Fantasy Football Tips and Tricks

When I first started playing Fantasy Football in 2003, I had no knowledge about how to play the game. The only thing I knew was that the games were based on live stats the players you drafted earned during their actual games on the field.

I started the season with a dismal 0-6 record and by mid-season I found myself all alone in last place. Although things looked extremely bleak, I was very determined to win and by the end of the 2nd half of the season, I had gone on a 6-1 streak and became league champion defeating some of the top seeded teams decisively.

The key to my victory? Organization and some educated risk taking!

The first thing you need to do is bookmark the exact sites you will be using weekly to help set your starting roster. (I use only free sites) Spend a couple days on google and yahoo looking up quality webpages. There are many of them out there. Pay close attention to the dates of the news and cheatsheets because some sites do not update very often. Those sites that update at least weekly are worth a closer look.

Another great tip is avoiding a bookmark on the homepages of these sites you find. I prefer to bookmark pages within the website itself. This is very important since you want to be the first to pick up any prospects once the news is out that a particular player is a highly prized waiver wire selection. The idea is to beat your competition to the punch. On my firefox browser I have a folder right under the address bar with nothing but direct links to pages that offer the most regularly updated fantasy football cheatsheet sites and news. Bookmark several sites and do not rely on any single site to carry you through the season. The more information you get, the better you will be prepared.

Subscribe to NFL headlines, rumors, and waiver wire content via an RSS feed and/or email. This is a must for any serious Fantasy Football manager. Last minute changes in rosters due to injuries may cost you a win, so its vital to keep track of your current players and their status. Replacements may be necessary so you can score some valuable points, so get to know everything you can about injuries to the players you drafted or players your opponent may have lost which may give you an edge.

Survey your matchups. Some of the best teams are well balanced with quality players instead of star players. Having LaDainian Tomlinson always helps with your stats, but will not guarantee a victory. There may actually be times when you should sit some of your stars in favor of bench players who have a more favorable schedule. Do not be afraid to do this. I always spend some time looking at the opposing defense rank both pass and rush. You can find all these stats on the actual NFL homepage.

Don’t be afraid to drop a star player IF it will help you win! I’ve won close games by studying matchups and dropping big names for players who give me more consistency or who have an easier schedule at the end of the season. If you have a player such as Terrel Owens who’s last four games are against great pass defense teams, it might be time to drop him for a starting player who has a more favorable matchup against bottom tier pass defense teams. I’ve seen so many managers who keep star players because of their “STAR” status and end up choking in the end because the seasoning ending matchups do not favor their player(s).

Handcuff the backups! This is probably one of the most basic rules of fantasy football. If you get the opportunity to draft LaDainian Tomlinson and plan to use him as your “money” player for the season, be sure to draft his backup before an opposing manager does. Do not leave his backup on the waiver wire! You will regret it if Tomlinson goes down! Another manager may pick up the backup before you do which will leave you with a huge hole on your roster.

Buy Low. Sell High. This is the the golden rule during a trade. Be sure to review your schedules. If your franchise player has undesirable matchups for the remainder of the season, it might be time to say goodbye. You might get the opportunity to sell this player based on his current stats for possibly one or two players who have a more favorable schedule that can carry you through the playoffs.

Spend time browsing the waiver wire and looking at player rankings each week. There are always sleepers around who may help your team and other managers who forgot to handcuff their backups. When an star injury occurs, be ready to steal the backup player from the waiver and possibly use them on your roster or as trade bait to attain a player who could possibly help you in a position you are weak in. There is alway opportunity. You just have to be ready to pounce on it.

My final tip. Finalize your roster as late as possible to keep your opponent guessing. I normally jot down my starting roster but leave most of my team on the bench until tipoff time. The opposing manager can look at your roster and make adjustments accordingly during the course of the week, so I like to finalize my starters at the final moments. This also gives me the opportunity to re-check last minute roster changes. Sometimes roster moves are made just hours before tip off and you may have players on your starting team who actually have gotten benched.

I hope a least a couple of these tips help out all the fantasy football buffs out there. Best of luck everyone.