Fantasy Football 2010: 10 Steps to Drafting a Winning Team

The simple easy definition of Fantasy Football is: the simulation of a team of players you drafted using real-time stats. Like everything else in America, Fantasy Football requires practice in order to gain a competitive advantage. After a few years of playing in many different leagues (I had over 40+ individual leagues during the 2009 season) I've decided I have a few draft strategies that spell out success when you are trying to win. I've played exclusively draft and play leagues so I won't be covering rotisserie style or emphasizing 12 team leagues as the majority I play are ten team leagues. No keeper hints and no I won't tell you who to take in the 3^rd round (at least not yet)...

1) Attend your draft - I can't tell you the exact number of leagues where at least one person didn't show up but I would guess around 90% of my 2009 leagues had at least one person missing. Sure you can fill out your draft order ahead of time but I'm a firm believer in watching how other people in your league stack up and draft. And the missing guy ended up taking Stephen Gostkowski in the 7-9^th rounds. You may think this isn't a big deal but those same people missed out on Thomas Jones, Cedric Benson, and Miles Austin to name a few.

2) Mock draft at least once prior to your real draft - Like I said before: practice makes perfect. This may seem like a stupid idea but in the big money leagues it is essential for you to understand who you are taking in every round. If someone grabs Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning with the first three picks of the second round what are you doing when your pick comes up? Do you go Aaron Rodgers or stick with an excellent #2 back like Steven Jackson? You only have about 2 minutes to decide and it is best if you know ahead of time. I treat my low money leagues ($0-10) as mock drafts as the season gets closer to starting.

3) Know your sleepers - I'm sure Matthew Berry has a ton of stats about picks 1-10 not living up to expectations. The real picks that win leagues are your later draft picks somewhere after the 9^th round. These are the guys that blow up and have fantastic games that literally steal a weekly win for you. Write down about 20 sleepers that you will be targeting in the later rounds of the draft (I would even go so far as to list the earliest round you would draft that player next to their name). Keep this list as a saved .doc file and update it as information comes in.

4) Your last two picks are a defense and a kicker - No matter what. I don't care if Pittsburgh and Baltimore are sitting there in the 13^th round; do not pick a defense or a kicker until the last two rounds. Period. In that order. Odds are that you will be swapping out defenses at some point and time. Kickers are even worst. Get a kicker on a high scoring team and change him out at the bye, you won't even notice the difference.

5) Draft a plethora of RB's - These guys are prone to injury AND disappointment (Matt Forte or Michael Turner in the 2009 season). It's best to stock up on these guys. Cover your bye weeks of course but look at teams with no clear platoon. These are the guys you take your chances on for sleepers. Draft depth and draft handcuffs. There are a decent amount of people that oppose handcuffs but when your RB1 or RB2 goes down you want a handcuff. If Matt Forte continues to stink it up then perhaps Chester Taylor is a good handcuff because not only will he fill in for an injured Forte he will get 10-12 touches when Forte is healthy.

6) Cover your byes - A simple rule that people forget. Print out a bye schedule so you don't draft 3 key players from the same bye week. I made a mistake last year and had two WRs, K, RB, and a QB out on the same bye week. Not good. So put the bye week schedule next to your sleeper picks.

7) Draft positions, not players - The real draft usually works by teams drafting the best player for their pick, sometimes this fills a need for the team, sometime it doesn't. The hard facts are that most drafts in fantasy football end up the same. Running Backs and Wide Receivers tend to get drafted in the first 3-4 rounds in that order RBs then WRs. Then usually a starting QB or some depth at RB and WR. Of course remember the last two picks are your defense and kicker in that order.

The standard team consists of a QB, (2) RBs, (2) WRs, TE, K, Defense. That said it is extremely important that you get your running backs and wide receivers slots filled early in the draft. Sleepers are great but chances are you will only get 1-2 sleepers IF you did your homework (see #3 above). So you want reliable starters to begin the season. Typically you will want RBs and WRs done early with a QB later and then you should be drafting for depth (see #8 below) in the middle rounds. Finish out your draft by getting a TE, K, and Defense.

8) Draft for depth - The goes with #5 from above but you have to cover your 3 most important positions in this order RBs, WRs, QBs. The other 3 positions can wait till later. You want running backs and wide receivers that are going to take on a lot of looks (WRs) or touches (RBs). Points are generally equal to touches and looks, or simply put the more the dude gets the ball the better chances he has to do something with it. For that reason you want to avoid platoons, avoid backup QBs, and avoid #2 wideouts. Avoid is a good word but if you are sitting in the 12^th round and LT is available then maybe you want to gamble even though he will be in a platoon situation. The question becomes is LT in a platoon as good as Chris "Beanie" Wells as the #1 RB? Time will tell but I'll take Beanie Wells and any other clear RB1 over a platoon.

9) Have fun - Chit chat on the message board, get to know your fellow players in the league. Especially if it is a high dollar league. Good sportsmanship is essential and watching others play will aid you in your strategy. Get to know a few styles and get your name out there.

10) Break the rules above - These 8 rules (#9 doesn't count because you should be having fun) are just guidelines to help you get started or improve your sophomore season. The fantasy football community is generally very supportive and understanding. Make some friends and make sure you draft a fantastic team. BabyBlueMonkey.com will be offering advice for the 2010 season and will have official monkey approved cheat sheets available for your draft by June 1^st. So click often and visit BabyBlueMonkey.com