Chad Davis | June 25th, 2019
For those of you looking to improve your fantasy teams this year, you have come to the right place. I am going to help all of you avid fantasy football fans gain a better understanding of how you should be drafting your fantasy teams. Whether you are an experienced veteran or a brand new player wanting to gain some insight, this guide will provide you with information on how to go about your draft strategy this summer and help you win your league!
Tip #1: Always Draft Positional Players First
What are positional players? In short, they are going to be your running backs and wide receivers. These are the most vital players and form the core of your team. If you notice in the draft rankings, almost every player ranked in the top three rounds is a running back or wide receiver.
Tip #2: Draft Running Backs Early
Most teams in the NFL feature only one running back as their workhorse and only around half of those are even going to be elite fantasy options. In addition, there are a couple teams that like to use committees, which hinder the fantasy production of these players due to the snap share. Running backs, especially the productive ones, are easily the most scarce players in any draft.
Tip #3: Always Wait To Draft Quarterbacks
There are 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL and roughly 15 of them have a chance to outscore all the others in any typical week for the NFL’s slate of games. There is very little value in reaching for a quarterback early. For example, Patrick Mahomes is the highest ranked QB in fantasy this year. Meanwhile, Drew Brees is ranked 9th and Russell Wilson is ranked 12th, according to Mike Clay. Players like these can easily be drafted in the double-digit rounds. As you can see, there are plenty of quarterback options to choose from on draft night, so don’t anyone dare waste a 3rd round pick on a quarterback. Unless, of course, you’re in a league with me.
Tip #4: Note Player Tier Drop-offs
Now, what exactly do I mean by this? First of all, prior to your draft, list all the players by position into tier groups respectively. For example, let’s say your Tier One Wide Receivers are DeAndre Hopkins, Michael Thomas, and Odell Beckham Jr. to name a few. You would be fine with drafting any of these players and you don’t see much difference between them. However, there is only one running back left in the Tier One Running Back category. You would be wise to draft the running back first as he will not be available by the time your next pick comes around. As a result, you will likely have other Tier One Wide Receivers to choose from during the next round.
Tip #5: Try To Draft Your Star’s Handcuff
We have all been there before. You spend your first round pick on David Johnson, only for his season to end in Week One due to a wrist injury. In many situations like this, the back-up guy immediately becomes the guy that takes over. Don’t be the person that has to trade away viable assets in order to fill that void. There’s very little value in drafting players in later rounds who might only play half of the offense’s snaps without a significant role. Players like this are still available at this point for a reason. It’s much better to draft the handcuffs in the late rounds, and then play off of injuries and use the waiver wire to maintain your bench throughout the season.
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