Your Fantasy Draft

Note: This is an abbreviated version of the 1st State of the League newsletter of the season, written by Dr. Ming for the Fantasy Football Institute. For the full article just enter your name and email and as a FREE GIFT we will also send you the first 5 chapters of Master Ming’s new book along with The 37 Secrets to Fantasy Mastery.

There are two main components to any individual’s fantasy draft: information and the analysis of that information. Most people only get the first part right and that is why they lose. There is nothing more important to fantasy mastery than information. People prepare for the draft by scouring news reports, reading blogs, fantasy magazines, watching ESPN, checking out the exhibition games. All of these sources of information are valid and need to be assimilated. However, it is in the process of analyzing this information where most people go wrong, especially in their fantasy draft.

Somebody else’s cheat sheet is not going to take into account how your specific league is constructed. It will not factor in the unique rules and settings that your league uses. Your league settings determine the scoring system and that dictates everything. As I go into detail in my book, no player has any inherent value apart from the scoring system your league adopts. Sure, L.T. is going to thrive under any system but things get much more dicey after the first couple rounds. You also need to understand your league’s roster set-up. This is another thing that the prognosticators are not factoring in when they give you their “picks”. How many quarterbacks do you utilize? Is there a FLEX? How many bench spots? All of these things matter much more than almost anyone realizes.

The main piece of information you should be analyzing though is the NFL schedule. Very few people do this. Contained in the schedule is every single matchup any potential player will encounter during the year. Notice, I did not say “likely to encounter”? It is predetermined, unchanging, written in stone. This is why it is so important to know the NFL schedule cold and to anticipate favorable matchups long before the season. With so many unknowns, the schedule is a constant. As Bob Dylan might put it, the schedule offers you “shelter from the storm.”

A final note on your demeanor during the draft… Whether it is done online or live, always seek out ways to psychologically manipulate your opponents. A big part of the hidden metagame at work is the element of psychological warfare. The draft is one of the best times to begin to put this to work. You want to get inside of people’s heads and manipulate them into making big mistakes. In The Art of Fantasy Football, I show you how to accomplish this goal.

Create your own strategy custom designed for your individual league by properly analyzing the information at your disposal. You will be light years ahead of everyone.