One of the newer ways to play fantasy football, Chopped leagues, also called guillotine leagues, offer a refreshing, cutthroat challenge for anyone brave enough to participate. You start a league with up to 18 teams, draft your rosters, and do your best not to come in last each week of the season. If you do end up with the lowest score of the week, you’re out. The team eliminated each week drops all their players to the waiver wire, where the remaining teams bid to acquire the available talent. At the end, there is only one squad left, and they claim ALL the rewards! Sounds simple enough, right? Maybe, but I’m going to give you some tips on how to navigate your draft to help you avoid an early exit.
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Chopped/Guillotine League Strategy
High Variance Players are Not Your Friends
In a lot of ways, a Chopped league is the opposite of Best Ball. For Best Ball, you want a few players who can score a lot of points in any given week. Guys like Jameson Williams and Alec Pierce are known to tally 100 or more yards and multiple touchdowns in a single game but have also given rather disappointing numbers just as often. These are not ideal targets in your Chopped draft. If you have multiple players underwhelm or lay an egg, it could send you packing early. Leave these guys for your opponents and let them suffer the consequences.
Opportunity is King
Ideally, the best players in this league type are the type that will give you solid numbers every week. “Workhorse” running backs are absolute gold as they’re typically getting north of 20 touches per game. Obviously, with the smaller number of workhorse backs, these players get drafted early, so you’re really going to want to get one or two in those first few rounds. Jonathan Taylor was a great early player to add last year as he notched at least 20 touches and exceeded 90 total yards in each of his first six games of 2025.
Outside of running backs, tight ends and wide receivers perceived as the clear alpha in their teams’ passing game make excellent foundational pieces for early-season success. A tight end I’m targeting this year is Travis Kelce. Even with his advanced years, he saw six or more targets in 11 games last year. Solid stats that keep you alive.
Preseason Injuries and Missed Time Lead to Trouble
This is the most important rule when approaching your Chopped league draft. Last year, if you left your draft with Terry McLaurin (holdout) or Jonathan Brooks (ACL), things weren’t looking good for you. Brooks missed the entire season, and McLaurin started slowly and only eclipsed five receptions in one game. This also applies to players coming back from serious, season-ending injuries the year before, like Patrick Mahomes or Malik Nabers. If these guys see the field in those first couple of weeks, they’re almost never at 100% and could be used very conservatively.
Rookies Need Time
I won’t tell you to avoid rookies altogether, as you might want one or two further down the road when they’ve acclimated to the pro level. Even the best rookie campaigns, like Justin Jefferson (five total catches in first two weeks) and Sam LaPorta (39 yards in Week 1), started out slow before they both exploded into the history books. In 2025, TreVeyon Henderson didn’t surpass 51 total yards until Week 8. Focus on the veterans who didn’t just join their current teams in the offseason. They know the playbook and the schemes better than the new guys. On top of that, they already have the confidence of the coaches and will get their fair share of opportunities.
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Waiting on Quarterback or Tight End
Chopped leagues are traditionally always 1QB formats. If you’re in a 2QB or Superflex league, skip this part and good luck with that chaos. More than any other league format, I’ve found that getting solid players at the other skill positions works out very well. Ideally, I’m leaving my draft with a workhorse running back, a solid tight end, and a couple of high-volume receivers. If you take a quarterback in the first four or five rounds, you could be missing out on the safe and consistent numbers that will keep you battling in those early weeks. You can always claim another stud quarterback when one of your competitors falters. It’s been a widely perceived strategy in normal redraft leagues for a long time, and it is all the more important when your season is on the line every week.
This year, you can take the same approach on tight ends. With so many teams consistently running 12 personnel (two TEs) on offense and the influx of talented players over the last few years, TE is another position you can wait on if you don’t land one of the top three or four guys.
Get Your Guys
Arguably, the most important tip for any kind of fantasy league: build your roster the way you want it! If you want to snag Jalen Hurts in the third round, do it. If you want to start with four wide receivers to hoard volume, do it. If you think Christian Watson is due for a breakout this year, take him. We’re all here to have fun, and you should be happy with the roster you create. It’s your team, and only you can turn it into a championship. Just take the advice you want, make your choices, and enjoy!
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