Fantasy Tips

The important thing about picking a source for your rankings is that it's updated frequently enough to take players who are out for the year with injuries (if Sidney Rice and Ben Tate are on the list, you have a problem with the rankings -- they're old). Other than that, there are no secret sources that people don't look at. Fantasy players tend to know everything about fantasy players.

Honestly, you can go a long way just not drafting players who are "too old" and also not drafting players who are "too young". If you let everyone else in your league draft the guys they think are sleepers and guys on their own teams, you're going to outdraft them -- no matter how much more fantasy experience they may have.

Adrian Peterson is a great bet for 1,500 yards from scrimmage if he stays healthy, but doesn't have the same kind of upside as those other three.

From a pure fan perspective, I'm very iffy on Adrian Peterson this year. He's already logged a ton of carries in his short career and he was pretty ineffective last year down the stretch. It seemed the defenses made him a non-factor as the Vikes pushed into the playoffs. That and his fumbling problem concerns me big time.

One thing that helps determine what you should be drafting is the number of teams in your league. Take a look at where certain position tiers start to drop off based on your point system. Then you can kind of calculate what round it would be appropriate to draft a particular player. There is a huge difference between 8 team leagues and 14 team leagues, especially at WR.

As GTripp said, once you get passed (past?) the top 3 or 4 RBs, then the elite WRs and QBs are fair game because the rest of the RB pool is pretty even. If Frank Gore were not injury prone I might would put him in the elite category btw.

Check out the fantasy football calculator website (http://fantasyfootballcalculator.com/). You can jump in a mock draft that fits the number of teams in your league. It's nice because it gives you a feel for who's going where and in what round. Forinstance, I've got the number one overall pick in my 14 team league. The first pick isn't a big concern for me because obviously I'll get an elite RB, but my 2nd and 3rd pick falls at the #28/#29 spot. At that point, your top tier QBs and WRs are gone. Now I need to decide what spot I'm going for. Certain positions really start to thin out like RB and WR, whereas QB and TE are pretty thick. So, I usually pick two wrs then a QB/TE, maybe a RB. The strategy isn't set in stone. I mean, I'll Forte or Grant as my 2nd RB if they fall to me in rounds 2/3.

That's my two cents.

From a pure fan perspective, I'm very iffy on Adrian Peterson this year. He's already logged a ton of carries in his short career and he was pretty ineffective last year down the stretch. It seemed the defenses made him a non-factor as the Vikes pushed into the playoffs. That and his fumbling problem concerns me big time.Yeah, every first round back (expect the least-provens Rice and Mendenhall, really) has a ton of wear on their legs, so when you draft a running back at the top, your drafting a lot of risk as well. If I'm taking on all that risk with a top four draft pick, I do want someone with more upside than Peterson.

I also think, for what it's worth, Portis is falling in fantasy drafts because people don't think he's going to get 300+ carries in this offense like he has every other healthy season. But I've seen Larry Johnson and Willie Parker the last few years, and feel safe saying that if he doesn't get to 300 carries, he'll at least get close.

It really depends on what position you're drafting, if you have a top 6 pick, you probably want to go RB, if you have a later pick you can go top QB and then with your 2nd pick take a RB. Like someone mentioned before, with your top 5 picks you should have your QB, 2 RB's and 2 WR's. Every draft is completely different and you really never know how people around you are going to draft.

I've been in 2 drafts so far and they went completely unlike anything I expected, in one of them someone actually took Drew Brees at #2 and AP didn't go until the 4th pick(if he's there when you pick, snag him without hesitation).
In the other draft the top 7 QB's were gone by the middle of the 2nd round, basically screwed me and I got stuck with Kolb.

In one of my drafts I was picking 6th and I got Michael Turner, in the other I picked 2nd and took Peterson.

Good Luck!

12th, here's a completed mock draft (http://fantasyfootballcalculator.com/draft/807480) from that website. Once again, I think it helps give you a better idea of where and in what round certain players are going.

Now I see why people get all caught up in fantasy football.

I think I just had an eyegasm. Great site 724, thanks!

So I'm playing fantasy football for the first time this year. Yeah, I know. Anyway, I need some tips and advice, because I know practically nothing about building a team, really how it all works, or how to draft players.

Umm...I guess one of the main things I want to know is how many Redskins, if any, I should bother with. I imagine it's hard not to draft players from your favorite team, although I suppose Chris Cooley and maybe Fred Davis wouldn't be bad players to pick.

I'm playing with a few Steelers and Bears fans, so obviously I want to kick their asses and take their money.

Thanks for your help.

12th!

1st year??? Dude, Really?? j/k!

Try your league stats page to guage:

1. Best point producer over all.

2. Best point producers at each position, QB, RB, WR, TE, K, and D.


3. Then, when player injuries are posted, and if one of them is one of your guys, usually first thing Monday, jump on the absolute best available player depending on who is hot! It may be a rook!

Unless you can drop-add on Sunday during games, but that may not be allowed in your team rules.

4. Keep track of best FA players to target just in case one of your guys goes down. Always have a back-up plan.


5. On Redskin players, others have already covered that. It depends on their expected statistical output.

6. On draft strategy, others have already covered that as well. I can add nothing.

It's a game of how you initially draft, who you start, and who you bench, injuries and how you manage them. Pay attention to weekly stats of FAs, and of course, the ball is funny shaped..........................

Okay, so our draft is this coming Sunday. A couple of place kickers jumped out me: Rob Bironas and Nate Kaeding.

How high should I take them if they're still on the board? Or I guess another way to put it, how high is too high to draft a kicker?

Kickers are last round picks...period....well, maybe next to last round in special situations.