Seeking Advice... (Fantasy Football)

[Calm_Cool_49er]

This is my first year playing Fantasy Football. The rules of this league are comparable to many of the leagues I have researched online. There are ten teams in the league, and the trades cost about $2 dollars each. I have the first pick overall.

My questions are:
Who should I choose first LT, Peterson, anyone else?

I have a couple of picks back to back after this, so should I stick with running backs, or draft a QB or WR?

I have heard to wait on QB's because there are alot of them to take, but when should I dive in and take one? Should I wait to see what the other participants are doing, or just hold off until the 10th or 11th round?

How important are defenses? When should I choose one?

I have many other questions, but I do not want to overwhelm anyone because I would really enjoy everyones' opinion. Everyone in this league are veterans and I think they are just throwing me a bone, so they can take my $100 easily.

Thank you in advance for any advice you guys can offer.:sfhelmet:

[imabored]

what kind of league? scoring? also i would take LT over peterson but most would take peterson. also i would take back to back RBs in typical leagues. as for QB's i think you could wait until round 4 or 5 for one unless you want manning or brady.

[badass316]

This is my first year playing Fantasy Football. The rules of this league are comparable to many of the leagues I have researched online. There are ten teams in the league, and the trades cost about $2 dollars each. I have the first pick overall.

My questions are:
Who should I choose first LT, Peterson, anyone else?

Never pass on LT for anyone. He's the best player and is the safest pick (never gets injured and never has a bad year).


I have a couple of picks back to back after this, so should I stick with running backs, or draft a QB or WR?

If the league awards points for receptions I recommend taking 2 top notch WRs at your turn (round 2/round 3). Having LT gives you the luxury of being about to pass on a RB in round 2 or 3 since LT is pretty much 2 RBs molded into one. You can also go with 1 top WR and a top QB as well, if lets say a Peyton Manning fell to you, I would recommend going QB/WR. If not I like going WR/WR at the turn with the 1st pick.


I have heard to wait on QB's because there are alot of them to take, but when should I dive in and take one? Should I wait to see what the other participants are doing, or just hold off until the 10th or 11th round?

Depending on how many teams are in your league, you shouldn't wait till the 10th or 11th round to take a QB. If it's a 12 teamer I suggest taking one in the middle rounds 5-8. In a 12 team league pretty much every meaningful starting QB is gone by round 10, unless your targeting a delhomme, schaub, or rodgers as your starting QB.


How important are defenses? When should I choose one?

You need to check the league settings on how it awards points for the Def/STs. The 1st Def/ST runs normally go around round 8 or 9. I like having 2 defenses and play whichever one has the better match-up.


I have many other questions, but I do not want to overwhelm anyone because I would really enjoy everyones' opinion. Everyone in this league are veterans and I think they are just throwing me a bone, so they can take my $100 easily.

Thank you in advance for any advice you guys can offer.:sfhelmet:

You can do put together a really nice squad with the 1st pick. Here's a site that gives you an average draft position. It updates every 3-4 days, so I suggest printing the latest one out before you do your draft.

http://fantasyfootballcalculator.com/adp.php?teams=12&rounds=15&view=draftboard

You can also do some mock drafts with the 1st pick to get a better idead of the kind of players that will be sitting there at each of your picks. Good luck.

[Gof the Gij]

Take LT first overall. Peterson will likely be the #1 selection in future drafts, but for this year, even if Peterson lives up to the hype and surpasses LT, it won't be by much, and there's far less risk involved in LT.

At the turn, aim for a RB/WR or WR/WR, depending on who's available. What's most important at the first turn is not to reach for any position. If there's already been a run on receivers, just take the back, if there's been a run on backs, just take the receiver.

Only a couple defenses warrant consideration before the second to last round if you take one at all. And even those should only be taken in the third or fourth to last round. You can easily get a quality defense like Seattle, Indy, or Philly very late, or even off the waiver wire.

Get a dome kicker on a team with a good offense. I highly suggest Ryan Longwell, for some reason he isn't talked about too much as far as fantasy kickers go, but he should be a top kicker.

Don't take two defenses, don't take two kickers. Only take two tight ends if someone good falls.

Work the waiver wire copiously. Even if you think someone was only a one-week wonder, drop a player who others most likely won't pick up and take a chance on them. You can just as easily drop them and most likely pick up the player you dropped for them.

[majesstik1]

My questions are:
Who should I choose first LT, Peterson, anyone else?

LT has the easiest schedule, the better offensive line, and a slightly better QB to help keep defenses honest. He's the clear cut pick at the #1 spot.

I have a couple of picks back to back after this, so should I stick with running backs, or draft a QB or WR?

As a beginning player, I'd suggest you fill out your starting line-up first and foremost, that way you have a roster that will require little maintenance while you figure out the nuances of the game.

You're going to have 2 picks back to back to end the 2nd and start the 3rd. Take 2 from the RB/WR/QB pool. Chances are, there will be a solid RB2 still available, and a WR1-2, and that's where I'd look first. However, if Peyton Manning falls to you with either of those picks, you should probably consider taking him, and the better RB/WR left on the board.

Depending on how much you're willing to invest in quality FF rankings may determine your draft. There are several sites out there that charge for high quality information, and will be of help to you. Look at this post for a good list (http://forums.49ers.com/messageboard/showpost.php?p=1552437&postcount=3).

I'm not an expert by any means, but I feel I do a pretty good job analyzing the prospects for FF, and have a rankings thread you can use as one of your tools. But, you should also pull at least two more sources, and look for some similar trends to help you decide who the better values are with your selections.

This is my list, which will continue to get tweaked as more games and news breaks: http://forums.49ers.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=52908

If you look at the Tier column, it could help you decide if one player is a better value for you than another.

