Fantasy Tips

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

Okay, so our draft is this coming Sunday. A couple of place kickers jumped out me: Rob Bironas and Nate Kaeding.

How high should I take them if they're still on the board? Or I guess another way to put it, how high is too high to draft a kicker?

Agree with the others, Kickers are last round. The difference between a top 3 kicker vs. a top 10 kicker is not a concern. You may wind up switching kickers throughout the year based on the team's offensive performance and weather.

The strategy I've always used, is to try to maximize each postion relative to what's going on in your draft. For example if you're in the third round and the top tier RBs and WRs are gone, but top tier QB is there, take the QB. Don't reach for a RB or WR just to fill the spot on your board. That being said, you can't wait too long for a solid RB IMO. My strategery has always been to get my RBs in the 1st and 2nd rounds unless a superstar QB (Manning, Brees, Rogers) is still there and the top tier RBS are all gone. Genreally I'll go RB - 1st, RB - 2nd, QB or WR, then in the 4th TE (if Gates, Clark, V. Davis are there) if not WR, then best value with WRs and RBs. I'll get my D when value at WR/RB is not real good. What I mean by value is when a player is still on the board for one reason or another when he should've been gone or when the comparative value of the WRs and RBs is lower than the round you're in. It's not a straight stats thing, it's more of a combination of stats and expectations for players/teams for the year.

I'm assuming your league starts QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, K, DEF each week. Also, do you know what your draft postion is yet or will you find out on Sunday?

I bought the ProFootball Weekly and Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football Guide 2010, you should be able to find it almost anywhere. It's nice to have someone else do all your homework for you and a good reference. I don't follow their picks by the book, but it's a good source of info.

Here's some random tips I used this year.

- A lot of folks are saying this year it's all about QBs & WRs, RBs are not as valuable. Folks who draft that way won't win leagues IMO. RBs are still king and will perform more consistently week in, week out. Weather late in the season also will normally help RBs and hurt WRs.

- Speaking of weather, consider that when you draft. It's not a top concern, but think about the league playoffs, make sure you don't have Hines Ward, Greg Jennings, and Tom Brady at home games at the end of the year.

- If you can draft a QB/WR pair or a QB/top TE pair that can win a game or two by itself for you. It can also kill you if the QB has an off day or you've got a pair playing in bad weather. I like to get a pair if I can, the reward outweighs the risk IMO.

- Players I like: Outside of your "Gimmes" (Chris Johnson, Manning, Peterson, Jones-Drew, etc):
Phillip Rivers
Joe Flacco (as a backup QB, and I recommend solid backup QB in round 7 - 9)
Ryan Mathews
Cedric Benson
Jahvid Best - later rounds
Matt Forte - later rounds
Brandon Jacobs - later rounds
Antonio Gates - He should have a strong year with VJ's suspension and holdout.
Jermichael Finley
Vernon Davis

Players I avoid this year:
L. Fitzgerald - no QB = drop in production
Matt Schaub - no Kyle Shanahan = less production
Romo - no explanation needed.
Favre - major injury waiting to happen
Steven Jackson - poor OL = poor production
Beanine Wells - I initially thought he might have a good year, watching the Cards pre-season, I'd stay away.
A. Johnson - his numbers will still be top 10 WR numbers, but don't take him over a solid RB.
Kolb - not jumping on that bandwagon until he shows something.

- I normally stay away from Redskins players altogether unless it is the later rounds and I take a chance. Moss/Cooley/Davis if they are a good value, but no McNabb, no Portis. I took a flyer on Devin Thomas in the later rounds of the Warpath Draft, but it was very late in the draft.