Fantasy Football 101 - Starting Out On The Right Foot

This is an article from 2007, which is very deserving of a re-read, or if you haven't seen it before, a first look.

This is a 3-part series, so be sure to follow the link at the bottom of the page to get to each part.

I really enjoyed reading the 15 rules. Great stuff and certainly a must read for anyone new to fantasy football.

One thing I noticed right away though was just how unpredictable this fantasy stuff really is. We all sit around all offseason and get our rankings hammered out. We go back and forth over who is the more valuable RB/WR/TE/QB and we all think we have it figured out. Truth be told, sometimes we couldn't be more wrong.

This is an piece from Rule #4 on positional runs. It includes something that I found interesting. Mind you this is from 2007!!

"The TE run may or may not happen depending on your league, but it usually does. I don’t know when it will start, but as soon as someone takes the second TE, you can bet a huge group will follow shortly thereafter. It’s not a bad idea to try to get someone like Todd Heap, Jeremy Shockey, or Tony Gonzalez. And a few will follow that up with Kellen Winslow and Alge Crumpler – still not bad. But pretty quick, someone’s going to try to convince themselves into pretending like Chris Cooley, LJ Smith, or Jason Witten are even close in value to that list of guys and take them a round too early. People, come on – half the league has a TE now, just wait and get one a bit later!"


Even someone who really knows their shit like Bomb can't get it right everytime. Hell, a fantasy genius can sometimes even be WAY off. This would be one of those cases. Witten is listed here as a reach guy from last years draft and he ended up being #1. Even Chris Cooley is shown as a reach and he too had a good year.

I think this really shows us just how futile our off season efforts can be sometimes. This fantasy football stuff can be completely unpredicatble no matter how closely you follow it.

That being said, everyone of us probably has a sleeper guy and a bust guy in mind right now. Only a few of us are actually going to be right.

Always remember this. Preseason rankings and postseason rankings are going to look NOTHING alike. Form your own preseason rankings and mix it up. Go with your gut and get the guys you feel good about. If you're wrong, then so be it, at least you were true to your research. If you're right however, you can enjoy the sweet taste of victory and savor the new found gloating power you have over your league.

well said ER. and haha, oh the joys of having every football thought of yours posted on a website forever. nope, i didnt see witten's season coming last year, not even at all.

__________________
Hired Guns: Wheaton Thunder
SO CFFL: Royale with Cheese
CFA: Wheaton Thunder