Forget the expensive magazines. Ignore the so-called
experts. Eye the rankings with healthy skepticism. Because as a three-time
champion, I can tell you everything you need to know about drafting a solid
fantasy football team.
1.
Print out
the starting line-ups and/or depth charts of all of the teams. Rankings are
based on what a guy did last year. But with players, like stocks, past
performance is not a guarantee of future success. Get to know who the number
one guys are, the number twos, etc. The more familiar you are with who’s been
promoted and demoted, the better you can judge if a guy will get the ball early
and often.
2.
Look for
teams, or “programs”, with a history of year-after-year success. The third
guy on the best team is oftentimes better than the best player on the worst
team. I don’t know who the third wide receivers on the Packers/Patriots/Giants
currently are, but they’ll probably be on my team.
3.
Running
backs have a short shelf life, like three years. The running back position
is physically brutal because most bad teams will just run the ball to slow down
the clock. The rushing champion from the previous year could be retired the
next. So be cautious about drafting a running back, especially with a high pick,
in the league for more than three years.
4.
Draft
running backs liberally and often. Rookies, goal line guys, guys with
girly-sounding first names. It doesn’t matter. The more running backs from any
team, the better your chances of finding a winner.
5.
Don’t
underestimate team chemistry. Quarterbacks oftentimes look for “their” guys
when they’re facing 3rd-and-22. Look for QB-WR combos and try to get
one or both halves of any high-scoring duo.
6.
Don’t
overestimate rookies. Everyone loves the rookies because everyone loves to
say, “I told you so”. But most rookies take a good three years to develop (Cam
Newton aside). So unless you have a keeper league, keep your rookie picks to
the fourth round or beyond.
7.
Don’t
draft any Seahawks before the 5th round. Draft day is no day to
play favorites. You are always going to overvalue the players from your
favorite team, so just vow never to draft them until the later rounds, when
they can’t hurt you as much.
8.
Once,
just once, draft a kicker in the third round. You’ll get laughed out of the
room and no one will take you seriously ever again. Perfect. That means the
guys on either side of you will try to take players later than they normally
would because they assume you won’t take them. Suckers.