The Ten Fantasy Football Draft Commandments
Follow these principles and you will be rewarded into the kingdom of... your league's championship.
I: Thou Cannot Win Thy League with Your First Round Pick, But Thou can sure Lose It
You won't. Fantasy Football comes down to not screwing up early and hitting on some gems in the mid/late rounds and in season adjustments. That's it, that’s the entire ballgame. The lesson behind this? Don't outsmart yourself. Make the safe pick. Don't take Saquon Barkley #1 overall because you believe he'll bounce back from his ACL surgery and be the top back. Even if he does, congrats you probably had one of the top backs anyway with that pick no matter who you took (injuries aside). However is Saquon doesn't return to his rookie season form your goose is cooked and you better have drafted well in the later rounds to survive. Play it safe, make the smart pick, and eliminate risk in round 1. Speaking of Round 1.
II: Thou Shall Line Up Thine First Round Pick In Order of Preference
Nothing bothers me more on draft day than that guy who takes the full 1:30 on the draft clock or all day while in person deciding who to take with the third overall pick. Once you enter your draft room or learn your draft order, line up your top players you could land with that pick. So if I have the 7th pick, I line up my top 7 players 1-7 and take the top guy. Even if you learn where you'll be picking the day of the draft you typically know who you like amongst the top 10 give or take. After that you'll be drafting based on need, trends, who's picking around you and what they need, who else is still there, etc. None of these factors come into play in round 1 so it should be the fastest round in every draft.
III: Thou Shall Have a Plan and Know the Rules
After the first round or two you should have a general idea of guys you like and guys you want to avoid at minimum. Any basic player can handle that, even if it's your first year. If you're picking early round 1, plan out who you can take with your late 2nd and early 3rd round pick. Is a Hill/Kelce with Mahomes stack something you’d pursue if it fell your way? Who else do you like if they aren't there. A plan helps you formulate how you want to build your team and identify players in the mid rounds you want to target as you fill out your roster. You don't need to be Dr. Strange, seeing 14,000,605 outcomes. Be more like Star-Lord, with part of a plan. This also goes for knowing your league’s scoring and rules. Is it a 2 QB league? 4 or 6 points for a TD pass? PPR? Know this going into your draft because it may greatly impact your draft board and positional priorities.
IV: Thou Shall Not be Afraid to Ditch Thy Plan
Have a plan, follow Commandment #3. That being said, BE ADAPTABLE!! Lets say you planned to take a RB mid round 1 and one of the top WRs mid round 2. If one of your favored RBs from round one slips to you in round 2, throw the plan out. Don't force yourself into passing on players you REALLY like just because they don't fit the, “plan,” you had in mind. Draft day is a beautiful chaotic mess of improbability, don't fight it, go with it where it takes you.
V: Thou Shall NOT Draft a Kicker or Defense Until the Final Rounds
Just don't. This only applies to first year players because after year 1, you'll learn this. I usually land a top 5 kicker off waivers in the first two weeks of the season and defense will change most every week after week. If you're taking a defense or kicker earlier than the final 2 rounds because you "don't want to reach," on a player you like, you're doing it wrong. On the topic of reaching.
5 Fantasy Football Team Names Suggestions:
Bateman and Dobbins
Keenan and Kelce
Tua Gurleys One Kupp
Tannehills Have Eyes
Yippee Ki Yay Justin Tucker
VI: Thou Shall Not Be Concerned About "Reaching" With thy Final Few Picks
For your final few picks (before drafting a defense or kicker, see Commandment 5) don't worry about reaching for a sleeper you like. These are your deep sleepers, the only thing you should be concerned with is collecting as many guys as you like. Don't concern yourself with taking someone ranked higher over someone you like because you may be "reaching," for your guy. Go get your guys, these picks are usually the first on the chopping block to make room for early season waiver claims anyway, so don't be afraid to be bold. You only remember the sleepers you hit on, rarely the misses.
VII: Thou Shall Not be Afraid to Draft Multiple QBs
Scenario: you missed on the top few QBs in the draft so you waited and while you did there were a few runs on QBs and you're one of a few if not the only team yet to take a QB. Why push all your chips into one pot when you can increase your odds of finding a sleeper by spreading the love to multiple guys. As commandment 6 explains, many of your late round picks are going to be the first ones cut when waivers heat up after week 1. So what's the risk? Not all that high. The reward? You increase your odds of landing the next Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson. Mahomes is actually a great example of this strategy from his 2018 breakout season. The two consensus QB sleepers heading into 2018 were Mahomes, who if you took you probably won your league, and Jimmy Garoppolo, who if you took you probably didn't do much with. But if you took both, who cares that Garoppolo was a bust? You landed Mahomes too and made out like a bandit. You spread your chips out hoping to strike gold on at least one.
VIII: Thou Shall Not be Afraid to Draft One QB
Now lets say you land the top QB in Mahomes, why are you drafting a backup? Unless a sleeper is out there you really love and you aren't crazy about your board, similar to above use those chips to take more RBs, WRs, or a TE to increase your odds on striking gold late in the draft. QB is different from RB, WR, TE in supply vs demand. If you get a QB who you know is a blue chip starter every week no matter the defense, don't even bother drafting a backup. Especially if his bye week is weeks away. Are you really going to burn a roster spot for 2 months for a QB you plan on playing once? You can get by streaming a QB for one game that week because you only need to start one of them and you'll find plenty of options available, even in the deepest of leagues. This doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t draft a backup QB, but don’t feel like you NEED to if you have a steady option.
IX: Thou Shall Not Concern Thyself With Bye Weeks
Seriously, drafting based around bye weeks is the dumbest fantasy football strategy ever. EVER. As I said a number of times now, GO GET YOUR GUYS. Are you really going to pass on a sleeper mid round RB you REALLY like just because he has the same bye week as your #1 pick? You better not. You like him because he is a player who you think will perform well above his draft slot 17 weeks out of the season. You're really going to pass on him because of the one week he won't see the field? Don't, just go get the players you like, you'll figure out bye weeks later when they come around.
X: Thou Shall Have Fun
Draft day is the Christmas of your Fantasy Football League, have fun with it. Talk your smack, have a witty team name, steal your buddy's favorite player out from under him. That's what it's all about. Even if you don't like your team, be it auto-draft was drunk or the board never fell in your favor, you can always make trades and free agency moves. Best of luck to all of you.
5 Fantasy Football Team Names Suggestions:
Little Red Fournette
Hooked on a Thielen
Judge Jeudy
Fresh Prince of Helaire
Joe Exotic Bengal King
Any good fantasy football commandments you follow? Tell me on twitter @SMalone27 or leave a comment at the bottom.
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