Fantasy football is a point-based weekly competition where you pick the best players to be on your team and compete against friends. Competitors gain points from NFL players based on their performance stats each week of the NFL season. The end goal is to win a championship in week 18 for bragging rights. Fantasy football can be played in a variety of ways, but the most traditional way is the draft to acquire players. There are lots of different apps that people use for Fantasy Football such as ESPN, Yahoo, NFL, Sleeper, and CBS, that all follow similar formats.
To begin your fantasy draft, communicate to decide a date and time your league’s draft will start. Once you enter the draft you will be assigned a number indicating your position in the draft. When making a player selection you will be timed; many find this nerve wracking. Don’t worry, The Raider Review has tips and tricks that will help you.
To start thinking about how to approach this season, you have to review the previous season and see the trends. The Raider Review interviewed senior James Norman, remarking on his season where he placed top 4. Year one rookies made the difference for most users, being a strong offensive class with tight end Brock Bowers, wide receiver Malik Nabers, quarterback Jayden Daniels, and running back Bucky Irving. It is good to take into consideration most of these rookies heading into year two who have put up historic seasons and show a good understanding of the game.
The biggest concern has always been injuries; some stars will be returning from injury such as running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receivers Zay Flowers and Tyreek Hill. This will raise questions on health and place a few players behind after others have caught up and have had better seasons. McCaffrey will be a question mark because players like Saquan Barkley and Derrick Henry have surpassed some of his numbers while he has been injured.
An important trend from last season was wide receiver headaches, with many injuries and bad performances compiling into what felt like a crisis. Users who drafted players such as Calvin Ridley, Deandre Hopkins, and others struggled last season. Many of the young receivers like Ladd McConkey, Brian Thomas jr, and Xavier Worthy proved to be very trustworthy for teams that drafted them later. Norman stressed the importance of wide receiver AJ Brown having a “big impact. During his injury I lost a lot of games.” Fantasy football players were left needing to find options for struggling positions, which was easier said than done.
Your first 3-4 picks usually want to be a receiver or running-back. Quarterbacks, defenses, and kickers will typically be drafted in later rounds as they can be quickly replaced. You can expect to see players like wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and CeeDee Lamb; running backs Saquan Barkley and Bijan Robinson being taken in the first round. Remember that you are drafting for individual performances rather than the team performance. You could consider the system if the team runs the ball a lot, or consider quarterback play. Remember to check on your team while drafting; you want to be balanced in most positions. You have to anticipate “who to draft and which pick to use on them,” Norman commented.
With a clear view of the draft and players, consider the waivers, flex, bye weeks, and receivers. The waivers are a page that allows you to pick up an undrafted player for a player on your team. The worst team in the league gets the priority on waivers, if not then it will go to the first player, based on league settings. It is open year round after the draft, helping add undrafted players on the rise. Its important to “keep watch of players,” Norman stressed. The flex position allows you to play any player that is a running back, tight end, or receiver. Bye weeks are when the team is off for 1 week. The playoffs are typically between the top half of your league standings and are played in the last 2-4 weeks. You can gather with friends and decide the winner’s prize, but the most entertaining is seeing the loser’s punishment. Now it is up to you to decide and organize the team that will help you get to the championship!
