The FFPC Main Event is one of the most prestigious high-stakes fantasy football contests in the world. The entry fee is steep — $2,000 per entry and $1,600 for multiple entries. Drafters compete in 12-person leagues, with the winners raking in $12,000 in league prizes. However, the goal is not only to win the regular season but also to qualify for the postseason. As many as three teams from each league qualify for a chance to win a number of high-payout prizes. The overall winner takes down $1 million, and the runner-up wins $200K.
To qualify for the postseason sprint, drafters need to finish with the most points or the best record in their league. A third team can qualify by winning a league playoff in Weeks 14 and 15.
The scoring for FFPC is 4-point passing TDs, 1-point PPR with a 1.5-point premium for TEs. There are two flex spots to go along with standard QB, two RBs, two WRs, TE, kicker, and defense starting positions. The double flex with TE premium scoring makes for some very interesting strategies and builds.
Unlike some high-stakes competitors, the FFPC is a standard snake draft and not a 3rd-round reversal.
I have had success over the last few seasons in the FFPC, winning multiple regular-season titles and qualifying several teams for the postseason. This year, I am drafting multiple teams — some online and some in person in Las Vegas.
For this article, I will write about a team I am splitting with Andrew Geller and Andrew Schellenberg—two well-known high-stakes drafters in FFPC circles.
Strategy from the 1.09
We were dealt the 9th overall pick. This pick boxed us out of the big three RB options in Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, and Breece Hall but opened us up to a number of potential league-winning WRs. Barring a shocking first few picks, we knew we would have access to a Justin Jefferson, AJ Brown, or Garrett Wilson type.
The second and third rounds were a little bit less clear. The 2.05 was not a spot where we wanted to invest in either Saquon Barkley or Jonathan Taylor. We are not incredibly high on Barkley or Taylor in that range, and Taylor also has a dreaded Week 14 bye—the first round of the league playoffs.
TE was another spot that can be tricky in drafts like this. Five TEs are routinely selected in the late first or second round, and there is a chance that multiple options will be gone by the 2.05. Going into the draft, we were open to drafting a TE or WR in round two or an appealing upside back like Jahmyr Gibbs or De’Von Achane.
1.09 AJ Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
We settled in with AJ Brown. Justin Jefferson fell to the 1.08, and he would have been the pick if he lasted another spot.
Brown gives us a foundational piece to our build. He plays on one of the top offenses in the league and has posted back-to-back seasons with 1,450+ receiving yards. Brown also has incredible spike week potential, with 12 weeks of 19 or more PPR points over the same time period.
Drafting Brown does not need much further context — he is a beast. Even if DeVonta Smith rebounds to his 2022 form (this could absolutely happen with a more fantasy-friendly role in Kellen Moore’s scheme), it is hard to envision Brown’s target share dipping much.
2.04 Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions
Jahmyr Gibbs was an easy pick for us here. Gibbs had fallen to the second round, as nervous drafters let him slide due to a hamstring injury. For us, the injury provided an attractive price point on a player that we have a first-round grade on. It looks more and more likely that Gibbs will be ready to go in Week 1.
We expect that he takes a huge leap forward as a receiver in Year 2, and he is a dark horse RB1 overall candidate. Structurally, Gibbs gives us a potential Hero RB build. We absolutely love the Brown-Gibbs start.
3.09 Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins
Another easy click. Jaylen Waddle is a player we would have considered several spots earlier. Often, Waddle goes several spots earlier, around the 2-3 turn. The drafters at the 3.06 and 3.08 spots selected Josh Jacobs and Isiah Pacheco, respectively, leaving Waddle to us.
With three straight 1,000-yard seasons, a 100+ catch season, and at least 14 PPG in every season of his career, Waddle is another foundational piece of our build. At 25 years old in his fourth season as a pro, this could be a career year for him.
With Waddle, Gibbs, and Brown, we have access to three of the league’s best offenses. Team scoring should not be a roadblock to our team’s success. We have balance and firepower with an RB and two WRs.
4.04 Evan Engram, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars
We held our collective breath as Kyle Pitts and Evan Engram both slid outside the 3rd round. These two players usually go right around one another, with George Kittle not far behind. The 4.03 drafter took Pitts, and we rushed to the podium to select Engram.
