Paty’s Fantasy Football Guide

By Patricia Hsieh

Are you ready?

It’s FINALLY that time of year again.  The end of summer, kids back at school, and the start of FOOTBALL!!!   Months, in football time what amounts to ages, have gone by since the last meaningful NFL game.  The draft in April, off season workouts and OTA’s (Organized Team Activities), and now training camps are coming to a close.   And in the words of Hank Williams Jr., “Are you ready for some football?!?!”

Along with the news that Favre has touched down on Eden Prairie, MN is the fact that thousands of men and women all across the country have one thing on their minds: fantasy football (FF).  I got bit by the fantasy football bug three years ago when one of the college guys at church, knowing I loved the NFL, needed an extra player.  I had NO IDEA what I was doing or what fantasy football all about.  All I was told was that I’d be acting like a General Manager (GM): drafting/picking players and a Head Coach (HC): taking those players on your team and compiling a starting roster each week.  Teams go head-to-head each week and the fantasy team with the most points win.  My rookie year as a fantasy football manager was a painful yet good learning experience.  But I learned the ins and outs of drafting a good team.

Drafting: Online or In-Person

Die hard FF leagues actually come together and have live drafts.  A draft kit is made or ordered with each NFL player’s name on a sticker or card.  Once selected that NFL player is placed on that FF team’s roster.  One web series that I like to watch called “Fantasy Over Reality” has a great depiction of what takes place during these live drafts.  The FX channel has a show called “The League” but I haven’t watched it yet.

We played in a standard league run by Yahoo with ten (10) teams, each with 15 players selected in the draft.  One of the best things about Yahoo leagues is their accessibility. Yahoo had a fantasy football app for the iPhone giving me access to my team and stats from anywhere.  Due to the fact that our league was spread out across the country, we opted for an online draft.  We were still able to ridicule one another’s picks in real time and talk smack via the chatting feature.

What Makes a Team

Basic starting rosters typically consist of these positions:

• 1 Quarterback (QB)
• 2 Running Back’s (RB)
• 3 Wide Receivers (WR)
• 1 Tight End (TE)
• 1 Team Defense (DEF)
• 1 Kicker (K)

The rest of the players sit on your bench.  Each league has its own tweaks.  For example, Instead of the third WR you can have a flex position.  My other league we agreed on a WR/TE flex position.  Some leagues have RB/WR, etc.

Paty’s TIPS!

Paty H - SPass FF Guru

Some Basic Draft Strategies:

Most people draft their starters plus some back ups for most positions: RB’s & QB’s especially.  There are some crazy guys out there who carry two kickers???  Huh?  Some hoard good DEF’s.  I won’t name names.  You guys know who you are.   Then there’s handcuffing and I’m not talking about the law enforcement variety.  RB’s are more proned to injury so it’s common practice to also draft your #1 RB’s back up.  For instance, last season those who picked Adrian Peterson (AP) also drafted his back up Chester Taylor as insurance.  If AP goes down you know that the Taylor will take his place next week.  [My quick rant! Thanks to Mr. Mangini in Cleveland last season that theory all went down in flames and I got screwed many weeks trying to guess which RB he was going to start.  Talk about annoying!  Mangini is not to be trusted – ever!]

Watch the Clock!

Each manager has 2 minutes to make their selection.  If a manager cannot be present they can opt to “auto draft.”  That manager predetermines his or her player rankings from their #1 pick all the way down the line.  But please beware, you can get unintentionally loaded with one position depending on the order and placement of the picks.

Know Your Players’ Schedules!

One key factor to take into consideration while drafting is paying attention to your players’ BYE WEEK schedules. [Newbies: in a 17-week season, each teams plays 16 games and gets one week off, called a "Bye Week." If your players are in a bye week, you can't get points.]

1. Make sure that your players’ bye weeks are spread out.  The last thing you want is to have half your roster on a bye week all at the same time.
2. Along those lines, you might want to shy away from taking too many players from any one NFL team.  If you do, you really have to plan those bye weeks carefully.
3. Before your draft make sure you print out the season’s schedule in a 32 team x 17 playing weeks grid which gives you the entire season’s schedule on one page.
4. I highlight the bye weeks so I can access the data easily.  There are weeks that are bye week heavy having 4-6 teams taking that week off.

Welcome Paty H.: I am a former science major & SAHM turned fantasy football enthusiast. I haven’t quite reached “fanatic” – yet.  Join me this season as I juggle 3 kids, my first triathlon, & take on 3 fantasy football leagues for the first time.