Sunday, August 23, 2009

Tips for Draft Master or Draft Expert Leagues-Part 1

I have drafted in several draft masters drafts this season and decided to share some tips.

Tips
1) It is a total points league not H2H so you need to have a different mindset altogether. You always want to have at least two QB, TE, K and Defense. I suggest three of each but will explain why later. You need two of each because you cannot go to the waiver wire to add free agents on bye weeks. In a Draft Masters or Draft Experts league, it is draft and forget; meaning there are no free agent transactions. What you draft is what you get for the entire season. The format gives you the best score each week based on who is on your roster. Therefore, if you have only one kicker, then the week he is on a bye you will get no kicker points. Always have at least one extra player at each spot to cover for the byes and when injuries occur.

2) Watch the bye weeks. Remember NO adds or drops. Therefore, if you have only two QBs and they are both on the same bye week you have hosed yourself out of QB points one week. Even if you have three QBs and only two are on the same bye week you lose their ability to back up the other one on a down week, when two are out on the same bye week.
You cannot leave points missing like that.

3) Try and get starters used for a flex position all from different bye weeks. This is tough and is not a must just a good to know type thing. In FFPC, you start 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE and 2 flex so that is 7 players starting from those 3 positions. There are 7 bye weeks (weeks 4-10). If each of the starters is out on bye on a separate week then you only need one strong replacement to step up each week from your bench to have steady points. If three or more starters are out on the same week that could potentially be a very bad week and reduce your overall points significantly.

4) If the roster size allows it, draft three QBs, TEs, Ks and Defenses. Why? The extra player at each position will give you on average about 30 points above most combinations of QBs, TEs, Ks and Defenses. Try it yourself. Look at the scores for most combinations of players then factor in an additional player from the bottom 25th -32nd. In many cases the extra player is used on the two bye weeks when only one of the combinations of players is available and then on a few more weeks he may be the top player and give you a few points more then you would have had. All in all 4-5 weeks as your top player at that position and giving you 6 more points each of those weeks means 25-30 extra points. Now if you do that at each of the positions (QB, TE, K and Defense) you have just guaranteed yourself another 100-120 points. What have you lost? Four players who were deep sleepers or handcuffs. You lost your RB8 and 9 and WR8 and 9. If you think one of the RBs and WRs at those spots can give you 100 extra points over your starters and backups, then by all means continue to draft them. I prefer easy extra points versus banking on a deep sleeper who will only start if my starters are hurt. I rationalize it that if my RB1 gets hurt and I need help and have to rely on my RB8 or 9, my season is over anyway.


5) Never wait until the last round to draft one of those third QB, TE, K or defenses unless you absolutely know there will be enough for you in the last round. Bottom line is draft all of the third QB, TE, K and Defenses before the last round. Save the last pick for an extra WR sleeper.

6) Look at combos: QB by committee, TE by committee, defense by committee etc. FFGuys.com always has articles about which combos are best to go with. Look at these articles and plan whom you think you can get and who works best.

7) Look at who is left and how best to draft. If you have three TEs with the same bye week to choose from for your TE2 and another TE with a different bye week, who do you pick? Go with one of the TEs from the same bye because chances are your third TE choices are less likely to be from that bye week now that so many were gone. Basically try and look ahead to which TEs will be left and their bye weeks. Try to draft a player who has a bye week that is not the same as the majority of the players from that position left to draft.

Check back tomorrow for more Draft Master Tips!

Fantasy Football Tips ($9.95, www.amazon.com/dp/0982428669)

Fantasy Football Guidebook: Your Comprehensive Guide to Playing Fantasy Football ($19.95 on sale for $17.95) http://www.amazon.com/1602640203

Fantasy Football Almanac 2009: The Essential Fantasy Football Reference Guide ($12.95, http://www.amazon.com/1602643989)

No comments: