Yet Another Draft Article…

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You won’t win a championship on a good draft alone, but you can certainly forfeit your chances for a title right here, before the season even starts. But if you stick to some simple rules, you will have plenty of fun not only on draft day, but with your team’s success throughout the season.

If you have the first pick, grab Marshall Faulk. I’m not saying you will automatically win your league, I’m not even saying you will get the best fantasy player (that?s Kurt Warner, in my opinion), but Faulk is by far the best RB, the most crucial fantasy position. So we have a no-brainer here at #1.

It’s not that easy for those of you who have picks two to four. There are several options open to you: there’s Ahman Green, probably the second best RB, but he might be reaching the point where he’s due for an injury. Another possible choice is Shaun Alexander, who may have the greatest potential of any back not named Marshall, but can he stand the pressure going into his first year as a full-time starter? And then there is LaDainan Tomlinson, who surprised a lot of doubters by playing phenomenally last year, who has a solid offensive line in front of him, and should do well again, barring any problems at the QB position in San Diego.

It’s a tough, tough decision to make, but my advice is: take Green at number two and cross your fingers that he won’t get hurt, then Alexander, and Tomlinson at number four.

I like pick number 5. It may be a surprising choice, given the stud RBs still on the board at this point in any draft, but I’d take Kurt Warner here. He is simply so reliable that he earns this high spot. You can’t go wrong with Warner leading your offense; afterwards, however, taking an RB with your second choice is practically a must.

With the picks following Warner the focus should shift back to RBs – Edgerrin James (who may go as high as first or second in some leagues, if some owners choose to ignore his knee injury from last year), Priest Holmes (I still can’t believe how good he looked last season – but he still has some question marks surrounding him, considering his prior ups and downs) and perennial performers like Curtis Martin, Ricky Williams, Stephen Davis and Corey Dillon along with upstart Anthony Thomas.

All these guys should be picked before you even think about taking a WR, the first of which should be Randy Moss. As this 12th pick should cap the first round in almost all leagues, you can easily grab your RB with the next pick, leaving only one owner without an RB.

I think this is the path that should be taken in most drafts (depending on your league’s scoring, of course), because you can easily get very good QBs and WRs down in the fourth round, but you will not find any true number one RB any more by the time the third round closes. So by ignoring RBs in the first round (and even worse, in the second round too) you will not only end up without an upper tier RB youself, but you also let someone else grab a second good RB (or even worse, a third). That way, in almost all leagues your chances will be shot, unless you can pull out a surprise RB in the later rounds.

Once you have secured your RB (and maybe a second one), you can look at what’s left. It doesn?t really matter whether you pick a WR or a QB next – just take the best player available! Even if you take 2 RBs and 2 WRs in the first four rounds, you will still end up with a viable QB (no owner takes 2 QB in the opening rounds – trust me), so you don?t have to panic here. And after the top WRs are off the board, there is still a solid crop of second/third tier WRs available who will put up good fantasy numbers.

So after you have bolstered your RBs and WRs in these intermediate rounds you can start thinking about taking a TE in the 8th round or so. I won’t even dream about taking Tony Gonzalez because in almost all leagues he will go way too early, and that’s simply not worth the risk. The only thing to watch out for is a run on TEs. Someone starts by taking one, and if you blink, 10 TEs or more are suddenly gone.

And then there are the backups – a factor which has become more and more important over the past two seasons. Again, the focus will initially be on RBs. The highest priced second-stringer may once again be whoever wins the battle to provide insurance for Terell Davis in Denver. Then there will be talented backups in other good offense formations, like Trung Canidate in St. Louis or Dominic Rhodes in Indianapolis. Such players are almost no-brainers in rounds 10 to 12 for the owners of Davis, Faulk or James, respectively, but may also prove to be tempting picks for everyone else, so you may not want to wait too long here.

A little different, but equally vital, are the backup QBs. As owners may not want to waste a roster spot on a QB who won’t play and isn?t backing up their own starter, you can probably wait a little longer than you could with backup RBs. Making sure you have the guy who will play if your starter goes down with a concussion will let you sleep a great deal easier.

But, wait… I’m forgetting something. Oh yes, kickers and defense! Well, I won?t really worry too much about either, as both are so unpredictable. They may win a game for you, and lose one on the other end, but they are not the key to a championship. Don?t bother taking one until the late rounds. There will still be plenty of talent available once the popular names are gone. Just take one, and if you don?t like your choice later in the season, you can usually go to the wire and correct your error. Just make sure you don’t get stuck with a complete disaster at either spot, especially defense.

This way, you should end up with a pretty solid team, which, preventing any major injuries, will take you far into the season. How far? After the draft, it will depend on the in-season moves you make. The draft should leave you with a solid foundation to build on, but the decisions you make after the draft is over are just as important…