Fantasy Football Drafting

While I think you can do "ok" going into the draft with no preparation, you'll do a lot better if you get yourself up to date. This year you got all kinds of coaching changes, a lot of big names either becoming free agents or wanting out of Dodge and the NFL draft will bring in a crop of new playmakers so there's a bee-hive of activity.The things I look at first are the NFL draft, which rookies are most likely to be impact players, usually the running backs are.

How other factors can impact a current player like offensive line upgrades helping a running back (like Thomas Jones of the Jets last year for example) or players on teams with great defenses will get more scoring opportunities etc.Look for guys like the no. 2 WR who stands to benefit from the no.1 WR getting double teamed all the time, those sorts of things can especially help you with your later round picks.

Mock drafts are great in that you can try things you might not normally attempt in a live draft and you can see if that strategy is worth it or not. The main problem I had with some of the mock drafts I was in was people would drop out well before the end and it kinda ruined the whole point of it. But it will give you a general idea of how people will rank certain players.

Ok if you really are new to this fantasy football thing cardinal rule number one, NEVER draft a kicker until the last round.Nothing says rookie like taking a kicker any earlier.If your league uses team defense/special teams this should be very late rounds. I found that I rarely kept the same kicker or defense the entire season. Most times the ones sitting on waivers were better then the ones already chosen.
As for my strategy which is based on the scoring format of touchdowns, points for yardage and being able to start 1 QB 2 RB 2 WR 1 FLEX (WR or RB) 1 TE 1 K 1 ST/DEFENSE. That said, my drafting preference is RB,WR ,QB,TE, DEFENSE and K. Again that's a preference, there are a vast array of opinions on which postions to draft, this one seems to work pretty well for me. Since running backs have more scoring opportunities I give them higher value. And since you can start up to 3 in this format I try to load up. Unfortunately other GMs know this too so quality backs go early, which is why its so important to rank everyone so you know when to switch gears. For example if all the elite backs are gone but the number 1 WR is sitting there at your pick.. grab him! You can still get one of those other backs in later rounds.

The middle and late rounds are where you should start to gamble with rookies and the "handcuffs" (backups to star running backs who are 1 injury or conviction away from starting).Again it's about value,why grab a guy who averages 5-6 TDs a year when the payout may be better with a rookie or handcuff. I grabbed Chris Johnson the RB for the Titans at pick 119 in one of my drafts and he did better than a lot of my earlier picks did.

I personally don't do trades anymore,it seems like everytime I have been involved in one the other guy is trying to rip me off. I especially love the guy who picks a couple of guys off waivers and tries to package them for one of your really good players. They'll say something like," the average point total with these two is higher than player X,so its a good deal blah,blah,blah". Of course it isn't if you have to use two roster spots to get essentially the same thing you were gettting with one. Not long after you tell them "no" you find those same "great deals" back on waivers. So I don't even fool with it. If you decide to go this route make sure it makes sense because you have depth at a position and can afford to let someone go to upgrade an area of weakness.

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The true make or break of your fantasy season isn't your draft, but how well you work that waiver wire. The team I end up with is NEVER the same one I drafted.Oh, sure the superstars who are not on IR are still there, but many of those middle and late round guys are looking for work! I check the stats on every game hoping to strike gold with a guy that was overlooked. I mean look how many guys came out of nowhere last year to become fantasy studs. I had DeAngelo Williams as a wire pick up in a couple of leagues, and who would've thought Antonio Bryant, WR for the Bucs would light it up like he did down the stretch?

Well after its all said and done there is no one size fits all as far as draft strategy goes or everyone would have a power house team. Hopefully some of the information here will help with the basics.
Wow all this typing and I never told you how I did on all those leagues. Actually there's enough about that subject to make another lens, so I think I will. But I'll give you the nutshell version: out of 10 teams 7 made the playoffs (only the top 4 teams make it), 3 made it to the big dance (the division championship,where I got squished all 3 times but hey I made it!) LOL. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I have typing it. Good Luck!