Beginner's Tips

If you’ve never played fantasy football before- you’re probably not sure where to start. And even if you have maybe you’ll learn a thing or two. We never stop learning. Here are some tips that I’ve learned over the years that should help. Special thanks to veteran player and fellow fantasy analyst, Pat Fitzmaurice, for contributing with a tip on trading, at the end of this article. Check out the video below to see what happens to me, Mark Ringo, when I give out my tips to fellow gambling degenerate, “Cheeseburger”, on who I like this year, haha!

1. Know the scoring system. It sounds stupid, but a lot of fantasy football owners, even veteran owners, make the mistake of not studying their league’s scoring system. This is the first thing you should do when joining a league. Go over it with a fine tooth comb. One league can be a lot different than another. For example, is your league a PPR league or a standard league? PPR is short for point per reception. In that format a WR or RB who gets a lot of receptions is more valuable than in a standard league. Are passing TDs worth 6 pts or 4 pts? If they’re only worth 4 pts QBs who get rushing yards are a lot more valuable. QBs like Lamar Jackson and Cam Newton are mobile QBs who fit this criteria. Remember though the more mobile they are, the higher the chance that they will get injured. It’s good to have a decent backup. Are interceptions -1 pts or -4 pts? If it’s -1 pt a QB like Jameis Winston is more valuable since he tends to throw a lot of interceptions. If it’s -4 pts QBs who excel with their accuracy like Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady are more important. These subtle rule changes will make a big difference on who you should consider drafting. Other factors such as: how many players are in the starting lineup and how many players are on your roster will affect your strategy and who you should draft.

2. Do a few mock drafts When I started playing back in 1991, there wasn’t an internet. So the week before the draft I would take out a pen and a piece of paper and take an educational guess of how I thought the draft would play out. I would draft for every team 1-12, including myself obviously. Note- we had 12 teams in our league. I would do this for 5 rounds according to my rankings to get an idea of which players would be available on a worst case scenario- meaning the guys I liked wouldn’t fall to me- what would I do? Who would i pick? You don’t want to be caught with your pants down and unprepared when the pressure is on and you’re on the clock. Fortunately, it rarely turned out that way, but it’s a good exercise to prepare yourself for when you’re on the clock. For example, if I’m team 11 and team 12 has already picked a QB, I know the odds of him taking another QB early is unlikely. If I’m between two players a RB and a QB, I’ll take a RB and hope the QB I like comes back to me, even if I like the QB more. Back then, I didn’t know which draft slot I’d be picking from until draft night. So I would practice drafting from different draft slots. One night I’d practice from the 1st or 2nd slot, another night it would be a late pick like 11th or 12th, then another night it would be in the middle like 6th or 7th. By doing that I was prepared no matter which slot I drew. If everyone went RB heavy with their early picks, I was prepared to take a QB or WR. Those practice drafts will help you when the real thing comes. While mock drafts are popular on the internet- I wouldn’t read too much into those. People rarely show their cards then. It’s better to prepare the old fashioned way like I did when I first started. I still use that same method today. This way you’ll be ready no matter what surprises the draft throws at you.

3. If possible- look at last year’s draft board. I always see if I can look at last year’s draft. Sometime’s it’s possible, other times it’s not. If it is, take advantage of it. You can gain valuable information on there. Sometimes owners develop tendencies or patterns. Some guys always wait on QBs, while others always take one early. Did they take RBs early? Who did the winning team take? Did he hit on some major sleepers late? How did he win? If he waited and took his QB late maybe that’s a strategy I want to consider using? Did he have the most points scored for the year or did he get lucky against a better team who had an off week in the playoffs? Did some owners draft a lot of hometown players? For example, a Saints fan taking Drew Brees earlier than normal? This could tell me that if I like a Saints player I might have to reach to get him otherwise I risk losing him to the crazy Saints fan who doesn’t use ADP (average draft position data.) Another trick I do is to count the number of players chosen at each position after each round. For example, after the first round there were 1 QB 6 RBs 5 WRs and 0 TE taken. After the second round there were 3 QBs 11 RBs 8 WRs and 2 TEs. I’ll continue to do this throughout last year’s draft. Then I’ll use this data as a template and plug my rankings into it to see who might be available at various points of this years draft. It’s not exact, but provides a good blueprint from which I can get an idea of when some of the positional runs might happen and when I should pull the trigger on say my 20th ranked RB or 25th ranked WR. I did this in the Scott Fish Bowl last year and it helped me prepare even though it was my first year in the league.

4. Look at last year’s stats- but don’t use them as the gospel This is kind of a controversial topic. A lot of fantasy analysts are heavy into analytics. They use all sorts of advanced statistics, like Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane, to forecast who’s going to do well & who will do poorly. That’s not me. And while I think everyone needs to use some level of stats to get a general idea of how players will do (I like Fantasy Football Index Magazine it shows players stats by game) - that’s where I draw the line. There are just too many variables that affect a player’s performance year in and year out. Changes in their team’s offensive line, injuries, players leaving via free agency, trades, draft picks, coaching changes, etc. All of these factors, not only by their team but also by their opponent’s team, affect a player’s performance. Heck, even the weather can be drastically different from year to year when trying to predict future performance. Going that much into analytics is madness in my opinion, but some analysts swear by it. The truth is no one knows. We all have our hits and misses. Anyone who says they do know is lying. You’ll have to find your own system for analyzing players. One that you believe in. I’ve done this for over 28 years and I’ve done pretty well at it. I believe in my process. I believe in the old adage- if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

