It’s that time of the year. Football season and fantasy football go together like two peas in a pod.
In fact, fantasy football arguably attracts more attention than the sport itself. It really is quite addicting.
But as fun as fantasy football is, people tend to overly prep themselves for it. Some might spend time doing a mock draft, or watching Fantasy Football Now, or even purchasing a fantasy guide.
None of that is necessary to win the championship in a league.
Now, I’m not the greatest fantasy football player of all time, but I can say that I’ve won the championship twice in four tries – along with three Super Bowl appearances. Granted, this is in an eight to 12 person league so it isn’t the most difficult to win.
Obviously, the goal in your draft is to pick a complete team. But in order to achieve that goal, I think one should start with the running back position.
Running backs are the most valuable, as there aren’t many reliable ones to choose from. That’s the position I tend to focus on in drafts. Quarterbacks are debatable, but it depends who it is. The only two QBs I would focus on drafting in round one this year are Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton. A Rod is the consensus No. 1 pick, and with last year’s numbers, it is to be expected. Newton is a rare dual threat QB. Dual threat in fantasy football equals double the point total. Keep that in mind.
Other than that, wait until later to snag a quarterback. Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger are just a few QBs that will be there later for the picking. Of course, this depends on league size.
The other secret is to play the rankings.
In one draft, I took a wide receiver (Calvin Johnson) with my first pick in round one. Normally, I would never do this, but that’s because I was aware of the rankings. Why does it matter?
Well, in the following rounds, I was able to steal Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles. This was because both players were injured last year, and as a result, their ranking was lowered heading into this season. Believe it or not, these are two elite running backs people forget about. Talk about high reward steals.
In any other year, Peterson would be gone in the first five picks. Charles would probably be a first round pick or early second rounder.
AP fell because owners are concerned of injury aggravation, and that’s fine. I wound up selecting Toby Gerhart in round 15, just in case.
Nonetheless, just go with the flow. Do your strategizing once in the draft. Hope that when the draft order is randomized, you’re in the middle of the frey. That way, you won’t be waiting all day to choose another player.
Follow these instructions, and you should be competing for a league championship from the get-go. Oh, and it helps if you follow the NFL on the norm. You wouldn’t want to go into a league ‘winging’ it.
Fantasy owners, let the games begin!
Follow on Twitter @Midwaylc
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