Fantasy Football: The Roundtable's Draft Rules

1. Don’t fall in love with the running back. As detailed above, you can score just as many points with an elite player at another position, especially in Round One.
2. But make sure you land two solid backs in the first four rounds. The position is especially deep this year, but most of the top backs will still be gone after round this point. Let me give you an example though. I have Rudi Johnson just making my top-25 backs right now. So the talent is there, and you need it.
3. Know the Running Back By Committee (RBBC) teams. Right now, Miami, Atlanta, Tennessee, Seattle, New Orleans, Houston, Denver (duh), Carolina, Jacksonville, and Chicago are definites, with Pittsburgh and the Giants also having potential to see split carries between backs.
4. Keep bye weeks handy. There is nothing more frustrating than drafting two top backs or wide receivers and finding out they have the same bye week. Plan depth accordingly and use this as a tie-breaker between two close draft candidates.
5. Don’t rush to get a quarterback. Yes, Brady and Manning are going to go early, but you can find value later on if you’re willing to take the chances. Carson Palmer, Tony Romo, and Drew Brees will likely be the next quarterbacks off the board, but they’ll last until Round Four or Five in many formats. You will still find Roethlisberger, Hasselbeck, and Anderson available until close to Round Five or Six and solid positional acquisitions of “The Other Manning”, Bulger, Schaub, Garrard, and Delhomme even later.
6. Know how your league scores. This is probably obvious, but still important. If you count receptions or completions, move some of the top wide receivers up on your draft sheet. If you lose points for incompletions, fumbles, interceptions, research who is most prone to them.
7. Value rookies correctly. This is a big one. There are many people who think that rookies always make an immediate impact. That’s not always the case. There are several each year who step up, and most of those are running backs with something to prove. Wide receivers need to learn to play against more physical corners and quarterbacks have a TON to learn. Felix Jones and Darren McFadden are the favorites this year. But don’t look to Chad Henne to set the world on fire in Miami.
8. Your last two picks should be kicker and defense. Unless you are trying to take a top-two defense, there is never a reason to move earlier on either of these positions. Honestly, in most leagues, you should play matchups on this. Look a week in advance as to who each team is playing and make decisions from there. These are two positions never to get attached to. The stats are way too similar across the board.
9. Know about regression to the mean. Sometimes a guy is ready to break out and you can watch the progression on a year-to-year basis. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere. When it does, be skeptical. Consistency gets you in the door, lightning in a bottle should be caught on waivers.
10. Don’t worry if you start a position player against your defense. Things have a way of netting out. Just because you have the starting running back, doesn’t mean a defense will perform poorly. There are ways around that. Interceptions, fumbles, and defensive touchdowns are independent of what your running back or wide receiver or even quarterback might do.

The most important piece to all of this is to have fun. It sounds cliché, but you’re doing this with your friends, roommates, or the guy next door because it’s a good time. Get on the message boards, talk some trash, and don’t be "That Guy" who vetoes every trade that gets proposed. It's pretty straight forward, really.

Get in the leagues, start joining the fun, and we'll check in with position breakdowns to get you ready for it.

Check out the full Roundtable blog.

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