How to Win the Flex Position in Your Fantasy Football League

The flex position adds intrigue to filling out your fantasy football lineup each week. The debate is: what kinds of players are better suited to be deployed there? It’s usually best to roll with a running back or a wide receiver at the flex spot, as opposed to a tight end. Factoring in matchups is also key to optimizing your flex position. Let’s examine some historical data that should be factored into making weekly flex position decisions.

Choosing a Flex in Standard Leagues

Running backs usually have added value in standard scoring leagues. In the 4for4 Fantasy Football Rankings, 12 of the top 20 ranked players are running backs. That includes 10 of the top 14 players. The 4for4 Fantasy Points Browser provides useful data in terms of scoring contributions by position. Last season, 24 running backs played at least 10 games and averaged at least 10.0 fantasy points per game. That included seven running backs who averaged at least 15.0 fantasy points.

In 2024, there were 24 running backs who appeared in at least 10 games and averaged at least 10.0 fantasy points per game last season. Of those 24 running backs, six of them averaged at least 15.0 fantasy points per game.

The same robust production is not usually found from wide receivers in this scoring format. Last year, only 10 wide receivers who played at least 10 games averaged at least 10.0 fantasy points. That was down from 17 the season prior. There were only four wide receivers last season who even averaged at least 12.0 fantasy points per game. In total, only two wide receivers averaged at least 15.0 fantasy points per game over the last two seasons.

Let’s work under the assumption that a fantasy league starts two running backs, two or three wide receivers, and one flex position each week. The pool of viable running backs is smaller than that of wide receivers because there are far more starting wide receivers in the NFL than running backs. Selecting three running backs early in your draft can put you in a favorable position at your flex spot, while also leaving you with plenty of options to fill out your wide receiver position in the later rounds.

In terms of RB3s, running backs 25-33 all averaged at least 8.1 fantasy points in 2024 and 7.7 fantasy points last year. However, WR3s and WR4s start to have more value. There were 79 wide receivers who played at least 10 games and averaged at least 7.0 fantasy points per game in the last two seasons. There were 73 running backs who did the same over those two years.

Choosing a Flex in Half-PPR Leagues

The 4for4 Fantasy Football Rankings for half-PPR leagues still show the importance of running backs, with 12 running backs ranked inside the top 20 overall again. Still, this scoring format increases the value of wide receivers the further we move down the rankings. There are 44 wide receivers ranked inside the top 100, versus 36 running backs.

In this scoring format, there were 16 running backs who played at least 10 games and averaged at least 14.0 fantasy points in 2024, and 11 of them in 2025. There were 12 wide receivers who met the same criteria in 2024 and six last season. Looking further down then illustrates the added production that wide receivers can provide in this format. There were 50 wide receivers who played at least 10 games and averaged at least 8.0 fantasy points in 2024 and 43 last year. Only 36 running backs played at least that many games and averaged at least 8.0 fantasy points in 2024, followed by 37 last year.

More historical data continues to back the trend of wide receivers being more productive in this format. Operating under the same minimum 10 games played criteria, 47 wide receivers in 2023 and 44 wide receivers in 2022 averaged at least 8.0 fantasy points per game. There were 36 running backs who did that in 2023 and 34 in 2022.

Choosing a Flex in PPR Leagues

This format is where wide receivers are favored significantly more than running backs. The 4for4 Fantasy Football Rankings have 12 running backs and eight wide receivers ranked inside the top 20. There are 43 wide receivers ranked inside the top 100, versus 36 running backs.

The 2025 season was a bit of an outlier when it comes to comparing top running backs and wide receivers in PPR formats. There were 13 wide receivers who appeared in at least 10 games and averaged at least 14.0 fantasy points, versus 15 running backs. Two seasons ago, there were 27 wide receivers who averaged at least 14.0 fantasy points in this format. There were only 20 running backs who did the same.

Digging deeper shows that wide receivers were still more valuable than running backs last year, overall. There were 51 wide receivers who averaged at least 8.0 fantasy points per game, versus 42 running backs. In 2024, 62 wide receivers averaged at least 8.0 fantasy points per game, compared to 41 running backs.

More historical data supports wide receivers being more valuable than running backs in PPR format. In 2023, there were 58 wide receivers who played at least 10 games and averaged at least 8.0 fantasy points. There were only 40 running backs who did the same. In 2022, there were 58 wide receivers who averaged at least 8.0 fantasy points per game, compared to 44 running backs.

The Bottom Line

• Running backs are generally better options when choosing a player to fill a flex spot in standard scoring leagues. A viable strategy is to draft more running backs early to try and fill the position.
• Wide receivers gain more value in half-PPR leagues, and a case can be made for utilizing a wide receiver who starts for his team at your flex spot, rather than a player in the RB3 range. Once full-PPR scoring comes into play, WR3s and WR4s have the potential for significantly more upside than RB3s and RB4s.
• In addition to league scoring format, matchups should be weighed heavily when determining your weekly flex option. If your third running back has a significantly more favorable matchup than your third or fourth wide receiver, then start them in your flex spot, even if it is half-PPR or full-PPR scoring. Use 4for4’s Hot Spots: Team Level Strength of Schedule app to help determine favorable and unfavorable matchups.