Fantasy Football Draft Strategy 2015: Cheatsheet and Tips for Nailing Every Pick

Are you ready to get slapped in the face with so much fantasy knowledge you'll take off an imaginary glove and challenge me to a duel?

No? 

I don't blame you. That would be weird. So instead, just enjoy this fantasy football advice that I'll softly, gently lay at your feet. Let's not fight, OK?

OK.

Top 100 Rankings

Pick	Position	Player	Team
1	RB	Marshawn Lynch	Seattle Seahawks
2	RB	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings
3	RB	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers
4	RB	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs
5	RB	DeMarco Murray	Philadelphia Eagles
6	RB	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers
7	RB	Matt Forte	Chicago Bears
8	RB	LeSean McCoy	Buffalo Bills
9	WR	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers
10	WR	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos
11	TE	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots
12	QB	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts
13	QB	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers
14	WR	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys
15	RB	C.J. Anderson	Denver Broncos
16	WR	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants
17	WR	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons
18	WR	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals
19	WR	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions
20	RB	Jeremy Hill	Cincinnati Bengals
21	RB	Alfred Morris	Washington
22	RB	Carlos Hyde	San Francisco 49ers
23	RB	Lamar Miller	Miami Dolphins
24	WR	Randall Cobb	Green Bay Packers
25	WR	Alshon Jeffery	Chicago Bears
26	WR	Mike Evans	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
27	WR	T.Y. Hilton	Indianapolis Colts
28	QB	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks
29	RB	Mark Ingram	New Orleans Saints
30	RB	Melvin Gordon	San Diego Chargers
31	RB	Joique Bell	Detroit Lions
32	TE	Jimmy Graham	Seattle Seahawks
33	QB	Peyton Manning	Denver Broncos
34	WR	Emmanuel Sanders	Denver Broncos
35	WR	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans
36	RB	Frank Gore	Indianapolis Colts
37	RB	Andre Ellington	Arizona Cardinals
38	QB	Ben Roethlisberger	Pittsburgh Steelers
39	TE	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers
40	WR	Jeremy Maclin	Kansas City Chiefs
41	WR	DeSean Jackson	Washington
42	QB	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers
43	RB	Justin Forsett	Baltimore Ravens
44	RB	Jonathan Stewart	Carolina Panthers
45	RB	Giovani Bernard	Cincinnati Bengals
46	WR	Golden Tate	Detroit Lions
47	QB	Matt Ryan	Atlanta Falcons
48	WR	Brandin Cooks	New Orleans Saints
49	WR	Jordan Matthews	Philadelphia Eagles
50	WR	Sammy Watkins	Buffalo Bills
51	WR	Brandon Marshall	New York Jets
52	WR	Mike Wallace	Minnesota Vikings
53	WR	Keenan Allen	San Diego Chargers
54	TE	Martellus Bennett	Chicago Bears
55	TE	Travis Kelce	Kansas City Chiefs
56	TE	Julius Thomas	Jacksonville Jaguars
57	QB	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints
58	RB	Todd Gurley	St. Louis Rams
59	RB	T.J. Yeldon	Jacksonville Jaguars
60	WR	Jarvis Landry	Miami Dolphins
61	WR	Vincent Jackson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
62	WR	Brandon LaFell	New England Patriots
63	WR	Julian Edelman	New England Patriots
64	WR	Amari Cooper	Oakland Raiders
65	TE	Zach Ertz	Philadelphia Eagles
66	RB	Joseph Randle	Dallas Cowboys
67	WR	Victor Cruz	New York Giants
68	WR	Steve Smith	Baltimore Ravens
69	WR	Torrey Smith	San Francisco 49ers
70	WR	Andre Johnson	Indianapolis Colts
71	TE	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys
72	RB	Latavius Murray	Oakland Raiders
73	RB	C.J. Spiller	New Orleans Saints
74	QB	Matt Stafford	Detroit Lions
75	TE	Dwayne Allen	Indianapolis Colts
76	WR	Nelson Agholor	Philadelphia Eagles
77	RB	Tevin Coleman	Atlanta Falcons
78	RB	Rashad Jennings	New York Giants
79	TE	Jordan Cameron	Miami Dolphins
80	TE	Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans
81	RB	Chris Ivory	New York Jets
82	QB	Tom Brady	New England Patriots
83	WR	Michael Floyd	Arizona Cardinals
84	WR	Roddy White	Atlanta Falcons
85	WR	Anquan Boldin	San Francisco 49ers
86	TE	Owen Daniels	Denver Broncos
87	TE	Coby Fleener	Indianapolis Colts
88	QB	Tony Romo	Dallas Cowboys
89	WR	Eric Decker	New York Jets
90	WR	Reggie Wayne	New England Patriots
91	WR	Allen Robinson	Jacksonville Jaguars
92	RB	LeGarrette Blount	New England Patriots
93	RB	Alfred Blue	Houston Texans
94	RB	Ryan Mathews	Philadelphia Eagles
95	RB	Isaiah Crowell	Cleveland Browns
96	QB	Ryan Tannehill	Miami Dolphins
97	RB	Ameer Abdullah	Detroit Lions
98	WR	Davante Adams	Green Bay Packers
99	WR	Martavis Bryant	Pittsburgh Steelers
100	D/ST	N/A	Seattle Seahawks

Matt Camp's Fantasy Advice

Fantasy Wisdom from Mohamed Sanu

Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

"I couldn't get A.J. Green," Cincinnati Bengals wideout Mohamed Sanu told Sean Jensen of Bleacher Report, talking about his strategy of drafting his teammates. "Why not draft the people you got confidence in? There are other great players in the league, but you got to draft your boys!" 

