Ok, you've done fairly well in the draft. You've made some early acquisitions from the free agent pool immediately following the draft. You've perhaps found someone to trade with and capitalized on some valuable extra players you had. Now what? How do you work your team throughout the season to help ensure a top spot in your league?
Here's some ideas:
Check Your Team Every Week Minimum
No, fantasy football doesn't take a ton of your time (especially if you've done your work in the draft), but you are going to have to make some contact and possibly make some adjustments to your team every week. What to do with your team comes in the points to follow, but this is just a remember to get into the mindset that you are NEVER going to be able to form a team and just leave it alone for the season and do well. Having established that mindset...Check Your League's Drop/Add Message Board
The first thing I do when I log on is check my league's message board to see what activity has taken place while you've been away. Who has been dropped by other teams in your league? At first thought, you may not think anyone would drop anyone good, but you'd be surprised at who suddenly becomes available. Everyone has a strategy and sometimes you have to let a decent player so to make room for another player you are trying to acquire. And, as they say, “one person's trash, is another person's treasure”.Pay Attention to Love/Hate Lists
Every league has some kind of “love/hate” list put out every week by the resident analyst who does his best to predict who might fare well in the coming week. You need to read these. Just one or two. And for goodness' sake DON'T PAY FOR THEM! There is plenty of free fantasy information and recommendations out there even if you have to leave your particular league for a minute to go check them out. Often I'll open another instance of Internet Explorer, go to coachbox.com or some similar site and then toggle back and forth with my league and check to see who is available based on the recommendations of the “experts”. Almost all of these sites have extra information you can pay for, but you don't really need it to be successful if you are smart with the info you do have. And please keep in mind that these “experts” are not prophets. But, their opinion should at least be considered in whatever decisions you make every week.Check the Preview of Your Current Match Up
Somewhere on your team's web page there should be a link that says “preview” or something like it that gives you an estimation of what your current match up looks like with your current opponent for the week. This is a valuable assessment of each position in your starting roster as it stands against the same position in the opposing teams roster. This page will let you know who is projected to win each position and will also project a final winner. Use this tool to help you determine who to play and when you are a bit “light” for a given position and need to go shopping for talent.Play the Match Ups
Many people have the mistaken notion that if they have a powerful player at a given position, that they can just play him week after week without fail. This is a poor strategy. It's not that your top-tier player won't do well week after week. It's just that for a given week you actually may actually be able to do better by playing a better match up with a more mediocre player. For example, looking at the season from the draft, Denver's Travis Henry is a much better back than Earnest Graham of Tampa Bay. But, if Denver is playing a tougher defensive team (such as the Bears) and Tampa Bay is playing a weaker defense (such as Buffalo or Detroit) then I have a decision to make. Should I play Travis Henry just because by definition he's a stronger back? To do so could mean the loss of some valuable fantasy points. You must pay attention to your match ups - not just your fantasy team with another, but your players' NFL teams against the NFL teams they are playing that week.Pay Attention to “Bye” Week
I can't emphasize this enough. Many guys get burned here because they don't pay close attention to when their players' bye weeks are. Each NFL team has a “bye” week when they don't play. I've got a little hint for you: Peyton Manning will get you “0” points on his bye week - every time. I don't know how many guys get caught with their proverbial “pants down” every week because they failed to pay attention to a player's bye week and substitute another player in. Which brings me to my final point...Develop a Strong Bench
This is important not only for bye week but throughout the season as well. Injuries will happen, top-tier players sometimes don't play “top-tier” football, every player is going to have a poor match up with an opposing team for a given week; there are number of reasons you are going to want to substitute so developing a strong bench is a necessity. Now, this doesn't have to happen within your first week. Get through your draft - do well there - and then begin aiming towards “beefing up” your bench. A pickup here, a pickup there, pay attention to your league's drop/add message board, etc. and soon you will begin to see your bench get stronger. Always try to have a strong backup quarterback and at least a couple of solid running back on your bench. This will help eliminate the hit from bye week for your starters and will keep you in the running in the event of injury.
I hope these tips help you play competitively in your fantasy football league. Fantasy Football is great fun and requires a minimal amount of time investment so long as you get ready for the draft. Work your team every week, play the match ups, pay attention to bye week, and build a strong bench and I can almost guarantee you will be a top competitor in your league.
And the best part - you never spent a dime.
