Fantasy Football: 10 Draft Strategies to Help You Win Your League

The NFL season is a few weeks away, and that means fantasy football drafts are taking place throughout the country. The fantasy football draft, which started as a leisurely activity, has grown into a high-stakes game with little room for error.

The draft is the most crucial part of the fantasy football season, and there are several mistakes that you can avoid that will help you win your league.

Here are 10 strategies you should use when you are drafting your fantasy teams.

Select Multiple Running Backs

The "Running Back By Committee" system has become the norm in the NFL, and if you are smart, you will employ the same strategy for your fantasy team.

Running back carries are being distributed more than ever, and you will not be able to depend on one running back if you want to win your league.

Don't Draft a Tight End Early

 Despite the huge numbers that tight ends have been putting up in recent years, you do not need to draft one early.

The tight end position has substantial depth throughout the league, and you would be wise to wait until after you have drafted a running back, quarterback and wide receiver to select one.

If You Draft a Kicker, Wait Until the End

The kicking game has become more unreliable in recent seasons, and it does not make sense to select a kicker before the second-to-last round of your draft. There are other needs that must be addressed in the early rounds.

It also might not be a bad idea to avoid drafting a kicker altogether if you can draft a starting position player.

Don't Take a Quarterback in the First Round

With the need to draft multiple running backs, you should wait until at least the second round to select a quarterback. Additionally, quarterback is not as crucial to fantasy football as it is in real life.

Also take into consideration the measures the NFL is taking to treat players with concussions.

Concussions are a common injury among quarterbacks, and you will pay a price if the league forces your first-round quarterback to miss time from a concussion.

Draft a Backup Quarterback

This strategy also ties in with the NFL's new stance on concussions.

The chances are that your starting quarterback will not play all 16 games in a season. Drafting a late-round backup QB will give you much-needed depth at the position.

By drafting two quarterbacks, you also won't be forced to use a high draft pick on a QB.

Know a Player's Injury History

Obviously, not knowing a player's history with injuries will lead you to make poor judgments in your draft.

If your player has a spent significant time on the training table throughout his career, don't expect him to stay away from there for too long.

In the event that you do take a risk and draft a player with bad injury history, be sure to select another player of the same position for insurance.

Be Open to Trading

You will need to be flexible if you want to win your fantasy league. And part of being flexible means that you are willing to trade.

Do not be afraid to make a big move to acquire a stud player.

Trades can also be used to correct mistakes you feel you have made earlier in the draft.

Exploit Your Competitors

If there are fantasy football rookies in your league, or people who have no business participating, go after them. Try to fool them into making lopsided trades or bad drafts.

Find out as much as you can about your opponents before the draft. Rookies are usually the easiest ones to exploit, but also try to identify the less-intelligent competitors within your league .

Draft High-Risk, High-Reward Players Late

Go for broke at the end of your draft. You are going to have a hard time finding safe, reliable players to select, so you might as well take risky players who can pay huge dividends.

Many of these players are wide receivers with problematic pasts. But if they get lucky, you stand to gain much against your opponents.

Draft for Talent

At first this may sound obvious, but far too often people draft players based on their reliability and consistency than they do for overall talent.

Many within your league will draft what they feel are "safe picks," so it is important to identify talented players, even if they are inconsistent, and use them to elevate you over your competition.