Draft Strategy

Some of my strategy for drafting includes:

- Don't take a Kicker until the last round.  Only 25 points separated the #1 kicker last year from the #10 kicker.  That's about 1.8 points more per game for getting the #1 kicker.  Not a big difference in the grand scheme of things.

- Take at least 1 Elite WR in the 1st 2 rounds.  There are 10 top guys in my opinion.  After that, 11-30 are (or could be) fairly similar.  So, it's best to get one early.  It can kill you not having one, no matter how good the rest of your team is.  The top guys are:
1) Larry Fitzgerald
2) Andre Johnson
3) Calvin Johnson
4) Greg Jennings
5) Randy Moss
6) Reggie Wayne
7) Steve Smith
8) Roddy White
9) Anquan Boldin
10) Dwayne Bowe

After that, the next 10-15 receivers are pretty similar.  For a PPR league, I would count Wes Welker as the 11th guy b/c of all the receptions he gets.  If any of the guys listed are available in the 3rd round as well, take the guy.

- Don't go Defense too early.  In fact, that's the last starting position I'd take (other than Kicker).  Historically, the top ranked defenses don't really do that much better than a defense ranked 8th or 9th.  I love the Chargers as a sleeper defense.  They were a Top 3 one going into last year before injuries decimated them.  But, they showed a lot of improvement at the end of the year under a new Defensive Coordinator, so they are ranked lower by a lot of people, but I think they'll be pretty good.  (**As long as Merriman is not suspended or anything like that for recent legal troubles).

- TE depth in pretty good this year.  If you don't get one of the Top 4, wait until you've got all the WR's, RB's, and QB position filled before getting a TE.  The Top 4 consist of: Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Antonio Gates, and Dallas Clark.  Don't take a TE before the 6th round.  If one of those is their in the 6th, take him (unless someone else falls who you have highly rated).  But, they'll likely all go in the 5th round b/c that's when people love to take TE's.  I got burned last year taking a TE too early, and they don't make a big enough difference to warrant that.  I love guys like Visante Shiancoe, Zach Miller, or Kevin Boss, and they typically go in Rounds 10-12, so it's better to wait, IMO.

- If you're getting squeezed out of a position (say, Running Back), don't panic and take a guy like Larry Johnson if a WR like Marques Colston (who, IMO, is rated much higher overall) is available, for instance.  Even if you already have 2 stud WR's and only 1 RB, take the WR, and if you need to, you can use him as trade bait to a team with good RB's but not as good WR's.

- Don't get too caught up in rankings.  If you feel great about a player most people don't have ranked as high and want to take him, take him.  Trust your gut.

Hopefully, you'll get a good enough pick to go RB, WR, WR, RB, QB in the 1st 5 rounds.  That's how I ideally like a draft to breakdown.  But again, don't reach to fill those spots.  If you go RB, WR, WR, WR, QB, that's fine too.  You can get a RB later.