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Unlike the real NFL, in Fantasy Football the game can be won or lost during the league’s draft. There so few games during the season that there is seldom time to recover from a major mistake. It is therefore critical to go into the draft as prepared as possible, and a key element in the preparation is the draft cheat sheet you’ll bring with you. Last year was the third year (out of the last four) that my Gotham Dark Knights have made it to my league’s championship game, and as in past years, a highly successful draft was the main reason for my success. To construct my draft cheat sheet I follow the basic outline that I have listed below.
Know your leagues scoring system:
Before you even consider putting together a cheat sheet for the draft, you should study your league’s scoring system. How many points your league awards for such things as scoring a touchdown, passing for yards, or kicking a field goal will have an impact on how you go about drafting. For example, in our league tends to reward quarterbacks a bit better than any other position, and it makes me value that position a little bit higher than the other. Once you determine how scoring is kept for each position you are ready to begin your sheet.
Laying out your cheat sheet:
There are plenty of magazines around that offer cheat sheets for Fantasy Football. Unfortunately these sheets usually end up ranking the players at each position in order of how they are projected to perform. They offer little help in telling you what round you should draft a particular player in. Because of this, I usually create a matrix that lists each position down the left hand side and each round of the draft across the top. I then proceed to list out the players in each position in the order of which round I would be willing to take him. This way I won’t be panicked or pushed into picking a low ranked player too early in the draft.
I then create two more sheets, one that has each position on my team listed to the number of players we are allowed to keep for that position, and the other to list the order in which I want to draft for each position. For example, the second sheet would say, 1st round QB, 2nd round RB, 3rd round RB, 4th round WR, etc.
Filling out your cheat sheet:
Once my cheat sheet outlines have been created, I begin to rank the players available. Those that I am willing to take in the first round are few. In fact, the first three rounds are usually reserved for the cream of the crop fantasy players. To be ranked in the first three rounds on my sheet, a player has to have a consistent track record, be injury free, and play on a team that allows him to showcase his talents. My highly successful teams of the past have had Colt quarterback Peyton Manning as a 1st round draft pick. While others were going after injured prone running backs like Priest Holmes or Marshall Faulk, I settled on Peyton early and was reward for it. Other players which I have ranked in the first three rounds and whom I have ended up drafting, included Terrell Owens and Ricky Williams (before he decided to leave football altogether of course.) Don’t gamble during the first three rounds, since this will form the core of your team.
In the middle rounds (Rounds 4-6), I rank those players who are solid but who are not stars for one reason or another. They may be players with a high upside, who are coming off an injured year, or great players who have started to age. Last year I had Jet’s running back Curtis Martin ranked here. I was able to take him with my fourth pick of the draft, and it turned out to be a steal when Curtis led the league in rushing. Curtis’ age had made others in the league skip over him in the first three rounds.
I also have the habit of ranking the top two or three Tight Ends (TE) within the first 6 rounds. While there are plenty of better players available, the statistical separation between the top TE and the rest of the position is so great, that it makes them an attractive pick this high in the draft. The last two years I have been able to get either Tony Gonzalez of the Chiefs, or Jermey Shockey of the Giants as my TE by employing this strategy.
In rounds 7-12, I rank the players who are safe solid choices, those who will not win you a game or lose one for you. I also try to take my back-up QB here. The back up QB is a vastly under rated position. Many times during the season you may lose a starter to injury, or run into a bye week, or worse, have your starter benched. I have lost a few championship games when I made the decision to start Peyton Manning during the last game of the season. Though Peyton was never injured, he was benched to save him for the playoffs. Last year I was caught with back-up Tom Brady on the bench ready to go. Had I played him, I would have won easily.
In the rest of the rounds, I try to pencil in kickers, rookies with high potential, or long shot "sleeper picks" that I may cut if they do not pan out. These rounds are there for you to take risks. No guts, no glory. The thing is, these are not great risks to take, and should you make a mistake, you can correct it rather quickly once the season starts.
Other things to remember:
When you are drafting, be mindful of the ‘bye” week for each player. For example, do not be foolish enough to take two quarterbacks with the same “bye” week. Bye week management is one of the keys to a successful season. Do not lend others your cheat sheet. If they did not come prepared is not your fault. Follow who is being drafted and when, but don’t give in to someone else’s madness. Just because someone takes a kicker with their first pick of the draft (sadly I’ve seen it happen), doesn’t mean you should too. It’s best to keep to your strategy, but be flexible if needs be.
Final Word:
Above all it’s a game. It’s meant to be enjoyed and there is always next year, do not let any one bad experience take the fun out of it for you.
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