Fantasy Football: Nine Logical Keys to a Succesful Draft

: In 2006, when he first signed with the Cowboys after he left the Eagles, people were afraid to draft him high. That year he led the NFL with 14 touchdown receptions.

Randy Moss: In 2007, even though Randy Moss was joining a great offense, many people were scared to draft him. Last year, he led the NFL with 23 touchdown receptions.

 

7. If the top-four defenses are taken, don’t take one till the last three rounds.

For defenses, once you get past the top four, the difference between the fifth best and 10th best isn’t much different. According to Yahoo!, last year the range in total points in a standard league for the fifth to 10th leaders in defense was from 150-156.

Why wastes a draft pick when were talking about a difference of six points.

 

8. Once you have all your key starting positions filled, it’s important to take risks when choosing between two players ranked similar.

Example: According to Yahoo, Drew Bennett is ranked as the 139th best player. But honestly, who thinks there is any chance of Drew Bennett having a big impact on your fantasy team this year.

He’s a decent veteran, and we know what he’s going to get you. But I’d rather draft a player who could have a break out year, like Ted Ginn Jr., who is ranked as the 142nd best player according to Yahoo.

 

9. Backup your star running back in case he gets injured.

Although this made seem obvious, most fantasy players fail to do this, and when their star back gets injured, someone else picks up their backup before them. If you already have your star back’s backup on your roster, then this can be prevented.

 

Although the draft is the most important part that determines the success of your team, part of the reason for drafting certain players is to use them in trades. Here is my No. 1 rule for fantasy trading.

Do not trade one for many. Only trade many for one.

There are only a certain amount of players that can start each week, so why trade a great player for three solid players that are just going to fill up your roster.

Example of a bad trade: LaDainian Tomlinson for Tory Holt, Wes Welker, and Willis McGahee.

According to Yahoo, last year, Tory Holt, Wes Welker, and Willis McGahee together got around 397 points together, while L.T. got around 247 points; a difference of 150 points. So this trade seems like a good deal to make, right?

But if you give this trade a closer look, you can see that the team that gives up L.T. now has three starting position filled up and has to release two players. On the other hand, the team that gets L.T. now has two open spots for other skill players to start and two open spots for free agents.

Those two, open, starting spots will probably easily make up the 150 points lost and in the end, the team that traded for L.T. ends up getting the better deal.

Following these keys isn’t the only way to build a successful fantasy team. But following these logical keys has worked for me, and I believe they will work for anyone.

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