Draft Day Tips


  1. Be prepared. Many FFL participants shoot themselves in the foot before the season starts by not being prepard past the first couple of rounds in the draft.  Anyone can make a first round pick.  Vital draft picks are made in rounds 2 through 10.  The goal of fantasy football is to assemble a starting roster with highest scoring players at their respective positions.  More importantly, you want to outscore your opponents.  This is where Draft Champs can help.  Draft Champs will create your draft guide for you.  Draft Champs will do all the research, player projections, and evaluations.  All you have to do is enter in your league's scoring system and a customized Draft Day Cheat Sheet is calculated based on the value sytem of your league format.
  2. Know the draft day tendencies of your colleagues.  Do participants in your league have a favorite player of team from who they draft every year? Or do they have a cetain draft format that they adhere to, such as drafting a QB and WR from the same team.  If you know other teams draft tendencies in your league you will be a leg up on the competition by being able to better predict which players will be available in each round. 
  3. Watch the Draft Board. If you are having trouble deciding whether to choose a RB or Qb for example, look at teams behind you in the draft.  If they have already drafted a starting QB, chances are they will not draft another QB and you would be wise to pick the RB and then pick up the QB on your next pick.  A lot of owners tend to fill their starting rosters before adding bench players, by paying attention to which roster spots they have filled you can better predict who will be left on the board in the next round.  If your league does utilize a draft board to view other teams' selection, I highly recommed that you keep track yourself.  It's like playing poker against someone and knowing what card they are holding.
  4. Supply and Demand. Watch for runs on particular positions.  If teams are gobbling up players for a particular position there will be a high demand for the top tier players remaining at that position.  Although it is always not wise to follow the pack, when this happens you must be aware that is does occur and sometimes you will have to follow suit to avoid being weak at a certain position.  When in doubt my advice is to always select the best player on the board based on "value" but keep in mind that you are trying to fill a starting roster.
  5. Kickers. I find in leagues I have participated in there is always an owner that will draft a kicker before the 10th round of the draft.  This in turn spurns a run at the position.  Stand your ground and resist this trend when it comes your turn.  The difference in value between the top and bottom starting kickers in your league is minimal.  You can better seperate your team from the rest by selecting quality back-up and reserve players and assembling a deep bench in lieu of drafting a kicker this early in the draft.  This way when the injury bug hits one of your starters, and it will, you will have quality bench players to insert into your line-up.  An adeqaute kicker can always be picked up with one of your last two picks.  Remember kickers that score the most points in a season tend to come from teams wih high powered offesnse.
  6. Defense.  This is another position you will see people draft too early.  Although a top defense can help you win, there are just too many variables to count on a defense for consistent week-to-week performance.  In most drafts you can wait until the 10th to 12th round to pick up a good defense.  Some owners even like to choose two in the draft and platoon their defenses each week.
  7. Take a chance.  All fantasy football champions have a little luck on their side.  A good draft will push more luck your way.  So why not late in draft choose that sleeper or rookie with a lot of upside.  It just might pan out and put you in your league's Championship Game.  I was able to do this late in a 2002 fantasy draft after watching the preseason performances of Clinton Portis and Michael Vick.
  8. Keep your notes and Cheat Sheet private. No sense in doing all your homework and letting your neighbor reap the benefits and draft the player your eyeing right in front of you.
  9. Bye Weeks. Fantasy football is a 17-week marathon not a one-week sprint.  Do not pass on a player just because you have a bye week conflict with another player you have selected.  Anything could happen between the draft and the bye week.  One of those players could become injured and then it becomes a non-issue.  If you have drafted properly based on "value" and your league's scoring system, you will have drafted adequate players to fill in during the bye week.  If you have done this and still have conflicts you will always be able to use the waiver wire to pick up a player for that week.
  10. Team Management.  Now that the draft is over and you have assembled a team that will challenge for the the League Title, your work is not done.  No team is guaranteed a championship based on the draft alone.  You wil need to watch for emerging players on that hot streak or make that blockbuster trade to push ahead of other teams in your league on your way to that Championship Season.