So you just wrapped up your fantasy football draft last weekend and you are thinking to yourself that you did a hell of a job. That every pick that you made reeks of intelligence; that your team is so good that you really can’t see a way to improve. You have everything that you want and a bag of chips! Well, I, Bruno Boys Ziza, am here to be the needle that pops all of your self-intoxicated balloons! Not every pick of yours was the best! There are ways to improve your team! In fact, you really don’t have everything that you could have!
Draft day is great and it is the biggest day of the year besides the two privileged individuals that get to fight for the championship in your league. It is easy to think of this day as a, “Did it, time to let it ride” type of day. I am here to tell you that that is exactly what a handful of your opponents are also thinking and it's the biggest mistake that you could ever make! There is a reason that every year teams that are solid keep looking for a bigger and better piece to fit the puzzle. Because they want to win! And I am sure you do too! So put down the remote, splash water on your face and ask the wife/husband to fix dinner for the night. This article is meant for you!
This is a no-nonsense article that is meant to take you off your high-horse, maybe offer in some laughs but for the most part, this column is meant to ground you and make you realize that the draft is simply just the first step in getting to the glory land. To get you to the point to where you are holding your trophy way up high, or padding your wallet; whatever it is that you win at the end of the year, you can’t go wrong by taking the 10 minutes to read this article!
There are FIVE steps to do after the draft to prepare for the first week of your season. Let’s get started! I am sending you to REHAB! (Sorry, my new favorite band is named Rehab and I am blasting them while writing away.)
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1. Give Your Team an Honest Assessment!!!
Ok ladies and gentlemen, you just drafted your team and you think that you did no wrong. In fact you already have written your team into the league championship. Well, you want Bruno Boys Ziza’s reaction to this?…WRONG!!! Many teams do this and many teams fail because of this. This is the time to look at your team and really give it a good once, twice or even thrice over! What positions are you really stacked at? What positions are you weak at? Everyone makes mistakes, even us Bruno Boys, or at least this Bruno Boys does! The draft can throw many wrenches and sometimes you get overly excited about a certain player that you want to draft but then find out it just wasn’t what you should have done. Jot down your team, create a spreadsheet, whatever your technique is, definitely have your whole team available in front of you with your thoughts and opinions. What positions do you really need to improve at? What positions are you the strongest at comparative to the league? Find your weaknesses and if you have overflowing strengths plan on using the strengths to acquire players at positions that you are weak at!
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2. Double Check and Make Sure that You Have No Bye-Week Problems!!!
Ok people, I realize that not everyone takes their fantasy football drafts as serious as the Bruno Boys staff does. That is fine. But one thing that we all do without a second thought is make sure that when we are drafting we don’t create bye-week complications for our roster. Some of you reading this article probably do the same thing; others of you do not! So check your roster! Does your starting QB and backup QB both have the same bye-week? Check all of your positions! Some of you will find out that you really do have a problem and if you don’t correct it you will almost assuredly stink it up a week or two! This is the time to fix such problems. Package your QB2 for someone else’s QB2 in a multi-player deal. It is much easier to do it now before the season starts and people are wise to you. A roster that can bend is one that normally will not break!
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3. Hit the Waiver Wire!!!
If your league draft has been over for a few weeks, or even just a few days, odds are the player rankings have shifted and sometimes maybe even to the point to where a player(s) value has skyrocketed or plummeted faster than the San Diego Chargers DST without Shawne Merriman (side note- Merriman will play through an injury, which keeps their defense stable for the time being). Take advantage! There are always injuries in the NFL, preseason included, so a blow to a Kevin Curtis should be notated and analyzed. Who prospers, who falters? There is always some type of ramification to what happens. For example, Curtis’ injury opens the way for the rest of the Philadelphia Eagles WR’s to accrue more stats, while at the same time it could have at least a little negative affect on Donovan McNabb. Whatever it is, browse the waiver wires!
Perhaps who you drafted as your 5th WR or your 4th RB is not as good as someone in free agency. Or perhaps that third DST or 2nd K is taking up a spot on your roster that could be better utilized by picking up a good sleeper? Whatever it is, odds are there is at least a little tweaking that you can do to make your roster stronger. And many teams rest after the draft until the season starts. So take advantage of this and scoop up everyone that you feel is an upgrade over what you have and make that strong team of yours even stronger! This years Marques Colston or Ryan Grant could very well be hanging out there ripe for the plucking!
