Big Blue View
The calendar has turned to August, and that means draft season for season-long Redraft fantasy leagues is almost upon us! Bread-and-butter home, work, and family leagues powered the initial fantasy football explosion. No matter how many dynasty and best ball leagues you’re in, no matter how much daily fantasy (DFS) you play, and regardless of whether you’re competing for big bucks, bragging rights, or something else, for a lot of fantasy players these leagues matter most.
For many of you, one or more of these season-long redraft leagues will be your only fantasy drafts of the year. But whatever versions of fantasy you play, in order to have a successful draft you need more than just a handle on the players. You need a draft prep plan, a strategy, and good information. I’ve been playing redraft fantasy football for 30+ years and I’ve gotten better at drafting, in large part because I’ve improved my methods of preparation. I want to share what I’ve learned. Below are 13 tips for a successful draft. My focus is on season-long redraft leagues, but many of these concepts apply across formats.
Before we get started, you can link to all of my preseason fantasy content here, including player rankings, tiers, and commentary.
Know your league’s basics. This sounds obvious, but it’s information you must know instinctively. It’s critical to understand your league’s roster and lineup requirements, scoring rules, and anything that’s changed from last season. There are scoring rule differences that benefit (or penalize) certain players more than others. A simple example: Awarding 6 points per passing TD (vs. 4) benefits certain quarterbacks more than others (Joe Burrow, for one). Another example: Tight End Premium scoring (TEP) elevates an entire position. Lineup requirements can also impact the values of certain players and entire positions. An obvious example is Superflex leagues (where you can start 2 QBs), but smaller differences also matter. If your league requires you to start 2 WRs and 1 Flex, you’re going to have a slightly different approach than if the starting lineup includes 3 WRs and 1 Flex. Make sure you’re up to speed on league rules.
Don’t get owned by rankings. Average Draft Position (ADP) and Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) are great tools, as they reflect a broad perception of players’ relative values. They’re a good starting point for building a draft board and they’re generally a good indicator of the range in which you can expect players to get selected. But don’t confuse ECR or ADP with actual value, and don’t let those rankings create so much inherent bias that it controls your thought process. It’s easy to get sucked into groupthink about player values given how widely ADP and ECR are broadcast. This can play out badly for you in drafts if you allow those rankings to have too great an influence on your mindset and you end up taking players you aren’t that high on, but feel the pressure to take because the perceived...
