I usually do a few mock drafts and see how everyone is being picked and then I set up my cheatsheet. That lets me see not only my opinions on the players but the opinions of usually 11 other people as well.
Netsfan5 wrote:Do you usually have a set plan of position drafting?
I think it generally isn't a good idea to shackle yourself with an etched-in-stone plan. Nothing wrong with projecting a few scenarios, of course, or with developing a plan for the most likely way the draft will turn out, but you have to be prepared to abandon all such plans the moment things start developing in unexpected ways (and in my drafts, at least, they nearly always do... ).
I just kinda mix them all together and adjust for different scoring systems and lineups to make sure I have a good guideline. Fantasy football is a lot like the stock market, players values are always in flux. Someone who might be high on your cheet sheet might lose value by the time you'd draft him.
I'm flexible...and I always try to go best available. I'm big on upside players, especially guys I can get a little later who are coming off an injury or some other factor that has effected their draft ranking too much in my opinion.
Last year....I was able to get Steve Smith in the 5th and Lamont Jordan in the 3rd. Couple that with and 1st and 2rd round picks of Gates and LT2 and I had a great season.
Look for guys like Chester Taylor...explosive players who are relative unknowns due to lack of playing time but headed to favorable situations and devise your draft around them. I know it sounds crazy but it's just a position thing. For example...if I know I can get C Taylor in the 3rd round of my draft then I know I have the luxury of going RB-WR instead of RB-RB with my first 2 picks. Also....don't grab a position just to fill a need and disregard value. What I mean by that is....if you've got the first pick of the draft (obviously you're taking LT2, SA or LJ)...but on the way back in the second round there may be a run on Wide Receivers that basically wipes out the top 6 or 7 WR's. I'm not a big fan of taking the 8th rated WR when Antonio Gates is still on the board. Especially when Gates will probably produce on par with the 8th or 9th rated WR and give you the same production from a spot where your competitors won't be able to match the production. Obviously I'm assuming it's a TE mandatory league....otherwise don't draft a TE at all. With that said....Gates is the only TE I would use an early pick on this year. I either get him or wait until one of my last picks and go for a sleeper....meanwhile stockpiling RB's and WR's.
Generally speaking....always draft 2 RB's within your first 3 picks.....it's always worked for me.
One last thing.....play the swing. If you've got the 8-9th pick or the 2-3rd pick....make life a living hell on that guy behind you. If there's 3 RB's left you like and 1 WR...don't just grab the RB...take WR you like that way no matter what you fill both positions with quality players. It's just an example...but you get the point.
VBD is the way to go, but don't follow it to a T. Once you come up with your chart, simply mark off the players as the draft progresses. Knowing when to pick a player is crucial. For example, in TE-required leagues, if Gates computes out as the 5th best player on your VBD chart, do you draft him with your 1st round pick? Well, will he still be there with your second round pick? Most likely. If you think you can get a certain player a round later than what your chart says, be patient.
Something that hasn't really been mentioned is the depth at certain positions. For example, most leagues only start 1 QB. Therefore I wait as long as I can to take a QB, because you can still get a good quality starter midway through the draft. Furthermore, you can stock up on RB's and WR's early while other teams are wasting picks on the "top tier" QB's when you're going to get a similar guy much later in the draft.
For example... let's say the top 12 QB's look like this.
1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady
3. Matt Hasselbeck
4. Eli Manning
5. Carson Palmer
6. Donovan McNabb
7. Drew Bledsoe
8. Marc Bulger
9. Trent Green
10. Jake Delhomme
11. Michael Vick
12. Jake Plummer
Looking at that list, I wouldn't mind starting any of those guys as my QB. So be the last player in your league to take your QB, and you can load up at other positions. Sure I'd rather have Peyton than Trent Green, but Green is still going to get you points, and your extra beef at RB and WR will make you look even smarter.
Around when do you all draft QBs? Being oblivious, I drafted McNabb and Hasselbeck pretty early, but the pair ended up working pretty well - I won't ever draft that early again, but when do you all usually look at QBs?
JStein wrote:Around when do you all draft QBs? Being oblivious, I drafted McNabb and Hasselbeck pretty early, but the pair ended up working pretty well - I won't ever draft that early again, but when do you all usually look at QBs?
Depends on the draft. Like I said, I normally wait until almost all, if not all of the other teams have picked a QB, and even then it will sometimes be a while before they draft a backup QB, so I generally wait a long time, Round 6 or 7.
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by Netsfan5 » Sat May 13, 2006 2:16 pm 
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