Fantasy Football isn’t just stats. It isn’t just projections. I mean, yes, it is those things, but Fantasy Football is also heart.
Want to draft a great team? Want to have a fun season? Want to WIN? Follow this simple advice:
• DO a little research. Subscribe to a Fantasy Football website or two. Show up to your draft prepared and confident.
• DON’T stop at the drugstore on the way to the draft, buy the first Fantasy Football magazine you find, and cram at red lights.
• DON’T be that guy and base your entire draft on the accuracy of a cheat sheet, confident that the player at the top of the list is THE BEST choice as you meticulously cross off names. (DO print off a fake cheat sheet and pass it out before the draft; just in case any of your opponents are that guy)
• DO separate players into tiers. However you determine your tiers (projections, personal comfort level, grading players across multiple categories, etc.), recognize that the players within each tier are comparable and that you would be happy with any of them. Use the tiers to recognize value and to avoid panic when THE BEST player left on your list gets snagged right before your pick.
• DO go with your gut.
• DON’T second guess yourself. Your first instinct is usually right. Remember, you are prepared and confident.
• DON’T be the first person to proudly proclaim the steal of the draft and confidently announce the name of a player taken four rounds earlier. Pay attention.
• DO mercilessly ridicule, torment, and belittle the person who does make said mistake! Abusively harass and taunt him! Slam him! Destroy him! (It’s great fun)
• DO draft a team that you will enjoy cheering for. Remember that within your brilliant tiers, all players are pretty much equal. If you want to take a couple guys from your favorite team (not too many; don’t forget the byes), do it. If you want to NOT take players from your favorite team’s hated rival, don’t. If you are opposed to having wife-beaters on your team, don’t care for certain personalities, or can’t stand a guy who performed poorly for you in the past; leave them on the board. Enjoy your team and the players on it.
• DON’T preface your pick by saying I really don’t like making this pick, but…There is always a comparable pick; make it.
• DON’T complain half way through your draft that no one any good is left.
• DO snatch up as many sleepers and high upside players that you can. You only need to hit on a couple of these gems to have a huge advantage over the competition.
• DO let the draft come to you. Draft for value. The key to drafting is taking a player not where he deserves to be chosen, but where he needs to be chosen. If a player has third round value, but you are able to choose him in the sixth round; that’s good value. Selecting the same player in the third isn’t.
• DON’T overreact when a run starts. DON’T reach for your sleepers. Realize that a sleeper is no longer a sleeper if you select him too early.
• DON’T be the first person to take a kicker.
• DO wait until the last round to take your kicker.
• DO whisper to your friends seated nearby that you can’t believe that “insert name of recently injured or retired player” is still available. DO mercilessly ridicule, torment, and belittle the person who then cunningly outsmarts your group and selects said player! Abusively harass and taunt him! Slam him! Destroy him! (It’s great fun)
• DON’T drink and draft (at least not to excess).
• DON’T draft injured players.
• DO print off the most recent copy of the Injury Report the morning of your draft.
• DO HAVE FUN AND DOMINATE!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I like it but one caveat to your don’t draft injured players. Sometime there is tremedous value in injured players and often they only miss a couple of games. Leagues can be won on injured players that provide value in the draft.
Kevin – You are absolutely right, and thank you for making that point. I actually had “season ending” injuries in mind; someone like Mikel Leshoure for instance, who might be relatively high on an outdated “cheatsheet.” The main point I was trying to make is to be aware of injuries.
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