Weekly Fantasy Sports Strategy: How to Win on OwnersBox

Welcome to OwnersBox Weekly Fantasy Sports (WFS)! OwnersBox is here to reinvent the way you play fantasy sports by providing a unique experience that offers contests that run for a full week or more.

Since football season is finally here, we want to hook you guys up with everything you need to know before you draft on OwnersBox! That's right, we said draft. OwnersBox isn't a salary cap game, it's a game that holds dear the thing we love most about fantasy football: drafting. On the flip side side, OwnersBox games are just 1 to 4 weeks, so you don't have to commit to a full season!

The below tips will help as you begin your Weekly Fantasy Sports journey on OwnersBox.  Make sure to check out RotoBaller's weekly picks articles for OwnersBox games to help you get an edge on your competition.

Different Contest Lengths & Draft Strategy

On OwnersBox Weekly Fantasy Sports (WFS), all contests are head-2-head matchups (single-elimination) that span different lengths based on the number of participants.

OwnersBox offers 4 different contest sizes: 2-person (1 week in duration), 4-person (2 weeks in duration), 8-person (3 weeks in duration), and 16-person (4 weeks in duration). Let's take a look at each contest type, what they offer, and how to prepare:

2-Person Contests - 1 Week in Duration

1. For 2-person drafts, your first focus should be on getting a top player at either running back or wide receiver. In this case, those are players like Davante Adams, Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, etc. 
2. The limited roster sports (no bench players) means that if you wait on a quarterback, where only one player can be rostered, you will end up with Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes (or another top QB of your choosing)
3. Since each team can roster a maximum of two running backs and two wide receivers, focusing on the tight end of your choice, or a top IDP option may be in your best interest early in the draft.

4-Person Contests - 2 Weeks in Duration

1. In 4-person contests, the contests span over two weeks, but only if you win the 1st week’s head-2-head matchup. In 4-person contests, your draft strategy will need to slightly switch. Targeting a top RB, WR, or TE in the first round still makes sense. That said, since you only need one TE per roster, there are still other tight ends most people would be comfortable within a four-team contest. 
2. Similar to a 2-team contest, Quarterback is a position to wait on unless you have the last pick. Look for RB+WR’s in the early rounds if you have an earlier pick position

8-person Contests - 3 Weeks in Duration

1. When it comes to 8-team contests, if you are prepared to use one of your 2 swaps at the quarterback position, you should look elsewhere early on in the draft. Only 8 total quarterbacks will be drafted in an 8-person contest, which means that if you draft a QB in the later rounds you will still find someone that you are very comfortable with.
2. The TE + RB positions will become more of a crapshoot in an 8-person contest. Running back will become thin because 16 total RB’s will get drafted. Finding a running back with strong matchups for 3 straight weeks can become substantially more difficult. Therefore, it is good to look for RB’s early and wait on WR’s/TE’s until a few rounds later.

16-person contests (4 weeks in duration)

In our opinion, these are the most fun contests on OwnersBox. They feel the most like real drafts (16 teams is a deep league), but since they're only 4 weeks, you can still do a TON of them each week.

1. The strategy in 16-person contests is very similar to 8-team contests. You’ll want to snag RB’s early. However, since 16 total TE’s will be drafted, you’ll definitely want to lean that direction earlier.
2. WR’s are deep this season, especially with the bad injuries to the top two RBs in Week 2, so you can afford to wait a little longer than expected to draft this position.
3. You will also want to lean QB’s in the early-mid rounds as there will start to be a drop-off as the draft carries on

Swaps & Waivers 

At OwnersBox users are given one of three designations in regards to their health or availability.

A green icon beside the player’s name denotes that the player is healthy. A yellow icon denotes that the player is on the injury report. Lastly, a red icon denotes that a player is injured or otherwise unavailable to play for that game.

It is also key to note that in all OwnersBox contests, there are no bench players, so swaps and waivers are extremely important. Across the board in all OwnersBox contests, users are allowed two swaps per week. If you are in a multiple week contest, you’re swaps refresh after the week rolls over. 

Injury Swaps

Since OwnersBox contests can span 1-week or longer depending on the number of users in the contest, this means that being able to manage your lineup becomes critical. This is especially true in the event of an injury. Once a player has been coined with a red status light, OwnersBox allows you to swap these players out of your lineup for a free agent in the player list.

If your player is labeled as injured, you are allowed unlimited swaps. If your player is not injured (red status light), then he will fall under the regular swap umbrella and it will count as 1 of your 2 allowed swaps.

Regular Swaps

Users can still swap out players on their roster for someone on the available player list if they are not injured. However, it is key to note that unlike injured players with a red status, players with a green (healthy) or yellow (pending) status light can only be swapped out twice per week. 

Roster Breakdown & Scoring System

Roster Breakdown:

• 1 quarterback (QB)
• 2 running backs (RB)
• 2 wide receivers (WR)
• 1 tight end (TE)
• 1 kicker (K)
• 3 individual defensive players (IDP)

Scoring System: 

Offensive Points: Passing Yards (1 point per 20 yds), Rushing/Receiving Yards (1 point per 10 yds), Receptions (1 point per), Touchdowns (6 points per), Thrown Interceptions (-3 points per), Fumbles Lost (-3 pts per), Sacks Surrendered (-1 point per)

Defensive Points: Interceptions (3 points per), Sacks (2 points per), Safeties (2 points per), Solo Tackles (1 point per), Pass Deflections (1 point per), Forced Fumbles (2 points per), Fumbles Recovered (2 points per)

Final Strategy Tips for OwnersBox Weekly Fantasy Games

1) Use Your Weekly Lineup Swaps Wisely

Remember, you are only allowed 2 lineup swaps per week. If you have some injuries and poor performances, that may not seem like a lot, but you will have flexibility if you take a risk on a player in a larger contest (8-man or 16-man contest). Just don't overdue it on high-risk players. 

2) Look Running Back Early

Especially now with the injuries to Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffery, the top-end workhorse running backs are even more scarce, and thus more valuable. Jump on one early!

3) Look for Top IDPs in the Mid-Rounds

Finding a solid IDP can help you gain an edge on your opponent, and you can jump on them a bit earlier than your opponents by targeting them in the mid-rounds, before a kicker and maybe even before your 2nd WR. RotoBaller's weekly IDP content has some incredible resources to help you target the best IDPs each week.

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