You must have a good awareness of average draft position (ADP), and how it is able to combine with your player projections from your mock drafts at this point. Of course the complexity of this optimum construction are subject to change from season to season since the pockets of value will always be fluctuating. Still, we have a lot of very potent foundational principles that perform reliably every year. Like lots of challenges, this is a blend of science and art.
The draft is the single most significant day of your fantasy football season. You can either start the season strong with a fantastic performance on draft day, or dig yourself a hole that may well take half the season to dig out of. We desire to just lay the hammer early and often.
The basis of our strategy centers around a “Tag-Team” technique. As you more than likely know, a recent phenomena in the NFL (to the dismay of a large number of fantasy owners) is the running-back-by-committee. This can be tracked back throughout the history of the game, but recently has been brought back into the mainstream by former USC coach Pete Carroll’s usage of Reggie Bush and LenDale White all through their time with the Trojans. These two players were the suitable mixture of acceleration and strength. They were independently implemented in instances they were most probable to be successful. We are going to take on this chunk of knowledge and use it to our fantasy team. We will look to utilize two players as a pairing to create a really rewarding one starting position on your roster.
Do not forget the Value-Based Drafting techniques. What if we are ın a position to simply wait on a QB and preferably instead draft two quarterbacks in the middle to later rounds that experience extremely advantageous combined schedules and together with each other will in reality outperform the top QB in that case? This arises every year and is a highly workable.
KEY INSIGHT: The plan of this strategy is to “free up” your top picks to really maximize their worth using VBD techniques. We can do this by looking for several positions that we can simply wait for and still acquire combos of quality players later in the draft that “fit” together with each other well.
By using this strategy, you will get the most benefit achievable out of each individual pick in the draft. Every selection will have a reason and function. In other words, the whole will be a good deal greater than the sum of the parts.
When other managers are reaching for kickers and defenses mainly because they don’t know who else to select, you will be putting together a compelling team that will work alongside one another to maximize consistency, burst-potential, and depth. In addition to the QB position, you can rather comfortably use a tag-team for your starting RB2, WR3, DEF, and maybe even TE. We deliver our RED ZONE subscribers our top recommendations at each and every position.
Using this approach as the cornerstone of our strategy, let’s take a position-by-position look at the “best practice” concepts for building a complete team.
KEY INSIGHT: The cornerstone of our strategy centers around a “Tag-Team” methodology. We look to use two players as a combo to develop a rather rewarding one starting position on your roster.
Quarterback
It is very {alluring to go for a top QB like Tom Brady or Michael Vick as your #1 or #2 pick since QBs frequently score a bunch of points. Refuse this lure if you can however, considering this QUITE OFTEN ends up being a terrible option when it really counts at the end of the year. The rationale once again is because VALUE. It is much less difficult to come across excellent QBs in the middle to late rounds than it is to acquire an similarly rewarding running backs and receivers at that time.
A good model of a mid-round STEAL at QB this season (2011) is Mathew Stafford (Rd 8). Nobody has ever questioned the guy’s ability, the sole reason he dropped this significantly in fantasy drafts were injury fears. His situation was ideal however, with impressive tools around him at wide receiver, running back, and tight end. It was just a matter of remaining injury free for an entire season. This is the type of situation MOST SUITABLE for our fantasy football strategy. We can combine Stafford with a second QB in a decent situation, rendering us two shots at uncovering a terrific value, and at the same time being in a position to pick out the most beneficial matchup’s week-to-week. There are frequently QB’s around the middle of the projected group that elevate to the top JUST ABOUT EVERY SINGLE year. Michael Vick was not on anyone’s roster to begin the season last year, and ended as a top QB. Cam Newton is experiencing a comparable meteoritic climb to the top of fantasy QB value boards, and is a player you could have added to your team for free in the first couple weeks of the season. It is simply just bad business to ever use a high draft pick on a quarterback in fantasy football, and quite possibly the most prevalent error made by novice players.
The key is searching for the cases that are most fresh for achieving success. For a QB, this would definitely mean a good set of receivers and tight end, an ample running game with a good pass catching RB, and a high quality pass-blocking offensive line.