5. Research the latest news and ADP data. When the off-season comes it’s just like when it was summer break for me with school. My brain would turn to mush and I’d forget a lot of stuff I learned. The same thing happens with football with regards to keeping up with all of the players & coaches switching teams. At a minimum, I’d suggest you go to https://www.rotoworld.com/ and search for players to see if there are any injuries before you draft anyone. I highly recommend you do more than that though. I like researching over each team’s free agent moves, their draft picks, have they changed coaches, watching videos of rookies on YouTube to see if they pass the eye test, etc. All of those factors affect my rankings. Another factor many people use is checking the current ADP data. ADP stands for Average Draft Position. If your draft is online- many times this is skewed by the rankings provided by the site hosting the draft. For example, Yahoo will put players into their default rankings- naturally people will use that list, especially when on the clock, and pick someone. However, if your draft is on ESPN, their rankings might be slightly different which will cause some players on ESPN being drafted earlier or later than ones on Yahoo. If your draft is an in-person draft at someone’s home or a restaurant then you can try to combine them or go to a site that averages several different sites’ ADP data. Just google Fantasy Football ADP and several sites should come up. Then I start combing through the rounds. I’m looking at the players. Who jumps out at me. Where are the values at? The players that when I see them I say to myself- I can’t believe this guy is still available in round 3, round 7, round 12, etc. I’ll do that all the way down the draft. Now, it’s time to develop a strategy.

6. Develop a strategy, but be prepared to change it on the fly- After I’ve done my research and done my rankings it’s time to develop a strategy. If I’m drafting early- the odds are I’m probably going for an elite RB, not always, but most times that’s been a successful strategy. If I’m picking 4th or later then it depends. I might go for an elite WR. Randy Moss won me a lot of games back in the 90’s and early 2000’s as a 1st round pick, and that was before it was popular to draft WRs early. Whatever strategy you decide to go with it’s important to be able to break from it at a moment’s notice if the situation changes. For example, if I’m picking 12th and decide before the draft my strategy is to take a RB and a WR, but somehow two elite RBs are there (like Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley), then the heck with my strategy I’m taking the best available players on my board. I’ll get my QB, WRs, and TEs later. Throughout the draft, you always have to weigh the need to fill a position vs taking the best player available. Many times owners freak out if they don’t fill out their starting lineup or haven’t addressed a position yet. I’ve seen this even from veteran fantasy analysts in The Scott Fish Bowl. It causes them to reach for a lesser player and pass up a better one. It’s a balancing act and an art form. In addition, drafting at the turns provides another level of difficulty because (in a twelve-team league) you have to forecast twenty-two picks in advance. That’s not easy to do. The more practice you get, the better your drafting will be.

7. Drafting tips- early rounds you should error on safety…. in the middle and later rounds you should go for upside. The old adage you can’t win a draft in the first or second round, but you sure as heck can lose it is definitely true. For example, in 2018 LeVeon Bell was one of the most valuable players in fantasy football. He was a consensus top-two pick when he was with the Steelers. However, he was holding out that summer. Many owners thought he was bluffing and just wanted to avoid training camp. They assumed he would eventually sign and report to Pittsburgh. They ignored the risk and drafted him anyway. Bell sat out the entire year and single-handedly crushed many of their chances. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, their title chances were over! On the flip side, many of those same owners passed on Bell’s backup, James Conner, that year. In an analyst draft, Conner went in the 14th round. Even the analyst who drafted Bell passed on Conner! That was a fatal fantasy mistake. Conner ended up being one of the sleepers of the year and changed the balance of power in the league. All because one owner had the smarts to draft for upside. His thinking was if Bell didn’t sign or got hurt his team would be golden. He would be getting a RB on a good offense for a song. And so he did- naturally his team did very well that year. All because he took a home run swing with a late-round pick. In the early rounds, you should err on the side of safety. Avoid guys with holdouts or injury concerns. In the middle and late rounds, you should switch gears and go for upside. If you miss, so what? It’s a middle or late-round pick. But if you hit, it could be a game-changer.

8. Go get your players, go with your gut, and have fun. I love fantasy football. I love reading about it and talking about it with my friends and other analysts. I respect everyone’s opinion, even if it differs from my own. Just remember at the end of the day- it’s your team. You’re the GM. That’s what makes fantasy football fun. You make all the decisions on what strategy to use, who to draft, whether to accept or reject a trade, etc. If there’s a player you really believe in, obviously wait as long as you can, but if you’re not sure if he’ll make it back to you, go draft him. After all, it only takes one owner to screw up your plan by taking him. There’s no guarantee that the owner will follow the ADP data or be willing to trade him. If I or some other analyst doesn’t like him or thinks he should get drafted later so what? Remember ADP is only a point in time- players’ values change as the season progresses. Back in the late 90’s every time I drafted Randy Moss in the first round some of the other owners in that league would burst out laughing. That was back in the heyday of The Stud RB Theory which believed steadfastly that the only way to build a championship team was to draft RBs early and often. I didn’t care. I believed that Moss was a special talent and would score a bunch of TDs so I said screw it, I’m taking him. They weren’t laughing four months later when the playoffs came around. Those who laughed at me were quiet after my team thoroughly kicked their butt all year haha! It made the championship that much sweeter because I went with my gut and not the consensus line of thinking! Remember, he who laughs last laughs best. - Mark Ringo Editor-In-Chief Sleepers and Busts

9. Trading Successful trading isn’t about trying to “win” every trade. Strive to put together mutually satisfying trades that benefit both teams. Making lopsided offers is foolish – it wastes time and damages your reputation. Imagine yourself as the owner you’re trying to trade with. What does that owner need, and what would they be willing to give up for it? Before making an offer to another owner, ask yourself if you would accept that offer. If you can’t honestly say “yes,” start over. Pat Fitzmaurice @Fitz_FF Host of the Fitz on Fantasy podcast. Contributor to http://TheFootballGirl.com.