Well, another fantasy football season has come and gone, and here at JJD Sports I thought we’d give out just a few fantasy football tips to start preparing people for next season. What gives us the ability to think we can pass out tips on FFB you ask? I grant you, you can take this for what it’s worth, but in a 10-team league following these tips has led our team to a 2nd place finish last season and the league championship this season so we must be doing something right!
Now, our league is not a common one, we participate in an auction league w/ a fake $300 salary cap, that also includes 3 keeper players and restricted free agency … like I mentioned, definitely not common. So, while I do have some specific tips for leagues like our’s, we are going to tailor this article towards the more common style fantasy league. If you have specific fantasy questions after reading this article feel free to post a comment and we’ll respond. In the meantime, here are some general tips to help you succeed in all your future fantasy football endeavors:
1. Have clear cut starters at your major positions of QB, RB and WR – This is a tricky topic, and a hard one to navigate. The one thing you don’t want to be doing all season long is debating who to start every week in more than 1-2 positions because you will make the wrong decision more often than not. For example, this season I never changed my QB other than the bye week, and I never started a back-up RB other than a bye week either (some of that was based on luck because I had no injuries). The one place I had to make a decision each week was on my 3rd WR … I stuck w/ Steve Smith and Anquan Boldin all season long as my two starters, and rotated Austin Collie, Devery Henderson and Mike Wallace thru my 3rd WR spot. Never did I fall into the trap of which 3 to start each week, it makes your decisions much easier. Be aware of this when drafting and when picking up free agents … don’t overload one position. Having 5 decent RB’s does you no good because it makes your weekly decision too difficult.
2. If you have a must-start RB, draft his back-up – I know this one seems obvious, but too many people don’t follow this rule. Instead, they draft a marginal RB who splits carries w/ someone else, such as a Denver RB or Darren Sproles. All those players end up doing is sitting on your bench and causing you to make a decision each week because you are just waiting for their one big week to come up that you don’t want to miss.
3. Playing match-ups can be a trap – One real real life example for everyone. The only reason I am writing this as a last season runner-up rather than a two-time defending champion is because last year in the championship game I chose to start Ronnie Brown against the Chiefs rather than Chris Johnson versus Baltimore. All season long I started Chris Johnson no matter who he played, but for some reason I saw Ronnie Brown vs. the Chiefs and decided to start him. Needless to say, Chris Johnson scored enough points that if I would’ve started him rather than Ronnie I would’ve won our championship. Bottom line, match-ups can be deceiving … if you have a bonified starter, start him!
4. Jump on the Bandwagons – This is the one time in your sporting life where it’s perfectly acceptable to jump on the bandwagon. Hitch your fantasy dreams to playoff teams and enjoy the ride. My team this year had 15 of 17 players on playoff rosters (the two not on playoff rosters were the Carolina Steve Smith and Vince Young, who I picked up late in case I knew Peyton Manning would be sitting), and 7 of 9 starters in the AFC and NFC championship games (the Colts players nearly cost me the title w/ their stunt of sitting players though). This might require some foresight of who will be playoff bound, but it wasn’t hard to see that the Colts and Vikings were going to be good this year (6 of my 9 starters came from these teams).
5. Never pass up Peyton Manning – Do I really need to elaborate??!!!
Thanks for the feedback! You make a great point about the back-up RB as insurance being a player. You definitely have to make sure this is a player who will shine as a starter. Funny you mention Chester Taylor because that is exactly who I had all year long, and never considered dropping him or trading him … he is someone I would’ve started every week regardless of match-ups if AP were to go down. That is what you want your back-up to be if at all possible.
Great tips!
I could not agree more on Tip 1. You need to diverisfy your team. A stud at the major point scoring positions (QB, RB and WR) is much better than stockpiling studs at the same position. Speaking of RBs handcuffing the backup to your stud RB is great insurance if he can be a quality starter if given the chance-aka Chester Taylor or Jamaal Charles. Just remember that a back up who starts is not worth much if he does not perform when given the chance.
Author of Fantasy Football Tips