How To Draft A Fantasy Football Team

What type of player should be at the top of my fantasy football draft board?

I have running backs at the top of my fantasy football draft board. They are the breadwinners of fantasy football. If you go to a fantasy football draft and you're doing it online, I would say maybe the first two rounds - even three rounds - are dominated by running backs. There are a couple of reasons for that. The running backs are the most consistent players week to week. They are also harder to find. There are only so many starting running backs, especially now there are only so many that get all the carries. There are perhaps just 20 in the whole football league. That makes them very valuable in fantasy football. You have to start two every week. They tend to go very fast in the first round or two in your fantasy football draft. I think next off the draft board you want to look at wide receivers. There will be some really top level quarterbacks that will be in the top 40 picks or so, but for the most part, you're going to be looking at running backs and wide receivers as your first four or five picks in fantasy football drafts. After that, you want to make sure that you get a good starting quarterback, and a good starting tight end in the middle of your draft. For the most part, you can save the kickers and the team defenses for the end of the fantasy football draft. In a fifteen round draft, you can save those two positions for the last two or three rounds.

What are some common drafting mistakes made by first-time fantasy football owners?

I think not being informed is probably mistake number one in fantasy football drafting. You want to know who is the starting running back for each team, and maybe someone's going to take a guy who got cut or is a backup or is out of the league. Another common mistake is with injury concerns. If someone's really hurt, and they're going to miss five weeks, you often see the first-time fantasy football player, who doesn't really know everything, drafting that injured player. Another strategy mistake, I think, is someone that takes a quarterback or kickers and team defenses, particularly, too early in the draft. They want to get all their positions filled. It's really not necessary to take them in the first few rounds of the fantasy football draft.

What type of offensive statistics should I look for when drafting my fantasy football team?

The first offensive statistics I look at are receiving yards, rushing yards, passing yards and touchdowns. Those are the most important statistics that you're going to find for fantasy football. I almost like yards statistics just a little bit better then touchdowns because they tend to be more consistent every year. If you have a wide receiver that gets 1200 yards every single season, he's going to score for you. Touchdowns can go up and down a little more, but obviously there very, very important, so you want to look for running backs that score more than 10 touchdowns, wide receivers that score more then 7 or 8 touchdowns and quarterbacks that throw for more than 25 touchdowns. In terms of the kickers, look for whoever's on a good offense, whoever scores the most points. For team defense, choose players for your fantasy football team who prevent the most points, and you can also look to see who gets the most sacks.

What type of players should I draft for my bench in fantasy football?

When drafting for your bench in fantasy football , you want guys that play. That's the most important thing. I think people overlook that. You want to get guys that are starters on their team. There are only so many starters around the league. You just want to build depth in your fantasy football team. If you happen to have taken some risks with your starter, maybe take some consistent veterans as your back-ups, guys that are very reliable every year. Towards the end of the draft, you might want to look for some younger players, with what is termed really high upside: they haven't really proven it before, but they have potential to really explode. I think with your last couple picks of the fantasy football draft, when you're building depth, maybe go for a home run. Go for a guy that someone's been calling a sleeper, that maybe a website you read said could really break out this year and have a monster season. That's what I like to use for the last few picks of the day.