So you think you could win your fantasy league? Of course, you do. We all do. Winning a fantasy league isn’t all that easy. If you think it is, then you better join a more competitive league. There are 5 components to winning a fantasy championship and we’re here to break them down for you. Before we begin, let me touch on “league choice” and what I meant before about a competitive league. Don’t assume that by “competitive” I mean a high-stakes big money league. Although, those leagues will be more competitive for obvious reasons. Join leagues where you’re not the only one paying attention to their team by week 10. Try to get a league together with friends and family if you don’t already have one. Those tend to be the most fun, and lets face it….bragging rights are just as valuable as the monetary value (If you’re in a $ league). Chances are, if you’re in a friends and family league, most players will and should be involved until the very end. And if that’s a problem for some leagues, there are ways to try and avoid having the disappearing owner. Having a penalty for the team that finishes in last place, or give a reward for the team that wins the consolation bracket, are just a couple of ways to keep interest throughout the season. Of course, not everybody has access to a friend and family league, so they join those public leagues on ESPN, Yahoo, or NFL.com. You have a much greater chance of being in a league of drop-outs in those types of leagues. Especially if there isn’t any financial gain or loss. Bragging about winning a league by yourself just isn’t exciting or self-gratifying. With that out of the way, let’s look at the aforementioned components to winning your league.
- Preparation I
Seems obvious, right? We break the preparation aspect down into two parts. Part I consists of the NFL Draft and NFL free agency. We’ll start with free agency since that comes first in the offseason. You don’t need to refresh your phone every 5 seconds to see if a player signed somewhere. However, it is important that you are aware of player movement. Within hours of a player signing with a new team, you will be able to find an article from somewhere that has the fantasy implications of that signing if you so choose to read about it at that time. Player movement is important to keep an eye on because of the different fits and systems that each team runs. Plus, you don’t want to be that guy on draft day that says, “I’ll take Tyrell Pryor from the Cleveland Browns”.
The NFL draft is one of the most anticipated events in sports. However, you might be one that doesn’t care to much about it. When talking to some fantasy players about the NFL Draft, I get a lot of “I don’t follow/watch college football”. That’s fine. You don’t have to. Just keep in mind that those college kids could very well be a difference maker on your fantasy team at some point in time. Don’t worry about sitting through hours of coverage or tracking every pick. But you should pay attention to where the “top” prospects are going and what mid- round picks are being talked up. We do a Rookie Fantasy Impact article every year, so we’ve got you covered there.
Preparation II
This is where most people start getting into the fantasy season. Prep II takes place in late spring/early summer and consists of your fantasy draft prep. You don’t need to spend countless hours doing research on player stats, systems, contract year players, etc. We do that for you. As does many other fantasy outlets. It is your job though to locate that information and take it in. Read the articles and print out the cheat sheets that fantasy sites provide for you. You don’t have to agree with everything the “experts” say or believe. It’s okay to formulate your own opinions and rankings. In fact, it’s encouraged. Mock drafts are always fun to do, but don’t go crazy. They almost never go the way your league draft does. They are a good tool to use to have a better understanding of when players generally being taken, but that’s why using an ADP tool (Average Draft Position) is important to have with you on draft day. More important than anything else…know your league. Not just the scoring settings (which is obviously VERY important), but also the other members. (This is going to be hard to do if you’re in a public league with people you’ve never played fantasy with.) No expert knows your league better than you do. You know when the run on quarterbacks is usually going to be, or if other members go wide receiver or running back early. Take a few minutes to look back at past draft results to see if you can find certain trends within your leagues’ drafts. Find a source that you’re comfortable with and go with it. You will drive yourself crazy if you show up at your draft with many cheat sheets. Every analyst has their own rankings for various reasons, so every cheat sheet will be different. If you want to know what most experts think, I suggest subscribing to Fantasypros, where you can get a consensus of many experts rankings from across the industry.
