This column was originally published in 2025, and has been updated for the 2026 season.
Atlanta Falcons RB Bijan Robinson will be the first player selected in many fantasy drafts, regardless of format, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Robinson has been reliable and productive, finishing as a top-three running back in each of the past two seasons. Go ahead and take Robinson first overall. It is a sensible move.
Then again, that advice won't do much for the fantasy manager picking ninth or 10th overall. Those managers, through no fault of their own in most cases, will not get Robinson, Detroit Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs or Los Angeles Rams WR Puka Nacua or anyone else who ends up going near the top of Round 1. Hey, things can still work out -- I quite enjoy picking last in Round 1, thus going first in Round 2 -- but the point is, nobody has much control in a draft.
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As Mick Jagger has been telling us for more than 50 years, you can't always get what you want. He probably wasn't talking about standard fantasy football drafts, but let's pretend, for our purposes.
In a salary cap draft, however, you can always get what you want.
Don't be intimidated, folks. Perhaps you've always been a traditional drafter and that is all you aspire to, but you should give salary cap drafts a try. They're fun, far more intriguing and captivating, and there's nothing "standard" about them. Here, you don't just make a pick and wait impatiently for your next one, watching players you desire join other teams. There's a whole lot more strategy involved in a salary cap draft and, to reiterate, if you really want Robinson or Gibbs or Nacua, you can get them. In fact, it is a legitimate strategy to try to get all three of them.
Let's start with the basics.
It is a very different, cool way to fill a fantasy football roster. Each team has a set budget of allotted funds to spend, typically a default of $200. (Not real money, of course.) Managers nominate players in a preset order, whether they want the player or not (occasionally to induce others to spend money), then everyone bids on players until each individual process concludes with the player going to the highest bidder, and everyone fills their roster. This is a timed process, moving along at a swift pace. It's a fun adventure, different every time.