If you’ve ever played season-long fantasy before, you’re likely familiar with how a Snake Draft works. In short, for these Classic contests, once the allotted number of entries are filled in a contest, the draft will begin one minute later. The entrants are assigned a random draft order and will commence in that order. The player with the first pick gets dibs on everyone while the player with the last pick will get a double pick, as it’ll end the first round and thus begin the second.
Roster requirements for lineups: QB - 1 RB - 1 WR/TE - 2 FLEX - 2
For a full breakdown of rules, please visit our How to Play Classic and Showdown NFL Snake Draft page.
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Favorable Early Round Matchup
Travis Kelce, WR/TE, Kansas City Chiefs
Snake Classic Rank: 1st
If you’re lucky enough to get the first pick and you’re taking anyone other than Kelce, you may want to rethink your choice to play the Snake format. Kelce is THE play on this slate against a Bills defense that cannot fathom to stop this position. The Colts exploited this hole so well in the Wild Card round, as they made 14 receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown. That sounds like a normal Kelce day to me if I’m being honest. When Kelce faced them back in Week 6, he only made five catches for 65 yards, but two of those were touchdowns. The cherry on top is how much Patrick Mahomes (Rank: 3) has been going his way as of late, drawing no less than 10 targets in five straight games, scoring in all of them and logging 100-plus yards in three.
Oh, you can also bet Kelce to go over 100 yards and score a touchdown thanks to myself and Julian Edlow’s podcast “Unreasonable Odds” Odds Boost we have up on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Davante Adams, WR/TE, Green Bay Packers
Snake Classic Rank: 2nd
Really can’t get too cute on a two-game slate. Adams, which I know I don’t have to tell you, is the alpha in this Packers offense. His matchup against the Buccaneers is a good one, as this secondary has seemingly crumbled in the second half of the season. Now, Adams will line up in coverage against CB Carlton Davis, who has been targeted against 108 times, allowing a 60.2% catch rate, 14.6 YPR and has been scored on six times. Adams not only led the Packers in overall target share at 29.7%, but he also dominated with 36.4% of the red-zone targets. With a tough run defense presented from the Bucs, Adams could be relied upon even more, if that’s humanly possible.
Early Round Matchup To Avoid
Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers
Snake Classic Rank: 7th
I’m not going near the Packers' run game against this Bucs defense. While the secondary crumbled, the run defense remained strong. Granted, when these teams met in Week 6, the Bucs blew out the Packers but Jones only gained 15 yards on 10 carries. That was his lowest YPC of the season as he never finished with less than 3.5 at any point during the season. Jones has also seen a bit of a dip in his workload, as AJ Dillon (Rank: 30) has been a bit more involved than you’d expect. In all, this is an easy fade for me.
Late Round Fliers
It should be noted that these players are ranked below the threshold of players that would be drafted. This section simply tries to exploit players who are in favorable matchups and are down the rank list.
Ronald Jones, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Snake Classic Rank: 17th
Jones is ranked way too low for someone that should be in the lead role for the Bucs. With full participation in practice on Friday, Jones should be active and take on a Packers defense that he put up 23/113/2 against back in Week 6. This is a very vulnerable Packers run defense that has struggled all season long. It doesn’t feel like it but Jones has been very efficient when he’s on the field, averaging just over 3.5 yards per attempt after contact, which was one of the top 10 best marks in the league. Getting an RB1 in the last round of your draft is really tremendous value and would be the perfect way to cap off your draft. Even when Leonard Fournette (Rank: 12) has been active, Jones averages 26% of the team’s total touches.
John Brown, WR/TE, Buffalo Bills
Snake Classic Rank: 21st
After being shutout against the Colts, Brown made plenty of noise against the Ravens, catching eight of his 11 targets for 62 yards and 14.2 DKFP. I’m weary of the matchup for Stefon Diggs (Rank: 5) this week, as he’ll see CB Charvarius Ward. Brown, on the other hand, will draw CB Bashaud Breeland. While both aren’t easy matchups, Breeland has been very beatable lately. Over the past three games, Breeland has been targeted against 15 times, allowing nine receptions for 120 yards, which is an average of 13.3 YPR. Taking a shot with Brown in the final round of your draft could bring some solid upside if he becomes the primary target for Josh Allen (Rank: 6)
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