Preparing For Your Draft

Preparing for Your Fantasy Football Draft
by Jeff T. of RotoPicks.com

Fantasy football is a multi-billion dollar industry that is the king of all fantasy sports. With more people getting involved in the game all the time, fantasy football has become a year round event if you want to stay on top. The NFL has marketed it's product better than any other sport out there, so there are many ways to get the information you need. Although you only have to create a starting lineup once a week, you should stay on top of any and all NFL news daily. The following is an article about using the right information on a consistent basis to get an edge on the rest of the players in your league. So let's get started.

Know Your Leagues Rules

Above all else, this is the first thing you should look into. You wouldn't put together a new bicycle for your child without a set of instructions, right? Every league is going to have it's own unique set of rules. You should understand all of them, such as how many total players you will draft and how many you must draft at each position. This can prepare you for the right time to grab that "steal of the draft" in the later rounds.

You should also know what day of the week your league allows you to drop a player so you're not caught flat-footed replacing a key injury to your lineup.

Keep tabs on how your commissioner has set up your league's scoring system, so you can draft your players accordingly. For example, if you are in a Points Per Reception league (PPR), you will want to look at what wide receiver's out there are averaging the most receptions per game. These are simply a few key rules that every league should have in place. You should definitely look through all of the rules so you are as prepared as the commissioner who wrote them.

Cheating is Required

Cheat sheets are a must for your immediate reference at your draft. While doing your homework on which running back is going to be drafted first, create your own customized cheat sheet dedicated solely to each player position. Here is how you get started:

Take one blank piece of paper and write down which tight end, for example, you believe is going to be the highest scoring tight end in the league this year. Not what someone else says, this is going to be your team after all, not theirs. Then do the same for each subsequent position. You will constantly refer back to these sheets as the draft nears. Scribble guys out if they get injured in preseason. Move them up or down your list as you see where they will start on their respective teams' depth chart. You should always tweak these lists until you can look at each one and say, with confidence, that this is who you will grab if all of the other players ahead of him are already taken.

Never go into your draft without having some sort of cheat sheet that has been planned out by you ahead of time. Remember, you are the coach, general manager and owner all rolled into one. Start acting like it and live or die by your own decisions. That's what makes this process fun.

Just Score, Baby!

The name of the game is points, people. It's easy to find out which players are scoring the most in the league. However, you must also know what offensive schemes are scoring the most, as well. The NFL is a copycat league, so draft your team accordingly. Realize that if the top offensive teams are lining up with four wide receivers and a quarterback who throws the ball 40 times a game, a lot of other teams will soon be lining up to do the very same. So think about drafting a wide receiver, or two, early in your serpentine draft from one of these pass-happy teams.

On the flip side to that point, there are teams that buck these trends and will try to run the ball 40 times a game. You should dig deep to find out which coaches have a history of running the ball and controlling the clock, while keeping the passes to a minimum. Think about adding those coaches' running backs toward the top of your cheat sheets.

Number of Touches

Top point producers in fantasy football will usually get the ball in their hands more often than their teammates, throughout every game. You have to know who the quarterback's favorite targets are, as well. Generally it will be a wide receiver, but it may be a tight end or a running back as well.

Also look at whom the coach likes to get the ball to when his offense is in the red zone. Whether it's a fade route to his tallest wide receiver, or pounding the ball with his running back, know these tendencies. Running backs who are the primary back for their team and catch the ball out of the backfield are going to be more valuable than the running back that comes off the field on third down, especially in PPR leagues.

These extra touches can hurt a player later in his career, however. It's a proven fact that at the age of 30, or after 2,500 carries, a running back's production nosedives significantly. (See Rob's killer article: When Do Running Backs Decline?) So don't always look to that older marquee player unless you've done your due diligence and you feel you can squeak one more good year out of him.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Look at every team's strength and use that to your advantage. If a team has a strong offensive line with a coach who loves to run the ball, it's a good combination to look deeper into.

In the same respect, you should know if a team gives up a lot of points on defense every game and how this helps you. Understand that the offense is going to be playing catch up and thus, throwing the ball most of the time. So look to those team's quarterbacks and wide receivers to give your lineup a boost.

Odds and Ends

Keep an eye on the BYE weeks for each player you are planning to draft. You could end up with several starters on their BYE during the same week, which isn't terrible if you really like your team and you feel you just cannot pass a player up. It can be a mess for one or two weeks during the season for you though if you're not careful.

Look at each team's strength of schedule. The beauty of the NFL is they match the worst teams from the previous year against each other. Which means they pit the best against the best, as well. The key is to find the teams and players who consistently put up points no matter who they are playing against.

When your draft gets to the later rounds and you are begging for someone to jump out at you and it seems like there is nothing there. Look to a cagey veteran who may still be available. He will probably perform much better than a rookie that is still available, simply because he is a veteran. The learning curve is over and he could be the difference on a BYE week fill-in that gets you one or two more wins.

Always stay on top of the injury reports and waiver wires. Even up until your draft, something strange could happen at a practice and a player may no longer be the starter you were anticipating going into your draft. Teams often cut players prior to the first game of the season for contract/salary reasons.

This is only the beginning to your future addiction to fantasy football. Remember that a little studying now, can go a long way toward you lifting your league's championship trophy at the end of the year and an offseason of bragging rights amongst friends. What can be better than that?

Before I go, I want to share something with you that is REALLY cool! The game of fantasy football is evolving. The new futuristic way to play, which is taking the web by storm, is "weekly" fantasy football. Each week you have the opportunity to draft a new team. These leagues range in size from 2 to 1000 and entry fees range from $2 to $525. You can find this cool new way to play at FanDuel. Check it out, but don't blame me when you get addicted!

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