Fantasy Football 2017 - 10 Tips & Tricks to Win Your League

Summary

Podcast Summary: Fantasy Football 2017 - 10 Tips & Tricks to Win Your League

Podcast Information:

• Title: Fantasy Footballers - Fantasy Football Podcast
• Host/Author: The Fantasy Footballers (Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright)
• Episode: Fantasy Football 2017 - 10 Tips & Tricks to Win Your League
• Release Date: August 18, 2017

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Introduction

The Fantasy Footballers kick off the episode with light-hearted banter among the hosts—Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike Wright—and guest, David Johnson, running back for the Arizona Cardinals. Initial discussions touch on amusing anecdotes about Paul Giamatti and segue into the episode's main focus: ten essential tips and tricks to dominate your fantasy football league in 2017.

Preseason Week Two Quick Takeaways

Before diving into the tips, the hosts briefly review preseason games, sharing insights and humorous takes on player performances.

• Devonta Parker & Jay Cutler Connection
  Mike Wright expresses excitement for Devonta Parker, influenced by Jay Cutler's early enthusiasm:

  "[03:10] Mike Wright: ...Jay Cutler sent the targets to Devonta Parker. Then he showered him in praise and called him faster."

• Tyrod Taylor’s Uncertain Future
  David Johnson discusses Tyrod Taylor's performance and potential, emphasizing caution in drafting him based on limited preseason action:

  "[05:02] David Johnson: ...I'm less inclined to believe that Tyrod Taylor has that potential."

• LeGarrett Blunt’s Efficiency Concerns
  Jason Moore highlights issues with LeGarrett Blunt's running efficiency, advising fantasy owners to monitor his performance closely:

  "[06:25] Jason Moore: ...if he's not going to be efficient on the field, it's going to hurt wins."

Top 10 Tips & Tricks to Win Your League

10. Don't Get Sentimental

• Key Insight: Avoid emotional attachments to players based on past performances or personal favoritism.
  Mike Wright stresses moving past previous successes or failures:

  "[10:30] Mike Wright: ...If you have to take a player that you don't want to take because of your sentimental attachment, then that's a mistake."

• David Johnson adds that holding grudges against underperforming players can hinder strategic decisions:

  "[12:22] David Johnson: ...Don't let your sentimental attachment in a good or bad way thwart your race to a championship."

9. Quarterbacks: Draft Late or Strategically Early

• Key Insight: Due to depth at the quarterback position, waiting until later rounds to draft a QB can yield better overall team value.
  Jason Moore explains the concept of position scarcity, comparing point gaps between top and middle performers in QB versus RB positions:

  "[15:59] Jason Moore: ...the gap of 46 points between Andrew Luck and Andy Dalton is significantly smaller than the gap in running backs."

• Mike Wright supports waiting, noting the reliability and availability of QBs on the waiver wire:

  "[17:03] Mike Wright: ...The quarterback literally touches the ball every single play, so you can reliably stream quarterbacks."

8. Be a Stalker: Monitor Other Teams

• Key Insight: Actively track the strategies and roster compositions of other teams in your league to make informed drafting and trading decisions.
  David Johnson emphasizes the importance of staying aware of other managers' moves:

  "[19:00] David Johnson: ...Track the other teams in your league. It's so important."

• Jason Moore suggests using tools like the Draft Day app to monitor and mark other teams' picks:

  "[19:32] Jason Moore: ...Use the draft day app that'll track everybody."

7. Level Up with Tiers: Tier-Based Drafting

• Key Insight: Organizing players into tiers based on projected performance helps in making balanced and strategic draft selections.
  Mike Wright explains that tier-based drafting prevents overreliance on one position and identifies value picks:

  "[22:37] Mike Wright: ...A tier is a bucket that holds players who are projected to score similarly, helping you prioritize positions."

• Jason Moore adds that understanding tiers allows for better timing in selecting players before they’re all drafted:

  "[24:40] Jason Moore: ...Knowing how many players are left in a tier helps you decide when to draft from it."

6. Know Your Surroundings: Exploit League Settings

• Key Insight: Understanding and leveraging your league's specific rules and settings can provide a strategic advantage.
  Jason Moore advises managers to familiarize themselves with league configurations to maximize roster potential:

  "[25:37] Jason Moore: ...Know your surroundings and know your league, and look for ways to exploit those settings."

• David Johnson suggests utilizing spots like IR (Injured Reserve) effectively to manage roster depth:

  "[26:02] David Johnson: ...Use IR spots to draft players who might return mid-season, maximizing your roster."

5. Drop Watch: Monitor Waiver Wire Activity

• Key Insight: Keep a close eye on players being dropped to identify potential waiver wire pickups that others may have overlooked.
  David Johnson emphasizes the frustration of missing out on dropped players:

  "[30:03] Mike Wright: ...Pay attention to who has been dropped every year."

• Jason Moore highlights critical times, such as post-game Sunday drops, to find valuable additions:

  "[31:38] Jason Moore: ...Sunday drops often include players dropped due to injuries or bye weeks, presenting opportunities."

4. Backs to the Future: Prioritize Running Backs

• Key Insight: Securing top-tier running backs is crucial due to their high point potential and scarcity compared to other positions.
  Mike Wright advises loading up on running backs early in drafts to build a strong foundation:

  "[33:00] Mike Wright: ...Running backs are crucial to your team and your future."

• Jason Moore concurs, noting that depth in running backs can safeguard against injuries and bye weeks:

  "[35:27] Jason Moore: ...Having productive running backs on your bench can pay dividends throughout the season."

3. Master of Trades: Be Strategic and Persistent

• Key Insight: Engaging in frequent and strategic trades can enhance team strength and address roster weaknesses.
  Jason Moore underscores the value of persistent and creative trading:

  "[37:00] Jason Moore: ...Be creative repeatedly in your trade offers."

• Mike Wright adds that multi-for-one trades (e.g., 2-for-1) can optimize roster spots and maximize value:

  "[39:38] Mike Wright: ...Always aim for trades that give you the best player while meeting another team's needs."

2. Don't Win Your League at the Draft: Maintain Long-Term Play

• Key Insight: Success in fantasy football extends beyond the draft; consistent management throughout the season is essential.
  David Johnson reflects on past mistakes of neglecting team management post-draft:

  "[40:59] Jason Moore: ...You need to be consistent throughout the year. You never win your championship at your draft."

• Jason Moore emphasizes focusing on later rounds and ongoing adjustments rather than relying solely on early picks:

  "[41:50] Jason Moore: ...Focus on the later rounds and your season-long strategy."

1. It's More Than Wins or Losses: Enjoy the League Experience

• Key Insight: Enhancing the overall league environment fosters a more enjoyable and engaging fantasy football experience.
  Jason Moore encourages managers to build camaraderie and create a fun league culture:

  "[45:13] Mike Wright: ...Because it's fun."

• David Johnson suggests organizing live drafts and facilitating good communication to strengthen league bonds:

  "[49:07] David Johnson: ...Have great people playing with you and facilitate good communication within your league."

• Jason Moore highlights the importance of trust and gut feelings when making draft and in-season decisions:

  "[47:39] Mike Wright: ...Trust your gut when you know a player will break out."

