Fantasy draft day can be a daunting experience. The decisions you make at that moment will affect your team for the rest of the season.
Make a good call and your league-mates will look up to you with both fear and respect when you roll up on their schedule. Bad decisions will lead to much mockery and finger-pointing.
So how do you make these good draft decisions? Here’s are a few rules to live by.
Running Backs First
Before you pick anyone or any position, you need to pick up your running backs. They’re going to score more fantasy points than any other position.
In 2012, Five RBs outscored leading WR Calvin Johnson. While three QBs outscored top RB Adrian Peterson. You only get one QB; you get two RBs. You don’t need a PhD. in mathematics to add that up.
There’s also a greater depth of good QBs available in a standard 12-team league than RBs. There are more than 12 QBs that put up more than 300 points last year compared to only one running back, Adrian Peterson. Because there are fewer 250+ point RBs, big points at the RB position are at a premium and should be your first two picks.
Make a Cheat Sheet
Make a list of tiers of players like this one; you need to do this and stick to it. Rank your preferred players ahead of time so you can be more confident in your decision. However, there is a big caveat when it comes to drawing up your cheat sheet. In fact, it’s the next and probably most important thing.
Do your Homework
Do some extra digging into a player’s background and see what you can find. Are they consistent year-to-year? Do they have an injured history? What’s the coaching strategy around them? These little tidbits can help you make your decision on whether or not to draft a player. And Finally…
Under No Circumstances!
Should you play the “name game”. Just because you recognize a player’s name or like them because they play for your team doesn’t mean they’ll be a good fantasy choice. You’ll probably have to suck up some pride and pick a team you despise, but it’s critical if you want to win.
Eric Smith is an MMA and fantasy football contributor with Craveonline.com. Follow him on twitter or @EricSmith_SP or email him at ejmith7@asu.edu.
