fantasy question

[Aunty Em]

Hey you guys, I'm not in an AK league, but I ended up in another league. Its an NFL.com league.

I never played this before! I'm used to watching NFL ball and some college. This last year was the only time I really paid attention to the draft. (since my team, the Bucs is so incredibly "needy" lol)

So all the mock drafts on NFL.com are full for now.
Damn! I have no clue what to do on my league's draft day/time.

It gives you a place to do pre-draft rankings. Like 200 players.
So in order to be ready for my league's draft, what do I do? simply put those 200 in the order I feel will be best?
Like RB's first, then WR's, then QB's, then maybe TE's then defense guys?

We're allowed a certain number for each position (only one D guy) and then 6 for the bench.

Doesn't it make sense that EVERYONE in my league will simply put the highest rated players in their pre-draft rankings board and then let the chips fall where they may? I don't get how it is possible to use any real "strategy" since everyone starts from scratch.
I can see how maybe later in the season that could change, as players are injured or whatever.

We are supposed to have a draft on 9/2.

So what do I need to show up online with??? simply that pre-draft rankings list?

Sorry for the dumb questions, but I really have no way to ask my actual league-mates - plus to be honest I don't want them to realize how clueless I am. Although the guy who invited me does know. LOL, maybe he thinks I'm a "lamb to the slaughter".

But really, at least in the beginning of the season, isn't it a "chance" thing based on who ends up getting to pick in what order?

anyway, if this is too dumb to even respond to, please don't trouble yourself.
I guess I'll "get it" once it starts. But I don't want to log on for my live draft and be unprepared.

So thank in advance if anyone wants to help me out.
Question: is the AK league one of the NFL.com leagues? I know there are others, like ESPN's and also Yahoo's.....

TIA!

PS: also how come some guys don't appear in the 200 players it shows in the list? Like Darrell Revis I can understand, he's holding out...may not play etc (ass!) but like why don't I see Ray Lewis (Ravens) on there.
How is it determined if a certain player is available for Fantasy Football? (besides whether they actually play)????

 

[Jailtime]

The AK league is a Yahoo league. I've played the NFL.com leagues before.

The 200 player list you see is only the top 200 ranked players. For example, let's say Chris Johnson and Michael Turner are numbers 1 and 2, because they are projected to make the most fantasy points this year. There's what, about 1800 players in the NFL during the regular season? So you're only seeing the players projected to make the most points. Every active player is available to play in Fantasy. Now whether you want to field Chris Simms is another story.

When you're drafting, it's good to write down what you need. I usually modify the 200 player list a little bit to my likings. Say you're picking #6 overall, the top 5 players will be gone already. So you need to decide if you want an RB or QB with your top pick. If you're set up your list nicely, take the player with the highest projected points. It's pretty much like the NFL draft. The lucky guys with the high picks clean up the best players. Not a thing you can do about it, unless you're #1!

There's a learning curve to Fantasy, for sure. I sucked my first year. You can also be an experienced player and still get smoked though, sometimes your players just don't play well, etc. Good luck!

 

[ranch 22b]

We use a "snake" draft order in out league. Yes, the team with the 1st pick usually lands a great player (probably Chris Johnson this year) but then they do not see another draft choice until the 24th pick (they also pick 25th). The team who picks last (12th) also gets to pick 13th.

We play over at CBS. They have online mock drafts that you can participate in. I'd recommend that you see if your site offers a mock draft. You can learn a lot by participating in one.

The draft is important. You can have a bad draft and still end up doing well, but it's sure easier if you land the right blend of quality players to start the season. And my advice is to pick at least one star player from a team or two that you are pulling for - to me it makes the fantasy season a lot more fun.

You could use Google to find out more about fantasy football - there is a ton of info out there. But to keep things in perspective, you might want to think of this first season as a learning opportunity rather than expecting that you will be able to compete successfully with wily veterans.

Good luck!

 

[Aunty Em]

hey thanks both of you, for the responses and info.

I guess one thing I'm realizing is it will be good to have a hard copy cheat sheet (list) for our draft.

Definitely thinking of this as a learning year...just don't want to be so clueless as to literally not know what to do.

I guess as long as I have that list for our draft, someone will let me know what the next steps are as the weeks go on.

thanks again! and good luck and have fun with your league!

 

[Aunty Em]

hi guys, one more question: was wondering if any of you who might have tried a mock draft on nfl.com had any problem with it crashing while loading.

I seem to be able to get it to load and function just fine here at work, where I'm really not supposed to be doing it. But at home, last evening, my laptop kept crashing halfway through the loading. Firefox would just suddenly quit, and Safari would just hang forever. Macbook I have at home runs the same system as my work Mac - 10.4.11...so I don't think its a system issue.

Was wondering if it could be that the NFL mock draft site was overloaded at that time. Since there was a game actually ON (Jets/Giants, whatta game huh?) and I would imagine many people are trying to get their act together for Fantasy Football.
So I'm thinking maybe....that's all that was wrong. Sure hope so.

Just wondering if anyone else thinks maybe trying to use the mock draft thingy at a very busy time might have been the prob.

thanks! hope you all are having fun setting up your teams.