By: Greg Rector

Fantasy football has become an enjoyable way to have another reason to watch games, especially those where your team isn’t playing. The simple reason, you want to beat your opponent!!!

For many, though they don’t participate because they think it’s too hard, or they don’t know enough about football. Well, fantasy football can be a great way to learn more about the game. Now there’s a ton of different formats that you can use, keeper leagues PPR (points per reception) etc… For this article though I am going to stick to the standard 10 team league snake draft with standard scoring. That is Passing yards, touchdowns, interceptions (a Negative) for the QBs. Running backs, wide receivers, and Tight ends all get positive points for rushing and passing yards, touchdowns, but lose points for fumbles. Team defenses and special teams, earn points for fewer yards against, getting turnovers fumbles and interceptions, and a huge bonus for scoring touchdowns of their own. The defense loses points for touchdowns and yards against. Lastly, a kicker who gets points for a successful point after touchdowns and field goals (bonus points for FG’s over 50 yards)

The idea of fantasy football is to build your own roster so that each week when you play your opponent your team scores more fantasy points than their team does.

BUILDING A ROSTER

Generally speaking, building a roster should start at the running back position, because they score in both the running and passing attacks. Next up is the wide receivers, followed by a quarterback, the flex position (an extra running back usually though can also be wide receiver) tight end, Team defense special teams, and finally a kicker.

Because these are “snake drafts.” meaning if you have the first pick in the draft you do not pick again until the 20th pick and then immediately the 21st, you have to prioritize the players by position. Now ESPN or Yahoo helps you by ranking the players based upon their projected totals for the upcoming season. For instance this year Christian McCaffrey is rated first overall in both because of his ability to score both as a runner and in the passing game followed by Saquon Barkley, for the same reasons. At the other end of the spectrum is the 10th and 11th pick, which is actually a coveted spot. Getting to take those two guys back to back can actually be an advantage.

One way to begin if you feel unsure about actually drafting the team yourself is to join a league, then use the autograft feature and the computer will select your roster. I’ll explain a downside to that approach later on.  For now though here are a few do’s and dont’s for fantasy football.

The DO’S

DO look at this as a learning tool, not life or death. It’s not going to ruin your life if you lose. This is for FUN. Leave the money leagues for those who have a lot more experience.

DO use the order of priority above. You cannot have every number one or second-ranked guy at a position, nor do you need that to win. I have built teams purposely taking chances on lesser ranked players and won those leagues.

DO understand that you want players who are consistent.

DO some homework, you don’t need to spend hour after hour on research, but do pay attention to what is going on in the entire NFL, not just your favorite team. Do understand that you also draft a bench of players, these guys are used for when your best players have a bye week, or as is always sadly the case there’s an injury. Use the same position priority for your bench.

DO remember that rookies can be a risk, however they can also make or break your fantasy team.

THE DONT’S

The number one DON’T is?

Drafting a roster of players from your favorite team. This absolutely, positively, NEVER WORKS!!! Firstly you end up giving away a match up because they all are off on a bye week. Never do this, besides the idea is to learn more about the league as a whole, just like the front office of every team, YOU are a GENERAL MANAGER. The absolute maximum of players from a specific team is 3, even then it’s best to only draft two.

DON’T forget about the bye weeks. Besides every player both ESPN and Yahoo show you which week each player is off because of the bye. Drafting 9 guys off in week 8 means you can no longer field a roster. This is where you can sometimes get burned by the auto-draft feature because it prioritizes the ranking, not the bye week.

DON’T deviate from the roster priority. Yes, you will see guys draft a QB like Lamar Jackson, or Patrick Mahomes, either in the first or second round of your draft. Know how often those teams do well in fantasy? The answer is most often they might make the playoffs, but they generally do not win the league. Why? Because the QB position gets outscored by the two running backs or two wide receivers many times. So remember the priority, until you learn more.

DON’T forget that you need to set your roster every THURSDAY because the first game of the week is on Thursday night.

DON’T forget that many people will help you out. You can ask for help if you are offered a trade, or need to use the waiver wire to replace an injured player etc… That’s the best way to learn fantasy football folks.

If you have any questions about Fantasy football, you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys

GO AHEAD AND TAKE A SHOT AT BEING A GENERAL MANAGER!!!