- The Draft
It goes without saying how important the draft is to your overall fantasy season’s success.
However, it may not be where you think. Of course, the early rounds are very important, but they’re also the easy part. You know what to expect from your first, second and third round picks. It’s the Michael Thomas’s being drafting in the 10th round that win fantasy championships. You could read as many “sleeper” articles as you want, but it’s important to watch as many preseason games as you can. Maybe not a realistic option for some. I get it. But there is a significant advantage in watching for yourself and seeing a guy on the field and how he’s being used. Highlights can only give you so much. NFL.com has the Game Pass that allows you to watch condensed games, but it does cost some money. I still get it. Not an option for many. For those that can’t watch the games for whatever the reason is, keep an eye out for those backup running backs, rookie wide receivers, and players that will have an opportunity. Forget the draft grades given out by host sites. Drafts are won in the mid to late rounds and shouldn’t be graded until after the season. It’s one thing to know the “stars”, but finding that special player later on could make all the difference.
- Waiver Wire
Being active on the waiver wire is extremely important to fantasy success. Unfortunately, many leagues still use the traditional waiver order format. This format can go by team record or when a team makes a claim they automatically go the end of the order until the teams in front of them makes a claim, and so on. Either way, it is an unfair method to waivers and I wish more leagues went with the FAAB budget way of waivers. Using a FAAB budget, teams are allotted a certain amount to spend on waivers throughout the season. Teams would then submit a blind bid (other teams don’t know how much you bid) on the players they want, and the highest bidding team would be awarded the player(s). This gives every team the chance to snag the weekly top waiver wire add, and not just the team that has the #1 waiver pick. Regardless of your method, it is important to stay active on a weekly, or even daily, basis. A certain waiver wire add can have a tremendous impact on your championship aspirations. Just look at what Jay Ajayi, Jordan Howard, Tyreek Hill, and Tyrell Williams did for owners last season.
- Trades
Being able to make trades can be beneficial but not nearly as important as drafting well
and being active on the waiver wire. You could win a league without ever making a trade. Without going into too much detail about trading (article coming soon on the topic) I will say this: You need to trade from an area of strength while gaining a weakness. More importantly, offer trades to opponents based on their weakness. Questions always come up about what is fair value for (insert player name here)? That is an open -ended question that is only going to get a general answer. We can give you a list of names that a certain player is “worth”, but if the owners of those players don’t need the position of the player being offered, a trade won’t get done. Or at least it shouldn’t. Trading is fun and nobody (seriously nobody) likes to do it more than me. However, don’t just trade to trade. I need to keep telling myself the same thing. Makes sure it makes sense.
- Lineups
When it comes to setting your lineup, be sure you are aware of the players bye weeks.
Nobody, except your opponent, wants to be the person to have a player or two in their lineup that is on their bye. Pay attention to your team! You run your team. We could tell you or recommend someone in your start/sit questions, but in the end, it’s your decision. Go with your gut. Experts’ recommendations are based on rankings that believe it or not, are thought out and have a reason behind them. If you feel differently, then do it. We don’t set your lineups. You do. If you are so torn between players, you could always check the expert consensus rankings (ECR) here and decide on which expert’s advice you want to go with. In addition, don’t overthink things. Play your best players. Use matchups as a deal-breaker between two or more similarly ranked players. Try not to get cute with the whole “my opponent has Matt Ryan, should I start Sanu or Devante Adams? You’re starting Adams. Who your opponent has, should not have an impact on who’s in your lineup.
BONUS COMPONENT!
There’s no doubt that fantasy football requires skill and dedication. However, there is one thing that you also need to have…LUCK. You need luck, and I’m not talking about Andrew Luck. Don’t fool yourself by thinking you won your championship without any luck. You’re not that good. Nobody is. We’re not playing the actual games. We’re not officiating them either.
Keep these components in mind as your try to achieve the ultimate prize. Have a great season and good LUCK!
