HOW TO PICK AN EFFICIENT TEAM
Sandwiched between pre-season and regular season games is the 2021 NFL fantasy football draft, a highlight for many NFL fans. Fantasy football leagues allow everyday folks the opportunity to live out their coaching dreams. Leagues range from ultra-competitive to friendly family fun. Drafting an efficient team can be a daunting task, so here’s a few tips!
Quarterbacks
A good QB will potentially lead your team to the top while a bad one will put you in a deep hole and possibly at the bottom of the standings. In a PPR league (Extra Points For Rushing And Total Yards), you want a QB who can guarantee high yardage count per game (Mahomes, Rodgers, Allen), or a QB who will get rushing yards (Jackson, Allen, Jones). These QBs, with the exception of Jones, will likely go in the first two rounds in the draft. Personally, I play in a PPR League, and I select WR or RB in the first two rounds. However, in a standard league, QBs are a hot commodity. Therefore, any one of these listed QBs can lead your team to victory.
Running Backs
RBs anchor teams in a PPR League, so there’s a lot to consider. Some RBs will split carries with other RBs (Chubb, A. Jones, Ekeler), while others are the clear-cut RB1 for their teams (Elliot, Henry, McCaffery). PPR leagues reward RBs for catches AND receiving yards; therefore, selecting a RB who can run and catch is essential to success. Usually, every 10 receiving yards equals one point and you receive a bonus point for a reception. If your RB averages six receptions a game and averages fifty yards a game, you score eleven points on receiving alone. Add this to rushing totals and touchdowns and you can rack up an average of twenty-five points a game.
Wide Receivers
WRs are the X-Factors in fantasy leagues. If your QB struggles, your RB can’t get going, and you can’t score points, there’s always a chance your WRs may torch the other team. But there is a certain risk with receivers. One week, Julio Jones, arguably the best receiver in the league, may have 150 yards and 3 TDs, but the next week he might squeak out 30 yards and no touchdowns. So you want consistency. You need a WR who will guarantee you a minimum of 10 points a week. Such candidates include Adams, Diggs, Hopkins, and Godwin. These receivers are the first options for their teams and should be on your draft short list.
Tight Ends
Finally we wrap up with the fantasy football wild cards aka the TEs. Very few TEs make great fantasy contributors. On one end of the spectrum you have Travis Kelce, an elite scorer and touchdown machine. On the opposite end is Marcedes Lewis, who is a good blocker, but blocks won’t score fantasy points. A good scoring TE like a consistent WR is hard to find. If a TE isn’t a number one or number two option for their respective teams, they aren’t worth the risk. Athletic tight ends like Kelce, Kittle, and newcomer Pitts are big receiving targets and are great options in the third or fourth round.