Dependant on the roster size in your league, it could possibly even be favorable to draft a 3rd QB alternative. While we might not always encourage this, we are aware not to rule it out either. If there is a run on middle round QB’s and you do not get your ideally suited picks (constantly have backup tag-team as part of your research just in case), drafting a third option might not be the worst idea. Plus, if you are in a 12 team league, this will significantly constrain the QB possibilities other managers have in case their star gets injured or underperforms. For this rationale, introducing a 3rd QB to your roster can be a strategy tactic as well.
KEY INSIGHT: We frequently encourage you proceed with a 2 man committee of mid-tier QBs with excellent combined schedules (one of them always confronting a weak(er) opponent) as compared to a top QB in the beginning rounds).
Running Backs
This is still the most important concept in fantasy football dominance: You NEED to have running backs you can count on to be the anchors of your team. They are STILL the most valuable position in fantasy football, and the position that you can most confidently rely on every week. It’s easy for a defense to take away an elite wide receiver by double teaming him (representing a tremendous hazard to your fantasy team, certainly if he is assumed to be one of your top players). It is much more complex for a defense to fully shut down a duel threat running back..And that final part is the key: DUAL THREAT. Your top draft picks should almost ALWAYS be the top running backs that are not primarily great rushers, but that additionally see a large amount of targets in the passing game. This is by far the dominate strategy in fantasy football, most definitely in a PPR league (Point Per Reception) considering the fact that you boost your week-to-week reliability. With so many NFL teams moving to a running back by committee, there are fewer and fewer “true #1” RBs nowadays. That is why it is a TREMENDOUS value to the fantasy teams that own them. Fantasy teams without a reliable running back like this to count on run the risk of putting up scores of 0-7, which positively OBLITERATE your possibilities of winning. In 2011, the very clear examples are Ray Rice, Arian Foster, Matt Forte, LeSean McCoy, Fred Jackson, Jahvid Best, Ryan Mathews, and Darren McFadden. Although it has become a lot more popular to go for WRs and QBs early, in most scenarios this is a considerable misstep, NOTABLY a QB. They simply just do not provide you with an acceptable benefit over QBs you can acquire later in the draft, and even on the waiver wire each week. Drafting a WR in the early rounds is chancy considering the fact that they are A GOOD DEAL less dependable than the top RBs that also catch passes.
I also am convinced that you can NEVER have too many running backs on your fantasy team. It is SUBSTANTIALLY better to be overloaded with depth at RB given that there are so many injuries, you will always be safe. In addition, it is much easier to trade running backs after a few good weeks for an elite player at a different position, if your league facilitates trades and you find it positive for your team. You have so many possibilities as well as insurance if you own strong depth at RB.
In addition to drafting the quality running backs early, it’s also NECESSARY to keep an eye on the waiver wire running backs that have the capability to develop into big time producers. This is the place our research comes in handy. If you can recognise players who are under the media radar but are playing in cases where success is highly possible, that is like striking the jackpot. This will be in the form of backup running backs that are pushed into a starting role when the starting RB gets hurt. A few samples from the 2009-2010 season consist of Jamaal Charles and Rashard Mendenhall, who both finished in the top 15 in spite of not being drafted in countless leagues! So even though it is “impossible” to foresee injuries, we can realistically expect to have a lot of these rags-to-riches stories every single year in the NFL attributed to the physical dynamics of the league. The key element is to stay completely ready and one step ahead of everyone else.
KEY INSIGHT: Running backs are still THE MOST SIGNIFICANT position in fantasy football. To field the most dependable team, you have to have a robust stable of DUAL THREAT running backs that not only get a lot of rushing yards, but that also catch a lot of passes. At the same time, you FREQUENTLY have to be on the search for the fresh “star” waiver wire pickups. You can NEVER be too deep at the running back position.
Wide Receivers
Due to the dynamics of defenses, wide receivers are inclined to be one of the most sporadic positions on the field. This is my personal inclination, but I despise needing to rely on great output from the receivers on my fantasy team. I would much rather know I’m going to get sturdy production from my high level running backs, and then accompany that with “hidden gem” receivers that reliably get a lot of targets for their team, and frequently play out of the slot. I find next to nothing more demoralizing than drafting an elite WR, and then seeing every defense place 2 or 3 defenders on him, and subsequently destroying your fantasy production. It is much more complex to take away slot receivers, making them a A WHOLE LOT more reliable play from a consistency point of view. Take a look at what Wes Welker is executing so far this year! No defense can even slow him down and he has grown to be far and away the top PPR receiver to possess. The best part is, you can frequently draft a lot of these slot receivers in the middle rounds, immediately after you have already piled up your anchor running backs.
