With the 2015 fantasy draft on the horizon, it’s time to talk strategy. Championships are won and lost during the draft and preparation goes along way to bringing one home. Scouring the internet for expert advice, crunching numbers, and mock drafting can go along way towards preparing for your draft but every one knows fantasy football is a fickle woman. One injury or bad draft pick and a season can come tumbling to an end. Don’t let that season be yours. Today we talk about risk management and how to have a good draft and a consistent season.
Step 5: Draft Using Tiers
Keep your cool
Step 5 is not about accessing how risky a player is, but reducing your risk of making rash decisions during the draft. You are on the clock and the player you were targeting gets snagged right before your pick. Do you panic? Where do you go from there?
Everybody has players that they are targeting and want to get, but every draft is different and your draft position does not always come when you want it. To avoid a dreaded last second gut pick you will need to do a bit of pre-draft preparation. Drafting by tiers is not a new concept but some people still don’t know about it. Rather than panicking and just grabbing the next best ADP player, break up each position into tiers of players that you see at a similar expected output.
The 1st tier is filled with players that you would be happy with as the #1 for that position.
The 2nd tier is filled with players that you could live with as your #2 for that position.
Tiering continues as you fit the rest of the players into groups that you predict will have similar output. Anytime you feel there is a drop off in skill level move on to the next tier until you have gone through your rankings. Color-coding your tiers can make reading the list during your draft easier.
Now that you have your tiers completed how do you use them in the draft? Tiering can help you determine when you should take players at different positions and whom an equivalent pick is if your favorite player gets sniped. Say you are drafting 8th in a 10-man league. There are two tier 1 running backs left and five tier 1 wide receivers. Knowing that you pick again in four turns you can grab a running back knowing there will be a #1 wide receiver when it comes back to your turn. Another example is if AJ Green is the last of your tier 1 receivers and he is snatched from your grasps. You can check your tiers and see that there are plenty of tier 2 receivers left, so you can look to grab a tier 1 player from a different position.
Tiers are one method of assuring you have a smooth draft, but not the only one. What is important is that you are able to keep a level head during your draft and do not let the clock get the best of you. So plan ahead with whatever works for you, take your risks at the right time and best of luck in the 2015 season.