Dominate Your Fantasy Football Draft: Win My Fantasy League 2011 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
The best strategy to go with….is it RB-RB, RB-WR, WR-QB-RB?
Your strategy should be developed based on your leagues settings.
There are many different philosophies but it really comes down to league settings. If you are in a custom league you have to make a decision based on settings. Look at your player pool pre-draft and take note of what types of skill positions show up the most in the top-25. If there are 7+ QB’s, you can probably wait on a QB, likewise for RB’s and WR’s, conversely if you only see a few of any of the skill positions in the top-25 or top-50 it would be wise to spend a 2nd round pick on a player of that calibre (excluding TE). The strategy you go with will also be influenced by your draft position as well as positional runs. We suggest RB-WR this year in standard leagues. Larger league sizes may mandate a WR-QB-RB strategy.
Avoid the standard rankings given to you by your fantasy league provider
Fantasy league providers such as Yahoo and ESPN’s rankings are notoriously unreliable so you should take the time to do your own pre-rankings; also take a look at the rankings done by the writers as opposed to the rankings the fantasy game provides.
Do a mock draft or two
It is best to participate in a mock or two before draft day to help give you an accurate depiction of where players are going and which players are falling through the cracks. ESPN and Yahoo have mock drafts running for about 12 hours a day. Mock drafts are the best way for to fine tune your cheat sheets/draft boards. Try and get one in close to your draft day so you can see any new emerging trends or players that are going off the board way too late.
Rankings, Rankings, Rankings:
QB
ESPN
Yahoo! Sports
Pro Football Focus
CBS Fantasy Sports
NFL.com
RB
ESPN
Yahoo! Sports
Pro Football Focus
CBS Fantasy Sports
NFL.com
WR
ESPN
Yahoo! Sports
Pro Football Focus (PPR)
CBS Fantasy Sports
NFL.com
TE
ESPN
Pro Football Focus
CBS Fantasy Sports
NFL.com
Projections:
The three best free providers of projections are, in this order, CBS, Pro Football Focus and ESPN.
Draft guides: Should you buy any?
If you really want to gain that competitive advantage, there is no better draft guide than Rotoworld’s Fantasy Football Season Pass. I purchase it myself but mainly for the dynasty league rankings. Their projections are good and their constantly updated rankings are also some of my most used features. They have a wealth of information and it is actually worth the money. If you are just looking for projections than CBS Fantasy Football’s are more accurate, but you have to love the ability Rotoworld presents to get customized projections roughly based on your own leagues settings. ESPN has a FREE draft guide that is second to none as far as free draft kits go.
Sleepers to know: Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Brandon Jacobs, Steven Jackson, Mark Ingram, Beanie Wells, James Starks, KnowShown Moreno, Tim Hightower, Daniel Thomas, Jonathan Stewart, Cedric Benson, Marhsawn Lynch, Jahvid Best, Delone Carter, Mike Tolbert, Ben Tate, Montario Hardesty, Roy Helu, Shane Vereen, Brandon Marshall, Dez Bryant, Percy Harvin, A.J Green, Kenny Britt, Lance Moore, Randall Cobb, Greg Little, Julio Jones, Mario Manningham, Mike Thomas, Plaxico Burress, Michael Crabtree, Braylon Edwards, Mike Sims-Walker, Denarius Moore, Johnny Knox, Jacoby Ford, Steve Breaston, Cecil Shorts, Matt Ryan, Sam Bradford, Matthew Stafford, Jay Cutler, Kevin Kolb, Joe Flacco, Jared Cook, Jimmy Graham, Greg Olsen, Lance Kendricks and Benjamin Watson.
Players not getting enough love and may finish top-15 at their position: Brandon Jacobs, Steven Jackson, Mark Ingram, Beanie Wells, James Starks, KnowShown Moreno, Tim Hightower, Daniel Thomas, Jonathan Stewart, Brandon Marshall, Dez Bryant, Percy Harvin, A.J Green, Kenny Britt, Sam Bradford, Matthew Stafford, Lance Kendricks and Benjamin Watson.
Players we are avoiding even though they have upside: Ryan Grant, Roy Williams, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Austin Collie, Ahmad Bradshaw, DeAngelo Williams, Ryan Mathews, Ryan Torain, Pierre Thomas, Danny Amendola, Donald Driver, Bernard Scott and Derrick Ward
ADP Info
Not sure which running backs will be left after the third round? How early is Beanie Wells going? All this information and more can be found via fftoolbox and fantasyfootballcalculator.com, knowing where players are going on average can be more helpful than mock drafts where people sometimes will avoid their true sleepers in order to not alert others. ADP information is a very helpful tool to utilize leading up to and during your fantasy football draft.
Rookies to know: Mark Ingram, Daniel Thomas, Julio Jones, A.J Green, Greg Little, Randall Cobb, Denarius Moore, Lance Kendricks, Julius Thomas, Kyle Rudolph, Roy Helu, Delone Carter, DeMarco Murray, Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley
