OT - My fantasy NFL draft is today...advice from the mgopeeps?

What's your draft #?  How many teams?

In larger leagues, I think getting a top tier QB is much more important than smaller.  Also, if you don't get one of the top 4 TE's (Clark, Gates, Davis Finley) at a good spot, I'd wait on TE as the rest seem to be pretty deep.

LOTS of mid-level RB's available for good value (Portis, T Jones, LT, Forte, M Bush...etc) so you could go RB by committee.  I'd put more emphasis on getting as my top WR's as you can.

1.  It is QB and WR league.  If QBs get 6pts for a TD drafting a stud early makes sense.  If they get 4 pts for a TD then you would be better off passing on Rodgers and getting Shaub way later.  You'll be grateful all year if you draft two top ten WR.

2.  Not a problem in most cases.  If the offense is balanced or leans toward the pass, that will not hurt you.  However, if it is a run-first team, that can come back to bite you.

3.  Cadillac Williams is going way too late in drafts, so is Mike Williams (TB).  I'm not a TB homer.  I live in MI, but those guys could be very solid late value.  Also, Fred Jackson will finish this season with more fantasy points than CJ Spiller, but Spiller is going way earlier.

4.  Standard scoring...RB or WR depending on draft slot.  Outside of first 5-8 RBs it might make sense to wait.

First off, I'm jealous.  I had my draft time changed today to 12pm and I am unable to participate this year -- really bums me out.

I would start with RB/WR's.  This year, QB depth is ridiculously good across the board.  You can get a solid QB in later rounds.  However, if Brees/Manning/Rodgers is available, you may want to snag one of them.  Just don't depend on QB's, especially if there is a stud RB available.  A somewhat sleeper for me is Moreno in Denver.  I had him on my team last year and I started him a few games.  He is hurt right now but he could be a good guy to keep an eye on in the final few rounds.  Multiple guys from the same team is OK as long as they aren't at key positions, i.e. WR/RB -- due to shared touches.  QB/RB or QB/WR is fine, obviously.

Good luck!

1. Sometimes drafting the strongest two-score player is better in the mid-first round than the "highest rated." I took Drew Brees with the 9th (?) pick last year rather than the "highest scoring" player. Because Brees threw and ran, and with the inherent bonuses that come in some leagues in terms of milestone (300+ yds = 5 extra points), he out-performed nearly every normal player at times, and much better than the QB I would have picked up in the 3rd/4th round.

2. Multiple guys from the same team should be delayed until later rounds (5-7 or supplemental/injury). If a defense is stifling the pass efforts of a qb, it will nuke you on both players.

3. Victor Cruz

4. As I stated before, I'm partial to taking the top QB on the board bc it helps you make later-round decisions (as mentioned in #2).

Take guys who are under the radar. I grabbed Rice last year and he won it for me. I like the Texans Qb think Matt is going to have a huge year.Running back I think this year is going to be huge for Felix Jones as well. If you can get either in the 3rd round on that's where I would take them. Wr I like Wallace from the Steelers as well as Golden Tate may be a steal late in the draft I think he will have a good rookie year.

1. Running backs first, generally, but don't be afraid of taking the likes of Randy Moss, Andre Johnson, and Calvin Johnson high. 

2. Do you mean at the same position? It's a good idea in 12-16 team leagues, called handcuffing. At different positions? It's a fragile situation, especially if you're going to be relying on both to start. However, the upside of a tandem like Randy Moss/ Tom Brady is pretty awesome.

3. Mike Williams, Tampa WR. Kinda a diva, but he's going to be one of the Bucs' few playmakers, and already has an excellent rapport with Josh Freeman. Tony Scheffler, Lions TE. The Lions' base offensive formation is two TE, and he's a great receiving threat at TE. Jermichael Finley (he was ranked low by ESPN before, I don't know if that's still the case), GB TE. Excellent receiving threat. Arian Foster, Houston RB. Slaton's pretty much an afterthought in the offense now, Foster's going to get a lot of redzone looks this year. Jeremy Maclin, Philly WR. Kinda highly rated by ESPN, but I guarantee still underrated. He's been targeted more than Desean Jackson in every preseason game thus far, and we all know how many yards Jackson racked up last year. There are more, but I'm sure you're probably tired of my babbling now.

