No matter what type of format or scoring system your fantasy football league uses, 80% of your team’s overall success is based on the decisions you make during your fantasy football draft. The remaining 20% of your team's success in 2009 will be made up from getting the right fantasy football matchups on a weekly basis and having your top 10 fantasy football draft picks produce at their expected fantasy football draft value.
One of the keys to having your top 10 fantasy football draft picks reaching their projected values is for them to remain injury free. Injuries play a much larger role in fantasy football since there are only 17 fantasy point scoring days for your team to perform compared to fantasy baseball’s 162 scoring days. Injuries also have a larger impact in fantasy football because fantasy baseball teams typically have between 23 to 30 players contributing to the league's fantasy scoring categories, but fantasy football teams are usually limited to 10 or 12 players that contribute to your fantasy football team with most of the points coming from your first 5 fantasy football draft picks (1 QB, 2 RB, and 2 WR). Losing one of your top 5 fantasy football draft picks can cripple your fantasy football team, since most fantasy owners will not own the injured player's direct replacement, and even if they did own the replacement player, the output of the replacement is usually much less. Unlike fantasy baseball, fantasy football injuries can drastically detriment or benefit the remaining stars on the NFL team.
Another item you need to take into consideration when preparing your fantasy football draft strategy is the fact that trading is usually very rare in fantasy football. Most fantasy football teams that lose a star player have no incentive to make a trade, and the fantasy football teams that do not suffer a major injury are not likely to deal with their rivals; therefore, drafting depth at a particular position with the intention of trading is a poor strategy in fantasy football (I learned this the hard way a few years ago). Position depth for your team should be reserved for your later round selections with the intent to cover bye weeks only. If you are lucky, you might get something more out of a reserve draft pick, but don't rely on late round picks to anchor your team in 2009.
If you plan your fantasy football draft strategy on the assumption that luck falls in your favor this year, then you can simply focus on maximizing potential scoring power at each of your starting positions. Knowing the overall depth of the fantasy football player pool and how the stars at each position compare to one another will be key to you developing a strong fantasy football strategy.
In 2009, RotoRank has applied the position scarcity and player grading formulas to the fantasy football player pool in attempt to make a more useful fantasy football draft guide. Almost every fantasy football guide published will list players by position in the order of their scoring potential, but they do not provide an easy way for you to compare the depth at each position.
RotoRank has designed a simple A, B, C, D, E, F grading system that allows you to easily identify similarly rated fantasy football players across each position. The grading formulas are based on each of your league’s unique scoring systems and allows you to build as many customized fantasy football draft guides that you will need in 2009.
RotoRank also bases it fantasy football player grades on realistic scoring potential, so you won’t see many rookies or sophomore players out performing established veterans in the RotoRank Fantasy Football Draft Guide. RotoRank also reviews last year’s surprises to determine if their value needs to be adjusted based upon changes to their team or current role. For example, Chris Johnson and LenDale White scored 26 total touchdowns and 2000 rushing yards in 2009 for the Tennessee Titans, so why do several online fantasy draft guides including http://www.nfl.com/fantasy/rankings project Chris Johnson as the 6th overall pick and LenDale White as the 56th overall pick in 2009. Personally, I think it is risky selecting Chris Johnson with the 6th Overall pick, since he is in a platoon with LenDale White. Running Backs like Steven Jackson and Frank Gore have no competition and are more likely to outperform their 2008 fantasy football values if they stay healthy for the entire 2009 season. I would also consider drafting proven veterans LaDainian Tomlinson and Clinton Portis over a younger player that is in a platoon situation, because these veterans are more likely to hit their projections. If I decide to draft a Tennessee RB in 2009, I will be targeting LenDale White in round 4 or 5 rather than Chris Johnson in round 1.
If you save your riskier picks for later in the draft, you are more likely to build a competitive fantasy football team in 2009. RotoRank's custom draft guides are designed to simplify your decisions, so if you are tired of struggling through your fantasy football drafts and debating on when to take a RB over a QB or WR, then try out the sample draft guide software and see if you like the format of the RotoRank Expert Draft Guide Reports.