With back-to-back top-5 scoring seasons, including a TE2 overall finish in 2023, we view him as a massive value in this range. Engram has a chance to lead the Jaguars in targets again, and his role is insulated. We further added to our team balance and will not have to chase the TE position.
5.09 Stefon Diggs, WR, Houston Texans
The late 5th round can be tricky. We targeted a WR or Kenneth Walker here and were open to either. We were pleasantly surprised when Stefon Diggs fell to us.
After a short structural debate, we settled on Diggs over Walker. In a large tournament, Diggs gives us more of an ADP edge. There are drafters who have selected him in the late 3rd and 4th rounds, and for us to get exposure to him in this range is a potential advantage against the field if we are competing for a large prize at the end. In Houston, we have access to another top-notch offense. Diggs does not need to be a WR1 for us with our build, but it sure would be cool if he did.
6.04 Xavier Worthy, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
The Gibbs selection came back into play here. In large-scale competitions, you have to draft like you are right, and Gibbs was a foundational value that helped lead us to this Hero RB start.
We passed on Walker in round 5, and he would have been the selection here if available. More RBs started to go off the board, with players like Zamir White and James Conner following Walker at the 6.01 and 6.03. We wanted to select the highest upside option we could, ultimately settling on Xavier Worthy ahead of Brock Bowers.
While I love Bowers, starting Worthy in the flex is scintillating. Worthy also continues the theme of access to some of the league’s top offenses.
7.09 Rome Odunze, WR, Chicago Bears
We rolled the dice and added to our team’s overall WR strength and Hero RB build with Odunze. It was a difficult choice selecting him over Javonte Williams and Chase Brown, but we leaned in and took him as our WR5.
Odunze adds another high-upside potential hammer. There is WR target competition in Chicago with DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, but Odunze is the sort of bet-on-talent opportunity we could not pass up. He also opens us up to a correlation play with Caleb Williams—one of our late QB1 targets.
8.04 Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Brown slid to us at 8.05, and we were ecstatic. We had considered taking him a few picks earlier, and structurally this pick was ideal.
Brown has the combination of speed and receiving upside to beat his current ADP significantly. He is also in an ambiguous situation — competing for touches alongside Zack Moss. There is always risk when attacking uncertain situations, but also potential huge rewards.
The only other player we considered here was Jonathon Brooks. Head to head, we prefer Brooks, but due to the fragility of our build at the RB spot, taking a potential 0 for at least the first month of the season was something we simply could not do. If we had gone Brooks, it would have meant we needed to lean into RB even more in the upcoming rounds — essentially playing catch-up.
9.09 Tyjae Spears, RB, Tennessee Titans
Like Brown, Spears was a fantastic value and structural fit for our build. Like Brown, Spears has pass-catching upside and is in an ambiguous situation — competing with Tony Pollard for touches in Tennessee.
Spears also has a one-year sample size we can lean on. He caught 52 passes last year in his rookie season—the 11th most at the position. With the Tennessee offense moving on from the stone-age Mike Vrabel era to pass-happy new Head Coach Brian Callahan, Spears could be even more involved as a pass catcher.
10.04 Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears
After pushing QB to round 10, we jumped at the chance to draft Williams. We pushed him ahead of Dak Prescott due to the correlation we have with Odunze. Having the correct correlation play or stack can help separate your team from a larger field, especially in the money weeks. Waiting to select our QB until this range of the draft opens us up for a two-QB build. We already have Waddle and Engram, so we added Tua Tagovailoa and Trevor Lawrence to the queue.
The Roster So Far
At the midway point through 10 rounds, our build is as follows:
QB: Caleb Williams RB: Jahmyr Gibbs RB: Chase Brown/Tyjae Spears WR: Jaylen Waddle WR: AJ Brown Flex: Stefon Diggs Flex: Xavier Worthy/Rome Odunze
Structurally, we are at:
1 QB
3 RBs
5 WRs
1 TE
In the second half of the draft, we will need to build considerable RB depth and add TE options along with a QB2.
