Fantasy Football 101
I know there are dozens of fantasy football experts out there you could go to rather than me. But I have a website and tons of fantasy football thoughts so I’m putting them here. I’d like to say I’m in the upper echelon of fantasy football players. My personal accolades involve zero losing records in 20 years of playing, somewhere around 8-ish championships, and playing in every kind of league. With drafts coming up in the next two days, here are my tips, hot takes, and sleepers for this season.
The experts make you read paragraphs and click through tons of pages. I’m giving you everything I got just how you’d want it; short and sweet.
Tips
Tier out your players. Rankings don’t matter, tiers do. Honestly, there’s not much of a difference between players 1-5, 6-12, and so on. But… there is a lot of difference between tiers 1, 2, and 3. Example: Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are tier 1 QBs. When your pick comes it doesn’t matter which of the two you have. But if the decision is between Jackson and Daniels, Jackson is the easy pick because he’s a tier higher. This helps when deciding which position to fill. If you have needs for a RB and WR, you can make it really simple. If there’s a RB left in tier 1 but not a WR, you take the RB. It’s a no brainer.
Take the defense based on their opponent, unless there’s a clear juggernaut. Realistically there is a small margin of point differential between the top 10 defenses. Take the team playing New Orleans or Cleveland. It’s not a hard equation. If there’s a rare, “set and forget” defense, you have permission to pull the trigger early. There is a lot of value in a weekly high point scoring defense.
Settle on a few teams that you will refuse to take any players from. It makes your life easier. There are a few teams every year who are so terrible that even their good players won’t produce many points. For example, last season Tennessee was so bad that they only had 1 player get more than 500 receiving yards. The Patriots had no one with more than 700 receiving yards and the most touchdowns scored was 7. Sometimes there are teams so bad that you have to resist even the good players. This also makes the draft easier.
Don’t be afraid of rookies. Every single year, there are several rookies who finish top 10 in their positional scoring. Last year Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas, and Brock Bowers were studs. Famously, Zeke Elliott, Saquon Barkley, Cam Newton, Jamar Chase, Alvin Kamara, etc had all-time great scoring seasons their rookie year. Identifying the standout rookies allows you to get steals in the draft because the average NFL fan doesn’t know who they are yet.
Double dip when possible. If you get the chance to draft QB - RB/WR duos, do it. If you get Burrow-Chase, Jackson-Henry, Hurts-Barkley, or even Daniels-McClaurin pull the trigger. Think about it, every single time the offense scores you’re probably getting points. This is harder to do than most strategies because if people in your league are smart they won’t let it happen.
Hot Takes
Tight ends are overrated. When the draft is over do you really care if you have Trey McBride or Tucker Kraft?
Zero QB strategy still works. A while ago the “zero QB” strategy became popular. Essentially, the idea was to not take any QBs until late in the draft and then take 2-3. The theory was you could keep the same value out of having the weekly options of Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, and Kyler Murray, vs taking Patrick Mahomes in the 2nd round. I think you can still pull this off if you know what you’re doing. When you do, you end up with far better RBs and WRs than everyone else. I will say, this is harder to do now. I think there’s an advantage to the top QBs today because they run so much more. I’d heavily consider tier 1 QBs early this year.
Don’t draft backups. I’ve held to this strategy for my entire fantasy career. I don’t care if he’s a great scat back or long ball receiver. If he’s not getting starting reps, I don’t want him. I’m playing the odds here. Starters will finish the season with more points than backups. This year give me someone like Isaiah Pacheco (RB 25) over David Montgomery (RB 22) any day.
Sleepers
Kaleb Johnson - RB, Steelers: From one black and yellow team to another. John was one of the best under the radar runnings backs in college last year. He went to an NFL team with almost an identical personality. Pittsburgh wants to run early and often. Mike Tomlin loves young legs.
Braelon Allen - RB, Jets: The youngest player ever drafted into the NFL will more than likely become the starter at some point this season. Word on the street is that the Jets top brass doesn’t like Breece Hall. NY figures to be the most run heavy team this year. With those two things in mind, look for Allen to become a viable player this year.
Dak Prescott - QB, Cowboys: I’m all in on Dak this year. Call me crazy, but I love a QB who plays for a pass happy team with great receivers, a terrible defense, and zero running game. I’m predicting a 4500 yard season from Dak this year. Not to mention, he has 2 huge play WRs.
Ricky Pearsall - WR, 49ers: I know I know, he finished last year with 400 yards. But c’mon, he literally got shot last August and it was his rookie season. San Fran will be without Aiyuk most of this season. They let Deebo go. Kittle and McCaffrey are older. Someone has to become the guy, why not him?
