Wrapping up our “Draft Tips” Week, I’m presenting to you the 10 Habits of Successful Drafters. I was going to deem them commandments, but c’mon. It’s just fantasy football.
No matter how long you’ve been playing fantasy football or your level of “expertise,” there’s something to be taken here. Here are 10 habits that successful drafters utilize to help get a leg up on the competition.
1. Plan ahead
Perhaps the simplest advice I can give is to plan ahead for your upcoming draft. Know your league’s scoring system. Take a look at some of your favorite analysts’ rankings. Learn this year’s ADP by doing a mock draft or two. Check out the recent news through training camp and preseason. Look at the league’s injuries, depth chart battles, and fantasy analysis. A lot has changed since the Patriots’ comeback from 28-3 in the Super Bowl. Go into your draft with at least a pulse on the league and how things have changed. The more prepared you are the better you’ll fare.
2. Don’t blindly follow rankings
While rankings certainly provide a purpose, they aren’t the end-all means to drafting. It’s important to not overly rely on rankings, as you may end up with a highly volatile team. Starting a trio of wideouts consisting of Amari Cooper, Brandin Cooks, and DeSean Jackson could potentially give you big weeks, but their week-to-week volatility makes them difficult to depend on. Having a healthy balance of both high floors and high ceilings can lead to sustained success over the course of the NFL season. Sometimes that means foregoing the next “best” player on your rankings and electing to select another player who accrues their fantasy points in a different manner.
(If you have the time, I strongly suggest building your own set of rankings. I started doing this long before writing about this sport and it’s helped me continuously be in the running for the playoffs year in and year out.)
3. Pre-draft
When you’re three to four picks away, start to build a queue of players you’re looking at taking. It’s okay if all your pre-selections get taken, you just don’t want to be caught racing against the clock.
4. Don’t get caught in runs
Sometimes it’s difficult to prevent, but avoiding getting caught up in a potential “run” at a position can help prevent you from reaching and leaving significant value on the board. If you’re drafting at the turn and see five to six quarterbacks taken, take advantage of your opponents bypassing valuable mid-round wide receivers and running backs. While they’re reaching for a player like Matthew Stafford, you can nab a valuable bye week/flex fill-in like Kenny Britt or Mike Wallace. Andy Dalton and Tyrod Taylor will generally always be there in the next round.
5. Don’t let bye weeks influence you
This is an important thing that often goes undiscussed. Your early-round selections are early-rounders for a reason. They provide significant upside and generally have the track history to back it up. It’s okay if three of your first four picks have the same bye week. Things change in the NFL in a second. There’s no telling how those individual players will fare by the time their bye week hits. It shouldn’t discourage your from selecting a fourth player with that same bye week if he’s the highest-rated player on your board and gives your team the best chance at winning.
6. Don’t get cute
If you really believe in Marshawn Lynch, you don’t need to take a stand and grab him in the first round. Steelers fans don’t need to grab Ben Roethlisberger in the fourth round. Trust me, he’ll be there later. There isn’t much more to say here other than don’t let your inner team fanatic shine through and dictate your draft selections.
7. Don’t load up at the “one-sie” positions
I wrote about this over a month ago, but it’s honestly an evergreen article at its core. Most leagues provide such shallow benches that it’s difficult for us to hold onto all our “sleeper” picks. It’s best to save those bench spots for upside running backs and wide receivers and not drafting backup quarterbacks. The same goes for tight ends. I shouldn’t have to tell you it also applies to kickers and D/ST units. The more dart throws you can fire at the running back and wide receiver positions, the better chance your team has at uncovering a hidden gem.
8. Target upside late in your draft
When it gets to the late rounds, I want to target players capable of high ceilings. Wide receivers in prolific offenses. Running backs who are an injury away from heavy snaps. I’m looking for players who present a path to a ceiling worthy of making your starting lineup as either a bye-week or injury fill-in. Remember, volume is king in nearly everything we’re looking for at these two positions, so targeting players with the potential for scores or touches should be paramount at this stage of your draft.
Conversely, you won’t be finding me handcuffing in any leagues, as it typically hampers your team’s overall potential. Drafting two players that occupy the same spot lowers your roster’s ceiling as a whole. Instead, I’d prefer to target the handcuff of one of my opponents in the event that their starter goes down and I’m now rostering two workhorse backs.
9. Every pick counts
When one of your leaguemates starts reaching for the buffalo wings in the 13th round, don’t follow suit. Every draft pick counts. Some of last year’s 13th-rounders were league winners in guys like Rishard Matthews (WR21), Jimmy Graham (TE4), and Matt Ryan (QB2). Even the best in the business at projections can’t accurately pinpoint every “breakout” player. Be cognizant that you’re there to draft first and foremost, and take your late round selections as seriously as your early ones.
If your league’s drafting platform doesn’t force you to fill out every position, don’t feel compelled to do so. Forgo both D/ST and kicker, and pick up two more late stashes to add to the end of your bench. During the dog days of August and September when pads come on, injuries become inevitable. Get a head start on your opponents by picking through the top of what would be the waiver wire scraps and grab an additional two stash players if your format allows you. You can drop them prior to Week 1 and still find usable D/STs and kickers to stream based on matchup, but if an injury were to occur to one of your other players, you’ve already got a step up on the competition at replacing them.
10. Have funDominate
You didn’t expect this to end with a cheesy “have fun” line, did you? This is a list of moves for successful drafting. My version of fun is holding the championship trophy and in order to do that, I’ll be abiding by these rules.
I’ll also be utilizing all of the great new tools and features PFF has to offer to help prepare for upcoming drafts. With the newly redesigned PFF Edge and PFF Elite subscriptions, there’s more ways than ever before to gain access to all of the great statistics and analysis PFF provides to help give you an advantage over your opponents.
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