THE FANTASY DRAFT SECRET: #2

Khaled Zaher - NextPlay Sports
So, look. It's your fantasy football world, you've just allowed us to be in it. We can tell you why to take Dez Bryant as the first WR off the board, or why not to touch Desean Jackson, but you're going to take who you want to take. Fine. Deal. That's great. 
This series of articles are designed to tell you some of our most prized and secretive draft strategies that we abide by. But since we like you, we thought we would share. So. Here. We. Go. 
 
NUMBER 2: ROSTER > STARTER LINE UP

​My underlining philosophy when drafting is that my focus is to build the best roster not starting lineup. For the next week of articles I am going to explain this philosophy in greater detail but for now I am going to explain the surface of the idea. When entering the draft a lot of fantasy players draft their starters first not really caring about best available or depth at positions until their starters are all picked. The “starters” you pick in the draft will not be your starters for your fantasy line up for the year, that’s just a fact. All kinds of things can go wrong (or right) that move players up, down or off your roster.

​You must be flexible when entering a draft because no two drafts are the same. Drafting best available is the best way to remain flexible and is always a good idea especially early in drafts. If you feel the by far best player on the board is a WR in the 3rd but you already have chosen two other WRs go ahead take the 3rd WR as your flex. You now have the best flex in the league and are at least set at the two starting WR spots weekly. By drafting best available player early instead of drafting your 6 starters in the first 6 rounds you will have an advantage over your league mates on a weekly basis.

Drafting depth is key to a good team and as long as you have quality depth on your roster, you can have a successful season. Fantasy is a weekly game not a yearly one, so you don’t have to beat everyone in your league every week just the one team you are facing. Having depth on your roster helps you have the best possible lineup weekly when bye weeks and injuries hit your team. Poor play from your starter will push these bench players to your starting lineup and you much have quality depth of players to play when needed. You can also trade a position of strength for a position of weakness during the season to improve your team. This is much easier to do when you have depth on your bench to trade away or to replace traded starter in your lineup.

​While others in your league are drafting their “starters” it is your job, no your duty, to draft the best possible roster so you can set it for weekly matchups and have tradable players to improve your roster during the season.