How do YOU draft a fantasy football team?

[Admiral Awesome 0]

I usually draft two running backs in the first two rounds. Usually this gets me in good position for becoming a playoff contender. There has been only one instance where I did absolutely terrible with a two win season.

 

This year however, there seems to be more reliable running backs than wide receivers. People are drafting Fitzgerald, Moss and C. Johnson in the first rounds. I would never draft a wide receiver in the first round, but would it be smart to draft a wide receiver in the second?

 

How have you guys done while drafting a wide receiver early?

[krizay 0]

I for one like to go RB/QB/WR in the 1st 3 rounds. Obviously that depends on what's available and where i pick. Too many times I go RB/RB and to have a steal (RB) sitting there in 3rd/4th and sometimes 5th. Which you have to almost take. Then go and only start him 3-5 weeks. I love having the flexibility to draft whatever I want from there on out. No matter who falls, no matter what position falls, you can take him without jeopardizing the core group you plan on starting 10+ times.

 

I often find myself starting runs on QB's and/or WR's by doing this. Which leaves a solid tier 2 RB in the 4th.

 

But again depending on what's available and when I pick. If I pick in the top 4ish. I almost always go RB/QB/WR. In the bottom 4 I usually do WR/RB or RB/WR in the 1st 2 rounds then again in the 3rd 4th rounds. I don't get a QB until ATLEAST 5th round. late 3rd is too long to wait for a tier 1 WR or tier 1 QB. So no sense forcing it.

[Joey Gladstone 33]

BPA every round, going heavy with Running backs through the first 4-5 rounds. I always like to have at least 1 RB after 3 rounds. I like to wait a while on QB's unless there is just a crazy value staring me in the face earlier. And I'm sure I'm not alone on here using my last 2 picks on my kicker and defense.

[miked49999 0]

I'm working on some statistical anaylsis to prove the correct way to draft a team. Obviously, there's no way to have a 100% confidence level, but factors such as past performance, current draft strategy and future projections have generated surprising results. The one factor that I've found particularly interesting has to do with positional scarcity.

 

Now, I generate ratings for every player before my drafts and the thing that I've tried to do more of is adjusting ratings as players are taken. Being able to predict positional fluctuation can be the difference between praying for a player to fall during the draft and having already made the correct pick.

 

The common philosophy of not drafting receivers early and often may prove to be the most intriguing misconception.

[Admiral Awesome 0]

I just did a mock draft on ESPN, ten team league 2RB 2WR and one RB/WR slot position. I had first pick and ended up with Adrian Peterson, Brian Westbrook, Greg Jennings and Brandon Marshall. I tried to draft a running back in the second round, but that is hard to do with first pick. Not to mention the fact that Westbrook was still on the board which could clearly be a first round draft pick.

[49ers_suck 0]

im not much of a stats guy. i go by what i see, look at a players history/upcoming situation, and go with my gut.

 

i do a lot of mocking. i like to try different things and see how my team comes out. mocking gets you prepared for anything a draft might throw at you.

 

playing the WW is just as important as drafting.

 

you can never have too much RB depth. this yr there seems to be good RB value in middle rnds, imo.

 

i never take a WR in the 1st rnd. you can always find value at WR in mid rnds.

 

i usually dont take a QB early, but took Brees last yr, and walked away with the trophy. some guys are fantasy gold.

 

knowing your opponents tendencies can be very beneficial.

[KSB2424 3,083]

If you take the players past two yardage performances and subract out the past two years turnover to attempt ratio(touches/turnovers) this will yeild a number. I call this number the PI or Performance Indicator. If the player is a QB divide the PI by two. If the player is a RB multiply by one. If the player is a WR multiply the PI by two. If the player is a TE multiply the PI by 2.25. This mathmatical equation will formulate a ranking of all postional players in a ranking based not on postion, but on performace. This takes away the thought process of trying to figure out if you need a RB or WR or QB ect.

 

There is a caveat to this formula. You must eat Cheetos while drafting. Oh, and dark beer. If you do not drink dark beer while also eating cheetos the formula doesn't work. Good Luck.

[49ers_suck 0]

If you take the players past two yardage performances and subract out the past two years turnover to attempt ratio(touches/turnovers) this will yeild a number. I call this number the PI or Performance Indicator. If the player is a QB divide the PI by two. If the player is a RB multiply by one. If the player is a WR multiply the PI by two. If the player is a TE multiply the PI by 2.25. This mathmatical equation will formulate a ranking of all postional players in a ranking based not on postion, but on performace. This takes away the thought process of trying to figure out if you need a RB or WR or QB ect.

 

There is a caveat to this formula. You must eat Cheetos while drafting. Oh, and dark beer. If you do not drink dark beer while also eating cheetos the formula doesn't work. Good Luck.

the most important par of your PI has to be multiplying it by one for RB's.

