Fantasy Football tips I didn't know I had

After an entire off-season of refusal to join or create another NFL Fantasy Football team EVAR, I caved. Just call me Brett Favre....only, I didn't cave because I had a hard time letting go. I caved because my husband needed another manager for his league to round it out to an even number, so I guess that's acceptable, right? I've never "sucked" at FF - I actually have a couple of championships under my belt and several 2nd and 3rd place trophies. It just got old because:

• I refuse to draft players from my team (it's bad luck)
• I refuse to draft players from division rivals anymore. I used to, but I felt dirty rooting for them even though they weren't playing the Hawks. (I wouldn't have them for 3 out of the 17 weeks anyway - I won't use them when they play against my team and then the bye...)
• I refuse to draft players from teams that I despise. This means just Steelers, so that's no big deal, right? But let's face it...they're good, and at draft time this has on occasion left me having to choose a mediocre player in place of a much better one.

So anyway...I caved, and the draft was tonight. I noticed something while we were drafting. Not only do I use the aforementioned criteria when choosing my players, but I take a much more analytical approach than I realized.

1. I pick a QB first. 

I know - most people will recommend that you choose a RB first and foremost because they earn the highest points. However, in my experience, with the current 1-2 punch most teams are going with,  there are a lot more players available than there are elite quarterbacks. I want my QB first and I built the team around him...quarterbacks and kickers are generally the only players of which there are only one starter per team. Kickers don't get squat for points on a week to week basis, so I don't really worry too much about them until the draft is close to being finished. I usually pick up a defense after my main quarterback and a couple of running backs. They don't usually start going until the 5th round, so usually a projected high scoring one will always be available in round 3 or 4.

2. I pick my Running Backs second and third.


3. I pick a Defense early.

4. Running Backs and Receivers Pick Philosophy

I don't necessarily always take the "best available" according to the site (Yahoo, NFL.com, whatever). Of course I take into consideration how they did last year, whether or not they're susceptible to injury, and most importantly; what's the quarterback situation on their team? This year left me with a lot more RB's and a lot fewer receivers to choose from, due to the QB mess we have in the NFL. I could quite possibly be wrong in using this approach but hey...at least I'm not choosing guys by popularity or how they look in their pants, right?

5. Defense Pick Philosophy

I don't care whether or not a defense has a Troy Polamalu or a Darrelle Revis somewhere. I take into consideration how many points the entire D allowed the season before, total forced fumbles, sacks, interceptions, and TDs. A lot of times a defense will rack up a lot more of these when they don't have a star player. Sometimes it works out to be one in the same, but a lot of times it doesn't.

6. Tight Ends Pick Philosophy

Is he more of a blocking or scoring tight end? And again - what's the QB situation like on his team? If it's a mess, I'm not sure I want him over a RB or D that's going to guarantee me more points.

7. I usually make sure I have a core group (one QB, 2 RB, 1 D, 2 WR and 1 TE) before I pick anything else.

Once I get my core group done, I like to pick up the best QB and D available for bench spots - those are my top dollar guys, so I want to make sure I'm stocked in that dept. just in case of injury or mis-picked defense and for bye week. My top scores will come from QB, RB, and D on a weekly basis - I need to make sure I'm not screwed on the one week I need to go without them.

8. Kickers Pick Philosophy

Obviously I look at their accuracy...but I also take into account how efficient their team has a tendency to be in the red zone. Are they a top scoring team? Do they have a difficult time getting the ball into the end zone? What's their running game like? Do they tend to air it out rather than use short passes or pounding it in on the ground? While great kickers have been born on teams like the New England Patriots, they haven't had to kick many long field goals. Remember Neil Rackers with a flailing Arizona team before Fitzgerald and Boldin came along? Money.

9. Bench Pick Philosphy

RBs, of course your extra QB and D, and Bye Weeks - make sure that you have a couple of extra RBs and make sure that the people you pick up as substitutes for your guys for their bye weeks don't have the same bye weeks...that's a no brainer.

I honestly had no idea that I do this until I was trying to concentrate tonight during the draft. Then I asked myself "why am I concentrating so hard? how difficult IS it?" - that's why. I know this doesn't/won't work for everyone, and I'm not saying you should take this and use it as your own Fantasy Football drafting method...I will say that I've done fairly well for myself this way. I just didn't know I was doing it, haha.