Best Ball Segment: Late Round Targets

The hosts transition into a Best Ball segment, highlighting undervalued late-round targets who can deliver sporadic high performances, ideal for Best Ball leagues where optimal lineup selection is automated.

• Top Late-Round Targets:
  • Anquan Boldin: Potential for multiple touchdowns in specific weeks.
  • Zay Jones: Showed promising flashes in preseason.
  • Sammy Coates: Returning from injury, offers deep play potential.
  • Tyler Lockett: Reliable for occasional big plays.
  • Chris Hogan & J.J. Nelson: High upside receivers who can produce big weeks.

Mike Wright advises targeting players who can occasionally produce high points despite overall inconsistency:

"[52:06] Mike Wright: ...Players who could pay dividends from week to week."

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with a recap of the top ten tips, reinforcing the importance of strategic drafting, ongoing team management, and fostering a positive league environment. The hosts tease upcoming episodes and segments, encouraging listeners to stay engaged throughout the fantasy football season.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mike Wright on Sentimentality:

  "[10:30] Mike Wright: ...If you have to take a player that you don't want to take because of your sentimental attachment, then that's a mistake."

• Jason Moore on Quarterback Scarcity:

  "[15:59] Jason Moore: ...the gap of 46 points between Andrew Luck and Andy Dalton is significantly smaller than the gap in running backs."

• David Johnson on Enjoying the League:

  "[45:14] Jason Moore: ...make your league enjoyable, upgrade that experience every single year."

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Conclusion: This episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast offers a comprehensive guide for fantasy managers aiming to secure their league championship in 2017. From strategic drafting and diligent team management to fostering a fun and engaging league environment, the hosts provide actionable insights backed by preseason observations and seasoned expertise. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to fantasy football, these tips are designed to enhance your approach and increase your chances of victory.

Transcript

[David Johnson]

Hey, this is David Johnson, running back of the Arizona Cardinals. And you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers podcast.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from the Play Draft Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Jason Moore]

Ah, welcome in.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, everybody.

[David Johnson]

Good.

[Jason Moore]

Good to be back.

[David Johnson]

It's good to be back.

[Jason Moore]

Andy, Mike and Jason, the fantasy footballers back in business today. Got a great episode for you. Judge Giamatti is behind the curtain, quite literally. That's where he belongs, running the show, chuckling to himself.

[David Johnson]

I'm back here.

[Jason Moore]

There he is.

[David Johnson]

I did not realize that Paul Giamatti has played the wizard of Oz until now. Yes, he's back there running the show.

[Mike Wright]

He's a very multifaceted and talented actor.

[David Johnson]

Super versatile.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I think on the footcast yesterday we said, however, there are no good pictures of him of Paul Giamatti. He's a great actor. No real good pictures of Paul Giamatti.

[Mike Wright]

If there's anyone to blame for that, it's his face.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. That's not a nice thing to say.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome in. Look, today's episode is one of my favorites of the entire year. We have done this once a year and we have your top 10 tips and tricks to win your league. And so we want to bring you some eye opening things that maybe you haven't thought of some of the intangibles. Okay. There is one side of the equation that is the rankings, that is the projections and statistics and analysis and matchups. There is another equation and that is the intangibles. That is your league, that is the things that maybe you don't realize you're.

[Mike Wright]

Not doing the game within the game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And we pride ourselves on this show to equip you for on both sides.

[David Johnson]

A holistic approach to fantasy football.

[Jason Moore]

That is right. That is right. So we are bringing you the top 10 tips and tricks to win your fantasy football league on the show today. I want to talk about real quick, the quick question. It's not really a question. Let's do quick comments of the day Monday we'll get into all of the preseason week two. Review, conclusions, thoughts, all of our opinions. There were three games yesterday and I just want to get a quick hit. Your takeaway from the games last night. Mike, you want to start it off?

[Mike Wright]

Sure, I'll jump in here. My biggest takeaway, if you were following me on Twitter, I was getting, I was getting pretty amped for Devonta Parker. And this is not so much a, an endorsement of the player Parker, which I fully endorse. He's He's a talented, very athletic guy. First round draft pedigree. It just hasn't happened before, big boy. But now we have Jay Cutler, who over his career has shown us time and time again that when he finds his best friend, they are BFFs forever.

[Jason Moore]

So you think that there's a little invitation that was given last night by Jay Cutler?

[Mike Wright]

There certainly was.

[David Johnson]

Are they wearing. They share bracelets or lockets yet I.

[Mike Wright]

Imagine that right now at this very moment, they are in fact creating the friendship bracelets together because he came in and Jay Cutler sent the targets to Devonte Parker. Then he showered him in praise and called him faster. Alshon.

[Jason Moore]

Jeffrey.

[David Johnson]

He's like Alshon, except he's fast.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, look, it's in my tweet was small sample size. Don't care. Because Jay Cutler has shown me who he is. So just. Jake, the Devonte Parker will rise up my draft board.

[Jason Moore]

There's a big impact when you see Jay Cutler in the pocket compared to Ryan Tannehill, just in the aspect that when he steps up in the pocket now, he's a wild man. Don't get me wrong. He's a wild man. His eyes are downfield.

[Mike Wright]

Cigarettes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Cigarettes lit. And he is. He's chucking. He threw a couple targets into double coverage. I think that's what people were freaking out about is. Well, he didn't care.

[David Johnson]

He never has.

[Mike Wright]

Don't care.

[David Johnson]

Don't care. Gonna throw it anyways.

[Mike Wright]

So I just. We'll see what happens in preseason game three. And this is more for me because I wasn't excited at all to draft Parker. He. I mean, he. He has that breakout potential with Tannehill, but it was, eh. Matt Moore was a little bit more enticing, but with Jay Cutler already showing that he could be locking onto him early. Love it.

[Jason Moore]

So you're in.

[David Johnson]

Yeah. For me, I would say Tyrod Taylor, the absence of Sammy Watkins, the fact that, you know, they traded for Jordan Matthews, who was not there. The lack of receiving options for Tyrod Taylor was evident in the sense that he, you know, he threw two picks. One of them, not necessarily the takeaways.

[Jason Moore]

From that game were quite literal for Tyrod Taylor.

[David Johnson]

Yes, they were. They were. There were. There were multiple takeaways. Yes, yes. From that game. And then, you know, the coaching staff at first did not really endorse him. Then they came out and said, he's the starter. It tempers my expectation and my, you know, my hopes. I would actually say when it comes to Tyrod Taylor, if you don't have good enough weapons to throw it to. Sure, he'll run the ball, he'll be valuable, he'll be a good streamer. But I have much less confidence for a season long. You know, when I draft that late quarterback, I'm trying to find the guy that's going to be, you know, it just happens to be a top five quarterback that was drafted late. I'm less inclined to believe that Tyrod Taylor has that potential.

