No matter whether you’re new to fantasy football and you want to get started next season, or you’re a veteran, but you want to give yourself an edge, the following are some of the tips you should keep in mind to be a better player and potentially win your league.
1. Prepare, and Then Prepare Some More
Most people who wing it with fantasy football aren’t going to do that well. It’s just a reality. There is so much content that you can access for free, and also premium content for fantasy football. Both have value, and the more you prepare and learn, the better you’re going to get over time.
You can start with the basics, like average draft positions or ADP and rankings. Keep in mind ADP can vary depending on the platform you’re going to use to draft.
Along with learning and using available information, you can also prepare mock drafts. Mock drafts help you get a feel for how your real draft could play out and where players are likely to be selected.
When you’re doing mock drafts, you can experiment with various strategies and positions.
As the season gets closer, when you’re doing mock drafts, you can adjust to players going up and down on the board.
2. Don’t Let Team Allegiances Get in the Way
If you want to play fantasy football only because you find it enjoyable, you might rely on your team allegiances, but otherwise, this isn’t going to help you be the best.
There are those people who draft players only from their favorite team, but it’s a much better approach to avoid this altogether. If you are going to draft from a team you love, make sure you’re not getting more than one or two players this way.
You also want to make sure you’re not avoiding players from the rival of your favorite team, as the concept works the same.
3. Understand Your League
You should have all the information available to you about your league ahead of time, and you need to get into the nitty-gritty of the details so that you can be a better fantasy player.
For example, is your league made up of 10 or 12 leagues? What’s your scoring system? When is your trade deadline? What platform is your league hosted on? What are your league’s particular rules?
There are leagues that have obscure rules that can make or break your season.
These are things that can make a huge difference.
If you’ve been in the same league for multiple seasons, maybe you understand this, but if you’re new to fantasy football or you’re in a new league, study up.
4. Make Talent a Priority
It’s rarely going to be the right choice to choose a player with less talent and more opportunity.
The teams in the NFL are going to be putting their top players on the field.
5. Have a Plan, But Be Ready to Pivot
Every draft is completely unique from the next, so while you want to prepare and have a general plan, you also can’t be so rigid that you can’t make adjustments as needed.
There’s no particular order that you have to follow in drafting players, so stay flexible.
As you start out in the first few rounds of the draft, focus on your running backs and wide receivers, but still, don’t be too firm with any strategy or plan.
6. Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Wide Receivers
In fantasy football, the running backs are where you probably focus a lot of your attention as you build a draft strategy, but wide receivers are becoming increasingly more popular as well.
Along with taking into consideration the growing prominence of wide receivers, you also want to know how to approach positions, including your quarterbacks, tight ends, and defenses.
Avoid the temptation to take a quarterback too early. This is a tendency because it’s thought of as the most important position in real football. The difference in fantasy leagues is that you only have to start one QB, making it better to fill this position in the 6th-9th rounds.
7. Make Bold Choices
Finally, when you’re playing fantasy football, if you want to improve your performance or come out on top, be a bold decision-maker when the situation calls for it. Be confident, and trust your research, your preparation, and your decisions.
If you think someone is going to have a breakout season, for example, then go for it.
