HOW TO PREPARE FOR FANTASY FOOTBALL

THE "HOW TO PREPARE FOR FANTASY FOOTBALL PHASE".

NOW THAT WE ARE AWARE OF THE FUNDAMENTALS AND THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF HOW TO PLAY FANTASY FOOTBALL, LET US CONTINUE TO THE NEXT PHASE.

PLAYER RANKING'S
WE FIRST NEED TO COLLECT OR COMPILE PLAYER ROSTER'S FROM EACH TEAM.
LIST THE APPARENT STARTERS FROM EACH TEAM.
IF THE TEAM HAS 2 LEGITIMITE STARTING PLAYERS AT A CERTAIN POSITION LIST BOTH.
ONCE THIS HAS BEEN DONE LIST ALL THE PLAYER'S ACCORDING TO POSITION (QB / RB ...ETC...).

YOU CAN GO TO NFL.COM / SPORTINGNEWS.COM / ESPN.COM / SPORTSLINE.COM AND SEVERAL OTHERS TO
FIND STATISTICAL DATA ON EACH PLAYER.

MAKE A LIST OF THE:

QUARTER-BACKS
PASSING YARDAGE / NUMBER OF PASSING TD'S, RUSHING TOUCH - DOWNS / INTERCEPTION'S / FUMBLES / COMPLETION PERCENTAGE.

RUNNING-BACKS
RUSHING YARDAGE / RUSHING TD'S / RECEIVING YARDS / RECEIVING TD'S / FUMBLES / YARDS PER CARRY.

WIDE-RECEIVERS / TIGHT-END
RECEIVER YARDS / RECEIVING TD'S / RUSHING YARDS /
RUSHING TD'S / FUMBLES / DROP PASSES / YARDS PER CATCH / YARDS AFTER THE CATCH.

KICKER
FIELD GOALS MADE / FIELD GOALS ATTEMPTED / MISSED FIELD GOALS (NUMBER & YARDAGES) / EXTRA POINTS MADE & MISSED.

DEFENSE (TEAM)
POINTS ALLOWED / SACKS / INTERCEPTIONS / FUMBLE RECOVERY / SAFETY / BLOCKED PUNTS / BLOCKED FIELD GOAL / BLOCKED EXTRA POINT / NUMBER OF SPECIAL TEAMS & DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS.

SCORING SYSTEM
YOU SHOULD MAKE A COPY OF THE SCORING SYSTEM FOR YOUR LEAGUE. REMEMBER, EACH LEAGUE WILL BE DIFFERENT AND ANALYZING THE SCORING SYSTEM WILL HELP YOU DETERMINE THE IMPORTANCE OF EACH POSITION. IN COMPARISON WITH THE SCORING SYSTEM THE DETERMINING FACTOR TO EITHER SELECT A CERTAIN PLAYER AT A CERTAIN SELECTION/PICK IN A DRAFT WILL BE MADE MORE CLEAR.

NOTE:
ONCE YOU HAVE RANKED EACH PLAYER ACCORDING TO POSITION, NOW YOU NEED TO RANK THE PLAYERS OVERALL.

BYE WEEKS
MAKE SURE TO ALSO HAVE A LIST OF THE BYE WEEKS. THIS WILL CERTAINLY BE IMPORTANT. THE OBJECTIVE HERE IS TO NOT PUT TOO MANY EGGS IN ONE BASKET - LET ME EXPLAIN.
IF YOU HAVE TOO MANY PLAYERS ON ONE BYE WEEK IT WILL ALMOST ASSUREDLY RESULT IN A LOSS. ALSO YOU WANT TO REFRAIN FROM SELECTING TOO MANY PLAYERS IN ONE POSITION ON THE BYE WEEK.

WEEK #3 STARTS THE BYE WEEKS.
TRY TO AVOID THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE:
WEEK #3 BYE WEEK TEAMS - BALTIMORE, DETROIT, HOUSTON AND WASHINGTON.

IF YOU SELECT 3 QUARTER-BACKS: JOEY HARRINGTON, DAVID CARR AND KYLE BOLLER, WEEK #3 WILL LEAVE YOU WITHOUT A QUARTER-BACK.
WRITE DOWN EACH PLAYERS BYE WEEK NUMBER NEXT TO THEIR POSITION OF OVERALL RANKING.
BY DOING THIS IT WILL AVOID PICKING TOO MANY PLAYERS WITH THE SAME BYE WEEK.
"THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE":
IF YOU SELECT AN ELITE PLAYER, THE FACT THAT IT'S THE PLAYER'S SAME BYE WEEK WITH ANOTHER PLAYER YOU HAVE ALREADY SELECTED SHOULD NOT BE A FACTOR.
THE CONSIDERATION IS WAIVED BECAUSE OF THE PLAYER'S IMPORTANCE, REGARDLESS.

WHETHER YOU GET YOUR INFORMATION FROM A FANTASY FOOTBALL BOOK OR SOME WEB SITE MAKE SURE TO USE AS MUCH DATA AS POSSIBLE TO ALLEVIATE THE BIAS OF CERTAIN PLAYERS AND ALSO GET AN OBJECTIBLE ANALYSIS.

DO NOT DRAFT TOO EARLY!!!!!
BY DRAFTING EARLY YOU WILL RISK THE CHANCE OF SELECTING A PLAYER AND THAT PLAYER SUSTAINING A SEASON ENDING INJURY BEFORE THE REGULAR SEASON BEGINS (ESPECIALLY AN ELITE FRANCHISE TYPE PLAYER).

INJURY REPORTS
MAKE SURE TO ALWAYS CHECK THE STATUS OF ANY AND ALL STARTING PLAYERS. THE INJURY REPORTS WILL SHOW YOU THE STATUS OF THE PLAYERS.
INJURY STATUS IS TERMED AS SUCH:
PROBABLE - 75% HE WILL PLAY (REALISTICALLY 90%).
QUESTIONABLE - 50% HE WILL PLAY.
DOUBTFUL - (LEAVE THE PLAYER OUT IF TERMED THIS).
OUT - SELF EXPLAINATORY.

ADVICE: MAKE SURE TO WATCH THE PRE-GAME INJURY TICKER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN TO ALLOW FOR THE UPDATES. SOMETIMES THEY REVEAL INJURIES OR SUDDEN ILLNESSES THAT WOULD BE OTHERWISE UNKNOWN.

NEXT ARTICLE WILL DEAL WITH SOME FANTASY FOOTBALL STRATEGIES AND ADDRESS LINE-UP SUBMISSIONS. WE WILL ALSO NOTE SOME COMMON MISTAKES AND MISNOMERS.

SINCERELY, RONNIE KEESEE