[Jason Moore]

I have two takeaways, so I'm going to cheat. The first one is LeGarrett Blunt is going to average zero yards per carry if they continue to run stretch plays. For LeGarrett Blunt, it's one of the most. I mean, he's already a guy that the talent is questioned on a regular basis by different experts. He was in an incredible system last year that put him in a position to one, do the thing he can do, which is run downhill. And when I watched them run these stretch plays, it was reminiscent of putting. I know it's a totally different regime, but when you put DeMarco Murray in a situation where he couldn't succeed in Philly, it was like, stop doing it. You're not going to see Legare Blunt cut on a dime on that stretch play. Find the crease or get to the edge. There was no possible outcome there, at least with what that offensive line was doing. There were some struggles from Lane Johnson at left tackle last night. The offense didn't look as good for Philly as it did in week one, but it hasn't looked good for LeGarrett Blunt in either game yet. And so you need to pay attention to look. If he's not going to be efficient on the field, it's going to hurt wins. It's going to hurt that offense. Stop running the stretch play. And then the big headliner everybody wants to talk about. A few weeks ago, I forced Jason to draft Carson Palmer in a. In our dynasty draft over Blake Bortles. And it was. It was debated and then Jason got on board. This is why I said only one of those two players could possibly not be the starter. Now it looks like Blake Bortles. After last night's disastrous game, there was already a little writing on the wall. He had. He had a tired arm day in practice.

[Mike Wright]

Are freaking out about this Allen Robinson pass. And to be fair, he only underthrew him by like 15 yards.

[Jason Moore]

It was not good. He has no confidence. It has been a slow decline of confidence since the middle of last year. And that is the problem. Note, you know, the accuracy. It's. It's gone. Robinson was peppered with targets. And I mean, it can't mean bad things for Allen. Robinson. If. If there's another. Yeah, I can. Yeah. Because Chad Haney's not much better and Brandon Allen's a rookie. So this is why we said yesterday Allen Robinson was on my list of bad situation, great talent. And it's got to be frustrating as a wide receiver in that situation. A couple of the passes last night, he's breaking wide open and the ball was under thrown or was overthrown or it was. Yeah. Blake Bortles. The news is this, that competition is wide open. There's a decent chance he doesn't even start the year as a starter. There's already talk about him being cut in the offseason. They had picked up the option. Whoops. They can still cut him without guaranteed money in 2018.

[Mike Wright]

So as long as he doesn't get hurt.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's not good. So that's the headline. Those are some takeaways. We'll get into all the other games on Monday. Gonna have a great show then. I want to make sure that we are getting into the tips and tricks on today's episode. I did want to mention one thing that I'm excited about. We are on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. We're also on the sleeper bot app. So if you don't have the sleeper bot app, we have a channel on there. You guys can always see our new content on the sleeper bot app. And I'm kind of getting excited about the sleeper bot leagues. They just launched them, but they update them, like every day. They just keep making them better. There's three team trades in there. We ran our company league through sleeper bot this year. And like, I understand that can be like a trepidatious thing to change a league service and what you're doing. But I like what they do with that team over there. They're trying to build a really innovative league system and it's more modern than any of the other ones where you're on your phone. I'm pretty excited about what they're doing, so you might want to check it out. We did for our company league.

[David Johnson]

The only thing I would add to that is that the team over there that belongs to me is very good.

[Jason Moore]

Oh. For our company in the 16 league, Jay.

[David Johnson]

I guess we're all. All of our teams are very good in this league.

[Mike Wright]

I just dropped Dante Moncrief.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And no one's going to pick him up.

[Jason Moore]

I looked at my Odell Beckham Jr. Michael Thomas Stack and I was like, oh, yeah, baby. Then I just scrolled over to the left. I'm like, wait, everybody's got a great stack.

[David Johnson]

You want to feel good about your team getting a six man league?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. If you want an autographed David Johnson helmet, we're giving one away right [e-mail] and look, let's, let's, let's get right into it. Without further ado.

[Andy Holloway]

Tips and tricks.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's talk. Let's talk about the top 10 tips and tricks to win your league. Things that we have pulled out this year. Mike, you get to kick it off.

[Andy Holloway]

Number 10.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I was not ready for that. But number 10, I'm going to talk about. Don't get sentimental, all right? And we all are guilty of this.

[David Johnson]

There's no crying in fantasy football.

[Mike Wright]

I'm not even talking about crying. I'm talking about holding on to, to what has happened. Either it was positive or negative. I mean, we. I won a championship on the back of Robert Griffin III the next year. I'm moving on. I'm moving on. It's during the off season.

[Jason Moore]

Now, you did commemorate that title by putting him up on the wall.

[Mike Wright]

Absolutely. But I don't let that tarnish my judgment moving forward. It's. And if you want to take players from your home team, go ahead, but it's is dangerous. It's dangerous if you're a homer because you only see the bright side of things. We're looking, we're Arizona Cardinals supporters, but we see what's going on with the passing game and with John Brown and his injuries. And I'm not going to paint a rosy picture of that situation. And then this is the toughest one for me because I'm a grudge holder.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

When a player burns you, when you think this is that you, you plant your flag on someone. This is my breakout player of the year. They bust. They bust in a terrible way. That doesn't mean that they won't do it the following year. And you're going to let these fantasy third degree burns on your body say, well, no, I can't possibly draft him because he sucked last year for my team. Like, take a look at the situation. Every day is a new day. Every year is a new year in fantasy football. So do not let your sentimental attachment in a good or bad way thwart your race to a championship.

[David Johnson]

It's definitely a good tip for those who have played for multiple years because everyone falls into that where it's just like, this guy burned me. I want nothing to do with him. And you miss a good opportunity or the opposite or. And I would say this is a tip directed back to you, Mike. Oh, same, same concept. But if you are in love with a guy and he doesn't pan out because of injury, you're allowed to not have to continue being in love with him.

[Mike Wright]

That's fair.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's fair. And there I. What I see happen a lot to fantasy owners is, okay, Jamal Charles won you a title a couple years ago and you have now drafted him every year since. Because that was great.

[Mike Wright]

When I dialed up on my AOL connection when Jamal Charles was winning me championships.

[Jason Moore]

It's basically like you're rewarding that player with a contract on your roster and you don't want to do that in fantasy football.

[Mike Wright]

You don't want your real team to do that.

[David Johnson]

I really am tempted sometimes to do that exact same thing. That was part of why I traded for Greg Olson last year, and then he let me down.

[Mike Wright]

But despite how Greg Olson let you down, you're not going to let that sway you from saying no. Greg Olson's a top five tight end.

[David Johnson]

That is absolutely true. I'll put his picture up on our bathroom wall to commemorate what he did. But if he's at a good value, I will absolutely draft him again this year.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's move on.

[Andy Holloway]

Number nine.

