Julie + Julia = More Details on the Draft

I just saw the film Julie and Julia yesterday, and it has inspired me to start blogging more regularly - NFL season is almost here! If you haven't heard of the movie, it's about a woman who cooks and blogs her way through Julia Child's cookbook. I highly recommend it. Here's the trailer:



So now it's time to get serious about the draft. In my last post I glossed over how to order the positions in your picking, but here again is a general idea:

First two rounds: Two RBs
Next three rounds: WR, backup RB, and QB
Fourth round: Another WR
Fifth, sixth, seventh round: TE, another WR, Defense
Remaining rounds: Backup WR, QB, anything to fill your bench but usually not a backup kicker or defense - those are pretty easy to get later in the season if you need them

Note that this is a SUGGESTED approach - the emphasis is on the first four of five rounds, as those players are the most important to get for your lineup. They will score your team the most points in the season.

Now onto HOW to choose which RB over another, etc. Let's ease into this. Basically, you want to choose the highest-ranking position when it comes to your pick. So if you're in round two and you want an RB, you want to pick the RB available that is the most promising.

The best thing to do is to see - not only on Yahoo! Fantasy's pages, but also on other sites - the way that players have been ranked. Yahoo! might have one RB in a higher rank than another, where another site might have it switched. Rankings are based on past season's performance, what team the player is playing for this season, plus a bunch of other metrics thrown into an algorithm - and this algorithm changes according to source. (Some sources probably don't even know what an algorithm is.)

So what are good sources to use? I'll tell you what I like to start out with: USA Today's hard copy of the draft rankings. You can pick it up in any newspaper store or airport kiosk. Go get it. It looks like this:



(And yes, that is the handsome Mr. Tom Brady on the cover, so it should catch your eye on the newsstand to begin with.)

That's a good place to start. It's also online here.

Then, if you are using Yahoo!, go here to see how things stack up - the tab is Research - Player Ranker. Also try nfl.com - click on Fantasy and then Player Rankings.

While the #4 RB may be a matter of opinion, you can start reading up on the top players for each position. When it comes to your turn to pick, you can decide on which one truly is #4 by going with your gut, going with a team you like, or just randomly choosing. As you will see, while the research is important for the draft, luck is also a factor. The draft is important, but research and staying on top of player news during the season is a critical piece of the puzzle that is fantasy.

Next post: I will postulate on a few key positions and give you my thoughts for picks.