Fantasy Football Drafting
Fantasy Football - Drafting your Football Team
Author: Tk Healey
Training camps are opened up, most of this year's draft picks are signed, and preseason games are being played. This opens the way for fantasy football games.
What better way to brag to your buddies about your superior football knowledge than by beating them with a fantasy football team that you put together? We all know the guy who thinks he knows everything about football, but never manages to keep his team out of the cellar in the standings.
Fantasy football leagues have changed the way in which we watch football games. Head to head competition amongst your pals. Imagine this scenario: You are watching the Seahawks vs the Cardinals. The Cardinals have the ball on the Seahawk 7 yard line, but instead of cheering for the team to score you are cheering for Anquain Boldin because you are in a close game with you buddy from work who has Larry Fitzgerald the Cardinals other top receiver. Don't just pick good football players be sure to pick a few of the great ones. One that falls into this category is the quarterback fro the New England Patriots Tom Brady.
Also in-between plays and sometimes even during plays viewers have their eyes glued to the bottom line. Not to check the scores around the league, but instead the fantasy alert which keeps viewers updated on who is scoring the touchdowns in every game.
Sports Illustrated. The Sporting News, and ESPN the magazines all come out with annual fantasy football magazines that offer cheat sheets, predictions, and strategies for dominating leagues. Throughout the season they also have small portions of their magazines where they update their strategies and ranking of players.
There is in abundance of information out there to dominate you league. Now its time for you to go out there; find the right information, join a league, and show of your football knowledge to your buddies or be the guy stuck in the cellar.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/soccer-articles/fantasy-football-drafting-your-football-team-47774.html
About the Author
TK Healey chief editor for SurfTilYouDrop® a consumer based website focusing on As Seen On TV Products. Visit www.surftilyoudrop.com today and check out Head2Head Fantasy Football and play with family and friends.;
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
Without knowing your scoring system I can’t be entirely accurate but I’ll assume standard scoring.
Absolutely go RB in the first round. RBs are a scarce commodity in fantasy football and you have a chance to get a great one. Likely Addai, Jackson, or Westbrook. All solid guys to have.
I’d actually consider RB in the next round as well. By the time you get to the 3rd round you’ll have very little chance to get a quality RB but there will still be solid WRs left. Plus with a flex spot you’ll need AT LEAST 2 solid running backs to be a good team.
In the 3rd round if for some reason Peyton Manning or Tom Brady are still available, take them. They probably won’t be and you should wait on a QB. Take the best WR available unless there is a surprising RB still there so you can take advantage of your flex spot.
In the 4th round take the best WR if you took a 3rd RB last round. Otherwise take the highest rated player either WR or RB. Same thing in the 5th.
6th round you’ll probably need a WR for sure by now and if you’ve got good WR/RB balance you should still have a good choice for the large pack of middle level QBs to take one.
Start filling out your team for the next few rounds.
Don’t take a defense until the 10th round (someone will have already taken the best 3 way too early). And draft your kicker last – they’re all the same. If your fantasy football team is dependent on your kicker you’ve got bigger problems.
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
Ok, first off – welcome to fantasy football.
For beginners, if you have a top 6 pick, go for the best running back available. Adrian Peterson should always be the first pick off the board. After him, look to get either Michael Turner, Maurice Jones Drew, Matt Forte, Steven Jackson, or Chris Johnson.
If you do not have a top 6 pick, and those players are already taken, try to get either Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, or Randy Moss.
In the second round, there are several key players to take. Generally, if you took a running back in the first round, you look for the best wide receiver available. If Tom Brady or Peyton Manning are available, take them. If you took a WR in the first round, MAKE SURE YOU PICK THE BEST RB AVAILABLE!
However, if Steve Slaton or Brandon Jacobs are available at your pick in the second round, take them no matter what. (even if u got a rb in the first round)
After the 2nd, try to pick the best wr or rb available. Wide receivers go pick, so pick them quick. Look for jennings, colston, white, and smith.
If no top receivers are available, take another running back. Dont be afraid to have 3 running backs after the first 3 rounds.
Generally you want to hold back on quarterbacks until the 5th round or so, because even second tier ones put up great numbers.
By the end of the 4th round, you should have atleast 1 rb and 2 wrs, or 2rbs and 1 wr, unless you took 3 great running backs.
TE’s can be picked as late as the 10th round, and the kickers and defenses should be one of ur last picks. (Defenses can be taken early)
Try filling out your roster with depth.
Ex. Take bench receivers and running backs before some Tight ends and all kickers.
Depth is what wins you championships.
Tips
Always take Pierre Thomas if he makes it to the end of the 3rd round.
Always take Brandon Jacobs if he makes it to the mid second round
Get good bench players
Get Chris Wells as a bench player, along with knowshon moreno – they will have big years.
Get kickers last
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
The best drafting position to have in a 10 player league would be 3rd this year and I’ll tell you why.
If you’re drafting third, you’re assured that you’ll get at least one of the big 3: Shaun Alexander, Larry Johnson and Ladainian Tomlinson. By getting one of these guys, you’ve assured yourself of at least one player who can carry you’re team through the rigors of the fantasy season. This also allows you to concentrate on other positions because you’ve got the guy who’s going to score at least one touchdown a game.
