Fantasy Fundamentals From The Factory: Fantasy Football Draft Guide Burt Notes Edition

I have been known to spend significant amounts of time on draft prep for baseball. I am confident that from November thru March I put in upwards of 300 Hours into Fantasy Baseball. I study numbers, I study more numbers, and I do my best to determine if my more numbers provide justification for the first set on numbers. I monitor player movement and then determine in what ways said player will benifit from the move or be adversely effected by it. I take it a step further and determine what effect one player will have on the overall roster of said team and adjust previously calculated numbers accordingly. So since so much time is devoted to fantasy baseball "How much?", you ask, do I devote to fantasy football easily America's most preferred game. The answer is 10 minutes. It took me ten minutes to look over the player listings and get a feel for what and who I am targeting and as to how I will need to address the draft to obtain as many of the targets as possible. So sit back relax and let the BCFP win your fantasy league for you by giving you everything you need to know to dominate your league.


Pre-Draft To Do List

1. Know your scoring setup but try to out think the room. Most leagues are scored the same with some type of points awarded for yards and TD's. Occasionally you will have one that awards point for misc. items such as Rec. and of course you have the old style TD only leagues. Regardless of the point systems most of your rankings will remain about the same. Sure in a PPR league Welker types may have increased value but it isn't like he goes from being the 20th rated WR to the 5th. The simple motto of "Big time players, make big time plays.", is a rule of thumb in fantasy.

2. Have some type of sheet with player names by position. I watch a ton of NFL about 10-12 hrs per week to be exact yet often times on Draft day I am left wondering where so and so ended up in the offseason and where exactly he is on the depth chart. Backups in baseball are that for a reason. In Football that is not the case. Sure they may lack some of the skill sets of the player in front of them but if a good system is in use and said player gets hurt teams will not change who they are. Therefore that backup RB just turned into a viable fantasy commodity. If you could predict the three backups that emerge each and every year I would guarantee you a fantasy title 85% of the time or better.

3. Make the night a event. Eat a ton of great food. Drink a sinful amount of Beverage of your choice. Encourage a audience of non-league members. Make it a party for crying out loud. I also suggest placing wagers on various items throughout. I say my team has a better record than yours for $10. I say Vick has a better season than Brady $20. You get the drift. Spice the night up and make it the social event of the season and the place where all the locals want to be.

Draft To Do List

1. Use the best available player approach 2/3 the way through the draft. The length of drafts vary depending on the league but what shouldn't is your target of collecting the best players despite position (QB excluded). Having depth a WR/RB (likely best available option) is the key to the long season filled with ups and downs from a health standpoint.

2. Do not draft a K until the before the final three Rds. I have softened my approach on this somewhat over the years but I still get sick to my stomach when I hear Sebastian Janickowski's name before closing time. The point difference between the best K and worst full time K is minimal compared to other positions. In the urban dictionary, under the term A Dime a Dozen, shows a picture of a NFL K.

3. Do not get shitty to the point where the draft monirator tells you, "You picked him up three Rd's ago." Enjoy the party but save the ass in the air, pissing on the neighbors house, and streaking down the street till after the draft.

4. Don't be the minute rule man. Every draft has that guy who makes every pick life and death. Typically a pick should take about 30 sec. occassionaly you are dealt a blow just before your pick that may set you back but for the most part the name should be on the tip of your tongue when your name is called. Don't be the guy who has caused the draft to be 2Hrs in with only 6 Rds. completed.

Position Overview

QB- In my mind there are 8 Elite guys you don't want to be left out in the cold on this one. Over the years I have missed out on a elite option and every year I ask myself why in the hell did I do that. That trend ends this season. Here are the elite options: Rodgers, Vick (many have him as the top option but I would only take him over perhaps Schaub on this list), Brees, Rivers, Brady, Romo, Manning (assuming a return within the first four weeks),and Schaub. You nab one of these guys then you only need one backup the rest of the way in a standard league. If you miss out you will need to play the mix and match approach, and will likely need to draft 3 QB's to accomplish this.

RB- Over half of your roster should be composed of RB/WR. If you are going to miss out on a elite option this is the one position where it's very likely you may avoid feeling the pain. Plenty of potential Top 10 players can be found from the 15th rated RB on down. This is also the position where some undrafted player will emerge to become and Top 20 overall player so depth will be available on the Waiver Wire all season. Elite Options: Foster, Peterson, Rice, Charles, Mendenhall, Johnson, Turner, Jones-Drew.

WR- Another extremely deep position however the elite options offer a week to week consistency that most at the position don't. Therefore this is another posistion where I will target one of the elite options. As with RB you are wanting to load up and hope that one of your back end options explodes this season. After the top 10-12 WR's there is minimal seperation between the 13th ranked and 30th. Two items to consider when differentiating between the WR's are matching up with your QB to double the points, consider what WR option said player is on his own team, and how much faith do you have in the real life signal caller. Elite Options: A. Johnson, C. Johnson, Roddy WHite, Larry Fitzgerald, Reggie Wayne, Miles Austin.

TE- Perhaps the biggest gap between the haves and have not's of any position. Many people consider this and target TE rather early for my taste. Even the best TE's only produce low B level production therfore I can't see justifying using a 3rd-5th pick on a B level player. With that said I'm usually targeting a couple of lottery tickets at this position. Elite Options: Gates, Finley, Davis, Clark, Witten.

K- As I have stated before don't be the guy who outthinks the room. K's don't have success with the ladies in High School and they shouldn't be selected before the final three RD's. At the back end of the draft choose the K who is on a team that figures to have a easy contest in Week 1 and follow that trend all season.

DEF- If you play team defense then wait until your last pick to fill this need. Sure having the Steelers D sounds good but not at the expense of three rds or more in the draft. I just don't see a 85 Bears type Defense in the NFL anymore so your better of feasting on the likes of poor offenses such as the Seahawks, Redskins, Bengals and Panthers. So target the D with the best matchup each week rather than wasting a draft pick on a D to early. If you play individual players on Defense load up on LB's and nab a couple of CB's from bad teams.