KEY INSIGHT: Slot receivers that are targeted 7-12 times per game are gold in PPR fantasy football. Draft high level pass catching RBs early, the prime slot receivers in the middle rounds, and a pair of quarterbacks in very good situations late and you are well on your way to fantasy football domination.
Tight End
The tight end has turn out to be an remarkably deep position in the past few years. You can get remarkably productive players late in drafts, as well as on the waiver wire each week based on the matchups, which makes it a significant misstep to draft a Tight End early. A healthy Antonio Gates was a rare exemption to the rule last year (2010), but it is still debatable if he will ever recover his top rated form ever again.
Defense
The team defense is a suitable position to benefit from a tag team. Effective production at this position is more related with confronting a lousy offense that turns the ball over and doesn’t score very much than having an outstanding defense. Once again, it is worthwhile to acquire 2 teams late in the draft that face a very weak combined schedule (and in a perfect world force a lot of turnovers!).
Kickers
As we described in the Value Based Drafting (VBD) section, it is often an optimal strategy to hold out and draft a kicker in the final round of your draft (If you draft one at all). You will often be able to find a productive kicker no matter what time of year. If your draft is a few weeks before the first regular season game, it may be much better to not draft a kicker at all (you will wait and add someone off waivers before your first game). That way you free up an added roster spot to take a chance on a backup RB who has the capability to be named the teams opening day starter that could instantaneously make your squad the team to conquer or would definitely present you some excellent trade bait. This strategy of holding out on a kicker also does away with the prospective concern that transpires when your kicker has a bye week. If you selected a top kicker, you may perhaps be hesitant to drop him and will opt to drop a different position on your team. But, if you are utilising a tag-team at a few positions, you will need to have all the other players for targeted matchups in the near future. If you have got a waiver wire kicker you will be less apprehensive about dropping him and adding a very similar counterpart. With a little homework you will be ın a position to acquire top 10 production at the kicker position (depending on matchups and weather conditions), erasing any need to go after a top kicker.
The draft is the single most significant day of your fantasy football season. You can either start the season strong with a fantastic performance on draft day, or dig yourself a hole that may well take half the season to dig out of. We desire to just lay the hammer early and often.
The basis of our strategy centers around a “Tag-Team” technique. As you more than likely know, a recent phenomena in the NFL (to the dismay of a large number of fantasy owners) is the running-back-by-committee. This can be tracked back throughout the history of the game, but recently has been brought back into the mainstream by former USC coach Pete Carroll’s usage of Reggie Bush and LenDale White all through their time with the Trojans. These two players were the suitable mixture of acceleration and strength. They were independently implemented in instances they were most probable to be successful. We are going to take on this chunk of knowledge and use it to our fantasy team. We will look to utilize two players as a pairing to create a really rewarding one starting position on your roster.
Do not forget the Value-Based Drafting techniques. What if we are ın a position to simply wait on a QB and preferably instead draft two quarterbacks in the middle to later rounds that experience extremely advantageous combined schedules and together with each other will in reality outperform the top QB in that case? This arises every year and is a highly workable.
KEY INSIGHT: The plan of this strategy is to “free up” your top picks to really maximize their worth using VBD techniques. We can do this by looking for several positions that we can simply wait for and still acquire combos of quality players later in the draft that “fit” together with each other well.
By using this strategy, you will get the most benefit achievable out of each individual pick in the draft. Every selection will have a reason and function. In other words, the whole will be a good deal greater than the sum of the parts.
When other managers are reaching for kickers and defenses mainly because they don’t know who else to select, you will be putting together a compelling team that will work alongside one another to maximize consistency, burst-potential, and depth. In addition to the QB position, you can rather comfortably use a tag-team for your starting RB2, WR3, DEF, and maybe even TE. We deliver our RED ZONE subscribers our top recommendations at each and every position.
Using this approach as the cornerstone of our strategy, let’s take a position-by-position look at the “best practice” concepts for building a complete team.
KEY INSIGHT: The cornerstone of our strategy centers around a “Tag-Team” methodology. We look to use two players as a combo to develop a rather rewarding one starting position on your roster.
