a top player at a position becomes available — but don't go "all-in" until late in the season
Allen, Jackson, Daniels, Hurts, Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, Brock Bowers and Trey McBride are players that I want to get on my roster as soon as possible. However, I expect to compete deep into the season and need to make sure that I maintain a budget that will allow me to keep getting better every week. I avoid spending more than 25 percent of my budget on any one player during the first half of the season, unless I have an injury to one of my top players and am desperate to replace him.
Guillotine League Rankings: Top 150
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