[Jason Moore]

All right, number nine. We're going to call it quarterbacks. You can take a number, take a number. Draft a late round quarterback. Or you could say it another way, some reasons why you might be taking a quarterback too early in your draft. I want to make the case for you. I'm going to make it as quick as I can, but I want people to really understand why. We subscribe to late round quarterback theory here on the show. Now, there are reasons why fantasy owners. There are reasons why fantasy owners take quarterbacks too early. The first reason is because they make the quarterbacks score the most points argument, right? And they're right. Quarterbacks last year, 2016, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees scored 380, 347, 332 fantasy points. That's in standard league formats. That's the most in the league. If you go look at a guy like Lashawn McCoy, he scored 248 points. So people look at that and they say, well, why wouldn't you draft the guy that scored the most points? That's 132 less points than Aaron Rodgers. So why would you take them? And the argument, what you got to realize is this comes down to position scarcity. Position scarcity. You cannot compare quarterbacks to running backs because you've got one quarterback on your roster. You got two running backs on your roster. And look, let me break this down for you. In 2016, the fourth ranked quarterback was Andrew Luck who scored 307.7 points. The 12th ranked. So your last QB one was Andy Dalton with 260 points. So there's a gap of 46 points between Andrew Luck and Andy Dalton. Right. The fourth ranked running back in 2016 was Lev Bell with 242 points. The 24th ranked running back, your last starter, right, was Terrence west who scored 137 points. That's a gap of more than 100 points, more than double the gap between QB4 and QB12. So points are relative. You got to understand points are relative to the position and to how many at that position you need to start. So if you opt for a quarterback too early, you sacrifice total points on your roster. You got to be looking at gaps, right? You got to be looking at position scarcity. The other argument that I would make is one that Mike's brought up recently. The fact that you don't. 40 quarterbacks. Yes, 40 quarterbacks finished with a top 12 week. You know, that's more quarterbacks than there are than teams in the NFL.

[Mike Wright]

Look, Matt Moore put up a number two week. Robert, you guys remember Robert Griffin last year? Oh, he still put up a top 12 week. You put these quarterbacks in the right position against the right defense, you know that they're going to score points. The league is friendly when it comes to rules for passing. The quarterback literally touches the ball every single play. Unless it's a one of those trick plays and it's a direct snap to the running back. But even the plays where they're going to give it to the running back, the quarterback touches the ball. And nearly every quarterback throws the ball 20 to 30 times a week and they're going to get yards. So it's just. Do not fall into the, the trap of seeing what Aaron Rodgers does on a weekly basis because you can piece together, you can Frankenstein a quarterback. Well, it may not feel as glamorous as having Aaron Rodgers there in the starting roster when your opponent looks at who are they playing, oh crap, I'm playing Aaron Rodgers as opposed to, oh crap, I'm playing Colin Kaepernick who wasn't even a starting quarterback to begin the season.

[David Johnson]

But it doesn't matter and you can crush them there. I mean last year, every year and this coming year we will make our picks for streaming a quarterback off of the waiver wire. We go by the ESPN leagues and we go, hey, what? What quarterbacks are available in more than half of the leagues out there on waivers and who could play and start. And when we tracked this, we are our amalgamation of quarterback would have been the quarterback number six, the sixth best quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

Just from the waiver.

[David Johnson]

Just from the waiver wire. Do that with running backs. You can't try to try to play running backs off the waiver.

[Mike Wright]

The running back 44.

[David Johnson]

Yeah, if that.

[Jason Moore]

You know what wasn't glamorous. You talk about glamorous. Starting Drew Brees at the end of last year wasn't glamorous.

[David Johnson]

No.

[Jason Moore]

You would have been stuck doing it. And somebody like Sam Bradford finished the year with three amazing weeks where Breeze struggled during, you know, his end of season run. So three quick caveats to this. If you're in a two quarterback league, throw it out the window. The position scarcity argument's gone. You need two quarterbacks. You can still wait because there are a lot that produce. But you got to realize you need to start two. The second caveat value is still king. This does not mean you take this strategy and you punt quarterback to the end of your draft. Even when Aaron Rodgers is there in the sixth round, that would be foolish. You still want value to determine what you're doing. And then the last one is your goal is still to find a great quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[David Johnson]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

If you draft a late round quarterback, you still are looking to get somebody. You could start the majority of your weeks. Your goal isn't to find like have to put it all together. If you have a guy that can finish in the top three, you know, Cam Newton, Carson Palmer, guys that finished in the top five that you drafted really late over the last couple of years. Finding one of those is great, but you can only find one of those if you wait and you evaluate and do it like that.

[Mike Wright]

It's great to wait.

[Jason Moore]

Take a number of quarterbacks, take yours a little bit later in the draft. Jason, it's your turn.

[David Johnson]

Number eight, be a stalker. Yeah, yeah, be a stalker. And what I mean by that is track the other teams in your league. Track the league that is so important.

[Mike Wright]

From like the bushes of their house.

[David Johnson]

Yes. You need to sit nearby in the bushes and watch them mock draft to know what they're going to do. So this is draft related in your league, mate's. House. Whether it's just audio or visual, we need every piece.

[Mike Wright]

It's just Santa Claus coming through.

[David Johnson]

Don't mind me. Here's what tracking your league and quote being a stalker, being a draft stalker. It means at your draft you have to be paying attention to the other teams. Sometimes you can get tunnel vision when you're drafting. And even knowing this tip, sometimes you're so concerned about who your pick is going to be and which guys are left that you like that you don't pay attention to what the other teams in your league have. And you need to match this with where your draft position is. Okay. Because there's different strategies. Let's say you're at the turn, you're the first or the last pick, you know you're doing that double up pick. A lot of this you could throw out the window. What you'll want to track is the overall numbers of the entire league. How many total teams have a quarterback, how many total tight ends have gone off the board so that you can start the run as opposed to be on the last side of a tight end run or something like that late in the draft. Or let's say you're near the turn and you're picking at the seven or the eight spot in a 10 or 12 man league. Well, now when you're coming up to your two somewhat quick picks, you look at the other teams because you've tracked them. What I used to do is I used to come with a pad of paper and I would write every team on a different sheet and I'd mark those things down so that you can just look at a glance of what everybody's positions are already filled. And I can go, oh, this guy already has X amount of running backs. He's probably not going to take a running back. So I'll wait there. What this strategy does is it tells you what not to draft. It tells you I need to avoid drafting the wide receiver here because he's going to be able to come back around to me. And if you're not paying attention to the other teams in your league, then you're making a terrible mistake. And there's so many ways to do this. If you're doing a live draft or I'm sorry, an online draft, the software you're using, espn, it's already built in. You just need to click the drop down and look at the other teams and get in the habit of doing that. I used to bring that pad of paper. We've been talking about the draft day app. I Use that now and you can mark off everybody from there. So if you're at a live draft, get the draft day app that'll track everybody. But you want to make sure it.

[Jason Moore]

Helps you know where you can wait.

[David Johnson]

Exactly. Yeah. And it just gives you better value and if you're not paying attention to those things then you'll get tunnel vision. You'll be a little scared when it comes time for your pick and you won't get great value.

[Jason Moore]

So just for clarity, just for the audio record, your recommendation is to be a stalker and your name in full is Jason Moore.

[David Johnson]

I highly recommend being a stalker.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, well, moving on.

[Andy Holloway]

Number seven.

[Mike Wright]

Number seven. We're going to talk about leveling up with tears. Tier based drafting.

[David Johnson]

Drafting.

[Mike Wright]

You may have heard of us, may.

[Jason Moore]

Have heard of kind of a big.

[Mike Wright]

Deal leather bound books talking about this approach. And this approach gets you away from grabbing that one through 200 rankings and saying okay, this guy's 34 and the top 33 are gone. That means I have to take don't.