11.09 Luke Musgrave, TE, Green Bay Packers
Tyler Conklin was selected one pick ahead, signaling to us that a TE run was coming. There have been some reports on Tucker Kraft earning a larger role than anticipated, but Musgrave remains our preferred Green Bay Packer TE by a considerable margin (Kraft was selected later on at 16.09).
Musgrave has size, athleticism, and draft capital. He should have some spike weeks this year as the Green Bay offense gets older and more aggressive in year two under Jordan Love.
12.04 Ray Davis, RB, Buffalo Bills
After the Musgrave selection, we honed in on RB in Round 12. We also would have considered Trevor Lawrence, but he was selected at 12.02.
Our focus was on three high-end rookie handcuff RBs: Braelon Allen, Ray Davis, and Bucky Irving, along with Tyler Allgeier and Chuba Hubbard. We ultimately settled on Davis.
He has the pass-catching ability to fill in as a replacement if James Cook were to miss time. Davis is also talented enough to become a handcuff plus in an offense we expect to have little trouble putting up points. We are still thin at RB, but Davis helps us catch up a great deal.
13.09 Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins
Much like Williams, Tagovailoa gives us another correlation play, fitting in with our earlier selection of Waddle. This feels like great value. Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yardage and finished tied for fifth in TD passes.
There is a good chance he becomes our weekly starter — especially if Chicago’s offense does not take the leap forward that we anticipate. We continue our trend of drafting players from good offenses.
14.04 Jordan Mason, RB, San Francisco 49ers
Mason adds RB depth and gives us access to another high-end handcuff. He looks to be the next man in if Christian McCaffrey were to miss any time.
We also considered Tyrone Tracy here, but the edge went to the better offense despite Tracy's easier pathway to weekly usage.
15.09 Jalen McMillan, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
We didn’t need a WR, but could not pass up on McMillan as our WR6. McMillan has been the talk of Bucs training camp and has become a priority upside late-round target in this range of drafts.
Chris Godwin and Mike Evans are the oldest pair of starting WRs in football, and if either were to miss time, McMillan would become an insta-flex. Tampa Bay was also among the league leaders in 11 personnel last year.
16.04 Greg Dulcich, TE, Denver Broncos
Dulcich gives us another speculative TE with some upside. A “post-hype sleeper,” Dulcich was steamed up early last summer before missing all but two games with multiple hamstring injuries.
This year, he has become one of my favorite end-game TE targets. He has a viable pathway to weekly usage in an offense with a lack of target-commanding WRs. Structurally, he gives us our third TE.
17.09 Dallas Cowboys Defense
We opted to draft Dallas as a set-it-and-forget-it defense.
We liked the Week 1 matchup against Cleveland and were happy to get Dallas as the 5th defense off the board. They were a very fantasy-friendly option last season, and we are hoping for much of the same.
When in doubt, draft the defense with Micah Parsons.
18.04 Justice Hill, RB, Baltimore Ravens
Hill fits our build structurally, giving us another RB handcuff in an elite offense. He also gives us a “free look.” In the FFPC, all Thursday and Friday players can be inserted into or removed from your lineup after the games are played.
If Justice Hill somehow falls in the end zone twice in Baltimore’s opening game in Kansas City, we can use him right away. Either way, he is a Derrick Henry injury away from fantasy viability. The Ravens' coaching staff seems to trust Hill.
19.07 Samaje Perine, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Much like Hill, Perine gives us another free look. We are very happy about being able to add Perine this late and anticipate that he will be drafted a few rounds earlier in late FFPC drafts. Jerick McKinnon 2.0 vibes if Isiah Pacheco were to miss time.
20.04 Evan McPherson, PK, Cincinnati Bengals
We close out our build with McPherson. KickPherson should get off to a good start, as the Bengals are huge home favorites against New England.
Takeaways
This team has a ton of firepower. There is a lot of strength at the WR position, and if Gibbs and Engram have similar or better numbers than they did in 2023, we should contend for the league title.
We also have enough younger players with unknown upside who could peak when we reach the second half of the year and head into the fantasy football playoffs.
I am very happy about the way this team turned out and look forward to managing this team- and hopefully 
