It is difficult enough to succeed in a fantasy football draft when
you have a clue as to how the selections are going to flow, much
less going through it completely blind. For that reason, experienced
FFLers often seek one or two mock drafts to polish their skills
and increase their ability to claim the players they desire.
But, Terry. Why hold a draft that doesn't count? Initially, I had
that question, too. It seemed a waste of time and effort and it
didn't make good sense for me to broadcast my personal preferences
to others in advance. Yet, after three seasons of doing practice
sessions, I now seek mocks without league mates and I will never
again go into a fantasy season without running through this drill
first.
By contributing to a mock draft, you quickly begin to see selection
trends that are apparent. Most every league will draft the same
sixty players in the first several rounds. The difference is not
WHO is taken, but WHERE. Every season in fantasy
football has it's own quirks. Things change and the owner's draft
goals also change from year to year. The little things - do you
go after receiver or quarterback depth first - make sense after
you've been through it, but are generally a shot in the dark the
first time around.
As an example: Recent practice drafts have shown that other owners
rank the some non-star players (Jeff George, Joe Nedney and Tiki
Barber as examples) equal to me. I can not likely 'steal' either
player on draft day. Yet, other players (Charlie Garner, Joe Horn,
and Jamal Lewis) are higher on other's want list than on mine. I
see that I may need to study a bit on these players to confirm my
personal rankings. Either they or I are wrong. I don't want it to
be me.
You can do a few minor things to assist yourself during draft drills,
too. You can avoid taking that can-do receiver, and see where others
claim him. This will often help us realize the 'popular' draft value
of the player and allow you be better gage then you should target
him.
If you are not yet convinced that a test draft is worthwhile and
will educate you, take a look at a few sites that manage them. TroutSports.com
is a solid example of a FF site for mock drafts. Tim Couto understands
the benefit of mocks and promotes them very well. Here are my May
observations, from activity in mocks.
* Running backs remain the prime targets in the first few
draft rounds. The reason is that there are several dominant rushers
that will richly reward their owners. However... it seems no longer
a necessity to prioritize your RB2 over other positions. Thanks
to an influx of quality, young backs, the position is deeper now
than it's been in years. As a result, you may claim a very positive
RB at lesser cost than in the past.
*Quarterback importance depends on your league's scoring system.
When leagues award six points per TD pass, QBs are king and the
pickings become slim after the top ones are gone. By my count, there
are only a half dozen who you really want as your starter. If you
miss out on a top-tier quarterback, you may then be able to
afford to delay quite a while and still get an average producer.
*Do not wait too long for your favorite sleeper, because
he's probably someone else's favorite sleeper, too. There are a
lot of players that could score 10 TDs this season -most every team
has one. If you wait to long, you will miss the chance to succeed.
Especially at RB. They are all gone in the earlier rounds. Because
receivers are so plentiful, most every team's top back will be popular.
Don't be caught sleeping when your guy is not there later.
*The tight end position is a mess. After the Gonzalez God
and a few others, it's a crap shoot. The same thing can be said
for Tomlinson and the rookies. Go figure.
Everyone knows TC. He is entering his 16th
season as an active fantasy football participant and his seventh
season as a leading member of the online FF community. In addition
to hosting the popular YouthFantasyFootball and FanEx websites,
he is active in various other projects within our hobby. Specifically,
he has become a popular freelance writer whose work has been widely
published both online and in print. Yep, everyone knows TC... sooner
or later.
