Fantasy Football 2016: Mock Draft Strategy, Cheat Sheet Info for Preseason Prep

You’ve heard it before: “You can’t win your fantasy football league at the draft, but you sure can lose it.”

For the most part, that expression is true. So, how do you avoid botching the biggest night of fantasy season?

It’s simple: Prepared drafters are the best drafters. A large part of walking into the war room ready involves adopting a strategy.

Let’s touch on two different ones below.

   

Cheat Sheet

Check out FantasyPros.com, which compiles expert consensus rankings (ECR) from sites like ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, Yahoo, Pro Football Focus, Draft Sharks, Rotoworld and more.

Find a printable cheat sheet consisting of those rankings here.

   

Draft Strategy

Zero RB

The Zero RB strategy, which has grown in popularity in recent years, is self-explanatory: You don’t take running backs early.

Seriously, that’s all it is. The approach is to load up on wide receivers while keeping an eye on tight ends and quarterbacks.

Sure, it seems weird on the surface. After all, having a week-to-week stud tailback slotted into your lineup gives you a significant advantage.

The catch: League-winning backs aren’t often first-round picks.

Here’s Joe Holka from 4for4.com:

Devonta Freeman wasn’t even the first back drafted from Atlanta last year. Instead, Freeman was an 11th- or 12th-round pick that ended up being fantasy’s number-one player in 2015. Freeman was a lottery ticket at best, but one that many Zero RB drafters fell into after loading up at WR early.

This is the kind of thing that will help you win your league.

Another tidbit from Holka: Based on last year’s average draft position (ADP), Adrian Peterson was the only point-per-reception (PPR) running back drafted in the top 10 who finished in the top 10 at the position.

Look at it this way. If you have the third overall pick in a 10-team league, would you rather have a combination of Todd Gurley (RB1)/Brandon Marshall (WR9)/Mark Ingram (RB11) or Julio Jones (WR3)/Jordy Nelson (WR8)/Mike Evans (WR11)?

Both are strong starts, of course. But the argument could be made that the second trio is much safer.

If Team 2 snags a later-round committee back like Duke Johnson, T.J. Yeldon or DeAndre Washington who emerges as …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com