Don’t panic at the draft – If the player that you wanted to select was taken right before you pick, don’t sulk, just follow your wish list. It happens to everyone, but you have to pull the trigger when the player you want is on the board.
Don’t sit at the table reading a Fantasy Football magazine or other cheat sheets – If it was up to me, I would recommend that you leave the Fantasy Football magazine at home. But make sure that you know your material as nothing is worse than sitting at the draft waiting for some slow poke to incessantly read a FF publication trying to find a player.
Don’t drink too much at the draft – This is a good rule of thumb for any activity, but especially when you are building your team for the upcoming season. You don’t want your judgment clouded by too many brews. I was at a draft once where a guy drank too much booze and wanted to quit the next day when he saw his roster.
Don‚Äôt get catch in a position run situation at the draft ‚Äì I have seen it too many times where one FF participant makes a selection of a particular player at a position that didn‚Äôt warrant the selection, another guy follows right behind them — think TE Tony Gonzalez being taken in the 3rd Round and someone reaching to grab Eagles TE Brent Celek ‚Äì late round value). I can‚Äôt emphasize it more, ‚ÄúTrust your list‚Äù.
Don’t forget about defensive units and kickers – Though I usually select these two areas last in FF drafts, they truly matter. Often with the “pinball” machine numbers created by quarterbacks, running backs, and top-level receiver, people forget that you can “steal” points with kickers and a good defense. You never know when you will need a point here or there to get you over the top.
On defense look for a team that gets turnovers, defensive touchdowns, and sacks (Ravens in 2008). I have to admit that I am not a “kicker guy”, but an accurate kicker who can put it in from long range (40 yards or more), can help carry a team during a slow week. Also factor in dome vs. non-dome in your kicker selection.
Don’t become too focused on teammates – When I first started playing FF back in the day, a veteran said that the key was to get a receiver and quarterback on the same team.
That works fine if you have the best quarterback and receiver for that particular season (Think Brady and Moss, 2007), but I like to have a diversified roster of guys in different divisions and team, so I can guard against when a particular NFL team has a bad couple of weeks. I have also seen where a FF player reaches to grab a second tier wide receiver just because they have that WR’s quarterback.
Don’t cry over last year – Every year I hear people in my league complain that so and so always wins and that they have no chance. Well if you don’t want to compete then do us all a favor and quit. As I stated earlier every year is new and everyone in a Fantasy Football league has an equal chance based on the luck of the draw (good drafting and roster health are pluses).
Don’t be a quitter – I have seen it year after year, where someone has a bad draft or gets behind after a couple of weeks and packs it in. I know most leagues try to guard against this by having playoffs, rules, and other incentives, but quitting should not be an option.
Always submit your lineup and try to do your best till the end of the season. You never know through waiver pickups and trade you could get back into the playoff scenario.
