Canon Fodder – Sports Blog

Last week Canon Fodder covered some of the things every fantasy football owner should do to prepare themselves for their league draft. This week we’ll dive into the “don’ts”, those mistakes folks commonly make during drafts that can derail their entire effort. Without further ado…

The Don’ts of Fantasy Football Drafting

Don’t let anyone know your draft strategy – This happens too often to count. You’re getting ready for your draft and a buddy calls. “What are you thinking for your first pick?” You’ve been debating this over and over for days. You bounce an idea off him. Now he’s got a glimpse into your draft strategy. Does your team benefit? Not a bit regardless of what your buddy suggests. If you both covet the same player, he’s either drafting that player first or looking for alternatives if you snatch the prize. Had you lied (like any self-respecting fantasy owner should) you could get the player you want and have the added benefit of sending your buddy into a tizzy. (There are no friends in a fantasy football league.) Panic leads to mistakes and when your competitors are making bad decisions, your team benefits.

Don’t back down from your own mistakes – You burned a high pick on a running back just to learn he’s been demoted to a part-time roll; a bad pick. The other owners are watching you closely. They circle like sharks. The last thing you want to do with blood in the water is thrash around. Stay cool. Eerily calm. Grin like you know something they don’t. Plant a seed of doubt in their minds. “From what I hear, ‘Player X’ has a better shot at the job than is being reported. ‘Coach X’ loves his explosiveness.” Any owner with an ounce of sense will know you’re grasping desperately at straws. Fortunately for you, people with an ounce of sense don’t waste their time with fantasy sports. Somebody is going to take that little white lie of yours and tuck it away. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to package ‘Player X’ in a deal later because somebody bought your ploy and actually believes he still has a shot at a starting job. Either way, you took lemons and made lemonade.

Don’t draft Michael Vick – Maybe you haven’t been paying attention, but Vick’s in Roger Goodell’s doghouse. Mr. “Ron Mexico” is facing an indictment from the Feds and considering they sport a success rate around 95%, it’s a pretty safe bet Vick won’t be playing fetch with his Falcons teammates this fall.

Don’t believe rookie hype – First year players in the NFL don’t have as much impact as many are led to believe. NFL schemes are infinitely more complicated than those employed in the college ranks. Then factor in the longer season and the distraction caused by having a lot more disposable income (well, players from Ohio State are accustomed to getting a paycheck regularly, but for everyone else, this is new…) and you can understand how a young player might lose focus on the game. It happens. Often. Though there is the occasional exception to the rule, there’s a reason it’s a rule. Draft accordingly.

Don’t “Chase the Dragon” – No, I’m not talking about smoking heroin (though the term is somewhat borrowed from the practice). For fantasy purposes, to “Chase the Dragon” is to make a panic pick because there’s a run on a certain position. Four quarterbacks just got picked. I had better grab one before they’re all gone. This mentality plays perfectly into the hands of those teams that started the run. Why grab the tenth-ranked quarterback when top-rated tight end is still available? Is there much difference between the quarterback ranked tenth and the one at fifteen? If not, grab the tight end (or whatever the best available player happens to be) and get the lesser quarterback later. Why? Because unless your in a league that starts two QBs, there’s not much chance owners with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are going to spend a high pick on a second QB they’re unlikely to play. With that in mind, try to draft those positions in which these owners are still interested. Simply put, try to start trends instead of following them.

Five tips to help you with drafting your fantasy football team. Keeping these in mind along with the tidbits espoused last week should allow any owner to waltz into their draft brimming with confidence and maybe a few tricks up their sleeve.

Like what Canon Fodder has been about so far? Offer up some feedback. E-mail me at jeff@canon-fodder.com with your questions, comments and complaints.

With fantasy football season fast approaching, Canon Fodder will be offering a few articles in the coming weeks on subjects ranging from the do’s and don’ts of drafting to the immutable laws of the NFL and fantasy sleepers for 2008. Three weeks from now even the most novice of fantasy players should be able to confidently stride into their draft safe in the knowledge they have a leg up on the competition courtesy of the Canon Fodder draft primer.

Part I of our primer will focus on what every fantasy team owner should be doing to prepare themselves for their draft. The efforts invested in August can pay dividends all the way through December as your team smites one opponent after another during the seventeen-week NFL regular season. An owner adhering to the following tips will be ready for anything draft day can throw their way.

The Do’s of Draft Preparation

Gain a thorough understanding of your league’s structure and scoring system – Fantasy leagues are like snowflakes in that no two are exactly alike. This is especially true with regards to scoring systems. Some leagues have bonuses for running backs eclipsing 100 yards and 300 passing yards for quarterbacks. Other leagues eschew yardage altogether opting for touchdowns and field goals. Some implement defensive teams. A few forward-thinking leagues even use individual defensive players. If you don’t understand how your league plays, you’ve little chance of being competitive.

Be wary of fantasy football magazines – That magazine you picked up at the local bookstore in the second week of August was likely put on the rack back in early July. Sure, the date on the cover says “August 2007” and if you’re looking for an actual publishing date, good luck finding it. Publishers go out of their way to hide the fact their material was out-of-date soon after ink hit the paper. Such is the Achilles Heel of publishing in the Information Age. Besides, with so much free content being available on the Internet, frugal owners have plenty of opportunities to glean current information without having to drop $7 on antiquities like printed media.

Create your own position lists – So you’ve gathered current cheat sheets and player projections and you’re ready to waltz into the draft, right? Wrong. Now it’s time to sit down and do some nitty-gritty research. Begin with the quarterbacks and go one-by-one through each position. Find a website with current depth charts and begin sorting your position lists. One effective way to create a position list is to break the list into six tiers: top-notch elite players (keeper-worthy), better-than-average players, starting players (average players with secured starting jobs), players in flux (guys battling for starting positions), the backups, and, finally, the youngsters. (This last group should be chock full of rookies and younger players still looking to make in impact in the NFL.) Breaking each position down into the preceding categories takes a bit of time but the resulting lists can help illustrate the value of drafting a top shelf wide receiver or tight end over an average running back mired in a platoon situation.

Reverse-engineer your team – Going into your draft without a game plan is akin to flying blind. Determine how many players each roster will end the draft with, factor in any possible keepers, then lay out a blueprint for your perfect team. How many QBs will you need? Two, three or four running backs? Between this team schematic and thorough positional lists, drafting a team becomes of process of fitting the most talented pieces into the areas of most demand. When you’re towards the end of your draft and looking to fill those last few backup spots on the roster, turn to the lists of youngsters. These players are the ones that occasionally turn to diamonds in the rough. Why waste these valuable spots on dilapidated journeymen when you could discover the next franchise cornerstone like Tom Brady?

Continually update your lists – Creating your position lists in a format like Excel allows for easy altering. Players get hurt. Others get promoted and demoted. Any list drawn up today will require some upkeep for a draft two weeks in the future.

So there are a few tips to get any fantasy player started on their way to a successful draft. Check back in over the next few weeks as Canon Fodder pops out a few more odds and ends to aid fantasy players in their quest for dominance.

Like what you’ve read so far? Tell a friend. Have a question, comment or observation? Let me hear from you. E-mail me at jeff@canon-fodder.com.