Process Analysis Draft – How to build the perfect
fantasy team.
When talking about
fantasy football the number one goal is to win. Having a winning fantasy
football team doesn’t just happen. There are several things you can do to help
out. The main things that you can to have a winning team are practice, get rid
of any loyalties to your favorite team, be prepared and informed, and have a
strategy or pay attention during the year. I like to think of myself as a bit
of an expert for a few reasons and they are: I have been playing fantasy
football for about 13 years, I have won more leagues than I can remember, I
love football, and I have helped other people out and they always seem to do
pretty good. I’m not saying what I am going to tell you is guaranteed but it
could help.
The
first thing that you need to do to be successful when creating a successful
team is practice. You may be wondering how can you practice playing fantasy
football and that’s not what I mean. You need to practice drafting, by practice
I mean to do mock drafts. A mock draft is a draft that doesn’t count that you
can do online with random people or you can do it alone. What this does is show
you different situations that could happen during the draft and helps you be
more prepared. It will give you a better understanding on where players are
going to get drafted in your league and how you should rank them. This does not
always help however; I did around 200 mock drafts this year before my real
drafts and was still surprised on the way the drafts went. You can’t really predict
exactly how any draft is going to go; there are too many things to consider: people’s
favorite players, favorite teams, and team’s people don’t like at all.
Now that you have done
at least 100 mock drafts you are ready to move closer to the draft. The next thing
you have to do is right before the draft, before you even make a pick you have
you set aside any loyalties you have to any team. If you don’t do this you will
probably lose, for example if you won’t take Aaron Rodgers because you are a
Bears fan, that’s just stupid, you could take him and dangle him in front of
some Packer fan and get a lot more than he is actually worth. What I’m saying
is, be prepared to take the best player available regardless of what team he
plays for.
Next
you have the actual draft, I’m going to use this year as an example. You have
to go in having a well thought out plan, knowing how many draft worthy players
there are for each position, how many roster spots you have available, what
scoring system is being used, bye weeks of players, and health of players of
course. This year my motto was wait on quarterbacks and tight ends, the reason
for this is outside the top two or so in either position they are so close in
points and you can find good ones late in the draft or in free agency. I have
always been a huge fan of picking running backs in the first who rounds unless
there is a player sitting there you just can’t pass on. After you have your top
two running backs you want to get a couple receivers. Around the fifth round
you should take a look and see what quarterbacks a left still, if there are
quite a few pass on one until later. I would pick a running back in the fifth
and receiver in the sixth. Then I the seventh round take the best available
quarterback and take his tight end in the next round, if he is a good tight
end. I was able to pair Tony Gonzales with Matt Ryan in the 7th and
8th rounds in one draft this year. After this your team is pretty
much filled out just missing a defense and kicker and you will get those with
your last two picks. Just play the matchups week to week with your defense,
which means to play a defense that is playing a bad team. From pick nine to
mid-teens I would alternate running back then receiver to add depth on your
team because injury’s happen and usually to running backs and receivers so it
is good to have plenty. Finish by taking a backup quarterback and kicker and
defense.
Now
that the draft is complete and you have your team you would think it gets easy
but you would be wrong. There are several different strategies an owner can use
during the season but the biggest thing you have to do is pay attention. It is
most important to pay attention early in the season because there are always a
few players that are going to come out of nowhere and be fantasy studs. This
year that player is Knowshon Moreno; he is ranked in
the top five for running backs in most leagues. Picking up a player from free
agency that I producing like a number one pick really can help a team win.
There are always players that just pop up out of nowhere so keep your eyes
peeled. There is a strategy that has worked for me in the past and it is to
tank for the first two weeks or purposely lose the first two weeks. I’m sure
you are wondering what kind of strategy that is and I will explain. In most
fantasy football leagues they have waivers; waivers are a tool that makes fantasy
football fairer. With waivers after every week the teams reset in order of
worst to best and the team with the worst record gets the first option to pick
up available players. In this strategy you will be fighting an uphill battle but
it has paid off in the past for me.
You don’t have to follow these steps exactly but I hope it gave you a
little bit better understanding on how to build the perfect team. Just remember
to practice, be unbiased, be prepared, and pay attention and I’m sure you will
be successful. These steps will help you be more successful in standard redraft
leagues only. Good luck and happy Sundays.
