FF strategy changes for next year and on

[BeeR]

You can NEVER have too many RB's

[buddahj]

 

I'm gonna bug Henry Muto's house.

already done. you can have copies of the tapes if you want.

[Donutrun Jellies]

Seek out leagues with owners intoxicated with the "wr/wr" hysteria ...

[whomper]

Take young upside players over old former studs that are past their fantasy primes. While LT has proven serviceable lately I still should have taken CJ over him.

[LayLow]

Unless I have a top 4 pick, I am going WR in the first round. I will most likely go WR/WR in the first two rounds.

Yeah..that doesn't always work. see my Calvin Johnson and Greg Jennings team

 

 

I learned that what all the "experts" say going into the year is not the way you go. Going into the year everyone was about drafting from the top 8 WR's saying all the rest were lumped together...well they were incorrect. You still need a RB in the first/second round IMO

 

This years trend followers next year will have failure teams (in other words, don't base next year off what happened this year, trendwise, or you will have poopyty teams)

[jetsfan]

Calling jetsfan.

 

Of my leagues, the ones with top tier QBs are fairing the best. I grabbed Schaub 6th round in my leagues and it has paid HUGH dividends. I think next year, people will see that they need a top scoring QB to be successful. My personal thought is that there will be a lot of QBs gone in rnd 2.

[The Grey Pilgrim]

My strategy switched several years ago when the RBBC became so prevalent. It seemed preferable to having a stud WR or QB with your first couple of picks. You can't be wasting your first few picks chasiing possible good RB's that turn out to be low scoring RB's. Instead you need stud WR's and QB's that will be prolific scorers, and let your 4th, 5th or 6th rounds be used to take the same "type" of RBBC back, or risky RB that was basically available in the mid-1st round on.

 

Too many RB's after the first few are too risky to take with a first round pick. Or so it seems to me.

[BillyBalata]

Seek out leagues with owners intoxicated with the "wr/wr" hysteria ...

 

 

+1

 

While everyone in my wcoff draft was grabbing their wrs, I ended up with Michael Turner and Chris Johnson.

 

Wr/Wr might have been a good strategy for a year or two, but now everyone thinks they're a genius and going that route. Now you got 3-4 teams trying that strategy in the same draft and they're all trying to find those Kevin Smiths, Bensons, etc in the later rounds and there isn't going to be enough to go around.

[Duchess Jack]

I've learned that every years is different. Every year is a surpise. If it weren't, I'd be winning every league every year. There is nothing that I have learned this year that will be applicable next year. As such - I have learned to take every year on its individual merits and go largely by my gut. People will draft differently every year because the league changes every year (eg depth at TE) so any effort put into a stratagy will likely be effort lost after the second or third round or as soon as you really need that stratagy to kick in

[Dcat]

Strategy in drafting and managing teams has changed over the years, especially due to how teams are using players now and how offenses are being designed. You look at the running backs in the league and only a handful are the designated GUYS on their team (Peterson, CJ now, Jones-Drew, etc.). Wide receivers are being drafted higher now and people are gambling with taking chances on RB's later, sometimes coming up big with picks like Ricky this year and Beanie.

 

I know for me, I will give strong looks towards WR's in the first round, no matter my position. If I have a top pick, I'll take the stud RB's but I wouldn't mind drafting two WR's with a late pick back to back and again taking chances on the number of sleeper RB's out there now it seems.

 

Also, one thing I've always done in my local is draft quarterbacks late. It's really hurt me this year and I know I cannot afford to do that in this age of prolific passing teams in the NFL. I wanted Rodgers, couldn't get him, and then waited late and took Hasselbeck, who has been up and down and was cut from my team for a little, only to be picked up again.

 

What are strategy changes you will make next year for FF, if any? What have you noticed changing in the way we should draft/manage teams? What mistakes have you made that you know you can't afford to make next year?

 

I took Portis at the end of rd 12 and Reggie Wayne early in rd 2. Wayne was worth it... Portis was a waste.

[Do Work Son]

Take young upside players over old former studs that are past their fantasy primes. While LT has proven serviceable lately I still should have taken CJ over him.

 

Agreed...I will NOT pass on Chris Johnson next year...I didnt target him in any league

 

Im sorry CJ...im a believer now!

[Goopster24]

Chris Johnson was such a great pick because even when the Titans were sucking, he put up crazy numbers. Same with MJD.

 

WR/WR seems more prevalent than ever. QB's need to be drafted higher for sure in this day and age. I drafted so many RB's thinking a couple would pan out huge. Of them, Beanie and Ricky did, with me trading Beanie early and Ricky having so much value now because of Ronnie's injury.

[Gopher]

Overall, I'm having a pretty good year so far, so I probably won't aim to change a lot, in terms of strategy. A lot of the things that people are talking about are cyclical, and many of them also depend on league formats/scoring, etc. I don't think you can make a blanket statement like "I will no longer draft a RB in the first round" without taking a lot of those things into account.