4. If you're outside of the top 5, you can probably have as much success taking Andre Johnson as you would taking someone like Frank Gore or Michael Turner. Don't draft Peyton Manning first round, he's solid but not worth your first pick. If you're top five, take a running back. Brady or Aaron Rodgers are solid late first round picks too, but again, it all depends on where you're drafting. 

The fatal flaw that most FF players have is that they have a certain player or position they are targeting and get tunnel vision.  You ask what position you should draft 1st?  Draft the best player available with that pick.  You need a stud point producer from that pick.  Now, if you are top 5, that's going to be a RB.  After that, it could be Brady, Johnson, or the like. 

Stay away from aging name players.  Those that took LT in the top 10 last year were sunk with that pick.  Now, he may have a good year, but you are better off taking a chance on a lesser known player just reaching or still in their prime.  Be wary of players where schemes have changed or WR where QB's have left.  Fitz is great example of this. 

One of my best strategies is drafting rookie RB's in the mid rounds.  I picked up Peterson in the 7th his rookie year and Kevin Smith in one of the last rounds in '08.  All helped me win a few games.  RB is the easiest position for a rookie to make a big impact and if they draft one high, they will use them.  Spiller, Matthews, and Best are all good high mid round picks (good #2/#3 RB's with upside).  Anthony Dixon would be great low round pick.  He's the handcuff to Frank Gore and if Gore is injured, Dixon becomes gold.  He either is good trade bait or just plain use him.

Good Luck!

My suggestions.

1.  Check the injury boards.  The last thing you want to do is spend a high pick on a player that is going to be out for the first 4 weeks of the season.

2.  Use ESPN's pre-ranked settings unless you don't want the player next on the board or don't need that position.  The magazines are nice and all, but ESPN's rankings will coincide with their point settings.

3.  Don't take chances on sleepers until your starters are established.

4.  Don't kill yourself worrying about bye weeks unless there are a couple of players you are deciding between.

5.  Unless you have to, don't take more than one kicker, defense, and tight end.  Spend your picks on extra running backs and wide outs.  You may want to rethink this if you have to pay for transactions.

6.  Particularly with the running backs, there will be some projected starters that aren't necessarily set in stone.  Avoid them in the early rounds.  If you do pick one up, try to pick up the player he is up against for PT towards the later rounds.  Example (Detroit's Best and Smith).

Choose all Michigan Alumn!

As a guy who has won the league multiple of times(both standard and PPR), here are my word of wisdoms in drafting.

If you can't get the big 4(Johnson, AP, MJD and Rice), don't be afraid to draft a WR because an elite WR is just as good as getting a RB.  It's okay to draft Gore or Turner in the 1st round because RB is very shallow.  Don't be stuck on getting RB-RB in early round.  Also, don't get sucked into positional runs, just take the BPA.  You're better off on the long run.

QB is deep but don't go waiting on drafting QB in much later round.  You can still get quality QB in 4th/5th round.

WR is deep but are the one that has the most starting position.  Always take high volume of WRs in both starting and bench.  You will need it for depth, trade bait or just in case of injury.

Normally, I would take rookie RBs in the draft because they have a tendency to produce early.  However, Mathews and Best are too high for my taste.  Just take a more sure player because you would know what you get instead of the unknown variable that you may get from a RB.

RB is very shallow.  It's top heavy but you can still find quality back in later round. You just have to know where and when to get them.

TE is the deepest it has been in recent memory.  If you're at a point where a TE like Clark who can score more fantasy points than the remaining available WR, by all means, take a TE.

