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It all comes down to this. All of your preseason prep, arduous film study, hours of podcasts you’ve consumed — it’s all leads to this moment.
Your 2019 fantasy football draft.
More and more drafters will make their picks in the coming weekends. Don’t worry, we’re here to help you sprint across the finish line. We’ve asked our writers for their best fantasy football draft advice to help you start your season off strong.
Complete fantasy football mock drafts with our free simulator 
What is your best advice for those preparing for a fantasy football draft?
Be Flexible
As much as I prepare for any type of draft, I go in knowing that my initial plan will always deviate. Slow drafts can last a long time with players getting suspended, reinstated, some getting hurt, some praised by the fantasy football community when the draft started, only to find out mid-way through the draft that they are no longer a coach’s favorite to start. Unlike others, I do not have a true draft strategy but always try to obtain balance in all facets. I rarely go zero RB or zero WR. I tend to pick more running backs initially because that pool tends to dry up quickly and there is often more wide receiver value later on. However, more often than not, I deviate from my initial plan as the draft progresses. It is good to stick to a basic plan, but due to the nine, 11, or 13 others in your draft, you will be forced to change. It is a little bit like life in that way. Be flexible, be patient, and try to get the guys that appeal to you whether or not they are the next man up according to the ADP. The problem with ADP is it fluctuates from platform to platform and it is an easy and lazy way to follow. While others are drafting ahead or behind you, constantly comb the list, take notes and if you can, try to envision a chess game and have your next two to six moves planned ahead, whether that be positional, specific guys you want, or a more general grouping. Consensus might have Saquon Barkley ahead of Joe Mixon, but ultimately we don’t know the outcome. That’s why we play and love the art of prognostication.
– Marc Mathyk (@masterjune70)
Utilize Position Tiers
It’s one of the most critical aspects of fantasy football to adapt to your draft and not stick to a rigid set of rankings or overall tiers. For example, it might seem like good value to get Travis Kelce at 2.09 this year, and it probably is. However, if George Kittle and Zach Ertz don’t get drafted until the ninth round, that value mostly evaporated. Unless a player at a “onesie” position (TE and QB if not a Superflex league) falls well below ADP, I will rarely be the first person to draft them. The exception is when both running and wide receiver are falling off as it gets to my pick. Every time I come upon the clock, I look at all four positions and determine how many “equivalent” players there are (e.g., three wide receivers all in the same tier, four running backs all in the same tier) at each position group. If one position is about to hit a tier drop, I am more inclined to draft that position — the reason being I can get a better total value that way. For example, if running back is about to hit a tier drop and there are six to seven wide receivers I think are very similar, it makes much more sense to draft the last running back in the tier and likely still get one of those wide receivers in the next round, even if I would have the wide receiver ranked higher than that running back in “overall” rankings. It’s hard to set a concrete rule on this, as it’s mostly personal evaluation, but it boils down to this: Understand when a position group is hitting a tier drop. It’s much wiser to draft just before the tier drop than just after it, especially when other positions are not approaching a tier drop.
– Mark Leipold (@LeipoldNFL)
For position tier rankings and primers, check out Mike Tagliere’s current series
Stay True to Your Ranking Sheet
I think the one thing that too many fantasy owners are hung up on is that he or she has to have Player A or Player B on the roster and when those players do not end up on their roster, frustration sets in and bad drafting follows. We all research players looking for that player we want to have in the first round, that sleeper running back we want in the 10th round, and the quarterback that is undervalued that we are going to take in the 12th round. We have our fantasy team mapped out in our head before the fantasy draft even arrives. Preparation is good, but there is such a thing as being too rigid in your preparation and too attached to certain players. The only thing you can control is taking the best available player when your name is called. You cannot control what other fantasy owners do with their picks. Their ranking sheet will look different than yours, and they will reach for players a round or two before you thought that player would be taken. Likewise, they will leave players on the board you thought they would take earlier. The first couple rounds can be predictable, but after that, anything is possible. Good fantasy owners know how to build good fantasy rosters that put the most fantasy points in the starting lineup and leave the fewest fantasy points on the bench. Good fantasy owners know how to secure depth to survive injuries and bye weeks. What separates good fantasy owners from great fantasy owners is great fantasy owners know how to do that with many different combinations of players. Emotion will not allow you to to be a great fantasy owner, sticking to your ranking sheet will save the day in those situations where you lose players you were hoping would be there for you. I rejoice when a fellow fantasy owner takes my sleeper three rounds before I would have taken him because I know that fantasy owner did not maximize value and that when my selection comes, I will have a better option than I thought would be available. The more flexible you are during the draft and you trust your ranking sheet and the less you trust your emotional attachment to certain players, the better off you will be during your fantasy draft.
– Derek Lofland (@DerekLofland)
Don’t Strategize Too Much
It may sound counterintuitive, but there is a point where you do way too much planning, and it ends up hijacking your draft. I usually recommend having a good idea of what you’re doing with your first and maybe second picks, but after that, all bets are off and anything can happen. If you go into a draft committing to taking one running back, then a receiver, then a running back, then a receiver, etc., you end up setting yourself up with a strict draft process, which you never want. If you’ve “internally committed” to taking a running back in the third round, but there’s a run on running backs right before your pick, you may end up reaching for a guy like Derrick Henry and completely ignore that Mike Evans just fell in your lap. Do your prep and be as educated as possible, but always remember to stay fluid and don’t plan to a fault.
