Five quick and simple strategies everyone should use at their fantasy football draft.

1:  RB First, NOT necessarily second - Everyone says you have to take two RB’s with your first two picks.  That simply isn’t true.  I rarely do in fact, unless they fall in my lap, as I prefer to grab an elite WR or QB with that second pick and then an RB I know has more value than where he is being ranked with my 3rd or 4th pick.  I often get 2 elite players and a second RB who has teh potential to be as good as anyone else took in round 2.  BUT, if you are in a league with 16 teams or less (exceptions can be made in 18-20 team leagues) your first pickHAS to be the top RB on the board without question.  You can get a late RB with upside, get lucky in the FA market post draft or get lucky and see an RB sliding later in the draft with your second choice, but you need at least one very solid RB1 with that first pick or you won’t survive.  It is nearly impossible to be lucky enough or trade for two RB’s to keep you competitive each week.

2: Draft your kicker last and don’t take a backup PK - if you have taken a kicker with one of your last picks, on average you are giving up 3-4 points as compared to the guy who took a top kicker rounds earlier.  You only have to make up 3-4 points.  Furthermore, if you have taken a kicker that late there is no reason to waste another round’s pick on a backup pk.  Taking a kicker that late allows you to drop and pickup another kicker with ease on the bye week, as their point differential will be close to nill.  Do not waste 2 rounds of picks on a player who averages so little each week.  Draft for depth if nothing else for the playoffs or trade options instead with wide receivers and handcuff running backs.

3: Pick upside over age - When players are generally equal in ranking and expectations (this is in later rounds), you should go with the younger player who is starting to show promise, versus an older player who have just passed their prime but are still productive.  This is a tough one to gauge because some positions like QB and WR can have very productive seasons even when the player is ancient (if they were good to begin with).  But there is one thing to remember, and I have been burned on the wrong end too many times.  An older player breaks down as the season goes on and though they are giving you more value as the season is starting (and you think you made the right choice) they are not as productive during the fantasy playoffs when you need them.  Young players tend to take longer to secure their role on a team, but often due to a teams lack of playoff position or simply their personal play all season, they are getting many of the looks in the final 5 weeks which is ideal for playoffs.  It doesn’t matter what seed you head into playoffs with, it matters how your team is performing in those key weeks.

4:  Check your scoring categories closely - There are a couple key categories that very much effect what order you pick players in.  Does your league support 1 point per reception rules? If they do, obviously running backs are even more valuable, but chances are this should put wide receivers as second priority on your list if they were in question.  If you do not have 1 point per reception rukes, then your wide receivers are possibly no better than a quarterback, and tight ends have little value at all.  Any decent wide receiver can get 4-6 catches a week and that is 4-6 immediate points before counting the yardage or other stats with reception points.   Does your team count points for passing yards, and if so how many yards are needed?  If it is 30 then that still keeps QB’s reasonable, but if it is 20, a QB can rack up points quite quickly.  How many points are lost for interceptions and fumbles?  A QB is normally the only position that will throw an INT, and a QB fumbles more than an RB.  If these two negative categories lose 2 points each, your QB position is much less valuable and you should draft all of your starting RB and WR positions first.  If your league doesn’t carry negative categories, then quarterbacks are much more valuable to you than what you are reading on most expert sites and seeing in other rankings.  You have to understand your league.

5: Don’t discount defense in IDP - Everyone looks at defense like they look at kickers, last picks.  If you are in an IDP league though take a close look at what points your defense positions can get.  Many league will try an equalize out their value, to make the draft more interesting. Yes, there are so many defensive players in the league that you can always get one of decent value, but unlike kickers there is a big difference between the best defensemen and just average Joe.  Merrimen is a sack machine, Champ Bailey swallows up INTs and guys like Briggs and Urlacher on Chicago get tackle after tackle.  There are a lot of extra points to be had from defense, and it depending on how big your roster is, it is not a stretch to be looking at these guys when you would be looking at a tight end - aren’t there points at the end of the day very similar??