Don't take defense or kicker until the last two rounds especially the kicker.  The kicker is the most insignificant player on the team and there aren't much difference between the best and the worst kicker in the league.  As for defense, they aren't a sure thing because of personnell or injuries.  Don't go based on the past.  Just take the best available defense in next to last round then stream it as much as possible to get favorable matchups.  Unless you got lucky with a bad defense that becomes a very good defense which happened to me quite a few times like Colts, Saints.

 

When you're done drafting, once the season starts, always scour in the wavier wire and jump at the players who seems to produce.  More times than not, they will continue to produce.  I jumped at Anquan Boldin in his rookie year, I also jumped on Mike Sims-Walker last year and to name a few.

 Be flexible.  Do not lock into a certain player.  That said, where you draft is likely to determine your strategy, at lest to an extent.  If you pick 1-4, it's pretty easy.  Go with one of the top RB's:  Peterson, Chris Johnson, MJD, or Ray Rice.  If you are in pick 5-7, you may want to bypass an RB in the 1st rd. and take Andre Johnson or another elite WR.  If you have pick 8 or later, you may want to get an elite QB, such as Rodgers, Brees, or Peyton.  How you draft in the 1st round will kind of give you an indication of your strategy.  You'll want to fill in the vacant starting spots, focusing on QB, RB, and WR.  Forget about TE's, K, and DEF until AT LEAST about round 8-9 for the TE.  TE's are very deep this year.  I probably wouldn't touch K or DEF until the last 2-3 rounds unless there is a huge run on them earlier.  These positions are usually fairly subject to change, and are more matchup-based than anything else.  I have seen really strong arguments for not even worrying much about DEF, and just playing matchups against poor offenses from week to week.

I won 1 of my 2 leagues last season, and finished 3rd in the other, so my strategy worked for me pretty well.  Hope this helps!

Don't get suckered. Go for guys on productive offenses who get the bulk of the playing time. With running back go for feature backs only.  There aren't a lot of them. 

I was the only guy in my 16 team league to have two feature backs. Everyone else was whining about their backs hoping for some luck on production but they could have had any of the guys I drafted.

You can get lots of productive number 1 or 2 option receivers and a few feature backs after round 3, even in large leagues like mine. Everyone falls in love with the name guys.

Owen Daniels from Houston, TE.  He was on pace with Dallas Clark before he got injured last year and he is Schwaubs security blanket target in an offense that is top prolific. You can get him later too.

I picked up Mccluster and Golden Tate very late to answer your question directly about sleepers.  Every year there are some. I watch where they are in the rotation during preseason. 

Multiple guys from the same team are fine. My cousin rode Manning and Wayne and not much else  to the championship game last year but got burned by our championship being in week 16.

Remember that great wideouts don't need a star QB to throw them the ball. I just held my live draft last night and got Larry Fitzgerald in the third round.....16 team league a huge steal. 

This is all assuming you're using a Standard 10 team ESPN league.

1. I like to alternate taking RB's and WR's the first 4 rounds, so that I have 2 of each after round 4.

2. Wait on taking a QB. Every team only gets to start 1 qb, so you can wait for a guy like Rivers, Romo, or Flacco. I usually use my 5th or 6th round pick on one. Once it gets to those rounds, see if the people drafting after your pick already have a qb or not. You may be able to get the guy you want in the next round.

3. Make sure to grab elite WR's early. I made this mistake last year. I stocked up on RB's in the first 4 rounds because they were all "steals". The only thing that saved me was picking Miles Austin off of waivers.

4. Fill up your bench with players who have high upside. Rookies like Jahvid Best and CJ Spiller could both be beasts this year, and you could be getting a potential top 15 rb in the late rounds.

