Elena Gonzalez

Do’s:

1. Draft a Workhorse Running Back

Exiting the first three rounds of your fantasy football draft with at least one running back is essential. The further you get into the draft, the quicker you’ll notice the dropoff in the quality of the position. I recommend drafting a running back who is truly their team’s “only” running back to be your starting running back (RB1). 

You want a running back that will take a large majority (75% or more) of their team’s snaps in any game. You don’t want your RB1 to be a running back that will come off the field when their team is on the goalline and surrender a touchdown to the backup or come off the field on third down and let another RB rack up catches. So, before your draft, research which running backs have little to no competition for touches in their offense, and make that running back one of your first three picks.

2.  Wait on a Quarterback (If you Miss Out on Allen)

If Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is still available at your pick in the third or fourth round of your draft, you don’t hesitate to take him, he is the exception to this rule. It is okay to wait on a quarterback this year. While that may seem counterintuitive, there are quality starting QBs in fantasy football in the double-digit rounds. Reaching too early on a quarterback could end up costing you in the end. The difference in weekly fantasy points between a mid-round QB such as Dak Prescott and a late-round QB such as Kirk Cousins or Aaron Rodgers is not enough to justify missing out on a young RB or WR with solid upside.

3. Come Out of Your Draft With at Least One Rookie

Rookies have a lot of unknowns, but it has the highest upside of any pick you have in fantasy football. If you don’t come out of your draft with at least one rookie player, you’ll be kicking yourself down the line.

Never forget, Justin Jefferson was going in the 13-14th rounds of fantasy football drafts his rookie year, and then proceeded to put up an 88-1,400-7 stat line, finishing as the WR6 on the year. 

Whether it’s an early-round rookie like WRs Marvin Harrison Jr. or Malik Nabers, or late-round rookie RBs like Trey Benson or Blake Corum, just make sure you grab one before your fantasy draft is over.

4. Handcuff Your First Round Pick (And Maybe Other Manager’s Picks)

Having an insurance policy for your first-round pick is so important. Nothing can ruin a fantasy football season faster than your first-round pick going down with an injury and having no backup plan for it. If you draft an RB in the first round, draft their backup in the later rounds. For example, if you draft Bijan Robinson, make sure you grab Tyler Allgeier at the end of your draft. There is also some merit to drafting a backup of one of your league mate’s first-round picks, as you could use that player as trade bait if their first-round pick gets injured.

Don’ts:

1. Wait Until the End of the Preseason

Drafting early is one of the easiest mistakes to avoid, but also one of the most commonly made. Injuries, trades and sometimes even surprise retirements can happen before the pre-season ends. Simply put: just don’t draft before the last pre-season game, it’s not worth it.

2. Grab a Defense Early

While there are some elite fantasy defenses, it is rarely worth it to draft one early. I have won multiple fantasy leagues by picking up a different defense every week based on which team they were playing (usually whatever team has the worst offense in the NFL). If the opportunity presents itself to draft a top-five defense for a good value, take it, but don’t reach.

3. Draft Kyle Pitts

Don’t. Just don’t. Every year we’re told that the Kyle Pitts breakout is incoming, and it never does. This might legitimately be the year, I can’t deny that, but until Pitts shows us he’s worth drafting, it’s not worth taking the risk on him, even in the worst position in fantasy.