It's a smart principle to draft by (though most of us don't have the option to draft a teammate). If you have players you trust, players who continue to produce or who you know very well, draft them again!

I'm a Philadelphia Eagles fan, so I'm more tuned into that team than some of the other organizations in the league. I have a good feeling about most of their skill position players this year, including Sam Bradford, so you can bet at least one Eagle will be on most of my teams.

You Can Wait on a Quarterback

Here's a quick look at the average draft position for quarterbacks in ESPN leagues: 

Rank	Player, Team	ADP
1	Aaron Rodgers, GB	12.1
2	Andrew Luck, Ind	12.7
3	Russell Wilson, Sea	28.3
4	Peyton Manning, Den	28.4
5	Drew Brees, NO	34.5
6	Ben Roethlisberger, Pit	49.8
7	Matt Ryan, Atl	66.1
8	Tony Romo, Dal	66.9
9	Tom Brady, NE	72.7
10	Cam Newton, Car	88.9
11	Ryan Tannehill, Mia	100.6
12	Matthew Stafford, Det	102.5
13	Eli Manning, NYG	105.8
14	Sam Bradford, Phi	106.1
15	Philip Rivers, SD	110.1

There are some really good players dropping well down the board at quarterback. Unless Aaron Rodgers falls into your lap in the third round, you can totally wait on the position.

Play it Safe in the Early Rounds

There is a time and place to take risks, and that is in the middle to later rounds. You need to crush your early picks, however. You can't win your league by nailing your early picks, but you can absolutely lose it by flubbing them. 

Go after guys in the early rounds with a reliable track record who you trust. If you are sitting at pick No. 10, you want a running back, and the available options are Matt Forte and C.J. Anderson, go with Forte. Maybe Anderson will be the better player, ultimately, but you know exactly what you are getting with Forte. Anderson's 2014 could have been a fluke, or he might end up in a platoon. 

Forte is going to eclipse 1,500 yards from scrimmage and score seven-to-10 touchdowns based on what he's traditionally done in his career, barring an injury. If fantasy is the art of minimizing your risk while maximizing value, there is no reason to get cute in the early rounds and go after high-risk, high-reward players when more reliable, productive players are available. 

Wide Receiver is the Deepest Position

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

You can build a really good team without drafting a wideout in the first four or five rounds. While that's a risky strategy to employ, the position just has so many strong options into the middle rounds.

Yes, elite wide receivers are still very valuable because of the consistency they offer. Wideout generally is the most mercurial position, as a good wideout will get you 25 points one week and 20 points combined in the next three or four. The elite receivers, meanwhile, tend to get you double-digit points week in and week out, reducing the weekly droughts.

So yes, target a solid receiver in the first three rounds, but just know that it isn't the end of the world if the board falls funny for you and you don't take a wideout early. There will be plenty of nice options waiting for you and, if you play the matchups right throughout the season, you'll be just fine without an elite option.

Get an Elite Tight End or Draft One Late

If you don't get Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham or Greg Olsen, just wait on tight end until later in the draft. The difference between players in the middle tier of tight ends is likely to be pretty small, so there is really no reason to reach for a tight end in the middle rounds.

Draft a Defense and a Kicker with Your Last Two Picks

Streaming defenses is a really smart, viable strategy, so there is never a need to reach on a defense. The difference between the top kicker and the No. 10 kicker might be 1.5 points per week, meanwhile, so I've never understood taking a kicker before the final pick.

You should be using your late-round picks to nab sleepers, not to reach for a defense or kicker.

Have a Philosophy, but be Flexible!

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Coming into this year's draft, my philosophy is centered around taking running backs early and often. The top-end running backs are simply more valuable than the top-end players at other positions because the position thins out really quickly due to the growing trend of teams relying on their passing games and platoons in the backfield.

That said, if the board falls for me in such a way that I take a wide receiver and quarterback in the first two rounds, that's what I'll do. I'm not going to reach for players just because I have a template for a perfect draft I need to fill out. 

A good fantasy player is always prepared and has a strategy, yes, but a good fantasy player can also adjust that strategy on the fly and react to how the board is shaping. You don't want to wing your draft, but you also don't want to approach it rigidly. 

Don't Go Sleeper Crazy

I see it every year—a bunch of solid, unspectacular, veteran players fall down the board for me to bolster my bench because the folks in my league have gone sleeper crazy. They start reaching for rookies or nabbing that backup who has looked explosive in the preseason.

To a point, targeting sleepers is smart. One really good sleeper can vault you into the playoffs. But the odds of hitting a home run in the later rounds is also really low, so the wise bet is to identify a few players you love, affix a value on them so you don't reach for them and fill out your roster with less sexy but more reliable players if those sleepers aren't available for you where you've slotted them on your board. 

I've seen plenty of teams who have gone sleeper-heavy in the later rounds absolutely fall apart during the bye weeks when those players haven't panned out and the team is left with no real depth.