[South Beach 0]

Not to get too technical, but I usually look at the players on the board and decide which one would make my team more awesomer.

[jdon 28]

I get to know my league and I get to know who is valued in what round... then I start looking for undervalued players i can get later and work backward from their. For instance if I can get arron rodgers in the fifth and kevin smith in the fourth (Depending on my slot) I am likely to go rb-wr-wr...

 

I don't usually take wrs in the first round, or quarterbacks for that matter, but I have done it...

 

I am not afraid to 'stock up'... for instance last year in one draft out of the 2 spot I took ADP, Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Brandon Marshall, and Anquan Boldin in the first five rounds... I couldn't not take Boldin/Marshall on the turn...

 

jdon

[kmbryant09 1]

im not much of a stats guy. i go by what i see, look at a players history/upcoming situation, and go with my gut.

 

i do a lot of mocking. i like to try different things and see how my team comes out. mocking gets you prepared for anything a draft might throw at you.

 

playing the WW is just as important as drafting.

you can never have too much RB depth. this yr there seems to be good RB value in middle rnds, imo.

 

i never take a WR in the 1st rnd. you can always find value at WR in mid rnds.

 

i usually dont take a QB early, but took Brees last yr, and walked away with the trophy. some guys are fantasy gold.

 

knowing your opponents tendencies can be very beneficial.

 

Could not agree more - last year I had a roster of Manning, LJ, Bush, Steve Smith and Boldin, and while some players were strong, I picked up M. Moore, L. White, J. Stewart, K. Smith, D. Sproles & Hightower off of WW to lead me to a championship...If I hadn't been up to date with nearly every piece of information, I wouldn't have ended up with most of these players, and certainly wouldn't have won a championship

[dehaven123 31]

BPA baby!

[Frank M 181]

We have a serpentine draft, twelve teams. We draft three QBs, four RBs, six WRs, two TEs, two Ks, two D/STs, and two HCs.

 

 

If I pick early, I will try to go RB-RB-WR and then try to get a QB in Round 4 or 5. If there are two stud WR available, I will go RB-WR-WR. If I pick in the middle, RB-RB-WR is more likely. If I pick, say, 9-12 and one of the stud QBs is still there, I'll get him in the first, then go RB-WR. No WR is valuable enough to draft in the first round. I always get a WR by the third round, and by the sixth round, I like to have my core of two RBs, two WR, a QB, and TE. If you don't get your TE by Round 6, you will miss out on one that can effectively be a second or third wideout. You will not draft a receiver in the sixth that will be as good as the top tier TEs. Forget about handcuffs or backups until you get your core intact. By Round 7, the good RBs will be gone, so then I either handcuff if I can or roll the dice on a rookie or backup likely to start. You want your third receiver fairly soon, preferably before Round 10. In an ideal world, you want three starting QBs, but if your starter is injury prone, others know that and you need to handcuff earlier, maybe by Round 12-13. Otherwise, get your second QB in between 11-15. I usually will wait until after Round 14-15 to get my first defense. Kickers and head coaches wait until the last four round for me.

[Cara 0]

BPA every round, going heavy with Running backs through the first 4-5 rounds. I always like to have at least 1 RB after 3 rounds. I like to wait a while on QB's unless there is just a crazy value staring me in the face earlier. And I'm sure I'm not alone on here using my last 2 picks on my kicker and defense.

 

 

This is exactly how I draft as well. The dropoff per tier is so great among the RB's that I always like to grab my two starters early, unless there is a great player that slipped. Paying attention to what the people picking around you are doing helps more than anything though. I refuse to draft a kicker/defense before my final picks. I watched a guy take the New York Giants in the 6th round of a recent Dynasty Draft.

[Bert 1,091]

With a cold beer in one hand and my player ranking cheat sheet in the other.

[WhiteWonder 2,172]

decide which one would make my team more awesomer.

 

[Ray_T 591]

I'm working on some statistical anaylsis to prove the correct way to draft a team. Obviously, there's no way to have a 100% confidence level, but factors such as past performance, current draft strategy and future projections have generated surprising results. The one factor that I've found particularly interesting has to do with positional scarcity.

 

Now, I generate ratings for every player before my drafts and the thing that I've tried to do more of is adjusting ratings as players are taken. Being able to predict positional fluctuation can be the difference between praying for a player to fall during the draft and having already made the correct pick.

 

The common philosophy of not drafting receivers early and often may prove to be the most intriguing misconception.

 

There is no one formula that can tell you how to draft a team. I think there are too many variables to consider.

 

I, for one, will draft differently from the #1 slot in a serpentine draft than I will from the #5 or #10 spot, and my decision at the time is usually based on the talent left to me by those who draft before me.

