I started playing fantasy football back in 2000. At the time, I was unfamiliar with the strategy surrounding the game. It seemed easy enough: create the best team possible. However, the task proved far harder to accomplish than I ever dreamed of.

As a high-school student, I enjoy playing fantasy sports. Each year, a bunch of friends and I would get together and participate in a fantasy basketball, baseball, and football league. I found myself taking the title in two leagues each year and a couple others that I participate in on Yahoo.

Fantasy sports, particularly fantasy football, has grown on me ever since. It seems to be the perfect mix of strategy and fun. I find fantasy football comparable to your favorite class in school.

It requires strategy and homework in order to craft a great team. It also requires vast research. Yet, the work does not seem burdensome. In fact, it feels the exact opposite.

Because of the love and appreciation I have for the game of football, I enjoy nothing more than kicking back on the coach with a cup of coffee and skimming through a fantasy football magazine.

But when it comes to the actual rankings themselves, it is clear the best names in sports don't know much.

Whether it's ESPN, Sporting News, CBS sports, or you name it, the rankings just don't cut it. I find the most valuable information for draft day to be the mock drafts and the ADP or average draft position.

The idea is mainly to trust your own instincts. The rankings are made for complete newbies. That is, people who have just learned that a touchdown is worth six points should follow these rankings strictly. Otherwise, the rankings aren't going to give you a leg-up on the competition.

The truth is, first-year players that draft players from their favorite teams have as good of a shot as the next guy drafting the best available player off of a Sports Illustrated cheat sheet.

Am I telling you, if you are a Miami Dolphins fan, to take Ronnie Brown first overall? Absolutely not. Am I telling you to do the opposite of what the rankings indicate? No. What I am telling you to do is use a balance.

The goal is to create that perfect balance between your perceptions and those of the writers of these rankings.

Here is a coherent plan to help you start your preparation.

Buy a magazine or look at some rankings online from a relatively reputable resource. Good examples are Athlon Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, Yahoo, and Fanball. Places to stay away from are Fox Sports and Sports Illustrated.

Obtain the following from said magazine or website or another trustworthy source:

1. Player rankings by position, including projections and three-year statistics

2. Top 300 players overall

3. Cheat sheets (just names of players)

4. Ranking of best offensive lines in the NFL

5. List of sleepers

6. Two or three mock draft results with the same number of teams as your league and similar settings run by expert analysts

7. List of ADP (average draft position) of players from reputable source

8. List of league roster positions

9. List of league settings

10. Red pen

11. Cup of Coffee (no decaf)

Once you have obtained the following, set aside No. 2, 5, and 8. They are solely to use on draft day only.

Then set aside No. 6 and 7 in a different pile. You will need to glance at these fairly quickly, but it is important that you do so before the draft.

Then take No. 3 out in front of you. Using No. 1, start to group players into tiers based on how close one guy will be, production-wise, versus the guy directly below him. Then use No. 9 to move certain players up or down depending on a certain league.

For example, in a league that awards you a point per reception (ppr), I would place Westbrook ahead of Peterson and move Reggie Bush into the low to middle-teens area rather than the high teens or low 20s.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?