Mastering the Fantasy Football Draft Order: Your Path to Victory

The speaker discusses fantasy football and provides tips on drafting players for success. They explain that points are earned based on player performance in real NFL games. Running backs are historically high-scoring, but standout wide receivers can also be valuable. Building depth in later rounds is important, and looking for value picks is key. Late-round picks and hidden gem players can make a difference. The speaker reflects on their own draft, highlighting both successful and regrettable choices. They emphasize the importance of depth and luck in fantasy football. The speaker concludes by mentioning punishments for losing in their draft and encourages listeners to stay informed, adapt, and take calculated risks. The next episode will cover in-season management strategies. Hello listeners, today I would like to talk to you about one of the fastest growing trends in the sports world, fantasy sports. Specifically, I want to talk about fantasy football and the way you should draft players so you have a path to victory. For those who are just joining us and don't know a whole lot about fantasy football, let me break it down and give you an overall understanding of fantasy. In fantasy football, you want to have more points than your opponent that week. You score points from your players that you draft at the beginning of the season, and the number of points that your players score depends on how they perform in their real NFL game of that week. Just to keep it short and sweet, the more yards, catches, and touchdowns they score in their games, the better you'll be off in fantasy football. You play one fantasy team every week, and if you get more points than that in a team, then you'll win your fantasy matchup. The more points you get allows you to have a better chance in making the fantasy football playoffs, and eventually, if you're lucky and your team is good, the championship. More specifically, I want to talk about the beginning of the season, aka the draft. The fantasy draft works just like the real NFL draft. You get one pick a round, and the goal is to acquire the best player that your team needs. On this podcast, I'm going to do a deep dive into details about the early and late round strategies that have been proven to be effective. Finally, we will review my most recent draft and see what I did good and where I went wrong. Trust me, I have a lot of regrets in my most recent draft. In the first couple rounds, it's important to set a strong foundation for your team by drafting high-scoring players. Historically, running backs have had a huge upside to the points they can earn just because of the sheer volume they see on the field. Looking at past fantasy seasons from fantasydata.com, most starting running backs make it in the top 50 scoring lists in fantasy football. It's important to grab elite running backs in the early rounds because they are very scarce and might cost you a lot to trade for them later in the season. Although there has been a more recent shift in the NFL where standout receivers that are drafted in the first two rounds have outscored all running backs, such as Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson, in this last past season. While running backs are crucial, you can't ignore the potential game-changing wide receivers. Now that you have a strong core of high-scoring players and reliable players, you can look to the later rounds to build depth. Once you have a strong foundation, let's move on to the middle rounds. You want to be looking for value picks, players that can outperform their draft position and contribute to your team. It's important to remember the term position scarcity. Some positions have very few phenomenal players that earn points, such as tight end position with Travis Kelsey. But it's all about finding value in these middle rounds. Let's consider looking for a QB1 around the 4th to 5th round. Quarterbacks have the potential to score a huge number of points but aren't super scarce, so it doesn't make sense to draft them in the first couple rounds. During the mid-rounds, we want to draft more high-value wide receivers and potentially good running backs who are still available. The fantasy season is very long, and with it comes unforeseen injuries which could break your team if you don't have depth in almost every position. It's also important to look for sleepers. These are players that might have not done very well in the year before because of injury or just unfortunate circumstances. It's important to look at players being traded from one NFL team to another. This could indicate that the player traded could have a huge upside in the upcoming season. Mid-round picks is all about finding value to give you a competitive advantage in your matchups going through the season. As we approach the later rounds, we need to shift our focus and look for and uncover so-called hidden gem players. Players who have potential to outperform their late-round draft status. You shouldn't skip the late-round drafts because you think they don't matter. The later drafts could give you the edge and push you to the playoffs. Consider drafting rookie players who had a promising career in college which could translate to a great fantasy season. You can also find hidden gem players by watching preseason football. This is usually where NFL teams utilize bench players to measure their potential on the team. Flashes of brilliance in preseason could mean high points in fantasy. Some players are still recovering and it might be worth drafting them now and waiting until they are healthy and able to play later in your season. Late-round gems can be the x-factor in your fantasy football season. Identifying and securing these players can provide a significant advantage over your competition. Now that you have a guide for your fantasy football season, I want to review my most recent draft and see what I did well and some of the regrets I have now. For round 1, I drafted wide receiver Tyree Kill who has the most points in fantasy out of any other player, so I have no regrets there. The next two rounds I took running backs, but one got hurt four weeks into the season so that's a bummer, which is why having depth in all the positions is key. I took a risk on round 4, drafting tight end Darren Lawler, and that was an absolute terrible idea. He hasn't done shit this season. One of my better moves was to draft a running back later in the draft, and I was able to get him then because he had a season-ending surgery last season and would need some time to recover, but he came back partway through the season and he has been a saving grace for my fantasy football team. I won't bore you with all the details, but looking over, I drafted a lot of mid-level wide receivers, and I wish I drafted more running backs throughout the draft because so many of mine got hurt throughout the season. I did try to draft some rookies with potential, but none of them really worked out in my favor. The draft has a huge learning curve, and sometimes it really just boils down to luck. Many drafts have punishments for the losers of the season to make it more competitive and fun. In my draft, we decided that the loser had to teach one of our friends who doesn't have his driver's license yet how to drive their car. There's lots of crazy punishments out there, but I think this one was just as scary as any of the others. And there you have it folks, my guide to mastering the fantasy football draft from building a strong core to the early rounds to unearthing hidden gems in the late rounds. Each pick shapes your fantasy destiny. Remember, fantasy football is a dynamic game, and flexibility is key. Stay informed, adapt to trends, and don't be afraid to take calculated risks. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to like, subscribe, and share with your fellow fantasy football league members. Drop your comments and questions right below this podcast. In our next episode, we'll tackle crucial aspects of the in-season management. We'll discuss strategies for trades, waivers, and handling bye weeks to keep your fantasy team at the top of its game. Stay tuned for more insights. Thanks for watching!