Fantasy Football 101

If you are a seasoned fantasy football veteran, you already know the basics of fantasy football. This article will give you a couple of tips that even players who have been in the game longer than Brett Favre can still use. FFToolbox.com has everything (yes I am a company man) from strategy articles, to weekly rankings, to predictions, to the excellent weekly podcast (available on Itunes) hosted by Ben Standig featuring the best experts in the industry; FFToolbox has everything fantasy owners need to keep up with the constantly changing fantasy football landscape.

Can fantasy football get any bigger than it has over the past couple seasons? If this is your first fantasy football experience, here are the basics to get you going. Fantasy football is basically this: you join a league with other owners, draft a group of NFL players to fulfill certain position requirements, and then each week during the NFL regular season you face off against another person in a head-to-head matchup. Your team earns points based on your players' performance in the real NFL games. If you outscore your opponent, you win; it is that simple. Fantasy football is extremely addicting, you've been warned newbie.

If you want to manage your fantasy team to the top of the fantasy football mountain it is a long arduous climb, but with these tips you will be well on your way to a fantasy championship.

Pre Draft: Strategy and rankings

Make sure you do your homework! If you don't print out rankings or read up on players, I guarantee you will not have a competitive fantasy team. There are no bad fantasy owners except the ones who don't take the time to try. Take time to evaluate players and select your targets before your league's draft. The best way to ensure that you draft the best possible fantasy team is to come up with your own rankings and a strategy ahead of time. It is okay to stray from the strategy from time to time during the draft, but at least try to stick to your original plan. No matter how many "expert" opinions you may hear or read, the bottom line is that it is your team, we can't make the picks for you. Its all up to you, so my suggestion is to value the players as you see fit in your rankings. The experts aren't always right, trust me.

Draft: Know your league rules

NFL coaching legend Bill Parcells once said, "They want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries." Your fantasy draft is where you get to shop for your very own groceries and build a championship caliber fantasy squad.

The most important day of the entire fantasy season is the draft. Make sure before the draft that you know your league rules and scoring rules. Why is this important? Well, how many players and at what positions does your league start every week? Is your league a point-per-reception league? How many points are touchdown passes worth, 4 or 6? Does you league count return yardage? How players are valued can vary greatly based on your league's unique scoring rules. Not knowing them ahead of time can set you back.

Draft: Strategy

We talked about having a strategy earlier, here is what I mean. Depending on where you are picking in the first round, who will you target? An elite RB, a WR or a QB? With the seven elite quarterbacks (Rodgers, Vick, Brady, Rivers, Brees Manning, and Romo) then a considerable drop off, do you want to target one of them in the early rounds? With a select class of elite fantasy wide receivers, how many do you want to make sure you draft? With so much depth at the tight end position, do you want to draft an elite one, or wait till the later rounds? All of these are important questions that you must take into account when drafting.

Draft: Take chances in the late rounds

Taking chances and risks in the early rounds is a recipe for disaster, taking them in the late rounds is a recipe for success. If you draft veterans in the late rounds, you aren't doing yourself any favors, because they have virtually no upside. Taking chances on rookies and young players with upside in the late rounds is the way to go. There are no bad upside picks in the late rounds because if they don't pan out you can just cut them, no big loss. If one of your lottery ticket picks turns into a breakout fantasy performer then it was worth the risk late in your draft. Don't be afraid to take chances late in your draft, you never know who will turn into the next Chris Johnson or Arian Foster.

Preseason: What to watch and what not to

The key things to watch for in training camp and the preseason are injuries, holdouts and who is stepping into a larger role in their team's offense. Teams are very often vague about players' injuries in the preseason, so monitor a player's progress when recovering from an early injury.

When it comes to holdouts like Tennessee Titans star running back Chris Johnson this preseason, they must be monitored closely. If a player's holdout extends into the season, it will have a tremendous effect on the fantasy value of the talent surrounding them. For example, if Johnson holds out, his backup Javon Ringer becomes the starter and has fantasy value until Johnson returns.

Fantasy owners should not read too much into preseason stats. Often times, the huge performances we see in the preseason are coming against second string defenses and players who will not make their team's rosters. The guys to watch are players like Denver running back Willis McGahee or San Diego running back Mike Tolbert -- examples of players who are stepping into larger roles in their teams offenses.

In season management: Wavier Wire Wonders

You had a great draft, now get to work scouring the wavier wire! Just ask any fantasy owner who picked up Peyton Hillis or LeGarrette Blount last season how important the wavier wire is. The wavier wire is a treasure chest loaded with hidden gems if you know where to look. Injuries and depth chart adjustments can turn a player with no value but a ton of upside into serious fantasy assets quickly. Keep tabs on the top performers from the previous week; if they are worth a pickup, do not be afraid to get them.

In season management: Bye weeks and injuries

The number one rule in fantasy football is that you never start a player on a bye week. Fantasy owners need to be aware of when they are, and have a replacement ready to fill in. Same thing with injuries; if a player is unlikely to play, he is better off on your bench (even if he plays, he will be limited). One tricky aspect of fantasy football is when it comes to injuries and the late west coast games. If a player is an injury question mark and is playing in one of the later games of the day, you are better off sitting him in favor of a healthy player than finding out five minutes before the late game that your injured player is out, leaving you with no backup to play.

In season management: Be patient with struggling studs:

Last year (for example) many fantasy owners were frustrated with Matt Forte early in the season because he was not producing at the elite level he had the year before as a rookie. However, it was too early to jump ship just because of a couple of bad performances. I've always said there is a reason you drafted this guy in the early rounds, you have to be patient and eventually he will turn it around. Forte was a major bust last season who never turned it around, so eventually there reaches a point where you have to cut bait with a guy. Though, at least early in the season give players the benefit of the doubt, and hope they turn it around if they are struggling. We've all had bad days right?

In season management: Trading: Buy Low, Sell High

If you know anything about the stock market, you are aware of the basic philosophy: Buy low, sell high. When is the right time to buy when you are talking about fantasy players? The right time is when you see a player is being undervalued. If the player is truly better than his current value, his "stock" will eventually rise and reflect his true value. When looking to trade, identify players who are undervalued, and that you believe can turn it around to help your fantasy squad. When is the right time to sell? The right time to sell is when a player's value is at its peak (especially if they are overachieving).

In season management: Trading: Trade from a strength

A big problem (especially for new fantasy owners) is knowing where to start when making a trade offer. The answer is that you always want to deal from a position of strength. You want to make a deal that will strengthen your weaknesses by trading away some of your strengths. For example if you are in need of a wide receiver, trading your backup quarterback to a team in need of a starter for one of his wide receivers makes sense.

Hopefully fantasy owners can take away something from these tips that will help them become better fantasy players. Remember that a lot of fantasy football is luck, but putting yourself in the best possible position to succeed is all you can really do. As I always say, best of luck to all fantasy owners out there (unless you're playing me).