When I was younger, I was a defiant little rascal and hated when people told me not to do something. I was the spiteful kid who would then want to do it even more. Sometimes I would get away with it, but sometimes I would get in trouble, of course. Well, I am here today to give you the Do’s and Don’ts of your Fantasy Football draft. You can choose to be defiant, but I would suggest you listen to these tips so you don’t get in trouble on draft day.
Draft Preparation:
Do prepare ahead of time for your draft. I talked about draft preparation in detail in my “Rage Against the ADP” article. It is important to do your research and even create tiered rankings to help navigate you through your draft. Check out that article for more details.
Don’t confuse yourself. Don’t be the person who has 7 tabs open on your computer and jumps back and forth from site to site when you’re on the clock. We’ve all seen that guy in the live draft flipping through his stack of papers frantically trying to decide his next pick. Narrow down your research and rankings into a clear and concise page or two so you don’t get confused or panic when it’s your turn to pick.
Draft Roadmap:
Do be sure to play the draft room. You are drafting specific players by name, but the way to win drafts is by drafting value. If you see other players in your draft reaching for players, that means they are leaving other players to you at a value. Sometimes we will see drafters panic and feel they need to jump in on a run at a specific position, but don’t fall for it. Draft the best player and don’t get locked into following the pack.
Don’t go into a draft with a pre-planned “road map”. I get questions all the time asking me things like “If I go RB in the first round, should I look at wide receiver or tight end in round two or double up at running back?”. The answer is always going to be to draft the best player. If you’re sitting in the second round and there is a huge run at running back, don’t be afraid to take the falling value on a Tyreek Hill instead of making a panic pick of D’Andre Swift. Conversely, if you’re sitting at the end of the second round and drafted a running back with your first pick, but the second round was loaded with wide receiver picks, go ahead and grab that value on a Nick Chubb or Jonathan Taylor falling in your lap to pair with your Dalvin Cook or Alvin Kamara!
Safety vs. Upside:
Do draft for upside, but not until later. Finding players with high upside who have the potential to break out and greatly outperform their draft capital is an important part of winning a fantasy football league. You want to be able to do that, but while still limiting your risk if that breakout does not happen. When you’re in the middle to late rounds of your draft is when you take that shot and even reach a round for a guy who you think has that high ceiling. If you gamble on Ja’Maar Chase in the 4th round, but he has some rookie growing pains, you might have lost out on a less flashy, but more stable Cooper Kupp or Adam Thielen. You can make the safer pick early, then take a stab at a high upside player like Mike Williams, Antonio Brown, or Darnell Mooney in the 8th or 9th. If that player doesn’t hit, it won’t cost you as much as an earlier pick not hitting.
Don’t get cute early. In the first few rounds, anchor your team with safer picks. Your first picks should be guys who you can depend on every week, barring injury. These are players with a strong floor that you can be confident in locking into your lineup and producing consistently for you. Some of your draftmates might reach for flashy players for their upside, but that strategy is very hit or miss. You grab your safe players, and you can get the upside later in the draft to give you the edge without as much of a risk like we just discussed.
Kickers and Defense:
I am prefacing this section with the assumption that your league has both the kicker and defense positions in your starting lineup.
Do draft a kicker and put some thought into it. I have a specific strategy this season regarding the kicker position. Many people punt the position and just stream kickers every week. My strategy this year is to get in on a kicker early and draft one of Harrison Butker, Jason Sanders, or Rodrigo Blankenship. I specifically target these players for two reasons. First, because they are good and are considered some of the top options at the position. Secondly, and most importantly because they have late bye weeks. Butker has a week 12 bye and Sanders and Blankenship have week 14 byes. Having them on your team allows you to get through the majority of your regular season without having to think about kickers while your league mates spend their time streaming mediocre kickers every week.
Don’t draft a defense if you don’t have to. This is the position that you can stream based on matchups. Even the best defenses have tough matchups and if you’re investing in them by drafting them, you’re unlikely to be willing to drop them or pick up a second defense. In a 12-team league, there will be plenty of defenses on the waiver wire and if you do your research, you should be able to find one with a good enough matchup to start each week. Use that late pick to take a shot on one of those upside position players and see how they look in training camp!
These last 3 weeks I have given you articles specifically focused on helping you prepare for and win your Fantasy Football Draft this year. If you have missed any of them, you can find them on my author page. I hope that you take these tips and use them to dominate your draft room in the coming weeks. You are always welcome to follow me on Twitter @FantasyCoachJB and ask me any questions you may have on draft strategies, draft preparation, or anything else for that matter. Good luck to you all and happy draft season!
