Preparing for a fantasy draft – The 5 Keys

 

Preparing for a fantasy draft – The 5 Keys

 

The NFL season kicks off in a few weeks. So that means it is Fantasy Football Draft time…my favorite time of the year! I’ve already started mock drafting to whet my appetite for the real thing because I just can’t get enough of it. All the possibilities for your team are in front of you. Sometime over the next month you will sit with your other league members and divvy up NFL players into fantasy teams. Naturally, you want to come out on top. Here’s the good news. You can! 

 

 

 

 

Whether the league is serious or not, the purpose is to have fun. You want it to be fun and not a stressful chore. Those of us that have done a draft before already know that every draft has that one guy that takes forever on all their picks. He’s the guy with scattered papers & sweating his picks while trying to use a “phone a friend” lifeline for every decision. Don’t be sweaty guy. Be cool guy. It isn’t hard. Like a boy scout, just be prepared. I will give you 5 simple keys to remember as you prepare so you can be calm and collected on your own draft day!

Key #1. Create your own rankings.

There are plenty of rankings out there, but no two experts will have the same list. So be careful to grab just one published list of players because they are going to like (and dislike) certain players a lot more than the rest of the expert community. It is important to know that while experts are well researched, experts are just guides for the upcoming season. They aren’t fortune tellers able to predict the future.

I like to combine several different lists because it helps to normalize the outlier players a given expert likes way too much or hates way too much. This will form the base from which I create my own ranking. In the end, you want to infuse your own spin on the rankings. Have confidence to like a player better than others. You are building your team. Take ownership and grab the players you want, but be mindful of perceived value. If the consensus has a player ranked 30th, don’t take him first. But you could take him 21st. You don’t want to reach too much for a player but with careful planning, you can get that player at just the right time. Which leads me to the second key…

 

Key #2. Have a plan of attack for your draft.

Don’t just have a plan but stick to it. Spend your time deliberating players, positions, sleepers, busts, and value players before your draft. I say again, BEFORE your draft. That way when you are “on the clock” there is little deliberation you are making when you don’t really have the time to make decisions. You don’t want to hit the panic button during your draft because you were unprepared. There is no faster way to become ‘sweaty guy’ than to make your picks on the fly.

 

Key #3. Don't lock yourself into just one player each round.

This is really a post-script to key #2. Best laid plans can still send you on a detour. Have options so you aren't panicking when someone grabs your top target right before your pick. It’s okay to miss out on the player you are targeting provided you have another waiting in the wings. The only thing worse than someone taking your targeted player right before your pick is regretting the replacement player you chose 30 seconds after he is locked into your draft board.

 

Key #4. Don't take extreme gambles in the first two rounds.

 

You don't make your team with your first two picks, but you can break your team there. They call top picks ‘Studs’ for a reason. They are tried and true fantasy blue chips, delivering consistently strong numbers week in & week out for (most likely) several seasons. Make these picks count with the cerebral choice, not the player whose uniform is your favorite. There are plenty of later rounds to draft a player because you like them as opposed to what they are almost guaranteed to deliver on the fantasy gridiron. 

 

Key #5. In the first 6 rounds you want the nucleus of your team built.

I typically like to have my starting Quarterback, 2 starting Running Backs, and 2 starting Wide Receivers set by the time I get through my first 6 picks. Ok, for the Tight End lover in you, it is fair to sub out one WR for an elite TE who is really a WR1 anyway. But don’t get too crazy with drafting for value. If you stockpile too many WRs early at the expense of your starting quarterback or running backs, it will be hard to find quality starters that inspire in the back half of the draft. You don’t want to be chasing a starter in later rounds because the next thing you know, you have 4 quarterbacks on your team and don’t like any of them. Get the core of your team drafted. Then search for value picks & sleepers. This isn’t to say you can’t find starters late, but you don’t need to make the draft hard on yourself. Ultimately you want your starters set early on and then draft players late that you aren’t relying on to start but could be later in the season. Once the core of your team is set, the rest of the draft is all upside.


To sum up, create your personalized rankings, come up with a plan, give yourself options, grab blue chips early and focus on your core before sleepers. You’ll be cool, confident, and laughing at ‘Sweaty Guy’ because it won’t be you.

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