5. Wait on a TE, D/ST, and K. Use your last 3 picks on them in order. Fill your bench up first with sleepers first.

6. A couple players I like more than the experts-Shonn Greene, Jamaal Charles, Jahvid Best, Justin Forsett, Michael Bush, Calvin Johnson, Owen Daniels, Arian Foster, Matt Forte, Donald Brown.

7. A couple players I like less than the experts-Deangelo Williams, Ryan Grant, Miles Austin, Steven Jackson, Cedric Benson, Rashard Mendenhall, Larry Fitzgerald.

Don't base your picks off of those players I listed. If you feel like a guy is going to have a huge year, take him. If you aren't sure why they're ranked that high and know nothing about the player, take somebody else.

For sleepers, I always look for WRs on teams that like to throw the ball.  Even if there is a clear #1 and even #2 on that team, QBs will throw to anyone who is open, and that is how Mike Furrey wound up leading the league in receptions a couple of years ago.  Golden Tate for NWE is a good late-round pickup, as is Nate Burleson for the Lions.  I also like Gafney and Royal for the Broncos because without Marshall, somebody is going to catch those balls, even though Tebow and Orton are not gungslingers. 

Beyond that, figure out if you can get an elite QB up front - Manning, Brees, (maybe) Brady, Falcco, but beyond that shoot a little lower and nab a couple of big-name WRs and RBs in the early rounds/bidding instead.  The difference between AP or Ray Rice to Moreno is far greater than Cutler or Henne to Orton or Stafford. 

Good luck.

Hate to hijack this thread but i don't want to start another fantasy topic on the board...

I have a unique situation this year. I'm in an auction league draft and you can keep up to 3 players from the year before at 110% of what you paid for them the previous year. It is an 8 team auction league with $100 available for auction. PPR league. Also, QB's are uber valubale because you get .5 points/completion. QBs hands down are the highest scoring players in the league.

This means i have to choose between value for the future and top talent for this year. I've been going back and forth and every new way i spin it i come up with something else.

I can keep the below players for the listed dollar amount this year, and 110%/year incrementally after that. I can only keep 3 of them.

Tom Brady $25

Chris Johnson $19

Michael Turner $5

Andre Johnson $19

Calvin Johnson $11

Antonion Gates $9

(yes, i've been assembling this team for years with value draft picks of young players and hoping they grow into studs. Surprisingly enough, i got screwed last year and had the 5th seed after scoring the most points in the regular season. My team took that opportunity to bounce back in the playoffs and choked, leaving me fighting to win the toilet bowl to avoid buying beer for this year's draft. I hate fantasy, yet i continue to play)

My line of thinking, keeping in mind that auction leagues, especially keeper auction leagues, are HUGE on value.....

I have to keep Chris Johnson at that price. He could be a dominant RB for the next 5 years and if so i'll be getting excellent value on him the entire rest of his career.

I love Brady, but i think i have to let him go and then buy him back (possibly cheaper). Although, everyone else will be keeping their top tier qbs, so he will be the best qb on the board for the auction, and i may have to overpay once again to get him. Going after Schaub/Henne may be smarter, but i'll have to try to get good ol Tom.

I almost have to keep Calvin Johnson at that price. Considering his youth and the fact that he could/should be a top tier WR for a long time to come, i would be getting him at excellent value for basically the rest of his career.

That leaves me basically with Turner and A. Johnson. This is freaking tough. Could i really not keep the #1 consensus WR in the league? Yes, and here's why... Turner's value is ridiculous. As a top 7 player getting him at $5 is stupid. I think i could let A. Johnson go and then have more money to try overpaying to get him and Brady back if i kept Turner at such a good price.

If i've kept the 3 johnsons, i have a kick ass team so far, but have spent more money and still need to fill out my roster.

Deciding between Turner and A. Johnson is tough and go back and forth every day. As if not keeping Brady was bad enough. Maybe i shouldn't keep Calvin? Crap, my head is spinning again. Please straighten me out someone!

Cincinnati's defense to be exact