New to Fantasy Football this year?

Johnny_Fontane · 07-08-2012 2:56pm #1

I only started playing fantasy NFL last year and I think it might be a good idea to open a thread for those who are playing for the first time.

I made some horrendous mistakes (as we all did) and didnt really know what I was doing (i.e. picking vick, hightower, cam newton in 12th round, then trading him etc...)

A couple of tips to those that are new:

Boards.ie NFL league scoring is made up of:
1 x QB
2 x RB
3 x WR (this is a little odd - generally its two, so keep that in mind!)
1 x TE
1 x Kicker
1 x Defense
5 x subs/bench

The problem is though, that great RB's are in limited supply, and get injured all the time, the great QB's are also in short supply, and get picked in round 1 and suddenly in the draft, you have 90 seconds to pick someone and your brain is fried.:D

I made some disastrous decisions by paying attention to the pre season games and also trusting mike shanahan, but also being savaged by injuries and trading dreadfully (newton for benson anyone?)

But looking back at the points scoring system, its imperative that you have a decent RB.......there are many strategies in this game, but most are beyond the average first timer, so I'd stick with the a decent RB

I would definitely participate in mock drafts before the main event. these give you a really good feel for how it all works, time limits etc and if your computer has flash.

The other thing that kind of flummoxed me initially was the trading wire. Its really simple the way it works, and you can really improve your team. But you need to be aware of when the cut off times are etc...The first trades come pretty much straight after the draft and it can be a great time to pick up those players that havent been claimed....

Other than that, be mindful that some people on boards.ie have been playing for years and take it quite seriously, are opinionated and are very useful when looking for tips. Its the best craic ever, this fantasy football, so get stuck in and get involved!

poldebruin · 07-08-2012 11:55pm

My pearls of wisdom - from the reigning 10th place in division 4.

Don't draft a kicker - pick one up for free afterwards (nor a defense imo)

Look to "handcuff" your no. 1 running back. This means picking his much undervalued understudy waay later in the draft. If your man goes down, you now have a starting rb for the price of a very low draft pick.

smackbunnybaby · 08-08-2012 11:27am

I'd like to go against the grain here and share some of my experiences and observations....

1. A good defence and kicker gave me 30 points near on EVERY week last year and I got promoted...

2. My RBs sometimes got me about 10 points between them some weeks. They go down injured all the time and concussed regularly. Obviosuly your QB can get concussed or WR but hardly at the level RBs do...

3. Elite QBs are the most precious commodity in the game imo, i.e Drew Brees.

I think this just proves how much luck is involved in F. NFL. Feel free to take this apart guys

JaMarcus Hustle · 08-08-2012 2:08pm

My best advise would be - don't be cocky. Despite how much you think you know, your surefire sleeper is anything but surefire. I suffered horrendously from it last year. I was full of "No point drafting a big QB early on, because Sam Bradford is gonna have a breakout year and I can get him in the 7th/8th round." Look how that worked out.

Just pick someone who has a good track record of getting fantasy points. Leave your sleepers until the late rounds and preferably as bench filler. Then if they do well, stick them in your starting lineup and trade your original starter.

Hipster kitty never wins fantasy football. Blatantly obvious kitty does.

Johnny_Fontane · 08-08-2012 3:13pm

JaMarcus Hustle wrote: »

Hipster kitty never wins fantasy football. Blatantly obvious kitty does.

I think thats sage advice, I choose some players with question marks over their head (either hadnt played the season before or had broken out maybe 1/3 the season before) and it backfires.

so before you sign up Andrew Luck....have a little think about who else might be around....

JaMarcus Hustle · 08-08-2012 6:35pm

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

I think thats sage advice, I choose some players with question marks over their head (either hadnt played the season before or had broken out maybe 1/3 the season before) and it backfires.

so before you sign up Andrew Luck....have a little think about who else might be around....

