The last few picks of a draft are where managers can get lazy. They reach for a backup they will cut in September or a name they half-remember from a podcast. That is wasted upside. Those picks cost you nothing, and the sharp move is to spend them on lottery tickets.
PFN’s Kyle Soppe closed a recent superflex mock exactly that way. With his core already built, he swung for the fences on Rashid Shaheed and Isiah Pacheco. He is not counting on either one. In his own words, “I hope they don’t” crack the starting lineup, “as that would mean my stars have stayed healthy and productive.” I am with him completely.
Why the Best Late-Round Picks Are Ones You Hope to Bench
Once your starters are in place, the final rounds turn into free rolls. Chase upside, not safety. A dependable backup who scores eight points a week does nothing for you, while a dart with a real path to a featured role can flip a matchup or a season.
Look at what Soppe’s logic actually says. The best-case scenario is that these players never start for him. If they do, something has gone wrong at the top of his roster. He is buying insurance that doubles as a lottery ticket, and the cost is a pick he was going to burn on a kicker anyway. That is a free swing at real upside, and there is no reason to pass it up.
Rashid Shaheed and Isiah Pacheco Are the Blueprint
Shaheed is the boom half of the pair. Seattle’s deep-ball specialist is going around WR56 in half-PPR drafts, and the profile is volatile by design. The booms, though, are enormous. Nearly every touchdown of his career has traveled at least 30 yards, and he now runs routes for Sam Darnold, one of the league’s most aggressive downfield throwers. Win the clear WR2 job opposite Jaxon Smith-Njigba, or simply hit on two deep balls in a shootout, and Shaheed becomes a flex that wins your week.
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Pacheco is the other kind of bet. He sits behind Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit, which is about as close to an elite role as a backup can get. The Lions turn their lead back into a star. David Montgomery, the man Pacheco replaced, spun that same job into 908 scrimmage yards and eight touchdowns last season. Should Gibbs ever miss time, Pacheco inherits the machine.
Neither one needs a starting spot for your team to be good. Both can swing a week if they get one. That is the entire point.
When your draft winds down and the safe, boring names start calling your name, buy the tickets instead. Draft the contingent upside, root hard for your stars to stay healthy, and be glad the insurance is sitting on your bench the week one of them goes down.