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4. Start Up Trade Talks With Other Teams!!!
I am not talking about just targeting a team or two and trying to rip them off for your players. I am talking about something that takes a bit more time but could pay off more dividends than you could have ever imagined! Mingle with all of the owners! Don’t approach them about your trade wants, as they could probably smell you coming from a mile away! Rather, ask them what they thought about their draft. What are their strengths, their weaknesses? Some owners will be more open than others about their true feelings. That is fine. This is the time to take some mental notes and when they are not around, jot the notes down on a piece of paper so you don’t forget them!
Perhaps someone did so well at WR but they do not have a solid RB3 option. You are sitting 4 or 5 deep with quality RB’s. Maybe you can package your WR2 with your RB4 and grab one of their WR1’s? You never know unless you start bullcrapping with them! You can analyze everyone’s teams all day long, but until you talk to them you never know their true personal aspect of their team! I have concocted many deals where I had no idea that something could be done! Avenues that I had written off as I figured a team would not want to part with a certain player. That is why I am always talking and mingling! At the very least you get some good ole’ football talk in and everyone wins! But at the same time, if done right, you can set yourself up for possible deals down the road!
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5. Keep Up With Injuries, Promotions and Demotions!!!
Injuries happen all the time and with that comes heartache on many fantasy football rosters. To lessen the blow, keep up with your players so you know who is ailing and what you can do to make sure that it affects your lineup to a much lesser degree than it would have originally. This also can play into promotions. As I said earlier, injuries affect many aspects of the game, primarily their teammates. So when a Kevin Curtis goes down be there looking at who will be replacing him as a starting WR. And also know who is negatively affected as well, such as Donovan McNabb.
Also for promotions we are talking about players such as Chris Perry with the Cincinnati Bengals! He has played so well lately that they are trying to trade Rudi Johnson. Johnson’s ranking is in decline, Perry’s is raising rapidly! If Perry is on your waiver wire, grab him! This could add much needed depth to your RB position, or it could just solidify an already huge strength on your team making it even more plausible to trade one for help elsewhere! Think of it as gold mining! There is plenty of time wasted grabbing crappy rocks, but eventually you will find that one nugget that can bring you fortunes!
In this section you also have Demotions. As much as we hate to think that it could happen to you, it can! One of my buddies back home always has a knack for ending up with Johnson and Laurence Maroney. This year was no different! He had drafted Johnson in what I believe is the sixth round. None-the-less trying to be nice I told him that the draft value was ok because I didn’t want to insult him. But what I was really thinking is you stupid $%@!^ you never learn! And sure enough Rudi Johnson is looking to be dealt out of Cincy, and if he isn’t odds are he is still no more than their RB2. So when a demotion really happens, be smart about it and be completely honest with yourself. You just fell upon some bad fortune but at least you can regroup and make this situation as good as it possibly can get by grabbing a solid player off of the waivers or just demoting the player to a lesser spot on your team. As long as you aren’t throwing him out there in your starting lineup in Week 1 you have just helped yourself possibly accrue some much needed extra points!
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Closing Thoughts
To end this, I hope that everyone’s drafts went great and that you were already following what I just wrote here. But if you haven’t, do so immediately! Once the season starts everyone will be hot and heavy on the waiver wires! Take your opponents mental vacation as an opportunity to make your team stronger! There is no doubt in my mind that if you follow these FIVE simple steps that you will be heading into the season with an extremely strong team that could get even stronger the next time you spark up some NFL talk with one of your rivals!
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Position by Position BUST Rankings (click to view)
Bring out the Pepto (Bust) Rankings - Quarterbacks
Bring out the Pepto (Bust) Rankings - Running Backs
Bring out the Pepto (Bust) Rankings - Wide Receivers
Bring out the Pepto (Bust) Rankings - Tight Ends
Bring out the Pepto (Bust) Rankings - Kickers
Bring out the Pepto (Bust) Rankings - Team Defenses
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Position by Position Sleeper Rankings (click to view)
Snooze Alarm (Sleeper) Rankings - Quarterbacks
Snooze Alarm (Sleeper) Rankings - Running Backs
Snooze Alarm (Sleeper) Rankings - Wide Receivers
Snooze Alarm (Sleeper) Rankings - Tight Ends
Snooze Alarm (Sleeper) Rankings - Kickers
Snooze Alarm (Sleeper) Rankings - Team Defenses
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