ESPN Fantasy Football Draft Tips

It’s fantasy football time! At this writing week one is in the can, but you can still join leagues and draft teams. I play in ESPN’s fantasy football leagues and have several teams. I’m actually waiting for another draft to start as I write this article. Yes, I’m addicted! My dream job would be a General Manager of an NFL team, building a Super Bowl winner! Heck, I’d even like being a fantasy football “guru.

But for now I’ll settle for fantasy dominance. I like playing in a 10 team league just because of the better depth as opposed to a 12 team format. I also prefer a live draft as opposed to “auto picking”; to me drafting is where most of the fun is.

If you’ve never tried fantasy football drafting it’s easy, just point and click. You can even use the computers pre-draft rankings so there won’t be any need to prepare, just hit the ground running. Everybody and their brother has a strategy to successful drafting, some people draft running backs first while some will take a QB with a 1st round pick, but some things are universal. We’ll cover them here.

Draft Based on Value

You need to assign a value to each player, which is what the computer attempts to do by ranking players on projected fantasy productivity. Defenses and kickers are a dime a dozen and therefore should be saved for last. For example running back Adrian Peterson is a highest ranked player in most drafts and after lighting it up in week one deservedly so. After him there is a second and third level of running backs. In this draft I’m about to do I have the 10^th pick (my favorite spot since I get to pick back-to-back) .

Peterson and most of the second level backs will be gone by the time I pick, so why spend a first round pick on a third level back when a first level wide receiver or QB is there? There will be plenty of third level backs left when I get to pick again because most likely wide receivers will start to be drafted by the people who already got their running back in the first round.

Draft Day Blunders to Avoid

Never, ever draft a kicker or defense until the end of the draft. In this draft someone actually took the Steelers with their first pick! This person has pretty much sealed their fate. There was also a run of kickers and defenses in the fourth round of this draft. At this point while I’m watching this insanity I’m rubbing my hands together doing my “Dr. Evil” I’m about to take over the world laugh.

Draft for Potential

With 10 teams in a 16 round draft the talent drops off rather quickly. That said it’s time to look for upside potential. Why take a guy who averages 3-4 touchdowns a year when there’s a rookie player with super star potential? Case in point last year RB Chris Johnson was a rookie I grabbed in the 10^th round and he quickly lit up the league. This year he’s a top 10 pick. Usually about rounds 8 and up is where you want to target rookies and/or really good players who back up injury prone starters. This year I grabbed rookie RB LeSean McCoy of the Eagles. He is the backup to the great but oh-so-fragile Brian Westbrook. Usually rookie wide receivers don’t have the same impact rookie running backs do, but there are exceptions.

If you follow these simple steps you’ll definitely improve your chances of success. Good luck!