Have a strategy. Do not walk into your draft blind not knowing what direction your team is going. Do not be the person who uses the entire clock, “even on your first pick” to make selections. This draft will affect your mood and happiness for the rest of 2011; do not play with your emotions. Here are a few strategies that will make you better prepared for your draft.
BEST AVAILABLE – Look at your cheat sheet and take the player who is next available. There isn’t too much thinking to it and you lower your risk of reaching on a player. Obviously you would balance out your team with players from every position, but do not be afraid if your first three picks are all Running Backs or all Wide Receivers, trust your strategy.
For your cheat sheet I suggest to make sure it’s an ADP (Average Draft Position) list. It’s an average of when a player is selected in mock drafts, I much rather go with ADP list than a cheat sheet compiled by a single person.
ALLOTTING A POSITION WITH DRAFT ROUND – If you know your draft position ahead of time, this is a great plan to use. Most leagues however you will know at most an hour before the start of your draft, therefore you trust your preset positions and the round you selected. Here is an example.
1-RB 2-QB 3-WR 4-RB 5-RB 6-WR 7-TE 8-WR
Of course pending on your league settings you would want to accurately set up when you draft each position. This strategy keeps you on pace with filling your roster with the needed players, but if a player your high on falls to you, could be tempted to break your plan.
These are two good strategies for people who do not have much experience or get extremely nervous at a draft. Here are a few more tips you can use on draft day
Running Backs on teams you expect to have poor seasons are bad investments. Hard for a team to establish the run down two touchdowns or more in the 3rd quarter in comparison to a Running Back on a team that is winning and racks up yards in the second half.
An elite Wide Receiver is not so elite if you do not trust his Quarterback or offensive system to get him the football. Larry Fitzgerald could be considered the best WR in the league; even the great Larry Fitzgerald could only do so much with Derek Anderson, Max Hall, and John Skelton throwing the ball.
Do not undervalue your Kicker, have your kicker play on the same team as your top Running Back or Quarterback is my personal preference, if the drive stalls you can rely on your kicker to give you some points you would have otherwise lost for not scoring a touchdown.
Good Luck with your draft!