Best Fantasy Football Draft Strategy (2008)?

Question

I'm an owner in a 12 team PPR league hosted by myfantasyleague.com. I hold the 3rd overall pick (22, 27, 43, 51, etc...)

Of course I'm looking for value in each round. But what is your take/recommendation on the 2008 fantasy season and the positions (or players) that will be available in each round?

Answer 1

Except for Brady and Manning, RB's are always your money players. To grab 2 premium starters with your first 2 picks could be tough, considering all the teams that have "running-back-by-committee" lineups these days. But no matter, neither Brady nor Manning will probably be there by your second pick, so stick with the money. IF you can't get one of the top 5 QB's with your 3rd pick, look at receivers here and the 4th round. You will still find a decent 2nd tier QB at 50ish. Filling in NEEDS like 3rd receiver, 3rd running back and TE over the next 3-4 rounds is important to shoring up your roster. Don't get suckered into drafting your defense before the 12th round, and hold off til the 14th if you can. As far as your kicker goes, take him with your last pick, or not at all. If you don't draft a kicker, and you play your picks right, you could have some good trade bait in there to get one of the players that got stolen from you in the draft. Then, just before the season starts, pick your kicker from the FA/Waiver wire. Of course, no body's system is perfect so, best wishes to you!

Answer 2

Tough break not getting 1 or 2...most people would say get either Stephen Jackson, Westbrook or Addai.

So whichever of those you feel good about.

After that you need to get another good RB with your 22nd pick.  I think a sleeper is going to be Brandon Jacobs, he got the injury bug out of the way last year, so he should be good to go.

I really like Tony Romo this year, so look to take him at 27.  Then all you have are the WR's, your TE, kicker and your D from there.

Good Luck

Answer 3

Actually, I like the no.3 pick this year.  Most people have their ratings as: 1. LT 2. AP, Westbrook, then Jackson etc.

If you can get either LT or S. Jackson at #2 that would be huge!  Jackson is going to be the come-back player of the year.  His whole line and starting QB were decimated/injured last year.  By the 22nd pick all the teams that have 1 featured RB will have their RBs all taken.  Look for a no. 1 WR here.  Whoever you like.  I personally like someone like TO or S. Smith.  Remember to take your QB, TE, K and DEF late.  Load up on RBs and WRs w/ your first 5-6 picks.  Good Luck!

Answer 4

Spend your early picks on RBs. They go off the board quickly compared to other positions. You can always find a good QB and WR in the later rounds. Some guys who can have a good year and be taken later include Calvin Johnson, Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers (believe it or not). Use this draft kit from ESPN for more help: http://games.espn.go.com/frontpage/ffldr...

Answer 5

The way i'm seeing it, you have to get one of the top 5 QB's to be competitive this year (Brady, Manning, Romo, Brees, or Palmer), and getting them while building a good team is a delicate operation. Also, the top 5 TE's (Gates, Witten, Cooley, Winslow, Clark) are going early this year, usually in the first 6 rounds. Therefore, expect to draft a QB and TE in the first 6 rounds.

However, there's great news at WR and RB this year. WR's are incredibly deep. After Moss, there's a huge 2nd tier of Wr's that expect to get 10-15 td's this year, and a decently sized 3rd tier with young speedsters in unproven systems (Greg Jennings, Dwayne Bowe) and older WR's who still have some gas in the tank and reliable systems/qb's (Marvin Harrison, Hines Ward, Chris Chambers, etc.) And then, there's 4th tier starters in the late rounds (Lavernaeus Coles, Javon Walker, Joey Galloway, etc.) All the way to round 12, you can find quality starting WR's.

At RB, there's an interesting situation this year. After the big 2 of LT/AP, there's a bunch in the 2nd tier. The third tier backs are actually rather pathetic (Michael Turner, Selvin Young, Willie Parker, Reggie Bush, Earnest Graham, etc.) However, there's a 4th tier of solid starters in good systems (Lendale White, Edgerrin James, Fred Taylor, Jonathan Stewart.)

So, my advice this year is grab 2 good running backs early, draft a QB and TE in rounds 3-6, grab the backup RB or two in 5-7, and fill out the WR's in 8-10.

Answer 6

If I had the 3rd pick and LT and AP were gone, I'd take Peyton Manning. Yeah yeah, others will tell you all about RBs (and there is some merit in what they say) but look at the points provided. In most leagues, you get 1 point per 10 yards rushing/receiving and 6 per TD while QBs get 1 point per 20 yards passing and 4 points per TD. Manning will average 280 and 2 TDs (if not more)---that's 22 pojnts per game. To match that, a RB would have to gain 160 yards per game with 1 TD. There aren't any backs that consistently do that when weighed against risk of injury. RBs tend to get hurt, Manning has a history of health so you have more degree of certainty. Every year people will also tell you to wait for defense---it's a philosophy I'm changing my mind on. Take someone like the Packers (who I don't like but they provide a good example). They will play 6 division games against either bad or unproven QBs and as a result should have a leg up on other defenses. It's often overlooked just how many points your defense can provide. The key to winning, however, is to find or get lucky enough to obtain 1st round value in thr 5th ot 6th rounds. To that end, I'll provide a list of sleepers:

QB--Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Rodgers

RB--Michael Turner, Ron Dayne

WR--Calvin Johnson, Sidney Rice

TE--Zach Miller

Turner's about a 4th rounder---everyone else should be 6th or later. Bear these guys in mind.