2010 Fantasy Football Draft: A Strategy For Draft Day Success

We all get a little nervous/excited about draft day, we want the best team, we want everyone else to fear the juggernaut we’ve created.  But take a step back, yes, you want the best team possible, but if you’ve played before, you know that the league is rarely won or lost on draft day (even sub-par seasons from first-rounders like Michael Turner and LaDainian Tomlinson weren’t so traumatic that you couldn’t recover).  

Inevitably it is the person that grabs Jamaal Charles, Jerome Harrison, Miles Austin or Brett Favre that ends up winning the league.  So if things don’t go your way on draft day, take a deep breath and prepare for the right waiver wire moves and trades.  That being said, here’s a road map to killing a draft:

A few rules.  

First, figure out your draft number and determine where you will be drafting in all the rounds.  This way you’ll have a rough idea of what will be out there in the later rounds (six, seven, etc.), so if you miss a running back in the fifth, you’ll know you can wait and grab someone you like later.  

Second, know your draft platform.  There are huge differences in the rankings between Yahoo, ESPN, etc.  If you are online, it’s likely that the drafters will just basically follow those rankings; if you are using something different be prepared for a guy you view as a sixth-round sleeper going in the fourth.  

Third, this is just a personal preference, but I tend to wait on tight ends (unless it is a PPR league then a guy like Dallas Clark is basically a receiver).  Look at last year who had Vernon Davis, Owen Daniels (before his injury), Brent Celek, and Visanthe Shiancoe having big years?  You probably could’ve grabbed any of them off waivers. 

Fourth, check for any recent injury news, you don’t want to be the guy that grabs Ben Tate and then has to promise his buddies beer for life for a mulligan.  

Finally, and you’ve probably heard this before FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO KICKERS BEFORE THE LAST ROUND!!!!  You don’t want to be mocked for picking Matt Stover in the FOURTH ROUND (cough, Pete, cough) and kickers are all the same.

Continue reading for tips for each round>>>>>>>>>>