Ten ways to avoid having a rough draft

Fantasy Scene , Joe Oberkrieser
Gloucester Daily Times

It's bigger than Thanksgiving.

Heck, it's even bigger than Arbor Day - and that's big.

Draft Day is upon us. It'll be here before we know it. And for fantasy football buffs, it's the most monumental date on the calendar.

Why? Because how you draft will determine how you fare.

Have a good draft, you're golden. Your team will rack up plenty of points and win plenty of games, and you'll be heading to the playoffs.

Have a stinky draft, and football season will be less fun than getting crushed by a Transformer. Your team will rot, wins will be hard to come by, and the other guys in your league will mercilessly taunt you.

We don't want that to happen. Mr. Fantasy Scene is here to make sure it doesn't.

This week, we present 10 tips for having a great fantasy draft. Follow this advice, and you'll be well on your way to winning a championship.

1. Draft running backs early

Stud running backs are diamonds. They're the most valuable players in fantasy football, and they're also the hardest to come by.

That's why you need to draft good backs early. If you don't, you'll be too late - they'll be gone.

And your team will stink like a wet ferret.

My rule of thumb: Draft two running backs in the first three rounds.

2. Wait to draft a quarterback

Elite running backs and wide receivers are rare species, so it's imperative that you spend your early picks filling those positions. As for quarterback, you can wait.

Sure, waiting means you'll miss out on stars like Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer and Tom Brady. That's OK, though. You can get a perfectly good quarterback later - I drafted Drew Brees in the 11th round last year - and the cadre of stud runners and receivers you build up in the early rounds will be tough for any team to beat.

3. When you draft a running back, take his backup, too

Say you draft Shaun Alexander in the first round. He's a good back. But he also turns 30 in August - that's old for a running back - and he's returning from a broken foot.

Maybe age catches up with Alexander and he gets hurt. Perhaps his foot cracks again, or maybe another ailment derails him and he has to be parked on injured reserve.



You'd be left with nothing. A first-round pick with zilch to show for it.

Unless you also drafted Alexander's backup, Maurice Morris, that is. Then things wouldn't be too bad. Sure, losing Alexander would be a tough blow - but you'd have his replacement, a new starting running back you can plug into your lineup right away.

4. Always wait until the last round to take a kicker

Kickers don't give you that many points. They don't really matter. Use your early-round picks on quarterbacks, running backs and receivers who can rack up the points and lead your team to victory, not on a kicker who makes a piddling contribution.

5. Rookies are dangerous

It's fine to take a high-upside rookie in the late rounds, but it's often a mistake to draft first-year players early.

You just never know what you'll get from a rookie. The transition to the NFL is tough, particularly for quarterbacks and receivers.

Rookie running backs are a little safer, but they're still high-risk. Just look at Reggie Bush last year.

Of course, the possibility is there for big things from a rookie, too. But possibility and potential aren't sufficient when you're picking in the early rounds - you have to take a sure thing, a guaranteed home run. You need a player who you are 100 percent sure will help you.

You can never say that about a rook.

6. Watch the bye weeks

Let's say you draft Frank Gore, Travis Henry and Marshawn Lynch. Seems as if you're set at running back, right?

Sure ... most weeks. Not Week 6, though. That week, San Francisco, Denver and Buffalo all are on bye.

All your backs have the week off. You're guaranteed to lose.

To avoid this, check out a player's bye week when you're considering whether to draft him. Try to stagger the bye weeks on your team so you don't find yourself too short-handed.

7. Make sure you've pored over up-to-date injury reports before your draft

If Player X rips his ACL in Saturday's preseason game, you don't want to be the dummy calling his name at the draft table Sunday. Avoid this tragedy by going online the day of your draft and checking any late-breaking injury news.

8. Go for young upside late, not veterans

Many fantasy players love to draft familiar veterans in the late rounds. They'll look through the list of remaining players and see Amani Toomer, Mike Anderson or Brian Griese, and they'll say, "I know that guy! I'll take him!"



Problem is, most of the vets hanging around late don't have much potential. They're mediocre at best.

That's why it's better to take a young, possible stud late in your draft. Could the youngster amount to nothing? Sure, but it's also possible he'll find his way into significant playing time and produce big-time numbers - something Toomer-esque players have no chance of doing.

9. Be prepared

Unfortunately, homework doesn't stop when you leave college. If you play fantasy football, you have to hit the books.

The first step in preparing for your draft is to fill your head with as much information as you can. Read player profiles in magazines and online. Look at mock drafts and cheat sheets. Analyze and memorize every word of Fantasy Scene each Sunday. (Just thought I'd throw that in there.)

Then, you have to make a cheat sheet for your draft. You can't just show up on draft day and start picking players off the top of your head. You have to have a plan, and the cheat sheet is that plan.

If you're new to all this and are unfamiliar with cheat sheets, basically they're just rankings of players at each position. To make one, list your top choices at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, etc.

Then bring that sheet to your draft - it'll be a handy guide. If it's round four and you need a wide receiver, simply look at your cheat sheet and draft the highest-ranked receiver who hasn't been selected yet. Drafting made easy!

10. Have fun

Sometimes, we take this stuff way too seriously. I'm definitely guilty of that. But the main point here is to have a good time, right?

So enjoy the draft. Don't get too mad if the guy picking before you drafts the player you wanted. Don't get too upset if you think you made a putrid pick.

And don't forget to talk lots of trash.

Joe Oberkrieser is a copy editor for Eagle-Tribune Publishing. E-mail him at joberkrieser@eagletribune.com.

When to draft whom

Questions I get a lot: "When should I take a quarterback? How many running backs should I draft early? Should I take a wide receiver early?"

Here are the answers.

Below is my Magic Draft Formula. Basically, it's a guide that lets you know when it's best to draft a particular position.



Factors like positional scarcity and scoring potential of each position factor into the formula.

You might need to tweak the formula a little depending on the configuration of your league. That's fine, but try to follow the general outline.

Round 1: Running back

Rounds 2-5: Two running backs, two wide receivers

Round 6: Tight end

Round 7: Wide receiver

Rounds 8 and 9: Quarterbacks

Round 10: Defense

Round 11 to second-to-last round: Backups; get as many running backs as you can

Final round: Kicker