Ok, here comes my first real post I'm going to lay down some guidlines I believe will help you have a successful fantasy football draft and season. As a long time player of fantasy leagues, I have done everything right and also have done everything that you can possibly do wrong, but the key is learning from your mistakes (this applies to life as well).
Let's start off with the things that you should do before every fantasy football season starts.
1. The first thing you need to do to help yourself in your leagues is carefully examine the scoring structure of your league. Most leagues that play for money have custom rules and you have to understand that carefully, not draft thinking you are playing this league under typical default scoring leagues. Always make sure you check and see if your league is Point Per Reception, aka PPR, this makes your draft system change. For example, the classic view is take a running back first, and that is normally sound advice, but in a PPR league you want to grab an elite running back who catches a lot of passes out of the backfield. This elevates the value of running backs such as Shady McCoy and Ray Rice, because they catch a lot of balls. I would argue that in a PPR league that those two players should be valued over say an Adrian Peterson. Also, in a PPR league your wide receivers have a lot of value, so now one would argue taking an elite receiver in the first round, because the point per catch is going to average out to them worth that pick. Don't underestimate Tight Ends who catch a lot of passes, a guy like Jason Witten has a lot of value in PPR leagues, because he is his Quarterback's favorite and reliable target.
2. Sign up for some free, casual leagues before you do your money leagues. I know this sounds like common knowledge and can be time consuming, but you gain a lot of knowledge by doing this. This allows you to have a real draft feel and you can get an idea where players are coming off the board, which will only help your draft strategy. I feel that you should do at least 3 of these, that way you can come up with a good average. Amazingly, in 10 team leagues so far I've been able to draft Matt Ryan in the 9th round!! That's excellent knowledge to gain if you do miss out on or risk passing on the big 5 QB's (Rodgers, Brees, Brady, Stafford, and Newton). matt Ryan's numbers are not going to be far off those guys and while your opponents may have snagged the better QB, you can use this time to draft elite WR's and RB's and give yourself an advantage in those areas, while waiting for a very good QB later.
3. Examine the players coming back from injury from the previous season. It's always risky taking a player who is returning from a season-ending injury, but it can be a great strategy for you to ge tthe most value. Do the research, watch the pre-season games and see how these players are doing. Everyone is going to be focused this year on Peyton Manning and some people may jump and take him early and no one would argue with you if you did, however, i am more interested in a guy like Matt Schaub. Schaub is always a top-notch fantasy QB, but he seems to be a forgotten guy this year and you may be able to steal a top 10 QB very late, i've seen him last into the 12th round. If you see his name in the 12th round still on the board, pull the trigger and take him, do not hesitate.
4. Bench players!! I believe in filling out your roster fully, except for the kicker, before taking bench players. Exception being it's the 5th or 6th round and a guy who you feel should've been gone in the 2nd or 3rd round is still there, then take a high backup, at the very worst you can trade one at a later time. Last year, in a lot of my leagues I had both Philip Rivers and Matt Stafford, well when Stafford when bat-shit crazy, Rivers became expendable and I got great trade value. However, drafting 2 top guys at their position when you can only play one can lead to indesicion on your part and you may pass on a top guy who will be in your lineup all the time. So, for the most part I stick to the early idea of filling out your starters first. Now, to the big pet peeve in drafting your bench, you are drafting your bench players for one primary reason a quality player to fill out the bye weeks. Don't be stupid and draft a bench player with the same bye week as the starter, that's just assinine. This leads into topic 5.
5. Bye weeks!! There are different perspectives to the bye weeks. Some people like to spread them out, where some people will sacrifice one week and have a majority of their team with the same bye week and accept defeat that week for the stronger team the majority of weeks. By doing the latter, you can catch more teams in their weakness, while you still believe you are strong. I like the latter strategy, because I like to pair up my QB with his primary target (get double the value), knowing that on that given bye week, my team will be weaker than normal, but I have an advantage for the majority of weeks. You don't have to win every week to make the playoffs, so getting killed one week is not a big concern.
6. Do not overvalue rookies!! I know that there is a desire to pull the one-up on your league and be able to brag about grabbing the top rookie. However, soem rookies come out the gate strong and may help you win early, almost all the time the rookies hit the so-called rookie wall and you know when that happens around week 12. So, when the playoffs start, typically around week 13, one of you dominant guys for the early part is not going to be so dominant when you need him the most. Also, most rookies are able to be grabbed in the waiver wire, most people got Cam Newton last year after week 1!!!
7. Understand matchups!! I find it funny that a certain fantasy site has Trent Richardson ranked #11 overall in the draft board. Now, he may become a great player, but he has 2 big knocks on him, 1. he is a rookie and 2. he plays the Ravens, Steelers, and Bengals twice!! That's 6 games against Top 5 defenses!! Almost half the season is against teams he will not be projected to do well against and probably won't, seems like a dumb pick to me.
8. Trades!! Simply put, never trade away a starter, unless you are getting a better one or you have an equal backup and are gaining a starter in another position. Don't waste your time trading for players that will be on your bench, you can easily get someone off waivers and not weaken your team.
9. Handcuffs!! Depending on the roster structure, if you have a flex for a RB and you get a guy who does share carries or is known for missing a few games every year and the team has a good backup, draft the starter's backup. It is a smart strategy, i.e. if you have Arian Foster or Matt Forte, then pick up Ben Tate and Michael Bush respectively. It will only benefit you.
10. Dance with who brung you!! If you do make the playoffs, first off congratulations, and secondly keep your lineup intact. Don't play the matchup game in the post-season, this team was good enough to get you to the dance, then it's good enough to make you the champion. Second-guessing will only lead to mistakes and in the playoffs one mistake can cost you the money and if you do lose, you can at least take solace in the fact that you put your best squad out there, you just got beat. It's much worse to beat yourself, by taking out one of your top guns cause you think you have a better matchup and then it doesn't pan out and then you are kicking yourself in the ass.
Well, that's all I got for this post. These are my top 10 keys for success in fantasy football. As always, feel free to disagree, but remember you are always free to get the funk out!!!
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