How to Nail Your Fantasy Football

How well you draft your fantasy football team is the single largest factor in how you’ll do this fantasy football season. Sure, there are a lot of other important steps to take, as making weekly roster decisions is essential and smart use of the waiver wire can go a long way in helping you overachieve this season. But there’s no question that the key to the biggest fantasy football seasons is the fantasy football draft. The roster that you start plays a key role in determining where your team ends up.

Nobody wants to have a horrible fantasy football draft and get stuck with a lousy team all season long. The following guide will help you nail your fantasy football draft and set your team up for a successful season. From basic reminders to draft-day strategies and tactics, be sure to keep these points in mind. 

Do your research

In fantasy football, knowledge is power. From nailing the sleeper pick to avoiding the player that got hurt mere hours before the draft, the biggest draft-day moves require plenty of up-to-date knowledge of player roles, health, and other details.

So research early and research often. The most important things to look into are player rankings and tier lists — but don’t feel like you have to restrict your diet to these things. Sleeper tips are always fun and are sometimes helpful, and the latest news on injuries and training camp cuts is must-read stuff for any serious player (especially in a deep league). From podcasts to listicles, you can, and should, consume it all.

Avoid analysis paralysis

Research is great, but too much information can sometimes be a problem, too. There’s such a thing as overthinking a fantasy football draft pick.

Try to avoid “analysis paralysis.” Keep it simple and focus on the most important points: How a player ranks relative to his peers and whether or not you have a positional need. Sleeper picks and rumors of injuries are all well and good, but don’t let them overrule your common sense. When you have a chance to pick a star or a guy who is clearly a good fit for your team, go with your gut and choose the latter. 

Bring three vital lists

All sorts of information can be useful on draft day, but there are three lists that should form the basis of your draft-day strategy. These lists include player rankings, positional rankings, and a tier list.

Player rankings are the most basic tool because they tell you how the players stack up in fantasy value, regardless of position. As the draft wears on and you try to fill out your roster, you’re going to need to know who the best players at certain positions are. That’s where the positional rankings come in, including your qb rankings and RB rankings.

Then there is the tier list, which is absolutely essential to next-level draft-day tactics. Tier lists show you where values drop off. For instance, the first two tight ends might be significantly more valuable than the next three. Tier lists allow you to think a round or two ahead. How many quarterbacks will come off the board before your next pick? Should you pounce on a top-tier Best Trans Dating Sitestight end, confident that the wide receiver you’d get next round will be of the same tier is the one you’d get this round? These are all important considerations — ones that a tier list can help with.

Take the best player available (most of the time)

You’ll have to fill out a full roster in most fantasy leagues, but that doesn’t mean that you should go into your draft thinking about getting two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, a quarterback, and more. Particularly at the beginning of the draft, it’s usually a good idea to just get the best player available, regardless of position. As you begin to fill out your roster a bit, you can start thinking more situationally — but don’t give up a third-round stud just because you already have two wide receivers. You can play that guy at flex and, assuming you’re mindful of tiers and other variables, you’ll likely come out ahead by picking the star. Don’t worry if this gets tough: Real-life teams struggle to prioritize top players and positions, too.

Fantasy football is supposed to be fun. Your next fantasy draft is sure to be a good one, so remember to relax and enjoy it. Make decisions wisely, but don’t agonize over them — you have the tools you need to make the most informed decisions possible, so make that pick and have fun doing it. You’ve got this!

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