 

I make it my policy to try to follow the following rules whenever possible (keep in mind, there IS an exception to every rule)

 

1) dont reach for a player if you think there is a decent (>50%)chance they will fall to you in the next round unless the upside of that player is too good to ignore.

2) always take the best player available regardless of postion (unless taking that player puts you in a bad position elsewhere)

3) Draft Fantasy Starters ahead of Fantasy backups unless rule #2 applies If this is the case, think twice about your decision before taking the plunge.

4) Never draft more than one TE, Defense, or Kicker. Even in dynasty drafts, they can be acquired rather cheaply and easily if you need another (or taken off the wire)

5) Do what is best for your team. do not worry about what others do for theirs.

 

If you can follow these rules reasonably closely, and avoid drafting Tim Couch, you'll never do that badly.

 

oh, and if someone tells you not to drink at your fantasy draft.... DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS MORON!!!!

[Gepetto 988]

I get to know my league and I get to know who is valued in what round... then I start looking for undervalued players i can get later and work backward from their. For instance if I can get arron rodgers in the fifth and kevin smith in the fourth (Depending on my slot) I am likely to go rb-wr-wr...

 

I don't usually take wrs in the first round, or quarterbacks for that matter, but I have done it...

 

I am not afraid to 'stock up'... for instance last year in one draft out of the 2 spot I took ADP, Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Brandon Marshall, and Anquan Boldin in the first five rounds... I couldn't not take Boldin/Marshall on the turn...

 

jdon

 

That's how I draft too.

[Lionsjunkie 1]

Find myself going... RB first ...

 

 

 

Lots of guys in my leagues around these places

[GrimeCity 0]

I like myself going RB/RB

 

or

 

RB/ Stud WR by studs i mean the Moss, Fitz, A.johnsons of the group

[nordwave 2]

So, what do you do if a lot of players in your league have a history of taking QBs early?

Do you join the herd and grab the best QB available in Round 2?

Or do you sit back and soak up all the RBs and WRs that are falling below their ADP?

[krizay 0]

So, what do you do if a lot of players in your league have a history of taking QBs early?

Do you join the herd and grab the best QB available in Round 2?

Or do you sit back and soak up all the RBs and WRs that are falling below their ADP?

 

 

Never follow a run. If the league is drafting QB's like you say. They likely won't take a 2nd one until ATLEAST round 7. So you stock pile RB and WR's early and still get a the "12th best" QB. I'd get my backup shortly there after though.

 

 

Why settle for the 7th-8th best QB when you can have the 1st or 2nd best WR then draft a QB relatively close to what you would have taken.

 

 

I personally like getting 1 of the top 3 QB's in the 2nd (if I pick in the top 4 in the 1st and bottom 4 in the 2nd.) but to take everyone's leftovers I refuse.

[roroco 75]

So, what do you do if a lot of players in your league have a history of taking QBs early?

Do you join the herd and grab the best QB available in Round 2?

Or do you sit back and soak up all the RBs and WRs that are falling below their ADP?

The good things about QB - or any - runs is that you know the tier of players at that position are now gone and you can wait even longer to get a QB while you stock up on the more scarce positions. Let the other managers get stuck in a run.. Quality QBs are always available late.

[Gladiators 1,904]

The good things about QB - or any - runs is that you know the tier of players at that position are now gone and you can wait even longer to get a QB while you stock up on the more scarce positions. Let the other managers get stuck in a run.. Quality QBs are always available late.

 

I generally go BPA, but as others have said, it also depends on where you are drafting and whether you know the other guys you're drafting with. It's really tough because all it takes is 1 guy being available that you never expected to be there. Or, if the guy you expected to be there isn't, you'll be thrown off. The other thing I do is put together a list of guys that I want to grab in each round (more for the ealry/middle rounds). I won't reach for them, but I'll look at the teams of the guys ahead of me to see whether I can hold off and grab him in the next round. Last year I took Calvin in all 3 leagues. I think I took him in the 4th-5th round range. By the way, that was the only player I had on my list of "must draft".

 

I have also only drafted quarterbacks late, but I grab them back-to-back, generally. I'll typically end up with the 2 guys I have ranked in the 10-14 range. Almost every year at least one of them has put together a good year. Last year I Cutler in all 3 leagues and Rodgers in 2 of the 3. All were in a range of the7th-10th round. My 2nd QB in the other league was Derek Anderson...

[Doozer 0]

This is a ridiculous question... the key is to let the draft come to you, and not to force anything... hence... there is no correct way to draft an FF team.

 

But, I would recommend dropping about an eighth of psilocybin before the draft to make things really interesting.

[Gladiators 1,904]

This is a ridiculous question... the key is to let the draft come to you, and not to force anything... hence... there is no correct way to draft an FF team.

