Cuff em!

How important are handcuffs? Now I’m not talking about the cuffs that they are putting on Plaxico when they were reading him his Miranda Rights. In fantasy football a handcuff is when you draft or pick up a players back-up as an insurance policy just in case that player gets hurt. This is usually only done with running backs because they are the workhorses and they are the most likely to get hurt. Now how important is it to handcuff you running back? Well that all depends on the situation. If you draft a running back that has a history of getting hurt or already has a small injury then it might not be a bad idea to use one of your last round picks on his back up. If the player isn’t injury prone then I don’t think it’s a big deal. The situation that I would never try and pick up a handcuff is when a running back is splitting carries, like grabbing Brandon Jacobs if you drafted Ahmad Bradshaw, the pick you would need to use to grab Jacobs is too low to make it worth it. But I’m not a big fan of using my picks to grab back-up players. I would much rather use my pick on sleepers that have a better chance of breaking out then a backup who may never see the field.

Lets talk strategy

So I know it’s still a little early, only being one week into the preseason, but I want to start talking about fantasy football draft strategy. Now myself, I hate doing a draft this early, there are so many injuries that can happen and you don’t even know who is starting at Quarterback for like 5 teams. But sometime drafts need to be done earlier so you can fit everyone’s schedule. First part of any draft strategy is usually deciding where you would like to pick. Everyone is different here, some people like being first and waiting a long time for their second pick to come around, whereas others would rather be in the middle and not have to wait as long for their next pick. Me, I like being up front, but if I don’t get one of the top three picks I would much rather be at the end then in the middle. Now as for what players to look for, I basically go one of two ways based on who is available. My first strategy is to grad two running backs with my first two picks, I like to do this because there is a major drop off in points between the top 10 running back and the top 25 running backs, and if you wait to pick up your second running back until later on you are looking to get a top 25 guy at best. The only way I will ever run off the two RB strategy is if I don’t really like any of the RBs at that 2^nd round pick and I want to go for a top quarterback.  I feel there is a very big drop of in talent between the top 5 QBs and those after them, so I always try and get one of the early, I guy like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, or Michael Vick. After that I just really draft where I see value, the only other rules I follow are I always wait until really late, like usually my last two picks to draft a defense and a kicker. Some kickers might look sweet like the ones in the video below, but don't waste an early pick on them.

 

Getting Social

This week I want to talk about giving yourself one of the biggest advantages you can give yourself before and during the fantasy football season. I am referring to using social media to keep yourself informed, most importantly Twitter. A Twitter account is one of the most valuable assets you can have if you are a fantasy football player. Having the most current information on players, teams and even the weather can be the difference between a win and a loss. There is no better or faster way to get this information then on Twitter. On my account I follow a lot of the ESPN, Fox Sports, and CBS Sportsline accounts, but the ones you really want to follow are the beat writers for teams with your players on them, or ever just all the beat writers for every team. These are the people who are going to know first if a player is going to be starting or if they are even going to play in the game. Nothing will hurt your team more than if you start a player on your team and they end up not playing. The best part about Twitter is that all the information you are looking for is right on your page. It will save you so much time not having to go for website to website finding out the situations for every different game and player. Using social media can be your way to keep yourself on top of all information and also on the top of your league because you will be making all the right moves.

To keep or not to keep? That is the question.

Keeper leagues are what we are talking about today, and in my opinion is the best way to play fantasy football. A keeper league is a league where you can keep players that were on your team from the year before. The main reason that I love keeper leagues so much is that they allow me to keep those players that I have feel in love with because they are awesome. Like with all fantasy football leagues, each keeper league has different rules on what player can be held on to and what it will cost you. I have been in leagues where you can keep two players and they will count as your first two picks in the draft, so the only players I would really consider keeping are top 25 guys. I have also been in leagues where the players you keep are tied to the round you drafted them in the previous year’s draft, so if you drafted a running back in the 10^th round last year, you can keep him this year as your 10^th round pick. When I’m playing with rules like this I’m not necessarily looking to keep the best players. For example, this year I have the choice to keep Aaron Rodgers as a 2^nd round pick or Ahmad Bradshaw as a 8^th round pick, now even though I would consider Rodgers to be the better player, I plan to keep Bradshaw because he is a much better value as an 8^th round pick. Value tends to be one of the major factors I look at when I’m drafting players, especially in a keeper league. Another good thing to look at is age; younger players are much more valuable because they will be your workhorses for a longer period of time. You will see those rookies go much fast in a keeper league draft then they normally would. Sometimes it worth taking the chance on a unproven rookie because you never know if they will become the next Adrian Peterson. But I really consider keeper leagues to be much more fun, they allow you to become fans of players for more than just one season and they can make you use new strategies.

Keep your friends close...

Sometimes its pays off to be evil

I know how I talked before about the importance of studying early to be sure you have all the information on any players that you are going to draft, but that’s not all you should be studying. I’m talking about studying the other members of your league. Now if you are like me, you play with some of your closest friends this isn’t as hard because you already know everyone, but if you are playing with Co-workers this maybe a little more difficult. This first thing I try and look for is seeing if there are any super fans in the league, you know those people eat, sleep and breathe their favorite NFL team. This is when the Dr. Evil in me can comes out because I might just draft players from that NFL team just to use in a trade with a super fan to sweeten the deal and get a better player for myself. The next thing I look for is seeing if anyone in the league is a big fan of a certain player or two. I am a huge culprit of doing this. If I have a player do well for me one season I’ll keep going after them time and time again, even when the player is in their downfall. That being said I try my best not to let this make me fall into a bad decision and if I know someone is a fan of a player I will do that same thing as before and use them to get myself a good deal. I have also used this to my advantage, like wearing the jersey of one of my old favorite players that is now hurt, retired or past his prime and making someone else draft that player when they really shouldn’t have. Ok I know what you’re thinking, “Brendo you’re just a big meanie”, but if they did their homework they wouldn’t have been tricked. Another good practice is to talk to other members of the league to see how they are drafting. Now a lot of people are going to be very secret about their draft strategy, but getting an idea on what players or positions everyone else is looking at can give you a better idea on who you should be looking to draft. Anytime you can get a head start on looking at your draft is a good situation.