I recently started playing fantasy football...?

Question

I love football, and I do know alot about the sport itself, but am kinda confused as to how fantasy football works. Any suggestions on how to become a strong team??

Answer 1

Hi lilstarfan25,

If this is your first year playing fantasy football then you definitely need to do two main things to be successful:

1.  Either create or find access to accurate NFL player rankings (called a fantasy football cheat sheet) for your fantasy draft.

2.  Educate yourself on the basics of the game.  Do a Google Search on 'fantasy football basics' to get an overview of how to play.  If you're a football fan then it should be relatively easy to understand how fantasy football works.

If you're serious about fielding a strong team, then you must do the above two things to have a decent chance at success.  The draft is where champions are born in the world of fantasy football so it is very important that you execute a good draft.  As others have said DO NOT auto-draft; if you have an accurate fantasy football cheat sheet you should be able to do just fine on your own.

You can learn the intricacies of fantasy football throughout the season, but you only have one shot at the draft.

I have provided three links in my source list for you.  The first link is a page where you can generate a free, comprehensive fantasy football cheat sheet that I update daily.  You can print this out on standard 8.5x11 paper and it has everything you should need at your fantasy draft.

The second link is an article that I wrote which may help you prepare for your fantasy draft.  It has some simple guidelines that you can follow to give you a leg-up on your competition.

The third link in my source list is the home page of a site I designed to help fantasy football enthusiasts create their own NFL player rankings.  You can adjust your rankings using drag and drop, then generate a printable cheat sheet based on your own rankings.   Everything is free.

Good luck.

Answer 2

If you're really new to it, I agree with using the Autodraft.  You have to start somewhere and you will be learning your entire first year.

The nice thing about the Autodraft is it may give you great players that the experts overanalyze.  For example, you may get Marvin Harrison because a lot of experts are afraid of his health problems and he may have an incredible year for all we know.   I had a few friends that ended up with Tom Brady last year using Autodraft, and he ended up being the best player by far last year.

Another option might be co-managing.  Lots of websites allow two people to share a fantasy team.  That said, it's best you just dive in on your own.

Answer 3

I wouldn't use the autopick, I've seen some messed up teams when that is used. It may take the best player, but you may end up with no good Rb's and 4 good Wr's.

If you want to be a strong team take Rbs, take them early, take then often, usually I go round 1 Rb, round 2 Rb, round 3 Rb/WR/QB (if there is a top tier WR or QB left I take them), round 4 WR/QB, round 5 WR/QB, Round 6 WR/QB/RB. After 6 round I like to have 1-QB, 3-RB, 2-WR. Then I start filling in my depth with the other positions. Make sure you get a good backup QB also. Defense is a good position to be strong at but they change so much from year to year it's hard to pick a good one. I always try to take the teams that are pretty good year in and out like NE, Bal, Phi, Den. Never take a kicker early! The earliest I would take a kicker is maybe round 12, usually my last 2 picks are kickers. That should get you a good start into the year. Make you your paying attention to the free agents through out the year, this is something I struggle with, but there always seems to be a Ryan Grant or Selvin Young out there half way through the year that can take your team from good to great.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Answer 4

if you really dont know football and want a strong team just use the autopick option if your league has that option and it will pick the best available player for your team with every pick