The NFL season starts in a few weeks, and that means it’s finally time to start thinking about your fantasy lineups. That is, if you haven’t already. This year, if you are playing in a salary cap league, make sure that you are using your limited salary correctly. That means that you might not purchase a player that you think will help you out if they’re too expensive, or it means that you might buy a player you never would have thought to, simply because their value is far beyond something that you should pass by.
Look for Value
Value is the name of the game here. Each manager in your league has a set number of dollars. You need to use them as wisely as possible in order to stretch out your team’s performance. If you buy Andrew Luck, but he eats up 20 percent of your salary, the rest of your team will be awful and even with Luck’s superior stats, you will not finish well at all in the standings. This is a principle that applies to both season long leagues and daily leagues.
How does it work? You need to look at what a specific player is capable of, where they fall talent-wise on your roster, and come up with a set number for them. So, if you are looking at RB Chris Johnson of the New York Jets and determine that he is worth 10 percent more than the average player on your team, you need to figure out what that means in dollars. If your salary is $60,000 for 16 roster spots, you divide $60,000 by 16 and get $3,750 per player to spend. 10 percent more than this means that you should spend no more than $4,125 on Johnson. If his price is above this, do not buy him. Yes, he’s a good performer, but once you start going over that number, your ability to spend more in other places disappears. And while it doesn’t affect Johnson’s performance directly, there is an impact on what you can do with the rest of your salary. Make this mistake in a few spots and all of a sudden your team is severely hindered in its performance.
Balance is the Answer
Anyone that’s ever played in a roto style league knows that different categories are evaluated, and each carries the same importance. It doesn’t make sense in some sports, though, and football is one of them. If your league uses roto scoring, you will obviously need to compensate for this by focusing on accumulating stats in each scoring category. In other leagues, particularly daily fantasy leagues, you should stack your most important categories so that they are more top heavy when you draft.
The quarterback is the most important position on the field, and you should be willing to pay the most for this slot. Other positions should be given importance by how likely they are to score you points. You can read more about other positions here as well. The wide receivers and running backs that are most likely to score a touchdown should be given priority, as well. Touchdowns in most leagues are worth the most. However, do not neglect other positions. There are points for sacks and interceptions, but there are also points for little things like rushing yards and completions. These are not worth as many points, though, so don’t put too much money into them. Refer back to value when you have questions here.
These are just two little things to focus on, but integrating them into your draft will help you go a long way. Just remember to account for your league’s scoring policy so that you can make the most educated decisions possible.