[David Johnson]

Draft from top 200 rankings. That's what our tip number one should have been that don't use top 200.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you can use baked into this one because if you're using tier based drafting you are, you're not doing right top 200 drafting and the way it works. So think of a tier as a bucket and this bucket holds players who are all going to at least we're projecting they will score a similar range of points. That helps you avoid the goo goo eyes of saying I have to take player X because they're just so amazing and if I miss out on them, I'm going to tilt in my draft because you go oh well he's right in the middle of that tier. There's guys who are very similar to him, very comparable to him. And it also helps you then when, when the, the draft is moving along, some running backs are going off some wide receivers. It's going to help you find that value where let's say everyone has gone really running back heavy, which I expect to happen this year because the pendulum is going to swing back too far away from wide receivers. And you see that when people are like who should I take? Number three overall, Antonio Brown. I mean he's still, he's still really good. So do not pass on the value. If the running back tier one is empty.

[Jason Moore]

Don't draft from tier bucket is empty.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, don't go to the second bucket while the wide receiver one bucket has still got plenty of guys like so it Just it helps you prioritize what position you need to be looking at, when to jump in on a tight end, when to jump in on a.

[Jason Moore]

Quarterback that is a great one to pair with. To be a stalker from Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Because if you're paying attention to your opponents and you know, hey, there's three guys in this bucket. But my opponents can only. The likelihood is they're only going to draft one of those guys from that bucket. You can wait, you don't need to necessarily take it. Or the opposite. Oh, I only got one guy left in this tier. I got to take them now before my opponents most assuredly are going to take them in the next round.

[David Johnson]

It's also a great one to pair with the, with the late round quarterback because people always go, well, what round? The round doesn't matter if you're in a two quarterback or one quarterback. If you're tier based drafting, then it won't matter. You'll just know, hey, I like this group of guys. I want to make sure I get one of this group of guys. And so when you know, let's say there's six guys in that group, that middle to late round group that you like, the Staffords and Rivers and Daltons and you know, if there's six guys in that group, well, as soon as two or three or four of those guys are off, depending on where you're at in the draft now you know when to take them.

[Jason Moore]

Yep, absolutely. So let's, let's go to number six.

[Andy Holloway]

Number six.

[Jason Moore]

Know your surroundings. Know your league. That is what I got for you at number six. This is about paying attention to the little things about your roster, about how your league settings work, about how you can exploit, yes, exploit, legally exploit the things that make your league your league.

[Mike Wright]

Go with maximize.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, maximize.

[David Johnson]

I go exploit.

[Jason Moore]

Let me put it this way. Let me give you an example. Let's say your league has an IR spot, okay? It's eligible for any player that is listed as out or ir. There are players. Devontae Booker is one of them, Will Fuller's one of them. This year more will show up and more will show up in the next few weeks. Sadly, there are players that if you are in your draft and you're in the last round and let's say we know for sure Will Fuller's coming back in two months. Now he's not a great example with the quarterback, but there will be players. Antonio Gates was one a couple of years ago. I'm trying to remember, the running back from the Giants was One of them, oh, it took him two months to come back into the regular season. But the point is this, if you have an IR spot, you can draft a player, slide him on your IR and then sign another guy. It lets you maximize your roster. Right? Maybe your league doesn't force you to roster a kicker in defense at your draft. So don't draft a kicker in a defense. Draft Two more Flyers, two more players that could explode in preseason Week 2, Week 3, and then all of a sudden you have more guys on your bench. Just wait till the regular season.

[David Johnson]

Yeah, we say don't draft a handcuff because they're not going to be great in week one. But that's the situation where, hey, take Robert Turbin, you know, with your last pick, instead of a defense, you'll drop them before the season starts to pick up a defense to play. But should Frank Gore go down in those two weeks, then you got.

[Jason Moore]

I'll add to that in season. If you don't need to keep a kicker and defense on your roster by requirement, you can kick those off at the end of the week, put two more of those handcuffs on your bench, wait until Friday just in case something happens, gives you another chance at maximizing your roster. And same thing goes for, you know, what are the maximums at each position allowed in your league? If you know that, then you know what your league mates are going to be able to do. Are there any other league rules that you can maximize? Slash, exploit.

[Mike Wright]

Exploit.

[Jason Moore]

But look, know your surroundings and know your league and it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to do that. If there's something you don't know, ask your commission. Get clarity. Figure it out beforehand. Because there are ways that you can take advantage of people that don't know that in your league or people that aren't as diligent and willing to do that.

[David Johnson]

So yeah, before we get to, before we get to number five here in.

[Jason Moore]

The top five, five through one.

[David Johnson]

Yeah. Definitely want to thank today's sponsor, fantasy champs. They are premium. Look, this is basically a tip as well. Like tip, you know, one a. When, when you destroy and win your league, when that happens, you need to commemorate that. You need to get that trophy. You need to put something up on that wall. I, I like the rings. Okay. When you, when you win, you put a ring on it. Right. Doesn't Beyonce have a song about.

[Mike Wright]

She certainly did. I mean, it not only displays your championship, but also is. Can be a protective item in a pinch.

[David Johnson]

Yeah. So look, if you won a hashtag Foot Clan title last year. Head over to fantasychamps.com make sure you can use the promo code baller to save 10%. Their rings are great. And check out their ring display box. We've got one of those in here. We should get this in the set somehow. Oh, so got the mirror back and the nice acrylic stand. Just check it out. You will be impressed. If you've already got a ring, display it fantasychamps.com yeah, and use the promo.

[Mike Wright]

Code Ballers, ballers, ballers.

[Jason Moore]

Get that 10% off. Also, we want to remind you about the ultimate draft kit. If you don't have it yet, hop in there. We got all our projections, we got the video profiles. We have consistency charts. So at a glance, you can see which guys have been consistent not only over last year, but over the course of their career. Case, you want to balance your roster, right? You want to get your roster.

[Mike Wright]

It's all about that construction of the roster.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you want to balance it out. And they're just ever updated, always updated. Better than a magazine. Ultimate draft kit dot com. Get that right now. Get prepped up for your draft. Let's go ahead and get back into the countdown.

[Andy Holloway]

Number five.

[David Johnson]

All right, number five, this is. I told you to name this. Drop it like it's hot to.

[Mike Wright]

But it's Drop Watch to Father time over there.

[David Johnson]

Drop Watch, which does, in fairness, make a lot more sense to what this tip is. So the Drop Watch, I mean, you're.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome that I changed the name, right?

[Jason Moore]

There you go.

[David Johnson]

This is really, really simple. But it is a. It's a tip that everybody that's played before, you're going to hear this. You're going to go, yes, I know I need to do this. Better watch.

[Mike Wright]

So be better.

[David Johnson]

So be better. Watch the players that are dropped, okay? Every day, you know, if you're in a fab league or maybe even if it's a waiver wire order priority thing, so long as it runs daily. Every day you come and you go, oh, who was taken? Who did players bid on? What prices did they go? But you know what you're not paying attention to too often is who did that other idiot drop to pick up this guy? And there's nothing more frustrating than when all of a sudden I come in and I see that Mike has picked up a player that I didn't notice was dropped. And I go, what, you got it for free off the waivers. How did I miss that? So whatever you have to do, just make it a habit in your routine or set A little daily timer if you've got one of those daily waiver wire times of days that your system runs. But when you're looking at that, pay attention to who has been dropped every year. I mean, you go back and look at who won the championship at your, you know, last year and you're going to see they picked up some guys on the, on the waiver wires that other fools dropped.

