Hopkins has little ceiling for 2023 and is an obvious fade for me.Īnthony Richardson’s first year is going to be mixed with athletic splash plays and more than a few puzzling throws and downfield mistakes. The Cardinals were pass-happy last year the Titans are always run-heavy. You’d rather be a year early than a year late when it comes to players on the back nine of their career, like DeAndre Hopkins. I suspect someone in that receiver room will at least crack the Top 30, but I don’t see a clear signal to who that is. Somehow Patrick Mahomes won an MVP last season without a significant wide receiver in fantasy. In the end, listen to everyone you respect and consider their advice, but it’s your team. If you're looking for additional help after reading this piece, check out our draft kit, which is full of great advice, and Matt Harmon's Draft Day Blueprint. It’s not a stressful position to fill in our games. This remains one of the biggest differences between real life and fantasy football - the NFL is all about the quarterback, but it’s not the most important position in fantasy football ( even as the quarterbacks do score the most points). I don’t like the deficit it creates at running back or receiver, and I see many other paths to landing a possible top-five quarterback. Ascending talents.Įarly in the draft cycle, I thought I might be open to chasing the top tier of quarterbacks, where Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Jalen Hurts will go. You want as many players as possible who are still on the escalator, who haven’t had their best season yet. The longer I play fantasy football, the more I understand the importance of having a young team. Sometimes it’s no fun playing fantasy football like an actuary, but it’s a prudent thing to do. If the discount isn’t significant on draft day, I’ll avoid those already likely to miss time. Injuries will find you, don’t go looking for them. I’m not a manager who drafts into injured players. There are more right answers as we are content with less production. The bell cow is almost dead in the NFL, and although you might think that makes running back picks more stressful, it actually has the opposite effect.
You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at how sturdy the RB2/RB3 tier is, in part because we’re not expecting those slots to carry as much weight as they did in prior seasons. In those leagues that are more receiver driven, I probably will look to have one anchor running back, and then I’ll circle back to that position later. If a league requires just two starting wideouts, then my early running-back build will be equal to my wide-receiver build. If a league requires at least three wide receivers, I want to have the best wideout room in the league, or pretty close to it. I play fantasy football with a microscope, not a telescope. I’ll start looking to the money weeks in the middle of the season, but my goal right now is to be good in the short-term, to win September. I’ve generally thought planning for Week 17 before the season is somewhat of a fool’s errand. There are some common mistakes that fantasy managers, even good ones, often make. And any strategy can lose if you pick the wrong players. It’s all contextual.Īny strategy can win if you pick the right players. General strategy and adviceĪny tips are to be taken with a grain of salt.
Your fall happiness depends on what happens in the next 72 hours or so. This is it, the biggest fantasy football draft weekend of the year.