Quarterback
It is very {alluring to go for a top QB like Tom Brady or Michael Vick as your #1 or #2 pick since QBs frequently score a bunch of points. Refuse this lure if you can however, considering this QUITE OFTEN ends up being a terrible option when it really counts at the end of the year. The rationale once again is because VALUE. It is much less difficult to come across excellent QBs in the middle to late rounds than it is to acquire an similarly rewarding running backs and receivers at that time.
A good model of a mid-round STEAL at QB this season (2011) is Mathew Stafford (Rd 8). Nobody has ever questioned the guy’s ability, the sole reason he dropped this significantly in fantasy drafts were injury fears. His situation was ideal however, with impressive tools around him at wide receiver, running back, and tight end. It was just a matter of remaining injury free for an entire season. This is the type of situation MOST SUITABLE for our fantasy football strategy. We can combine Stafford with a second QB in a decent situation, rendering us two shots at uncovering a terrific value, and at the same time being in a position to pick out the most beneficial matchup’s week-to-week. There are frequently QB’s around the middle of the projected group that elevate to the top JUST ABOUT EVERY SINGLE year. Michael Vick was not on anyone’s roster to begin the season last year, and ended as a top QB. Cam Newton is experiencing a comparable meteoritic climb to the top of fantasy QB value boards, and is a player you could have added to your team for free in the first couple weeks of the season. It is simply just bad business to ever use a high draft pick on a quarterback in fantasy football, and quite possibly the most prevalent error made by novice players.
The key is searching for the cases that are most fresh for achieving success. For a QB, this would definitely mean a good set of receivers and tight end, an ample running game with a good pass catching RB, and a high quality pass-blocking offensive line.
Dependant on the roster size in your league, it could possibly even be favorable to draft a 3rd QB alternative. While we might not always encourage this, we are aware not to rule it out either. If there is a run on middle round QB’s and you do not get your ideally suited picks (constantly have backup tag-team as part of your research just in case), drafting a third option might not be the worst idea. Plus, if you are in a 12 team league, this will significantly constrain the QB possibilities other managers have in case their star gets injured or underperforms. For this rationale, introducing a 3rd QB to your roster can be a strategy tactic as well.
KEY INSIGHT: We frequently encourage you proceed with a 2 man committee of mid-tier QBs with excellent combined schedules (one of them always confronting a weak(er) opponent) as compared to a top QB in the beginning rounds).
Running Backs
This is still the most important concept in fantasy football dominance: You NEED to have running backs you can count on to be the anchors of your team. They are STILL the most valuable position in fantasy football, and the position that you can most confidently rely on every week. It’s easy for a defense to take away an elite wide receiver by double teaming him (representing a tremendous hazard to your fantasy team, certainly if he is assumed to be one of your top players). It is much more complex for a defense to fully shut down a duel threat running back..And that final part is the key: DUAL THREAT. Your top draft picks should almost ALWAYS be the top running backs that are not primarily great rushers, but that additionally see a large amount of targets in the passing game. This is by far the dominate strategy in fantasy football, most definitely in a PPR league (Point Per Reception) considering the fact that you boost your week-to-week reliability. With so many NFL teams moving to a running back by committee, there are fewer and fewer “true #1” RBs nowadays. That is why it is a TREMENDOUS value to the fantasy teams that own them. Fantasy teams without a reliable running back like this to count on run the risk of putting up scores of 0-7, which positively OBLITERATE your possibilities of winning. In 2011, the very clear examples are Ray Rice, Arian Foster, Matt Forte, LeSean McCoy, Fred Jackson, Jahvid Best, Ryan Mathews, and Darren McFadden. Although it has become a lot more popular to go for WRs and QBs early, in most scenarios this is a considerable misstep, NOTABLY a QB. They simply just do not provide you with an acceptable benefit over QBs you can acquire later in the draft, and even on the waiver wire each week. Drafting a WR in the early rounds is chancy considering the fact that they are A GOOD DEAL less dependable than the top RBs that also catch passes.
I also am convinced that you can NEVER have too many running backs on your fantasy team. It is SUBSTANTIALLY better to be overloaded with depth at RB given that there are so many injuries, you will always be safe. In addition, it is much easier to trade running backs after a few good weeks for an elite player at a different position, if your league facilitates trades and you find it positive for your team. You have so many possibilities as well as insurance if you own strong depth at RB.