[Jason Moore]

You know what I dropped?

[David Johnson]

Joy Bell. And you.

[Mike Wright]

I'll say. Jason's talking to himself right now.

[David Johnson]

Yeah, this is a tip to me. Jason, pay attention to this one.

[Jason Moore]

There are two big times when I think that this is really important. One is when the waivers process, maybe it's Wednesday morning and you see the giant list of names of people signed and you just don't make the extra click to go look at the equal amount of players dropped. That is an important time. The other time that is so, so important. It's Sunday morning when people sign a player to play that day. Everybody gets caught up in all the big names of who performed that weekend. And those are your waiver wire pickups. And nobody notices that there were three or four guys dropped that are also should be considered in that list. But no one's talking about them because on Sunday, five names blew up and those are the guys that become your waiver wire pickups. And you don't.

[David Johnson]

And the reality is that when those Sunday drops happen, a lot of times those are better players being dropped because of necessity. They're going, shoot, I had a bye week. I had this other injury. They try to sneak through this guy. Yeah, they try to sneak. Drop. Don't let them drop.

[Jason Moore]

Don't let them drop.

[David Johnson]

Watch. Drop it like a ha.

[Andy Holloway]

Number four.

[Mike Wright]

What is happening?

[David Johnson]

Great Scott.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you so much, Christopher, because we're talking about backs.

[David Johnson]

To the future.

[Jason Moore]

Number four is because to the future.

[Mike Wright]

Running backs are crucial. They are crucial to your team and to your future. Yes. Into your future hashtag foot clan title. And we're not just talking about all running backs. You're talking about the top. The top running running backs. And when I leave a draft, of course, know your.

[Jason Moore]

Everyone's happy, you're out the door. Yeah, of course. It's a good thing.

[Mike Wright]

We've already talked about. Know your surroundings, know your league settings and your scoring formats. But almost always I will leave my draft with more running backs than I have wide receivers because I know the value of a top running back and I know that, that those middle tier wide receivers are a dime a dozen. They are on the Waiver wire. They are free to just grab and play every single week. We made the joke about trying to stream a top running back and it's impossible. You can, you can stream your wide receiver three.

[David Johnson]

Yeah, they're.

[Mike Wright]

They're readily available for you. Meanwhile, when you look at this, the, the final scoring of running backs, a cliff happens every single year right around the edge of the running back twos. While you see the wide receiver scoring just, it just ticks down. It's a nice little staircase. Meanwhile, there's the cliff of death for the running backs. And that's why I load up on them. Especially like, I don't want to draft a kicker, I don't want to draft a defense. I want running backs who can possibly get an opportunity, because when that opportunity comes, everyone's throwing their entire fabric at these players. And I want them already on my roster. I want Robert Turbin on my roster in case something happens to Frank Gore. I want James Conner on my bench already in case something happens to Le'Veon Bell. Because once the injury has happened to a star player, it's already too late. It's too late. You've lost unless you have all your fab.

[Jason Moore]

Another example of that would be a guy like Mark Ingram who's slipping to the 10th round. In a lot of drafts where you have the choice, you can, you can draft maybe your wide receiver three there or you can take a shot on a guy whose role doesn't seem to be, like, written in stone, but is a productive and has been a productive running back. You just might like. That's one of my problems is I don't like drafting a guy without a defined role. But you've shown year in and year out that having those guys in your bench has always played dividends paid, paid out dividends.

[David Johnson]

Yeah. I mean, if you look at the alternative, you know, you finish your draft, you go into week one, and all of a sudden you need, you know, like you said about the waiver wire, you need to pick someone up to start. Okay, pick up Robbie Anderson. He, you know, he's, he's going to be out there. He's probably the number one wide receiver. Play him and you'll get points. Pick up Cameron Artist Payne and like, get.

[Jason Moore]

Don't do that.

[David Johnson]

Yeah, no, that's my point. It's like when you're after, after your draft, you are never going to be in a situation where you're sad that you've got enough running backs because of the waiver wire. You don't need as Many wide receivers, as you think. When you're in those middle late rounds and you're loading up on wide receivers, you're doing it wrong.

[Mike Wright]

When I make a trade, if I'm giving away running back, I always get a running back in return. Maybe it's not the same level or same quality of running back, but I want someone who I can at least start because they're all going to be rostered. Finding running backs is so very difficult throughout the year. And when I say that, of course the waiver wire guys pop up, but everyone now is targeting that running back. Your competition is 11 other people instead of no. 1.

[David Johnson]

Right. And all this advice is still, again, for, you know, the vast majority, the 95% of leagues. But if you are in a full PPR 3 wide receiver, only 2 running back 2 flex, then sure, you know, you need to know your league. It doesn't work for every league, but usually this is right.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's move on.

[Andy Holloway]

Number three.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I got this one and I named it master of Trades. Okay? How can you be the master of trades? Trading, Sandy trading is one of my favorite things. I've always got the most transactions completed in our league because, look, part of it is persistence, right? And that doesn't mean you're wearing somebody down with terrible offers, but it means.

[Mike Wright]

That you're being creative, means you're wearing everyone down.

[Jason Moore]

It means you're being creative repeatedly. That's what persistence means.

[David Johnson]

I feel like to interject here, I actually thought about this the other day. Not nothing related to this show or this tip, but I was thinking you just put in so much more time looking at how to improve your team. You know, you look at other rosters and think, how can I make my team better? You just do that a whole lot more than most people.

[Jason Moore]

So that's part of that persistence.

[Mike Wright]

Andy takes the approach, he's like, you know how Realtors cold, cold mail snail mail out the flyers like, hey, think about selling your house. Like, no. Because 99 out of a hundred people are like, no, I'm not thinking about. But there's that one person, one.

[David Johnson]

Andy nabs them.

[Mike Wright]

And when you find that one person is really valuable for you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, maybe I get a little bit of excitement out of the reactions of league mates when trades go down. But look, here's the deal. Remember the value. Here's one of the keys to being a master of trades. Remember the value of a 2 for 1 and a 3 for 2 trade where you are giving up more pieces than you are getting in return. Because what this allows you to accomplish in a two for one trade is one, you're always getting the best player in the deal. Two, you have more of an ability to meet another team's needs. If you look at your opponent and you say, wow, they've got a hole here and they got a hole here, I'm going to give them a couple of pieces, I'm going to make the case to them that this fills a couple needs and I'm going to get the best player in return. Then I guess what you got, you got an open roster spot in a two for one, a three for two. You've got a spot, even a three for one. You've got two spots that you can use the waiver wire and all of your research and you know, players that you can pick up and take flyers on. It's not really a two for one because you could just substitute that waiver wire pickup name in for your blank spot. So two for one and three for one trades. Three for two trades. I love those. You know, you always get that benefit of adding the extra player. Another tip. Trade players when their production level is unsustainable. Sometimes you have multiple weeks earlier in the season where, look, if the player did that for three, that three game span for the whole season, they would break NFL records most of the time. That's an unsustainable pace. And it's hard to trade guys at that point.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, it is.