 

But, I would recommend dropping about an eighth of psilocybin before the draft to make things really interesting.

 

Agreed...Especially when you consider all the different scoring options out there, number of teams in your league, differentiation between top tier, 2nd tier, and 3rd tier each year for the respective positions, and your draft position. There is one constant at every draft though...a few beers.

[***NED*** 0]

Agreed...Especially when you consider all the different scoring options out there, number of teams in your league, differentiation between top tier, 2nd tier, and 3rd tier each year for the respective positions, and your draft position. There is one constant at every draft though...a few beers.

 

Agreed. Once you start forcing yourself to take a position you very well could be losing VALUE.

[ricanrockers 39]

I'm in a PPR league and the last few years I've gotten late picks, so with this, I try to load up on the 2 best WR available. In the third round, I go for a RB. The 4th and 5th picks can either go QB/RB or RB/QB depending on who's there. Again, this is my system if I have a 10th, 11th or 12th pick. I just want to get the best available player that's going to get me the most points.

[49ers_suck 0]

Never follow a run. If the league is drafting QB's like you say. They likely won't take a 2nd one until ATLEAST round 7. So you stock pile RB and WR's early and still get a the "12th best" QB. I'd get my backup shortly there after though.

Why settle for the 7th-8th best QB when you can have the 1st or 2nd best WR then draft a QB relatively close to what you would have taken.

I personally like getting 1 of the top 3 QB's in the 2nd (if I pick in the top 4 in the 1st and bottom 4 in the 2nd.) but to take everyone's leftovers I refuse.

i think the key with drafting a QB is, either goin after a stud in the first 2 rnds (Brees, Brady, Manning). or waiting till mid rnds where you could land Mcnabb or Rivers, etc.......obviously your strategy depends on your leagues' scoring, and how the draft unfolds.

[HTH 67]

im not much of a stats guy. i go by what i see, look at a players history/upcoming situation, and go with my gut.

 

i do a lot of mocking. i like to try different things and see how my team comes out. mocking gets you prepared for anything a draft might throw at you.

 

playing the WW is just as important as drafting.

 

you can never have too much RB depth. this yr there seems to be good RB value in middle rnds, imo.

 

i never take a WR in the 1st rnd. you can always find value at WR in mid rnds.

 

i usually dont take a QB early, but took Brees last yr, and walked away with the trophy. some guys are fantasy gold.

 

knowing your opponents tendencies can be very beneficial.

 

When did you take brees?

 

TIA

[ricanrockers 39]

When did you take brees?

 

TIA

 

Last year, in all my drafts, Brees was drafted in the 4th round. Everyone who had him last year made the playoffs. I think in leagues where 10yards =1 pt and TD's = 6pts, a good QB is gold!!

[cavern 70]

drunk. but usually less drunk than the others so i tend to get late round value.

 

i follow no pattern, but recently have found myself going rb-wr-wr in the first 3 rounds. it's worked out that way due to rb's being taken early by others. it's actually been a winning recipe. but more important than the rb-wr-wr has been the late round value

[Super Cubs 132]

I like taking my defense and kicker early around round 10. Then picking up my backup d and k rounds 16 and 17. Yes I said backup d and k. We have limited waivers and I'm not wasting them rotating. I try to save my 18th and finial pick for a player that get over looked.

[gocolts 300]

Wait on my QB. BPA depending on needs and how many players are left in tiers mainly.

[tecklc2112 7]

I go BPA for the most part...Don't like to draft my QB earlier than the 4th rd (usually wait 'til the 5th/6th)...Don't draft my K & Def. until the last 2 rounds.

[LOD01 191]

Where and who do they play come FFL playoff time? Take this into account. You can get Brees or Brady or Manning early at a cost or look at the playoff schedule and take Warner later. If you plan on making the playoffs, then Warner is the choice at QB this year. We took Brees in the 1st last year and quickly grabbed Warner before the season started (just days before he was named the starter). Schedule was part of the reason. Hence, a championship.

[DetroitGodfather1 0]

I am a Tier drafter . I Tier each position and draft according to BPA in the highest tier at that time .

Each tier and position also has a min and max of roster spots.For example-- I will end up with atleast one player from WR tier 1 and two players from WR tier 2, three from WR tier 3 etc. Each positions requirements are different every year according to that years talent pool. My tier system always goes on a cut up poster board, not to big or to small and no flipping thru papers or books, its in front of U at all times . I call it my War Board .

 

Damn , This my favorite time of year .

[yostevo 0]

Alphabetical order since my team name is "Players that begin with "A"

[heavy-set 39]

I undersatnd the scoring system

I understand the roster requirements

 

and I draft for value, value, value.

[heavy-set 39]

Not to get too technical, but I usually look at the players on the board and decide which one would make my team more awesomer.