Fantasy Tips

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

What he said...

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?Agree with the others, Kickers are last round. The difference between a top 3 kicker vs. a top 10 kicker is not a concern. You may wind up switching kickers throughout the year based on the team's offensive performance and weather.

The strategy I've always used, is to try to maximize each postion relative to what's going on in your draft. For example if you're in the third round and the top tier RBs and WRs are gone, but top tier QB is there, take the QB. Don't reach for a RB or WR just to fill the spot on your board. That being said, you can't wait too long for a solid RB IMO. My strategery has always been to get my RBs in the 1st and 2nd rounds unless a superstar QB (Manning, Brees, Rogers) is still there and the top tier RBS are all gone. Genreally I'll go RB - 1st, RB - 2nd, QB or WR, then in the 4th TE (if Gates, Clark, V. Davis are there) if not WR, then best value with WRs and RBs. I'll get my D when value at WR/RB is not real good. What I mean by value is when a player is still on the board for one reason or another when he should've been gone or when the comparative value of the WRs and RBs is lower than the round you're in. It's not a straight stats thing, it's more of a combination of stats and expectations for players/teams for the year.

I'm assuming your league starts QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, K, DEF each week. Also, do you know what your draft postion is yet or will you find out on Sunday?

I bought the ProFootball Weekly and Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football Guide 2010, you should be able to find it almost anywhere. It's nice to have someone else do all your homework for you and a good reference. I don't follow their picks by the book, but it's a good source of info.

Here's some random tips I used this year.

- A lot of folks are saying this year it's all about QBs & WRs, RBs are not as valuable. Folks who draft that way won't win leagues IMO. RBs are still king and will perform more consistently week in, week out. Weather late in the season also will normally help RBs and hurt WRs.

- Speaking of weather, consider that when you draft. It's not a top concern, but think about the league playoffs, make sure you don't have Hines Ward, Greg Jennings, and Tom Brady at home games at the end of the year.

- If you can draft a QB/WR pair or a QB/top TE pair that can win a game or two by itself for you. It can also kill you if the QB has an off day or you've got a pair playing in bad weather. I like to get a pair if I can, the reward outweighs the risk IMO.

- Players I like: Outside of your "Gimmes" (Chris Johnson, Manning, Peterson, Jones-Drew, etc):
Phillip Rivers
Joe Flacco (as a backup QB, and I recommend solid backup QB in round 7 - 9)
Ryan Mathews
Cedric Benson
Jahvid Best - later rounds
Matt Forte - later rounds
Brandon Jacobs - later rounds
Antonio Gates - He should have a strong year with VJ's suspension and holdout.
Jermichael Finley
Vernon Davis

Players I avoid this year:
L. Fitzgerald - no QB = drop in production
Matt Schaub - no Kyle Shanahan = less production
Romo - no explanation needed.
Favre - major injury waiting to happen
Steven Jackson - poor OL = poor production
Beanine Wells - I initially thought he might have a good year, watching the Cards pre-season, I'd stay away.
A. Johnson - his numbers will still be top 10 WR numbers, but don't take him over a solid RB.
Kolb - not jumping on that bandwagon until he shows something.

- I normally stay away from Redskins players altogether unless it is the later rounds and I take a chance. Moss/Cooley/Davis if they are a good value, but no McNabb, no Portis. I took a flyer on Devin Thomas in the later rounds of the Warpath Draft, but it was very late in the draft.

Strategy wise get your QB first then your RBs. For the past several seasons the usual strategy was go RB at least the first 2 rounds. The past two years I drafted 3 RBs in the first 3 rounds. Found a gem in Chris Johnson as a rook, but I picked him up off of waivers early in the season. I had AP last year as I had the first pick, but he wasn't so hot and Parker sucked as he got hurt. THe last few years the guy that landed one of the hot QBs won my league. My advice is to stay away from Skins, unless it is Cooley or Portis. McNabb is only worth a backup QB to be honest as he is inconsistent a bit still and that affects Moss' fantasy value. NFL.com and the others of course have all the stud RBs going first in the fantasy drafts, but I think the new thing is go for QB first. Only RB worth going for in the first round is Johnson, maybe AP, but Favre will dominate the Viking O like last season. Gore was a disappointment last season(fantasy wise) and will probably be the same this year. I would get Brady or Brees with your first pick.

Also constantly look for upgrades on the waiver/FA lists. Like I said before I was able to pick up Chris Johnson two years ago off of waivers as he was a nobody then. Also, some folks rush the gun and get rid of players too soon. I picked up TO that way a few years ago. The guy dropped him when he(TO) was busy with his antics in Dallas and I picked him up. Helped salvage my season.

If it's a money league, be prepared to spend, spend, spend for FA pick ups. The guy with all the bucks won our SB last year. No, wasn't me.

If you're in a 6 pt per passing TD league, 12th, you have to get one of about seven quarterbacks. Manning first, then Brees, Brady, Rodgers, Schaub, Rivers in order of your preference...with Rodgers and Brees going one/two in both leagues, Manning/Brady/Rivers are excellent targets in the first three rounds.

If your league is 4 pts per passing TD instead, you don't have to worry about getting one of the TD leaders at quarterback. There won't be a huge difference between the first and second tier of quarterback. David Garrard, Matt Ryan, Jay Cutler and Donovan McNabb are excellent second tier fantasy quarterbacks (you can wait on second tier QBs until just before the league starts picking it's backups). Tony Romo, Kevin Kolb, and Joe Flacco are going a lot earlier than those guys in most leagues I've been in, but their fantasy value doesn't justify a reach.

The only indispensable fantasy guys are the backs who are expected to get 1,800+ yards from scrimmage. That's Chris Johnson, Ray Rice, and Jones-Drew. 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.

After those top RBs are off the board, QBs and WRs are going to drive fantasy teams this year. So get a lot of big name receivers early.


This has become more true over the last several years. More and more teams are going with the duel threat at the RB role and less guys carrying the entire rushing load, so remember that when ranking guys.
Just a couple rules:
1) Never draft a QB in the first round
2)Always draft a K in the last round
3) Stay away from all players with recent injury history ie. missing like 6+ games in the last year or 10+ in the last two.

Really it all depends on how league's scoring is set up. You can't definitively say take a QB first, or take a RB first. And of course what slot you're picking in matters too. Not sure I would take someone like Brees with a really high first round pick. In most leagues he's going to be there in round 2, maybe even round 3. And if you're in a points per reception league, a RB that racks up a lot of catches is going to be a high priority.

A big hint I always tell folks is watch those bye weeks. You see it all the time where someone drafts a team with no regard to the bye weeks, and they end up with half their starters out for a particular week.

What do you do about Sidney Rice? This is my first year also, and I drafted him - had totally missed the injury stuff. So now do I waive him, or just hold him on the bench and hope?

What do you do about Sidney Rice? This is my first year also, and I drafted him - had totally missed the injury stuff. So now do I waive him, or just hold him on the bench and hope?

Yeah that sucks. He's not going to even be able to practice until halfway through the season, so best case maybe he's back on the field for 6-7 games at the end. Personally I would dump him. If he was going to be out a month you could justify holding a spot for him, but half the season is too long IMO.