With just a little over one week until the 2014 NFL regular season kicks off, fantasy football drafts are in full swing as millions of fanatics are narrowing down drafting strategies and analyzing their favorite players.
Therefore, here is some last minute fantasy football drafting tips to keep in mind as you select your winning team.
1. Be mindful of your fantasy football scoring system as it pertains to standard or points per reception (PPR) scoring.
This is especially important to consider when drafting your running backs, as some teams feature their running backs more as pass catchers who do less rushing and vice-verse.
If your team has standard scoring, your running back will not earn any points for his initial catch, just the rushing yards. However, if you play in a PPR league where points are rewarded for receptions, you will want to targets running backs who participate in both aspects of the game. A prime example of a running back who is utilized for both plays is Chicago Bears’ running back Matt Forte, who accumulates plenty of yards in both rushing and receiving.
On the opposite spectrum there are running backs such as the New England Patriots’ duo who utilize Stevan Ridley primarily for rushing and line up fellow running back Shane Vereen to catch passes. Vereen had double the amount of receiving yards as rush yards in 2013, so if you draft him based on potential rushing points only, he would fail you in this area.
2. Be aware of teams who use running back duos or committees.
Some teams start one primary running back, such as the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Those running backs are going to earn more fantasy points than those from teams who use a running back by committee plan.
Running backs of teams who use two or even worse, three backs should not be targeted as your No. 1 choice. Prime examples of teams with backs sharing time are the New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.
3. Watch for bye weeks when it comes to filling your roster.
If you draft Denver Broncos' star quarterback, Peyton Manning this season, then follow up with Andy Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals as your backup, you’ll have a dilemma come Week 4 as both teams have their bye week. Additionally, you don’t want to look at your roster after the draft to discover all three of your top wide receivers don’t play in Week 10.
4. Draft your quarterback carefully.
If you don’t feel compelled to reach for one of the top 5 in Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford or Andrew Luck in the first few rounds do not panic. Instead skillfully fill your roster with a several wide receivers and running backs, knowing that the opponent who drafted Aaron Rodgers gave up an opportunity to draft either an elite wide receiver or running back. The quarterback pool this season is quite deep with talented quarterbacks such as Russell Wilson and Philip Rivers falling to rounds nine, 10 and even 11.
5. Keep up-to-date on any last minute injuries.
The last round of preseason games concludes this Thursday, so check injury reports afterwards to see if those fragile flowers out there like Seattle Seahawks’ Percy Harvin and Eagles’ Jeremy Maclin are still in one piece.
Also investigate those who haven’t participated in the preseason at all to see if they are on course to play in Week 1. Obviously, Patriots’ tight end, Rob Gronkowski would fall into this category.
6. Don’t go rookie crazy.
While it’s tempting to snag some of the NFL’s newest talent when it comes to quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs, don’t load your team with too many raw players. Granted, some rookies have fabulous breakout seasons such as Andrew Luck from 2012 and Eddie Lacy from 2013, however, it is not the norm for rookies to rank within the top 5 or 10 for their position in their first NFL season.
It might be worth taking a flyer on one or two at the most with the hopes they surprise with booming fantasy points come the years’ end, just don’t plan on filling your whole team with the NFL newbies.
7. Target players from higher scoring offenses.
Teams like the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints are a few examples of teams with players likely to score more fantasy points on average. If at the end of your draft your roster is full or Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills, it’s going to be a long and draining season.
8. Be prepared to be flexible and make pre-draft picks.
Most drafting systems allow a draftee to place their targeted draft picks on a watch list so you can quickly switch gears to another player if they one you wanted to draft gets taken first. With a typical 90 seconds on the clock to draft, you don’t have much time to check into a players’ injury reports or last season’s rankings if you don’t have other players lined up and ready to pick.
9. Have your favorite fantasy information site and your notes handy.
It never hurts to have other screens or windows already open on your computer come draft day. A fabulous site, of course is eDraft who has an awesome section of fantasy football drafting tools such as the bye week schedule, rankings, strength of schedule, most targeted players, and player consistency.
10. Practice Mock Drafting.
Lastly, it’s a great idea to practice mock drafting from several different draft positions so you can feel comfortable drafting from whatever pick you receive on your draft day. You can also practice with a drafting simulator to keep on top of the very latest drafting trends as your draft day approaches.