Fantasy sports, whether it is in a season-long league with friends, or a daily fantasy sports team that will last only a day, is all the rage and if you have been playing for a while then you realize how addictive it can be. For the purposes of this discussion, we will talk about a few general strategies you can use in your season-long league to gain that extra advantage. 

Drafting With Your Eyes

Draft night is the best part of the entire season for all but one person in the league. If you’re not the eventual winner then this is the time when hope springs eternal and an undefeated season seems like more of a probability than a possibility. After four weeks you will likely have a much different view of your team but on draft night, it’s all lollipops and sunshine. 

Before you draft you will do what every good owner does. You will brush up on the historical data to see what the players at the various positions did last season. You will then see the top players show up on cheat sheets as you draft. You know how it goes, you’re on deck and you see the top-rated players in order and before you know it, you’re up and now you’re squirming in your chair frantically trying to remember which sleeper pick you had assigned to the ninth round but it’s not coming to you!

We feel your pain because it is has happened to us. Therefore, make your own list and forget about who your website is telling you to choose. Let your eyes do the drafting which means forming your own opinions and breaking your game plan out into positions that must be filled. In fantasy football, the running back position is pretty important because there are only a limited number of featured backs who pile up big points week after week. 

If you are in a PPR league then a guy like Christian McCaffrey is invaluable and impossible to get unless you have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. And if you are in a DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports) contest then you might do well to focus on stacks that will allow you to build a team around two or three players. As a matter of fact, there are sports service plays that will not only handicap the winners of NFL games but can also give you DFS advice.

The bottom line is to make your own ratings and build those ratings around the most important positions to draft and assign a round value on each pick. Never reach above where you have that player going because you won’t respect yourself in the morning. There is nothing worse than being the one who takes the supposedly best kicker four rounds before kickers normally go…which is in the very last round of the draft. Don’t be that guy!

Quality Running Backs Win Championships

We all know that having a stellar pass/catch combination like Patrick Mahomes to Tyreek Hill will get you mighty far in your league but having two quality running backs could even be more potent. You see, there’s a fickleness about getting points from even the best wide receivers because they are at the mercy of their quarterback to throw them. However, running backs always get the ball. Sure, the matchup will change from week to week with some run-stop units better than others, but you can be assured of points. 

Therefore, when drafting, let the others chase the cheese while you go get the meat and potatoes of a championship FFL club. Also, make sure you handcuff these tailbacks with their backups in case they get injured. It’s important to note that a backup will often also have success because of the offensive line they are running behind. Even the greatest running back in the world won’t get many points if there is no daylight being opened up for him. Those big boys up front have more to do with a running back’s success than you might know so make sure to handcuff those backups to the superstars you draft.

Don’t Drop – Make a Trade

There is nothing worse than dropping a player and having your fiercest rival pick him up via the waiver wire or as a free agent and watching him go off. What’s even more aggravating is if that player destroys you in a head-to-head regular-season game – or worse – a playoff game! Yikes!

Okay, so if you have an embarrassment of riches at one position and you need to make room at another position then don’t drop your player, trade him to a bad team. That’s right, keep him out of the hands of the owners with the really good teams because if you’re one of those owners then you don’t want the likes of Damien Harris coming back to bite you. 

If you are so stacked that a guy like Harris is your third back and you need to move him to make room for more pressing concerns then ship him to a weak sister in your league. He won’t come back to haunt you and that’s a good thing!