[Jason Moore]

It's very hard because you, you think, oh, what if he, what if he does?

[Mike Wright]

If he did.

[Jason Moore]

What if he did break every record in the entire NFL and have 44 touchdowns? But it doesn't happen. So if you want to trade a player, trade him. When a player, trade for players or trade players that don't have sustainable levels of production. And like I said, be persistent. You can help shape the opinion of your league mates about your players. Drop a little stat, drop a little information, talk about a guy. Look, it's an influential type of thing. You have to be persuasive when you trade and that doesn't mean deceiving somebody. That means being persuasive and meeting another team's needs. Don't offer crap that doesn't. There's no angle, right? You need an angle when you trade. So if you can figure out that angle, it's going to give you an advantage and you can become the master of trades. All right, let's move on.

[David Johnson]

Number two, you don't win your fantasy championship at the draft and you certainly do not win it with your first two round picks. I've said this a million times before. This is like my. If I get a tattoo, I just get that on my back. You don't win the lower back. Yes. Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly. Right over the butterfly that I have there.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You got to cover up the butterfly.

[David Johnson]

Yeah. That's embarrassing at this point in my life. So here's the deal. You don't win the championship at your draft. You've heard me say this. This is personal to me because, you know, back in the, you know, when I used to run my old business, I get so excited for fantasy football. I would spend the time right now just like you listening are doing. I'd listen to podcasts, I'd get my magazines, you know, and I would, I would put in the work and I'd be so excited and I'd have a great draft. But then I would taper off and I would stop paying attention. I would stop listening. You know, I would watch some games on Sunday and I would finish, you know, at or near the playoffs and then I'd, you know, lose week one in the champ, you know, in the playoffs. What changed is the fact that to me.

[Jason Moore]

What's that to me, you would lose to me.

[David Johnson]

Yeah, well, you are in my division and oftentimes it was to you a long time ago. And the reality is you need to change your approach and be consistent throughout the year. You can't just put in all the work at the draft. You don't win your championship there. You never do. Now you can lose it. You can mess up and not have a foundation that is good enough to get you there. But it's about the trades like Andy was talking about. It's about the waiver wire pickups. It is so much about the start sit decisions that you make week in, week out that get you the victories. You need to make sure that you're going long term through the season and you don't bail out after draft season. But since it is draft season, I also wanted to remind people, don't care so much about your first two round picks. You go over and over and you think, okay, should I go running back, running back, wide receiver, running back, running back, wide receiver, wide receiver, wide receiver. Who cares to say? If you want to build drafting two quarterbacks, if you, if you want to build a foundation that will not lose your championship at the draft, then you need to go deeper. You need to look deeper at what, who are good values that you like in the eighth round, in the ninth round, in the 10th round, in the sixth round. Those are where at the, at the draft level. Let me, let me read you some names here. Okay, Let me read you some names and you tell me what they all have in common from last year. Eddie lacy, Jamal Charles, Dez Gronk, Alan Robinson, DeAndre Hopkins, Lamar Miller, Todd Gurley, Adrian Peterson.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to go with, these are.

[Jason Moore]

Top two round picks.

[David Johnson]

Those are all top two round picks who sucked last year. And you know what's going to happen this year?

[Jason Moore]

There's going to be some.

[David Johnson]

There's going to be that many top two round picks that stunk, and plenty of people who drafted those guys won their championship because they did well throughout the rest of the draft and they paid attention through the season and they picked up the right waiver wire. We want to bring people, hashtag Foot Clan titles. So look deeper in your draft, be more prepared there, and then don't bail out after draft season.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's good advice. And I think the thing there is, if you did draft a couple of those names, you might have been, you might have been sitting on your pedestal thinking you're set, set to go.

[David Johnson]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And not been as diligent in later rounds because you snagged the big two names in the first two.

[David Johnson]

But you were smart enough to grab Michael Crabtree in the 8th last year.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[David Johnson]

And you were fine when Hopkins didn't pan out.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. All right, let's go ahead and move on to number one.

[Andy Holloway]

Number one.

[Jason Moore]

It was. No, it was number one. The guy said so. Look, this one we're all going to jump in on here. This is what this show is all about. I mean, Jason talked about, it's not just the draft. We're a year round fantasy football podcast for a reason. Not because you have to listen to us all year long, but you might want to. And we wanted to. And that's why we did this, starting this years ago. Because, look, it is more, and this might be hard to believe, it is more than wins or losses. It is about enjoying your league, enjoying your season. And Mike, the other day I asked you, why do you play fantasy football?

[Mike Wright]

Because it's fun.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So there are a lot of ways that we think you can do this, that you can make it more about wins and losses so that each year is very rewarding. Look, it's just like the NFL. There's only one title winner at the end of the year. Now, we're going to do our best to help you make the right decision so you can get that hashtag Foot Clan title every year. But here's the deal. There are a lot of Foot Clan leagues out there. People listening to this show, all Foot Clan members. Only one of you is going to win that league this year. So what are some ways that we can make our leagues better each and every year so that we're enjoying ourselves, so that we're being great commissioners. What are some of the things that we can do?

[David Johnson]

Well, one. One thing, and you just alluded to [e-mail] is have great people playing with you, right? So that means playing with people who are more educated at fantasy football, who enjoy talking about it more, share some resources, whether it's maybe your friends don't know about Rotoworld, the app. Tell them. I know it seems like it seems you're giving away your secrets, but when you give away your secrets a little bit, I mean, I'm not talking about. You don't share everything. I remember back in the day, you'd always have that year one when you got a new. When you got a new source, you'd be like, oh, Mike, I got a new source. Yeah, I ain't telling you nothing.

[Jason Moore]

But I don't even think when you play with good people in your league, it's more about getting people that are going to be committed too. It's not necessarily all sharing that resource or one resource or the other. It's just making sure you're not in a league with three committed people and seven people that auto draft and don't participate the rest of the year. You also need to find a way. One of the ways to do that is just facilitating good communication in your league. We've done this through Facebook groups, we've done this through Slack channels. We've done this in environments where, look, you're not relying on somebody to log in and find a message board that you know is hard to find. Sleeper bot their leagues, that's one nice thing about them. There's an open chat channel in there you're not going to miss.

[David Johnson]

News, other things that make for a fun league. Trust your gut. You know what I mean? Like, if you've got a guy this draft season that you think he is going to break out. But you know what? The three of us or other analysts, we disagree with you trust your gut. Draft him. We're not going to be right about everything. No one is. And so when you hit, when you get that guy, that's like, I knew it.

[Mike Wright]

I told you.

[David Johnson]

You know, you end up with A fat head on the wall of that player. You know, you got the championship belt around your waist, the rings on your hand. It just feels good. It's fun.

[Jason Moore]

Trust yourself. It's also more fun to win with players you enjoy rooting for a lot of the times, or as Mike would say, it's real bad to lose the players that you hate a la Doug Martin last year.

