The 10 Draft Commandments
People always say they have the perfect draft strategy and to follow it to win your league. Truth is there is no perfect draft strategy, but here are my 10 Draft Commandments to think about to help ensure you leave your draft with a team that has a chance to win your league.
Number 1. Know the Room. If you are in a league where you have the same guys every year, then you should know how guys tend to draft. For example if I’m pick 10 in my draft and I know the guys in the 11th and 12 spot usually draft RB’s early, then I probably need to take a RB if one is there because he won’t make it back on the turn, whereas a WR probably will.
Number 2. Don’t Reach. This is especially relevant when picking on a bookend pick in your draft. If you’re picks 1-3 or 10-12 try your best to not reach on guys. There are going to be times where you say to yourself “I don’t pick again for 18 picks, this guy isn’t going to make it back to me” Don’t panic… most times you are better off taking the best available guy on the board and rolling the dice as to what comes back to you next round. Half the time, the guy you reached on, comes back anyway and you are able to take a stud before him.
Number 3. Be the Locomotive not the Caboose. In your draft there will be runs of a certain position, like all of sudden 7 wide receivers fly off the board in a row. Do not be the 8th guy (The Caboose) , say thank you, and take a stud at another position… be a Locomotive and start a new train. Most times when there is a run on a postion it’s because guys panic and think “everyone else is taking this position I better take that too before they run out.” They won’t run out, there are flyers every year that end up being top 20 players in fantasy. Nico Collins, Puka Nacua, Rashee Rice and Courtland Sutton I can guarantee you were all guys still there in all drafts for several late rounds.
Number 4. Let a TE fall in your lap. Be patient when drafting a TE. As much as a top TE can boost your matchup week to week, I always feel like drafting a TE early or reaching for one messes up the later rounds in my draft. I know I’ve said it multiple times but Sam LaPorta was my sleeper at TE last year and I was bale to get him in almost all my drafts after round 12. Let a TE fall to you as a value pick, where you aren’t keen on drafting someone at another position when you’re on the clock. There were several TE’s drafted late that returned big on fantasy value like LaPorta, Njoku, Engram and Schultz.
Number 5. Stay Focused… Plan Ahead. If your draft is live with all your buddies then there can be a lot of distractions. Stay focused on what you came to do, you can talk $h&T during the season. If your draft is like mine, an in person live draft, it takes a lot longer than an online draft and It’s easy to lose focus. Make sure you are planning ahead by marking potential upcoming picks you may want or to not forget about if you don’t like the options on your top 300 sheet that are there. Plus make sure you are crossing off drafted players on your list, nothing looks worse in a draft than drafting a player who’s been gone for 2 rounds and you scramble to make a pick because you were’t planning ahead.
Number 6. Let them make mistakes … say thank you! Not all drafters are good, some are lucky, some just take the best player on their top 300 sheet passed out on draft day. Some guys are so fixated on a certain players or teams they make ridiculous picks. Let them, they may steal a sleeper pick you liked way earlier than they should’ve went but thats ok. Just smile and let these guys make mistakes like reaching or taking a defense or kicker way too early.
Number 7. Take your flyers if they check certain boxes. When taking flyers later in your draft, they need to check a few boxes. Like, are they on an offense that puts up big numbers? Are they in a position where they can be a top 3-4 option in the offense? Are players ahead of them on the team that always get injured? How does the Head Coach/Coordinator use this postion in their offense? If your flyer isn’t checking most of these boxes, then it’s probably not as good of a pick as you think, and maybe comes back to you on the turn and has a less chance of being a bust pick.
Number 8. Don’t be afraid of stacking the deck. Most teams in the NFL nowadays have big-time tandems.. Joe Burrow-Jamar Chase, Tua-Tyreke Hill, Dak-Cedee Lamb etc. It’s not a bad idea to stack your team with a tandem like these because a great week for one usually means a big week for the other and can solely win you your matchup. If I’m picking in the middle of the draft and get Jamar Chase in the 1st round I’d try to target Joe Burrow later in my draft, but not reach for it. Same with Lamb in the 1st I wouldn’t hate ending up with Dak as my QB1 because I probably didn’t have to take him until I had the rest of my starting roster drafted. On other hand if I draft Mahomes maybe in the 3rd round I would target Hollywood Brown and/or Rashee Rice late in my drafts. A stack I really like this year and not on the radar as much as the aforementioned is Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr.
Number 9. Forget about Bye Weeks. I’m not saying draft 10 guys and a backup QB with bye week 7 but for the most part forget about bye weeks. I’d rather have to scramble for one week to fill in multiple byes and have basically my full roster to implore the rest of the season. I’ve seen too many guys get passed on because they have the same bye week as a couple other guys on their team already. I will draft two QB’s with the same bye week if needed and not think twice about it. If you follow number 10 you’ll be prepared to deal with something like that with bye weeks by week 5 when they start.
Number 10. The Draft doesn’t end after round 15! The waiver wire is something you have to be able to work during the season, especially early on to get a leg up in your league. Most leagues use a standard waiver wire system, and you have to pay attention to it. Some leagues like mine use FAAB where you have a budget for season and bid on free agents which makes the waiver wire even more important. The better you manage your waiver wire the better result you will have in the end. You need to be able to give up on a player you drafted who doesn’t look like they are going to return any consistent value and grab a guy who shows early potential whether because of an injury to someone or maybe a surprise to everyone. Puka Nacua was added to 90% of rosters after Week 4 of the season.