In addition to drafting the quality running backs early, it’s also NECESSARY to keep an eye on the waiver wire running backs that have the capability to develop into big time producers. This is the place our research comes in handy. If you can recognise players who are under the media radar but are playing in cases where success is highly possible, that is like striking the jackpot. This will be in the form of backup running backs that are pushed into a starting role when the starting RB gets hurt. A few samples from the 2009-2010 season consist of Jamaal Charles and Rashard Mendenhall, who both finished in the top 15 in spite of not being drafted in countless leagues! So even though it is “impossible” to foresee injuries, we can realistically expect to have a lot of these rags-to-riches stories every single year in the NFL attributed to the physical dynamics of the league. The key element is to stay completely ready and one step ahead of everyone else.
KEY INSIGHT: Running backs are still THE MOST SIGNIFICANT position in fantasy football. To field the most dependable team, you have to have a robust stable of DUAL THREAT running backs that not only get a lot of rushing yards, but that also catch a lot of passes. At the same time, you FREQUENTLY have to be on the search for the fresh “star” waiver wire pickups. You can NEVER be too deep at the running back position.
Wide Receivers
Due to the dynamics of defenses, wide receivers are inclined to be one of the most sporadic positions on the field. This is my personal inclination, but I despise needing to rely on great output from the receivers on my fantasy team. I would much rather know I’m going to get sturdy production from my high level running backs, and then accompany that with “hidden gem” receivers that reliably get a lot of targets for their team, and frequently play out of the slot. I find next to nothing more demoralizing than drafting an elite WR, and then seeing every defense place 2 or 3 defenders on him, and subsequently destroying your fantasy production. It is much more complex to take away slot receivers, making them a A WHOLE LOT more reliable play from a consistency point of view. Take a look at what Wes Welker is executing so far this year! No defense can even slow him down and he has grown to be far and away the top PPR receiver to possess. The best part is, you can frequently draft a lot of these slot receivers in the middle rounds, immediately after you have already piled up your anchor running backs.
KEY INSIGHT: Slot receivers that are targeted 7-12 times per game are gold in PPR fantasy football. Draft high level pass catching RBs early, the prime slot receivers in the middle rounds, and a pair of quarterbacks in very good situations late and you are well on your way to fantasy football domination.
Tight End
The tight end has turn out to be an remarkably deep position in the past few years. You can get remarkably productive players late in drafts, as well as on the waiver wire each week based on the matchups, which makes it a significant misstep to draft a Tight End early. A healthy Antonio Gates was a rare exemption to the rule last year (2010), but it is still debatable if he will ever recover his top rated form ever again.
Defense
The team defense is a suitable position to benefit from a tag team. Effective production at this position is more related with confronting a lousy offense that turns the ball over and doesn’t score very much than having an outstanding defense. Once again, it is worthwhile to acquire 2 teams late in the draft that face a very weak combined schedule (and in a perfect world force a lot of turnovers!).
Kickers
As we described in the Value Based Drafting (VBD) section, it is often an optimal strategy to hold out and draft a kicker in the final round of your draft (If you draft one at all). You will often be able to find a productive kicker no matter what time of year. If your draft is a few weeks before the first regular season game, it may be much better to not draft a kicker at all (you will wait and add someone off waivers before your first game). That way you free up an added roster spot to take a chance on a backup RB who has the capability to be named the teams opening day starter that could instantaneously make your squad the team to conquer or would definitely present you some excellent trade bait. This strategy of holding out on a kicker also does away with the prospective concern that transpires when your kicker has a bye week. If you selected a top kicker, you may perhaps be hesitant to drop him and will opt to drop a different position on your team. But, if you are utilising a tag-team at a few positions, you will need to have all the other players for targeted matchups in the near future. If you have got a waiver wire kicker you will be less apprehensive about dropping him and adding a very similar counterpart. With a little homework you will be ın a position to acquire top 10 production at the kicker position (depending on matchups and weather conditions), erasing any need to go after a top kicker.
And finally, if you are interested in additional fantasy football strategy, please check out Fantasy Football Riches at http://www.fantasyfootballriches.com.
