Fantasy Football Cafe Forum

by **jmudukes2008** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 5:13 pm

Hey guys, I'm always in the cafe...but always in the baseball section. I'm really dumb and entered a high-end money league, thinking that if i'm good in baseball, I'll be good in football. But it's looking like that's not the case. In baseball you generally draft 3-4 good pitchers, and then rely on the ww for the rest. And everyone knows you don't draft a closer within the first 10 rounds...you can always pick some up later on in the season.
So my quesion is, what's the football strategy. Is it taboo to pick a kicker or a TE first? What rounds should I draft each position in?
haha wow, i sound like some of the n00bs i make fun of in the baseball forums, but I guess I kind of am :-b

by **Velocity3107** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 2:35 pm

Hey there, and welcome to the wonderful world of fantasy football. Don't worry about sounding like a n00b because we were all there at some point in time. The first thing to keep in mind is that Fantasy Baseball and Football are two entirely different games.

As for draft strategy, most people like to take their running backs early since they are usually the backbone of any fantasy team. However, there has been a shift in strategy lately towards drafting receivers in the first few rounds. Only the top 2 or 3 quarterbacks usually go in the first couple of rounds. The Top Tight Ends don't come off the board until the late fourth or early fifth rounds. As for kickers, you shouldn't draft them until the last 2 rounds or so because they are highly unpredictable and the difference between the #1 kicker and the top guy on waivers isn't too great. Defenses are also unpredictable and overrated in terms of value. But you should grab one in about the 9th or 10th round.

What position you should draft really depends on your draft spot. Don't feel that you have to taking a running back with your first rounder. It is also extremely important to know your league settings. In 2 Quarterback leagues, QB's will go off the board much quicker. In Points Per Reception leagues, Running Backs who catch passes, like Reggie Bush, gain a lot of value.

I hope all of this helps. If you would like advice more specific to the league that you're in, feel free to contact me. My email is Velocity31@gmail.com

by **dgallegos** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:37 am

It is also important to know if you are playing in a traditional league or an IDP leage (Individual Defensive Players) If that is the case the rule of thumb that i have heard is to make sure you've got a solid offense drafted before you go after the defensive players, and also do not undervalue defensive ends in leagues that earn points for tackles.

Other then that just do your research, have a good idea of who is coming up and watch out for starters with nagging injuries...like manning, if you can't get him it might be wise to get his backup to use as a barganing chip, especially if he is not expected to start the first game of the regular season.

by **Old_Style** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:33 pm

jmudukes2008 wrote:Hey guys, I'm always in the cafe...but always in the baseball section. I'm really dumb and entered a high-end money league, thinking that if i'm good in baseball, I'll be good in football. But it's looking like that's not the case. In baseball you generally draft 3-4 good pitchers, and then rely on the ww for the rest. And everyone knows you don't draft a closer within the first 10 rounds...you can always pick some up later on in the season.
So my quesion is, what's the football strategy. Is it taboo to pick a kicker or a TE first? What rounds should I draft each position in?
haha wow, i sound like some of the n00bs i make fun of in the baseball forums, but I guess I kind of am

Does this mean you'll be around these part during the MLB off-season? :-D

by **flotsamnjetsam** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:12 am

jmudukes2008 wrote:Hey guys, I'm always in the cafe...but always in the baseball section. I'm really dumb and entered a high-end money league, thinking that if i'm good in baseball, I'll be good in football. But it's looking like that's not the case. In baseball you generally draft 3-4 good pitchers, and then rely on the ww for the rest. And everyone knows you don't draft a closer within the first 10 rounds...you can always pick some up later on in the season.
So my quesion is, what's the football strategy. Is it taboo to pick a kicker or a TE first? What rounds should I draft each position in?
haha wow, i sound like some of the n00bs i make fun of in the baseball forums, but I guess I kind of am

Welcome to the FFC! ;-D

I never have a preset draft strategy like RB/RB/WR/QB. Every draft is different so you really need to be able to change your strategy to try and get the best value possible with every pick. There are a few things that I do though. I always draft a RB in the 1st. RB's are the toughest to find which is why they almost always go early and often. I never draft a QB early. QB's are easy to get later and/or off the WW...unlike RB's. Every time I draft a QB early (in the 1st 5 rounds or so), I feel as though I'm drafting from behind as far as RB's & WR's go. So I'll stock up on RB's & WR's through the 1st 5 rounds or so and then I'll pick a QB & TE when I think the value is good. My other "strategy" is regarding K's & D's. If I'm forced to draft them...I wait until the last 2 rounds. Same reason why I won't draft a QB early. K's & D's are VERY easy to get off the WW and don't warrant an earlier pick IMO.

Your scoring system and/or starting requirements could change everything. If QB's get 6 points instead of the more common 4, I might take a top QB a little earlier than I normally would. If there's 1 PPR (point per reception), the RB's that catch a lot of passes, WR's, & TE's are worth more, so they will go earlier than normal. Most people consider "normal league settings" something like this:

12 Teams
Start: 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1K, 1D/ST, 6 bench.

Passing TD's 4, INT's -2, Yards 1/25
Rushing & Receiving TD's 6, Fumbles -2, Yards 1/10...NO PPR

Right now I'm drafting in the Cafeholics Anonymous League, which is a 10 team redraft league that starts 2QB, 2RB, 4WR, 2TE, 1K, 1D/ST, 8 bench (QB's 4/-2...and 1PPR). 12 QB's have been drafted in the 1st 45 picks (Pick 4.05) because we have to start 2. You can get a pretty decent backup RB in the 5th round here (16 picked through 45 picks). All of this really goes against most "normal" drafting strategies.

None of that would be going on in a normal 12 team league. Closest I could find to "normal" to compare is the 2008 Mock Draft 3 Redux. It's normal except there's an additional RB/WR flex position, and it's 1 PPR. In the 1st 45 picks there were only 3 QB's picked. 20 of the 1st 23 picks were RB's. 8-o

My favorite websites that I use, other than the Cafe of course, are footballguys.com, fantasyfootballxtreme.com, fftoday.com (let's you put in your scoring system so you can look at past years' stats going back to 2000...with your leagues scoring system! :-)