The No Huddle Episode 10-P1 Blog

The No Huddle, Episode 10-P1, Season preview with special guest Paul Mecurio

Grab your cheat sheet, and as Mr. Food used to say, “any brands are fine,” then print up this draft strategy guide.

Look at your leagues previous records. If you’re joining an existing league, the website they are using likely has this feature. It’s a good way to see what kinds of players are successful in that particular league.

Forget pre-season. Except for injuries and the final depth-charts. Period. I always think I’m going to get some insight by watching a pre-season game, and I never do.

What spot are you picking? If you have the first 1 or 2 picks, by all means grab Chris Brown, or Adrian Peterson. Otherwise grab a quarterback. There are far fewer of them, and if they get hurt back-ups are much harder to find as opposed to RBs and WRs.

Fill positions. On the podcast, Paul Mecurio and I discussed this; a balanced team seems to work best. If you have four RBs that can get 15-20 points a game, it’s not very useful in a league where you can only start two.

Draft Kickers towards the end but not defenses. There are about 12 solid defensive units to choose from, and a good defense can get you 10-20 points on just a decent day under most scoring systems. Sometimes more.

Don’t worry about byes. By the time the first one comes up, you’ll likely have at least one stiff you can drop. A serviceable replacement can probably be found on the waiver wire.

Watch for committees. If two running backs are from the same team are close in the rankings on your cheat-sheet, beware. For example, D’Angelo Williams of the Carolina Panthers is number 9 on USA Today’s list, but teammate Jonathan Stewart is number 17. They were nearly identical in yards last year. Williams gained 1117, while Stewart amassed 1133. Stewart rushed for 10 scores, Williams 7. Both had injury issues.

Consider real life teammates. A guy like Drew Brees is a no-brainer if you’re looking for a top-flight QB, but he tends to spread the ball around more than say a Tony Romo. This is a similar predicament to the running back-by-committee situation.

Questions? Ask away...

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