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Free Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
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Free
Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet and Advice |
Optimize your own cheat sheet
You want your own cheat sheet because the people in your league are different than those in any other league. Each cheat sheet is created for one league with one set of scoring rules, but there are hundreds of different scoring leagues (so make sure you note the sheet you are using). If you live near the Philadelphia area and your league has lots of Eagles fans, the players on that team may get drafted a few spots earlier and players on a team like Dallas may get selected a few spots later (if they dislike the cowboys). This is something that only you will know based on your league and those players in it. Something that cannot be predicted by the experts creating the cheat sheets for you. Also, if everyone pretty much has the same cheat sheet, you will be able to see where the rest of your league plans to select a player and use it against them. It is as if you know when and where they will be taking players and let you use this information against them; in turn keeping your drafting strategy secret since your list has been customized.
How to make your cheat sheet
There are two ways for you to go about making your own cheat sheet. You can 1) start from scratch and begin creating your own sheet with just a blank page of paper, or 2) you can use an expert cheat sheet you already own (as you can get from our page), and tweak it to fit the league you are playing in. Since the purpose of this article is help you win in a simple way, we will focus on tweaking an existing cheat sheet. Read about our fantasy football draft advice.
Rank players
The first thing you want to do is make sure you have enough players ranked at each position. The last thing you want to happen is have a list of 20 players only to find you need one more in a late round and all 20 you have listed have been drafted. That being said, you don’t need to list 500 players at each position just to be safe. A good rule of thumb is to take the number of starters at that position, multiply by 2.5, then multiply by the number of teams in your league and you’ll get the number of players needed to be listed (for example, if you have 2 WRs that you start x 2.5 x 10 players in the league = you get 50 WRs that need to be listed.) See our fantasy football ranking.
Predict fantasy points and get the right mix of players
The next thing you do is start to "predict" the total number of points you expect these players to get. A good way to do this is use someone's pre-ranking of players and then adjust the numbers as you see fit. You think that P. Holmes will rush and catch for 25 touchdowns at 6pts each = 150 points and you think he will rush and catch for another 1,800 yards at 1pt per 10 yards = 180 + 150 = 330 total points. You put him on the top of the list and start moving players above or below him based on what their total points are. If you are stuck between two players, look to see who has more touchdowns and rank them higher (it is easier to predict than total yards). Also remeber to include only players at each position and not to mix QBs and WRs, etc. After your list is done, check through it and if the list doesn't "look right", take time to focus on that group of players and adjust as needed.
Free
Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet and Advice |
Run through a mock draft
The next thing you want to do is take this list into a mock draft and start to see where your players are taken. If you find that you have players ranked higher than they are taken in the mock drafts, then those are your sleeper players; you predict them to do better than most others. Do you best to wait an extra round or two (as needed) to draft these players, and select them slightly before anyone else in your league. It can be a tricky situation however, because if someone else selects your player one pick before you, they now have the sleeper at a great value so make sure you do it about one round earlier just to make sure you get the player.
Also make a note of players that you have listed earlier than most and may be injury prone, may have changed offensive systems or may bet getting old. Try to avoid these players or wait a few extra rounds so you get their current value and not the value of what they may or may not have done last season. Don't be scared to take a player who is older or an injury risk; just make sure you get good value for him.
After you have your list finalized from the mock drafts it is time to get out the magazine and find out where your friends will be drafting players. Note than the magazine listed as July was written and printed in June to have it on the stands by the way (another great reason to use the internet and stay current). Use this list along with past history of drafts with your friends to complete your cheat sheet. If your friends haven’t drafted a QB in the first round the past 5 seasons, it is safe to bet that they wont draft any this year either. Move players up and down the list as needed as well as making a "top 20 or top 50" list for yourself (though this is optional). This extra list is needed for the first few rounds as you will see in our "how to draft" article. The first few rounds are not a matter of who is on your team, but taking the best talent available.
Though this may take some practice to become an expert, you will surely notice a difference in your draft the first time you use it. Best of luck this fantasy season!!
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