Fantasy Football: 10 Tips to Winning Your League

Aug 15, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Luke McCown (7) passes the ball against the Tennessee Titans in the first half at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. New Orleans defeated the Tennessee Titans 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

7. Pre-rank your players before the draft

While you wait until week 3 of the preseason to hold a draft, you’ll have plenty of time to do your research and follow all the training camps via ESPN, NFL Network etc. After you gather who is finding success and who is falling on the depth chart, then start pre-ranking your players before your draft commences. The time between picks is usually 30 seconds to one minute in most leagues. 30 seconds to one minute isn’t enough time to decide your next pick. Yes, in a pinch it’s feasible to find one player, but pre-rankings your players before the draft will make your draft day less stressful.

In most leagues players are already ranked by the site you are drafting through. However, don’t just stick with what the host site of your fantasy football league says to do; most people do that and don’t take the time to effectively pre-rank their players. This lack of preparedness causes further stress and last-minute decisions that could end up hurting a fantasy football user down the stretch.

If the time is spent pre-ranking players, then when a team right ahead of you picks someone at the top of your list the preparation will pay off. Preparation is also key when snack drafts leave someone with back-to-back or close together picks. Those 30 seconds to a minute or so given between picks should be spent debating between two or three players to take and not freaking out and making an ill-advised pick.

Preparation is key and the difference between winning the league and coming up short.

Next: Practice makes perfect (or better)