Fantasy Football Draft Strategy

Do you want a winning fantasy football draft strategy? Read on and you will find four keys to drafting well for your fantasy football league. There are many different fantasy football draft strategies that are pushed by all sorts of "experts" in the field. You will find that the following one works best.

1. Know the rules – This may seem like it’s completely unnecessary, but believe it or not there are people out there that don’t read the rules of the league they’re in. For instance, what is the scoring method used? In many leagues a QB will get six points for a TD pass, but in other leagues he gets only four. Do RB’s get points for receptions? Those are differences that should affect where you decide to pick a particular player. Also, how many players are allowed on your roster and how many do you have to start each week? These are simple questions that can be easily answered so learn the rules.
2. Rank your players – Rank the players at each position in order of how well you think they will do this upcoming season. Most online leagues already have their rankings—don’t go by them; rank the players yourself. Online leagues are a good starting point, but you’ll invariably have some sleepers that you rank higher and some guys that you’ll rank lower than the average league ranking. Also, and this is very important, keep track of injuries to players before your draft. You don’t want to be the idiot who drafts the star RB who just tore his ACL in the final preseason game and is out for the year. So do your darned homework. See what young buck may snatch a job from a vet and make sure you know all players that have switched teams and how they might fit in with their new team.
3. Running backs! – You have to have a plan going into the draft. You may have to deviate from it a bit because of whom other owners take, but the blueprint should basically be there. A plan that involves drafting two stud running backs in the first two rounds is one that can lead to a championship. However, in recent years, more teams have gone with the dreaded “running back by committee” approach, which weakens the value of each of the RBs on the team since none is a “feature back.” If two feature back types are available when you pick in the first two rounds, jump on them. If not, go with a top WR or even a QB. The basic plan is to come away with two RBs, two WRs and a TE or QB in the first five rounds. However, another good method is to wait on drafting a starting QB and fill in the rest of your roster first. Usually there are about ten to twelve QBs that you can win with. If you wait to get your QB later, you can draft more quality RBs and WRs. Double up your QB picks by drafting another one of the top ten to twelve QBs in the next round or the one after that. One of the two most likely will have a good year and you will end up going with him as your main starter.
4. Draft young – When in doubt, draft a young guy. Young players have more upside than veterans. When I say young, I don’t necessarily mean rookies since rookies at any position but RB are problematic and usually disappoint. Second and third year players at RB or WR and TE usually will break out if they have talent and play on teams that can take advantage of that talent. Watch these players and target the ones you think are breakout candidates. Don’t wait too long to draft these players because it’s most likely there are other owners out there that also like them and will vulture them from you before you get the chance to draft them.