– Donald Gibson (@DonaldGibsonFF)
The best strategy is to have no strategy. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people go into drafts with a specific strategy in mind only to have it hilariously backfire. The best way to draft is to stick to your board. Create a tiered draft board so that you can group players that you value to a similar extent. When it’s your turn, select a player from the highest remaining tier on your board. There’s nothing wrong with reaching for a player at a more scarce position, provided that he’s in the same tier as your other top remaining players. When you have a specific strategy and are forced to reach for players, you lose your league … when you lose your league, you get depressed … when you get depressed, you become a hermit … when you become a hermit, your best friend is a squirrel named Donald … and when your best friend is a squirrel named Donald, he dies and you turn him into a scarf. Don’t turn Donald into a scarf … get rid of strategies and upgrade to draft boards.
– Elisha Twerski (@ElishaTwerski)
Mock Draft
One thing that has helped prepare me for draft day is mock drafts. A mock draft helps you understand what players will be around by the time you have to choose your guy. FantasyPros has a mock draft simulator that you can customize based on your league settings to get a more accurate idea of how the draft will play out in your league. Simulated drafts are the perfect opportunity to experiment with different draft strategies, too. If you usually take a wide receiver and a running back with your first two picks, try starting with two wide receivers or two running backs to see how your team shakes out.
– Kevin O’Connor (@22koconnor)
Mock and Create Cheat Sheets
In what is the furthest thing from a shameless plug, my recommendation is to make use of FantasyPros Draft Simulator and Cheat Sheet Creator tools. Mock drafts are critical to any draft prep, and the simulator tool allows you to complete 12 mocks in less time than one live mock would take. They allow you to fine-tune your rankings and identify which players are slipping through the cracks value-wise. The cheat sheet creator tool’s customization feature allows you to tailor your cheat sheet based on selected experts. This ensures that rival managers will not be utilizing the same sheet you are for your draft and could give you a leg up as far as landing your targets. Choose like-minded experts for the best results.
– Raju Byfield (@FantasyContext)
Since I am a company man (shameless plug alert), the best tool to mock draft is the FantasyPros Draft Simulator. It allows you pick against the expert rankings and provides different scenarios every time you draft. This gives you an idea of which rounds certain players are being drafted. Each mock draft takes about five minutes. This is the perfect way to get a sense as to what your draft might look like from different draft slots. Pick the experts you trust the most when using the simulator. On top of using that tool, I would enter your league settings and create a cheat sheet broken out by tiers. Use your best judgment, if you think Player A is better than Player B in your scoring system, rank them accordingly. Tiers are the best way to determine which player you should select and is an excellent way to keep track of the draft. It also helps when you are up against the clock and need to make a choice right away. As long as you are on top of the news, have the FantasyPros Draft Wizard App, and a tier cheat sheet customized to your league settings, you should be well prepared and able to dominate your draft.
– Brad Camara (@beerad30)
Draft Wide Receivers & Running Backs Early – Wait on Quarterback
Every year, I always see fantasy managers reach for stud quarterbacks too early. It is an undisputed fact that you can win championships by drafting a quarterback late. I get it, Patrick Mahomes is a juicy pick. But in 2018, Mahomes was drafted in the 10th round and finished as the No. 1 quarterback in fantasy. Even the second-best fantasy quarterback, Matt Ryan, could have been drafted in the ninth round. Further, Ben Roethlisberger finished as the third-best fantasy quarterback, and he went in the back of 10th round. Coming in as the seventh-best quarterback, Jared Goff sported an eleventh-round ADP. Finally, Dak Prescott and Philip Rivers also finished as top-12 quarterbacks but were taken in the 14th and ninth rounds, respectively. I am not saying you can’t draft Mahomes, as each manager and each draft requires a different tailored strategy and adjustments. What I am saying is there are much more important positions and players that could be drafted in these early rounds. The way I see things, the sixth round is where I begin to consider picking a quarterback, and even then it has to be a player that has fallen a few rounds, which typically does not happen with top-tier quarterbacks in family and friend leagues. Once the eighth and ninth rounds begin, that is really when I will focus on selecting a quarterback, if not even later.
– Garrett Thomas (@garrettthomas)
The more and more drafts I’ve been doing, I’ve noticed this is the optimal strategy. It’s really quite easy to understand why. The simple fact is, running back depth thins out very early. After about the top 15 guys, it’s super risky, and I need to have at least two of those players. What also intrigues me about that is that there are so many good wide receivers in the middle rounds. Getting two or three running backs in the first two or three rounds still allows you to get great wide receivers in rounds three through six, and then you can just wait on a QB. Waiting on a QB is the simplest strategy, but it’s silly not to do it. You can wait until round seven to 10 to land a guy like Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, Drew Brees, or Jameis Winston. Any one of these guys can finish top five, and it’s crazy just how many good quarterbacks are out there late these days. So, get your three running backs in the first four rounds, fill your wide receiver and tight end slots, and then don’t take a QB until at least round eight!
– Joel Bartilotta (@Bartilottajoel)
2019 Draft Kit: View printable cheat sheets, sleepers & mistakes to avoid
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