I have heard to wait on QB's because there are alot of them to take, but when should I dive in and take one? Should I wait to see what the other participants are doing, or just hold off until the 10th or 11th round?

This is subjective, and different people will use different strategies. If you're willing to carry 3 QBs on your roster, I'd take all 3 late, and hope one of them turns out to be a gem, and/or use each one to play the weekly match-ups.

A beginning player may be better served to just take one of the higher rated QBs so you have a guy you can just pencil in every week until his BYE, or in the event of injury.

In a few mock drafts I've done, I've found you can get a guy like Matt Hasselbeck in the late 5th-early 6th round, and still grab a solid insurance QB (like a Jay Cutler/Matt Schaub) in the 9th-10th round, where all the WR and RB values even out and waiting the extra round to take one won't hurt you.

How important are defenses? When should I choose one?

I prefer to take DEF with my 2nd to last pick, and my kicker with my very last pick. Both positions are like playing pin the tail on the donkey in that they're completely unpredictible, and the difference between the 3rd defense and the 12th is minimal. Let someone else waste an early pick on SD or MIN while you take a solid back-up QB or 3rd/4th RB/WR.

With kickers, I like the dome kickers. There will be one available with your final pick, and like Gof, I've been happy to snag Longwell with my final pick in every draft I've been in.

A good tool to use is in the link badass gave you for the calculator site. For one, you can get practice at drafting and figure out how you want your team to look based on where you pick. But the better tool from that site is the Average Draft Position breakdowns. This allows you to see where certain players are likely to get drafted, and allows you to plan on when you want to jump in to take a guy you like with a low ADP, but has a high ranking for you. Especially with those back to back picks, because you're going to see a lot of players come off the board in between you selections. So, if there's a guy you really want who is getting drafted 10 spots from where you pick, you may have to reach a little and take him early if you're that certain he'll produce for you.

Good luck!

[Calm_Cool_49er]

You guys rock. Thank you so much for the advice and the resources. I will post my draft after the 29th and you can tell me how I did.

Thanks again.

[Calm_Cool_49er]

Here are the rules from the league I am in. I don't know if it makes too much of a difference because it looks pretty similar to most point systems that I have encountered online.

Player points: A player who scores or scores a TD pass gets 6 points
QB/RB/WR/TE = 1 Pt. for every 10 yards rushing or receiving
QB who throws for 300 yards or more gets a bonus 10 points
QB or passer = 1 pt. for every 20 yards passing
FG = 1-49 yds = 3 pts. 50-above= 3 plus a bonus 5 points
PAT = 1 pt 2 pt. conversion = 2 pts
QB’s # of completions = 1-10= 5 11-19= 10 20-25 = 15 26-above = 20
Carries by a RB = 5-9 = 5 10-15= 8 16-20 = 10 21-25 = 15 26-above = 20
150 yards rushing is a bonus 10 points
Total # of Receptions = 1 Point for every Reception
125 yards receiving is a bonus 10 points

12. Scoring on Defense: Punt Return for TD = 6 pts. INT = 1 INT for TD = 6
Sack = 1 Safety = 2 Fumble Recovery = 1
Punt Return Yardage = 1 pt. for every 10 yards
Def. holds team to (0-224 yards) = 15 points Shutout (20 points)
(1-7 pts. Allowed) = 10 points (8-13) = 5 points
This year I am going to use yahoo.com for all total off and def. Meaning,
That I will not just add up RB yardage and QB yardage. I will use
The total, so sacks will reduce your OFF total yardage. This way it is
Even for OFF and DEF.
If your defense does not give up any points, but the other team scores on an
Interception from their QB, you still get the 20 points.
Defensive Team that you picked for the week wins, then you get 5 bonus pts

[steela2110]

Here are the rules from the league I am in. I don't know if it makes too much of a difference because it looks pretty similar to most point systems that I have encountered online.

One rather large thing you will notice:

In your particular league all TD's are worth 6 points... Now many would say RB is where you should spend the majority of your picks, but in a league like this where all TD's are of equal point value you have to start to think who scores the most TD's in a season?

Obviously Quarterbacks see their value increase in leagues like this because they are prone to scoring more touchdowns over the course of a given season.

In many leagues, you will notice that runningbacks actually get more points per TD than any other player in fantasy... (which is NOT the case in your league).... My one word to the wise here would be to not overlook a QB in the type of league that you are playing in because they will most likely be the top point scorers over the course of the year....

I played in the exact type of league last year with a few small rule changes and three out of the top 4 point scorers were Brady, Manning, Romo.... Now you should still definitely look for LT #1, but if any of the big 4 QB's are on the board with your #2 pick you should definitely grab one...

Big 4 QBs include:

Manning
Romo
Brady
Brees

[majesstik1]

Yeah, now that I see you scoring, I'd look to take a QB at your 2nd/3rd selection spot.

Manning, Brees, or Romo should do you well, if they're still there.

If not, you might want to wait awhile, because IMO, after those guys, the next 8 QBs won't be that far distinguished from each other in point totals at the end of your season.

[Calm_Cool_49er]

Thank you again guys.

I feel a whole lot better heading into this draft.

[Ace Matherton]

I agree with what was said above except for defenses. In almost all leagues i dont draft one at all if thats a choice however in this one.........

You get points for return yards, that makes Hester's team preatty freakin valuable.

Depending on the points i may take a flyer on the Bears in this leage around the 11th, they probably wont be there but if they are and you believe in Hester you could have a real gem there. Baltimore has two VERY good return men as well.

[Calm_Cool_49er]

So in the 11th round I should look to the bears or Ravens for their "D".

Are there any resources that you guys use that I should maybe print out/buy for the day of the draft??

I have the SI Fantasy Football issue, but taking this with me would make me feel inequipped.