[Mike Wright]

I say it's more about that because it's, you know, it's dangerous. It's always dangerous when you are just like, oh, I really, really like this guy, so I want to make sure he's on my team. But when you dislike or just you don't believe in a particular player and then you go all in on them.

[Jason Moore]

Anyways, that really, you get peer pressured into.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Yeah, exactly.

[Jason Moore]

Buying in on somebody. You don't.

[Mike Wright]

What Jason's saying.

[Jason Moore]

You know how this show got started? This show started. The initial seed that built this podcast was basically Mike and I made a podcast for our individual league for 12 other owners or 10 other owners. We made a podcast once a week. We talked for 15, 20 minutes. We talked crap about the other league members and ourselves. We made fun of the things, but it brought the league together. Look, you want to have fun, you want to stay connected, you want to buy in, you want to respond to people's trades, you want to just take a little bit of pride in your league and it will improve the experience for every single person.

[David Johnson]

I also think, you know, we haven't really said this before. I don't think we've told people do this, but I want to tell people do this. I encourage you, if it is at all possible to do live drafts when you can get your friends and family or workers or whatever at the same place, as opposed to online drafts. Now, sometimes you have to. And there's nothing wrong with online drafts. We're going to do an online draft for the listener league. It would be impossible to not do that. But you have so much more fun when you've got that event when you're making it this time where you get together and you see your buddies and, you know, one or two can't be there, whatever, Skype them in, get on a Google hangout, you know, or whatever. Don't let that say, well, two guys can't. So we can't get this group together. Those events, they're just fun, you know, we're all becoming adults in our lives.

[Jason Moore]

You know, says 35 year old man.

[David Johnson]

Oh, I'm still 18 at heart, you know, and so you know, we don't have great events, you know, to do every year, you know, so it's just one of those days to look forward.

[Jason Moore]

I'm gonna count them back and then we're gonna jump into our best ball segment, give you some Today we're going to give you some late round best ball targets in our best ball segment. So pay attention to that. Number 10, don't get sentimental. Number nine, quarterbacks, you can take a number, you can draft them late. Number eight, adjacent special. Be a draft stalker. Pay attention to the other teams in your league. Number seven, Mike talked all about tiers, all right, Level up your draft game by drafting with tears. Number six, I said know your surroundings and know your league. Find the things that you can maximize within your league settings. Number five was drop watch. Pay attention to those players dropped throughout the week. The guys that sneak onto the waiver wire. Maybe nobody notices. Number four was backs to the future. All right, Your future fantasy football success is going to be dependent on your realization of the value of the running back position. Number three talked about trading. Be a master of trades. Understand that 2 for ones, 3 for twos. Those are an advantage for you. You get the best player back, you got an extra spot to fill off the waiver wire. Number two, Jason talked about not winning your entire league at the draft and certainly not in those first two rounds. Look, guys are going to bust. You got to pay attention to the later ends. Got to pay attention on the waiver wire through trading and all that stuff. And the number one look, it's more than wins or losses. Find some ways to take pride in your league, make it a more enjoyable experience. Upgrade that experience every single year. And there are a lot of ways to do that. And you'd be surprised. You can get the league to buy in on some of those. Let's say you want one of those sweet league trophies. Well, like you got 12 guys that can throw five bucks in and get a sweet league trophy and get it engraved every year. Have some pride in your league and hopefully you enjoyed those top 10 tips and tricks for this season. Let's go ahead and talk a little best ball.

[Andy Holloway]

Best ball bonanza brought to you by play draft.

[Jason Moore]

All right, Every Friday we're talking best ball DFS got the play draft segment. You can go to playdraft.com Ballers get a free entry into a best ball league if you are so inclined, which we are so inclined. Look, late round best ball targets. You're talking about players who, when drafted in best ball leagues could pay Dividends from week to week. Maybe not redraft targets because their consistency levels aren't there, but their best ball targets because they might pop every three or four weeks.

[David Johnson]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And you're going, these are guys you can get in the double digit.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Deep basketball target.

[Mike Wright]

And they might give you two to three weeks of humongous production and jump into your starting roster.

[David Johnson]

Yep. So if we're going super deep, I'm going to go with Anquan Bolden as a name I'll throw out there because, you know with Tyrod Taylor, he will catch. He'll probably catch five or six touchdowns. And when you're super late in those drafts, I mean, those are the ways to. To get those late guys in your roster to have them score is they got in the paint.

[Mike Wright]

Zay Jones looked pretty good yesterday, too.

[David Johnson]

I love Zay Jones.

[Mike Wright]

And I'll throw out a name here. He is a really forgotten man of the Pittsburgh Steelers who flashed huge playability. Sammy Coates. He was activated off the PUP a couple days ago and trust me, people are completely writing him off because of last year. But he had a huge laceration. Huge problem with his hand. For a guy who already has a difficult time catching the ball, adding a giant laceration is not going to make it easier. But he should be all healed up, ready to go.

[Jason Moore]

Now. There's.

[Mike Wright]

He's still just as fast.

[Jason Moore]

There's a chance he could be cut, though. Yeah, him or Justin Hunter are going to fight for that last spot. But yeah, no, it's a good name because people will certainly take the news that it's coming out now. If he makes the roster, he's a great target because he can get deep.

[Mike Wright]

Tyler Lockett, round 18.

[Jason Moore]

Tyler Lockett, Chris Hogan.

[David Johnson]

Chris Hogan is a great. You guys realize he's still a starting wide receiver for Tom Brady. But because there's other. You don't have to pick the right.

[Mike Wright]

You got shiny, you got Brandon Cooks.

[Jason Moore]

Now Chris Hogan, J.J. nelson. We talk all about the Arizona situation. J.J. nelson is going to run a nine route four to five times a game. And if you throw the ball up to him, he can put up big numbers in basketball leagues and he's going to be free.

[David Johnson]

He's a perfect example of like, I do not like J.J. nelson in red. Never going to take him. Because I don't think you'll ever be confident enough to say, okay, I'm going to start him. But in a basketball league, man, that is Del. I mean, you don't ever have to start him. It's great.

[Jason Moore]

I think he was going to say that's delicious.

[David Johnson]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Or delightful.

[David Johnson]

It's delightious.

[Jason Moore]

Or delicious. Other targets a little bit earlier maybe Desean Jackson, he's a great best ball target. Ted Gain Jr absolutely. I love Michael Keaton, too. Kenny Stills is another guy, especially with Jay Cutler and his willingness to chuck it, his ability, his ability to chuck it.

[Mike Wright]

And Parker is going to move up ADP because other people out there are going to see what Jay Cutler is doing as well, which Kenny Stills could be move the other direction because of it.

[Jason Moore]

All right, we're going to have a bunch of great shows next week. We're going to be talking about, look, preseason week two. Saw a few games, got a bunch more this weekend. We'll talk about all the fallout that happens, good and bad. And our My Guys episode, it's coming up. Yeah, we'll get some voice lessons before the episode and we'll take care of that. Hey, keep it right here. Thanks for your listenership support. We'll see you on Monday. Goodbye.

[David Johnson]

He did.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, goodbye, everybody.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter the FFballers.