For your next pick, you could get a really good wide receiver such as Marvin Harrison. And from there, you can choose the best available players.
Here’s how my team drafted in the third spot.
QB: Trent Green, Billy Volek
RB: Ladainian Tomlinson, Tatum Bell, Thomas Jones, Ron Dayne
WR: Marvin Harrison, Hines Ward, Eddie Kennison, Drew Bennett
TE: Jeremy Shockey, Jermaine Wiggins
D: Indianapolis, Washington
K: Adam Vinatieri
Hope that helps.
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
Most important, know your scoring system within your league. Example, a QB is less valuable in a league that credits him with 3 points per TD and 1 point per 50 yards thrown as opposed to a league that credits him with 6 points per TD and 1 point per 25 yards thrown.
Don’t assume that the stats from a prior year are going to carry over to the next season. Older running backs that saw a lot of work in the prior year have a tendency to slow down or get injured. Major personnel moves on the offensive line may affect offensive players, particularly RBs and QBs. The loss of two to three key defensive players will affect a defense.
Factor in injuries from the prior season. Especially for running backs. Major injuries may cause a decline for at least the first half, if not the entire season for a player. A guy like Ronnie Brown is someone that I’m very cautious about this year.
Pass on rookie WRs and QBs. They very rarely do well, and in the case of QBs usually don’t even start. Rookie RBs can do well, but look at the teams that drafted them to see if they’re going to end up in the dreaded RBBC (running back by committee).
Factor in player movement. A good example was Edge James going from Indy to Arizona. His yards per carry, receiving yards, and touchdowns have dropped in 2006 and 2007 as opposed to his last three years 2003-2005 with the Colts. His value is definitely down in a Cardinals uniform.
Most people use a formula for drafting like RB RB QB or RB RB WR, etc. I don’t. Based on expected points per game, I factor in prior seasons, personnel moves, and whether I think that player can repeat; I’ll draft the best player available. I typically draft a RB in the first round, but if the seven RB’s on my short list are gone, I’d take Brady if he’s still there or Moss.
I’m more likely to take two RBs and two WRs in the first four rounds. I’ve typically waited to draft a QB until round 5. I will skip drafting a QB in round 5 or even beyond if I can’t find one that I think is a value pick for that round. Every season, you can typically find a guy like Derek Anderson on the FA list for last year. I drafted Tony Romo in Round 8 last year. Guys like Tom Brady were FA pick ups in 2001, Kurt Warner in 1999, Matt Hasselbeck in 2002. Derek Anderson, Jay Cutler, Kurt Warner, and Jon Kitna were all FA pick ups in my league last year.
Its good to have a plan like RB RB WR, or RB WR RB; but don’t take a player based solely on position if you know he’s not a good value at that spot and have reason to believe you can pick that same player or a comparable one in a later round.
Defenses are pretty similar to QBs, in that you can usually wait and draft a good one in the later rounds or pick up a good one off the FA list. Its true that there are usually 2-3 DEF that stand out above the rest, but there were easily more than 12 teams that logged over 75 combined sacks, fumble recoveries, and interceptions. You can also rotate your defense to whoever is playing a weak offense that week. I played with a guy last year that employed the strategy of adding and dropping defenses to start whoever was playing either SF, Buffalo, Atlanta, St Louis, Miami, or the Jets last season. At least one of those teams opponents was available on the FA list every week.
I draft a kicker with the last pick in the draft. With your last pick, it makes it easy to drop the guy for someone else without hesitating. I drafted Nick Folk in the last round who ended up finishing fourth among kickers. Other top ten guys like Bironas and Phil Dawson were on the FA list over the course of the season.
The other position I place a lower priority on is TE. After Gonzalez, Winslow, and Gates; the rest in the top 12 are fairly close in points per game. I picked Donald Lee of the FA list last year. He finished 9th in yards, and tied for 6th in TDs among tight ends.
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
YES but only if you use two different types of Browsers, like Mozilla Firefox for one and Internet Explorer for the other.
Morally it is kinda cheating, but if you don’t care go for it.
August 3, 2006
2:30 pm
what is the best drafting position to have in a 10 player Yahoo Fantasy Football draft?
August 17, 2007
1:56 pm
Can you two fantasy football teams drafting in the same league at the same time on the same computer?
So you log in as one person, open the application. Then log in as another person, and open the application?
May 1, 2008
7:58 am
What is the best stradegy for drafting your fantasy football team?
I know that anyone that knows anything doesn’t just choose from the top of the list. Can anyone share their strategy for choosing a solid fantasy football team?
August 12, 2008
6:32 pm
Fantasy football drafting order? Which positions are the best to pick first and in which rounds?
…based on 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 WR or RB flex position, 1 K, 1 DEFENSE.
This is for a 10 round, serpentine draft where I am drafting 5th. Please share as much as you would like. I am a fantasy football clean slate ready to learn the best possible strategy.
August 9, 2009
5:25 pm
Who can tell me the basics of Fantasy Football drafting? What do I need? How many at positions blah blah blah?
What should I go for first?
I should be specific. I am in a league. I just have never played before I don’t want to pick 3 players that I don’t need or something