1. Protect Your Investments
There is only one thing worse than drafting LaDainian Tomlinson as the 1st pick overall, and seeing him go down with a season ending injury in week 2, and that's if you forgot to draft LT's back up Michael Turner. If your top players go down for a few weeks (or at worst, the season), it will definitely hurt; but if you don't have their back up, it will hurt even more. You will now have to go out and acquire a replacement, and all the other fantasy owners will know this and try and get the most out of you. Therefore, it is very important that you draft your star player's handcuffs, especially running backs and wide receivers on good passing teams. Drafting your star player's handcuffs is very important, but that is only the start; you also need to keep a close eye on every team's depth charts. Just because someone starts the season #2 on the depth chart, doesn't mean it will stay that way, so be sure not miss out on any action that occurs with your players and their back ups.
2. Don't waste a high draft pick on Quarterbacks
Regardless of your fantasy league's point systems, QB's will always end up scoring points and if you look back at the top 25 fantasy players from the year before, at least half (if not more) are QB's. What that means is that with the exception of Peyton (and I wouldn't draft him high either), just about all of the rest of the QB's in the league will generate a very similar amount of fantasy points. The fact is that QB's will always score points, because by nature they have the ball in their hands to start the play--meaning even if they have a bad day, they will still score points; whereas a WR or TE (or even sometimes a RB), will not score very many points because they didn't get the ball at all. So, try and wait till the middle rounds to grab your QB, and look for ones that either pass a lot or are on teams that scores a lot of points.
3. Stay true to your draft board
Heading into the draft, every good fantasy owner prepares a list of players ranked based on how they think the players will perform in the upcoming year. Once the draft begins, it doesn't take long for someone to go out on a limb and take someone early that will mess up your rankings. After the time you spent making your rankings, don't forget your reasons for making them and stick to your guns and stay true to your rankings. Many owners get in trouble when they start to sway from their plan and modify their rankings. The only time you should sway from your rankings is if you see the talent at a certain position dwindling at a faster rate than expected and you don't have anyone at that position.
4. Team Systems/Strengths and coaching strategies
When preparing for the draft and making your rankings, it's a good idea to pay attention to which teams are more prone to running or throwing the football. Knowing that will give you a good indication of how a team plans to use their players on offense, thus allowing you to have a better idea of what to expect in the upcoming season for certain players. A player in a more suitable system almost always outperforms a more talented player who is caught in the wrong type of offense. Any WR who plays on a team with a top flight QB will automatically have a higher likelihood of putting up big numbers, same goes for any RB who finds himself running behind a top notch offensive line. There's nothing worse than taking a stud WR who has a dud of a QB controlling his fantasy destiny.
5. Beware of 2 back systems
NFL teams that use 2 running backs to split carries will kill your fantasy team every year. You are asking for a year long headache wondering which one will perform better on a weekly basis. While both Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney put up solid numbers last year for New England, they were held back because they split carries. Very rarely did they put up big numbers the same week, and it was nearly impossible for their fantasy owners to predict which would put up the big numbers on any given week. So it's important to try and find the running backs who are the clear cut #1 guys. If you have the choice between a back who is "the guy" on his team or one that you know will be splitting carries/goal line touches, take the 1 back guy regardless of talent difference.
6. Be active in trades and in the free agent market
If you think your season ends after the draft, you're very wrong. Managing your team through trades and free agent pickups will go a long way in determining your squad's outcome. Keeping an eye on injuries and teams depth charts are the key to free agent pickups. If a starter or back up gets injured, be sure not to wait and make a move to pick any free agent that might gain from the injury. Fantasy is all about managing your team and having fun while doing so; nothing is more fun than pulling off deals to try to improve your squad. Not every deal has to be a blockbuster and you don't always have to go after the top level players. Usually they will cost you too much anyways. Seek out players who are at a low that you think will turn around for some reason and try to add them while their value is still low and affordable.
7. Depth, depth, and more depth
Too many times I've witnessed guys who leave the draft room gloating about the strength of their starting team. These are the guys I laugh at. Injuries affect EVERYONE during the football season and if you're caught with a lack of depth, your season could be over very early. To make sure your season doesn't end when you suffer through injuries, you need to make sure that when your stars go down you can plug someone else in that can contribute and not someone that will put up a doughnut. Not only does depth help you when you're dealing with injuries, but having some quality players on your bench will help when you decide to make some trades. So don't go to sleep once you finished drafting your starters, make sure you walk away from the draft with the deepest team possible and solid back ups at every position. You don't want to be held hostage by the other owners because your best player got injured and you have no depth to help you.
By Daniel Kalles, Tuesday, June 05, 2007
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