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.

Fantasy football in a nutshell

So I realized that not everyone one might be so familiar with fantasy football or even know what it is. I figured today I’ll be trying to give you a decent overview of what fantasy football is all about. Fantasy football is a fun game that will get you more into football than you ever imagined possible. You can start with a group of friends, co-workers or even some random people online, and you draft your own team made up of different NFL players from different NFL teams. There are a few different ways to do a fantasy draft, you can do it live and in person, you can do it online, or you can have a computer auto-pick the teams in your league based off of your player lists. I have found that getting everyone together had doing a live draft in person is not only the best way but most fun as well. I also suggest getting a big sticker board, like the one pictured above,  for the managers to put their picks on, that way everyone can see who has been picked. Now fantasy teams are usually made up of quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, and an NFL team’s defense. Some leagues have different set ups and may include flex players who can be a player from any different position or the league may draft individual defensive players, but these are usually in more advanced leagues. After you have drafted your team it’s now time to start playing. You get points based on your players’ performance in the NFL games, and you’re usually going head-to-head with another team in your league every week, just like in real football. The team that gets the most points is the winner. You get points for any number of stat categories set up in your leagues rules, it could be passing, rushing, or receiving yards and/or passing, rushing, or receiving touchdowns. They also could be receptions, sacks, interceptions, field goals or any other stat you can think of. Week to week you will need to figure out which players on your team to start and which ones to bench, players may be hurt, on a bye week, or be facing a tough defense and you are going to want to bench them for a player who will be more productive. Hopefully that gives those of you who don’t know a little insight into the fantasy football world. Don’t forget if you have any questions just ask.

Early bird gets the championship

Hello and welcome to my fantasy football blog, I’m The Commish, Brendo. Today I’m letting you in to what I consider my most important strategy that leads to fantasy football success: getting an early start. I always start studying players, stats, and teams at the start of summer. Now I know what you’re thinking: “But Brendo, the football season doesn’t start until the fall. That just seems like a waste of time.” I beg you to think differently. You don’t want to end up being the one who comes to the fantasy draft with no knowledge and picks Marvin Harrison. One, because he will be no help to your team seeing how he retired three years ago and two, everyone will think you are stupid. To avoid embarrassments like this you really need to do your homework and know what you’re doing before the draft starts. If you get a huge head start like I do and start studying months in advance you can really get a step up on the other members in your league. This will give you time to look at every player’s stats and see how well they will perform in your league, you can find those players that no one else knows about who could have a break out year. ESPN has even put up their top 300 players list which is always a good thing to check out, but everyone else will see that same list. The thing to do is find those players who are not on the list and are going to blow everyone away. 

Now you don’t have to get a three month head start like I do, but it helps. I just really like studying stats and looking at how teams have changed their systems and the players they have lost and added. I am always thinking ahead when it comes to fantasy football. Even right now I will be looking at who players are going to be playing in weeks 14-16, which are usually the playoff weeks for fantasy football, so I can find the best players playing against the weakest defenses. Those players will have the best chance of putting up big points during the playoffs and winning me another championship.