 

The one thing that I WOULD probably do differently is try to draft a decent backup TE in the leagues where I drafted Daniels. I had him in 3-4 leagues this year... I drafted Finley as a backup in two of them. Since he's been banged up as well, I've really been scouring the waiver wire for scraps at TE the past couple of weeks. In the other league, I drafted Fasano as Daniels' backup... Needless to say, I've been starting guys like Dreesen, Fells, and Donald Lee for the past month. What was once one of the top 2-3 teams in that league, has now become a borderline playoff team, due in large part to the significant dropoff in TE scoring.

 

Not sure how much differently I could have handled things, though... I thought I drafted a decent backup in every league that I took Daniels. I guess what I'm saying is, if you're in a league where TE scoring is premium (a couple of the leagues I've mentioned give more reception/yardage points to TE than they do to RB/WR), you really have to treat the TE position like a QB in high-QB-scoring leagues... Try to put yourself in the position where you have two good players at that position.

[Goopster24]

I've just always thought in my local I could get away with drafting a QB late. Last two years it has killed me. Holding on to a playoff spot with Hasselbeck as my QB, yuck.

[Ursa Majoris]

Quit.

This.

[BillyBalata]

I will never draft a player that relies on Matt Hasslesuck to get him the ball again.

 

Same goes for Donnie Dumbass Mcnabb.

[Goopster24]

I will never draft a player that relies on Matt Hasslesuck to get him the ball again.

 

Same goes for Donnie Dumbass Mcnabb.

 

Seattle sucks, sad to see as I thought they'd be decent this year.

 

Eagles offense has been inconsistent.

[LayLow]

I've learned that every years is different. Every year is a surpise. If it weren't, I'd be winning every league every year. There is nothing that I have learned this year that will be applicable next year. As such - I have learned to take every year on its individual merits and go largely by my gut. People will draft differently every year because the league changes every year (eg depth at TE) so any effort put into a stratagy will likely be effort lost after the second or third round or as soon as you really need that stratagy to kick in

ding-ding-ding

[BadgerBacker]

With more RBBC, going RB/RB wastes a high pick in many formats. There are still RB's that are must haves in the first round, but if they are off the board, you can afford to be patient and not burn a first round pick on a mediocre RB. That was not the case a few years ago.

 

While the drop off after the first 5-6 RB's has evened out, it seems that after the top 4-5 QB's, the drop has become steeper, heightening the value of the top tier QB's. This is especially the case if you are in a league, albeit not too common, where the QB is flex eligible.

 

I don't have a changed view about WR. Calvin Johnson was a 3rd round pick for me and that hasn't worked out yet. Rice as a 10th round pick has worked out just fine.

[Egret]

In my only redraft (not counting 32 homers), I took Brady w/ the 8th pick. I wanted to get Moss to follow up, but took Fitz. Next round I picked Colston. That didn't work, but the other Steve Smith panned out. I only have three WRs on the roster. That's all I've needed all year. My RBs have been week, but coming on. Willie Parker didn't do much for me, but Mendenhall has. I've been platooning Reggie Bush, Ryan Grant, and JStewart as my #2. Oh yeah, I took a TE early too: Antonio Gates.

 

My team hit a three game losing streak, but beyond that I have been a juggernaut. Having elite WRs has freed up space on my roster to pick up the riskier RBs who can often payoff later in the season. Because I didn't need the roster space for WRs, I was able to hold onto JStewart and Mendenhall to wait for them to start scoring.

[SeductiveNun]

I'm thinking I'll go TE/TE next year, follow that up with K and Def, and then fill out my roster with a slew of RBBC hacks and a plethora of #2 and #3 WRs, waiting until about the 12th round or beyond before grabbing a QB.

 

Hey, it has to work better than whatever I did this season.

[Ursa Majoris]

I'm thinking I'll go TE/TE next year, follow that up with K and Def, and then fill out my roster with a slew of RBBC hacks and a plethora of #2 and #3 WRs, waiting until about the 12th round or beyond before grabbing a QB.

 

Hey, it has to work better than whatever I did this season.

You lie. At least, you do in the league we both have teams in.

[SeductiveNun]

You lie. At least, you do in the league we both have teams in.

Well OK. With the exception of the UFF-DA league, that strategy will apply to my drafts in my others next season.

 

Although I did wait a long time to draft a QB in our league this year, as exemplified by my Matt Hasselbeck as my #1 QB situation.

[FishFreak]

I really wouldn't change much. The goal is to always draft the best players for the best value. The real skill in FF drafting is to know who to draft and when to draft them. I'm much more concerned about the NFL actually being stupid enough to expand the season to 18 games. It's already hard enough for guys to play for 16 games. The 18 game season would have a huge effect on FF. I think it would be for the worse.