The beginning of September means back to school and that means the beginning of the NFL season. And with a new NFL season brings a new fantasy football season. Fantasy football is a way to keep in touch with buddies. It is a way to show you can build a better roster of players than your friends.
The feeling of winning a fantasy football championship is like winning the Superbowl. The crazy part is most of your season will ultimately come down to how the draft turns out for your team. So here we will dive into some common draft questions, along with some helpful tips.
What is a fantasy football draft and how do I do it?
A fantasy football draft is when everyone in a league picks a player from a pool of players to assemble a roster/team. There are two different types of drafts. An auction draft and the most used, standard draft. An auction draft is when you have a predetermined amount of money and you would auction players to the high- est bidder. A standard draft is when you draft in a order. It would go first to last, then last to first. So if you have 10 people in your league, you would have a 10 person draft. If your team gets the first pick. You would draft first but then not again until the 20th pick.
In a standard draft, would I rather have an early pick or a later pick?
That answer usually depends on the number of teams in your league. This is important because if you get the 1st pick in a larger league of 14 or 16 teams. You will not be picking until the 28th or 32nd pick. Making the reality of getting two top tier players out of the question. You would be getting more a superstar player and an OK player as your 1st two players. But if you got a later pick in those sizes of drafts, your picks would be closer together. So if you had the 12th pick in a 14-team league, you would then the 17th pick, five picks after your first one. Or if you had the 14th pick in a 14-team league, you would then have the very next pick, the 15th. You would also be drafting back-to-back the rest of draft. The last pick in a standard draft is called “the wrap.”
Should I take a running back (RB) or a wide- receiver (WR)?
This question will stand the test of time.
This year it is a little more clear what you should be taking, and that is a running back. There are more running backs that will be taken in the top 10 of any draft. There are four top-tier RB (LAR-Gurley, Pitt – Bell, Dal – Elliot and Ari – Johnson) that will be taken with the top four picks. Then there will be studs waiting to break out and lower tier backs. So take yours early before all the useable RBs are all gone, leaving you to rely on the waiver wire.
What is a waiver wire and how do I use it?
The waiver wire is where all the players that don’t get drafted go. If you have room on your roster you can pick up any player on the wire, but more often than not, you will have to drop a player from your roster to pick up a player from the wire.
There will be a couple of players on the wire that will end up being superstars. But there is also a good chance of some being duds.
Now that you know what kind of drafts there are. Feel free to take these notes and try a couple of mock drafts or free leagues.
The best kind of leagues will always be with a group of buddies, playing for money or bragging rights.
Peter Go
**An extra tip just for our online readers. Wait on a quarterback this year. If you draft a quarterback before the 12th round, you’re making a mistake.