I'm thanking that just for the common use of the word sage. Very nice.

barbarians · 08-08-2012 8:50pm

My advice as a rookie of Fantasy Football:

1) As the title says, autopick is a disaster. I couldn't make the Boards Division 4 draft last year so foolishly let autopick decide my fantasy football future. in simple words it's fúcking horrendous. Although autopick did draft gems like Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson and Jimmy Graham (the Graham pick was pure luck I'd say though) it also drafted me no less than THREE defenses and drafted Mark Sanchez who was on the same bye week as Rodgers thus rendering more useless than he already was last year. I had had some terrible running backs can't remember who though. (Ryan Grant was one actually :rolleyes:)

In short don't use autopick. If you can't make the live draft use this function so that autopick will pick the position you want in each round. At least then you know you will be getting decent players in the right positions and your team will have some structure.

2) Don't take your first season of Fantasy Football too seriously. Obviously you want to compete and many people will take it very seriously but you should look at things in the long term. I knew nothing about American Football this time last year except for a handful of players and the basic rules. I went into Fantasy Football as a complete novice but now I feel very confident that I can win promotion this year. So instead of wanting immediate success you should aim to build a solid foundation of knowledge of American Football and Fantasy Football and take your second season of Fantasy Football by storm

HigginsJ · 08-08-2012 10:09pm

People talk about handcuffing your running back which is a good suggestion.

I would suggest doing your homework on depth charts of teams with injury prone WR's. For instance drafting the 3rd/4th choice WR for Giants/Texans could pay off considering Dre and Nicks likely to miss a bit of time.

If you get the chance to draft an elite RB don't pass. The drop off from Foster/Rice/McCoy to guys in time share set ups at RB is alot greater than the drop off from Brees/Rodgers/Brady to the next set of QB's.

I would say do your home work and try get a few different sites for updates and hints and tips.

CoachTO · 08-08-2012 10:18pm

If you can't get one of the top gunslingers find the next best QB and then find good balance across the board. Make sure you take good back early also dont wait too late especially if you dont have a Top QB. Finding good balance and doing your homework is one of the best ways. Some of the league I have won in the past were based on good balance across the board.

Ultimately find your own system on how to play. I play in many league and have for many years and some advice given over the years is not always the best advice. Remember many folk have their own systems and their opinion on you should have might not suit how you have built your team or plan to build.

Knowledge is power. Read every fantasy site. Every Injury report, Every camp report, every game preview and reviews of previous weeks games. Plenty of websites out there that will give you excellent break downs also.

Johnny_Fontane · 13-08-2012 10:10am

barbarians wrote: »

My advice as a rookie of Fantasy Football:

1) As the title says, autopick is a disaster.

Interesting, I think two of the top four in division 5 last year used autopick and monstered the league.

shows what rookies know!

barbarians · 13-08-2012 10:22am

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

Interesting, I think two of the top four in division 5 last year used autopick and monstered the league.

shows what rookies know!

Huh, shows how hit and miss autopick can be. I used it last year and it was terrible but I managed to finish 7th in Division 4.

Still I would prefer my chances of using autopick to select certain positions in certain rounds than letting it randomly select players.

slowharry · 13-08-2012 12:38pm

My bit of advice try not to take it too seriously its a bit of fun.

get involved in the discussions on boards it adds to the enjoyment

don't make any roster moves on your phone when hungover (this can lead to you dropping Arian Foster)

mikemac1 · 13-08-2012 2:03pm

Find out who the rookies are and swindle them in trades

If you are the rookie mind you don't get swindled! :eek:

smackbunnybaby · 13-08-2012 3:15pm

slowharry wrote: »

don't make any roster moves on your phone when hungover (this can lead to you dropping Arian Foster)

haha!
Remember newbies, drop means you lose the player..he doesn't drop to your bench....

Prefab Sprouter · 13-08-2012 4:25pm

Fantasy Football is not something you log into once a week to set your team. you need to be mindful of injury reports and keep track of players promoted to starting lineups etc. the waiver wire is your friend. You may find that the team you drafted and the team you finished with look very different.

When drafting bear this in mind, Defenses are notoriously unreliable, they can get you 30 points one week, then nothing for two or three weeks. You may strike it lucky but its more likely you have wasted a high draft pick on a risky strategy. Dont overreach, even if it is the Raiders Defense (JOKING!!)

Chardee MacDennis · 13-08-2012 4:54pm

ESPN have started a new podcast for Fantasy Football newbies: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8253100

New to Fantasy Football this year?

Comments