If you’re on here looking for fantasy tips ahead of the upcoming football season, you’ve come to the right place. But before you can find the best methods of picking players and finding a team that can be victorious in your league, you need to make sure you’re signed up to play on the best app for daily fantasy football.
DraftKings fantasy football is a fan’s favourite due to how it makes the game fun and thrilling. In addition to the leagues, there are extra cash prizes to win each week, and a range of different contests to play across a number of different sports.
More importantly, it’s perfect for beginners. There are game modes tailor made for new players, as well as short term options that let you play out an entire season in less than a week, if you’re aiming to gain experience.
Once you’re signed up, it’s time to start planning on how you will dominate your league. Here are all the best tactics you need to know before playing.
Know your scoring
For new fantasy players, learning the basics of how players can earn you points is vital. When picking players for your draft, certain positions will hold more value as they will score more touchdowns – this is why some sites end up scoring less points for quarterback touchdowns (four) than touchdowns from other positions (six).
And it isn’t just touchdowns that will bag you points either. You’ll need to learn the ways other manoeuvres can bring home points, from turnovers to yardage. Most sites also offer points per reception, so running backs, wide receivers and tight ends can easily help up your numbers.
Putting together a weekly roster becomes simpler when you familiarise yourself with the format. However, some sites may put restrictions on who you can pick – in some cases, you may only be allowed to roster one quarterback, for example.
Pay attention to injury news
If you want to lead your fantasy team to success, that means eating and breathing everything football related all week – not just on game days. And the most important part of this is paying attention to the latest injury news, to ensure you don’t draft a player who won’t even make it to the pitch.
Not all injured players sit their games out, but they will be severely limited if they choose to play. And if you’ve drafted a player who has sat the game out but haven’t paid attention to the news, then you’re just begging to come last.
And check the weather forecast too
While that one may be common sense, there’s another rule that could limit players that many fantasy leagues overlook: the weather. Games are never cancelled because of it, but conditions like rain can severely impact player performances in both offence and defence.
Awful weather usually leads players to singlehandedly try run offensive approaches, with less passing to teammates during play. An entire site has been set up to monitor weather before big games – checking it is an insight as to how each team will approach the match, and which players will be most reliable for points.
Learn how to pick the best players
There are lots of simple ways to know which players are expected to make a big impact on the field. And one of these is via analyzing sportsbook odds, which will help you gauge player and team value on a week-by-week basis.
For example, if the odds for a specific game suggest either huge or low total numbers of points scored, you’ll know whether or not to avoid picking a player or drafting them. Learning how to read odds will be a vital skill needed to get ahead in the game.
Don’t play favourites
You may be rooting for your own favourite team to do well in football – but when it comes to fantasy, you should never rely on personal favourites, and should always follow the stats. You need to draft the players you need at an affordable price, as chasing the ones you want to succeed could end up with you losing valuable points in the game.
And don’t think it all ends with draft day
At the start of any given draft day, chances are the first two rounds of player selections will take every available running back off the board. It’s easy to see draft day as vital to forming a team, but you need to remember that it’s only the beginning.
Lineups will change throughout the season, and regular trades with other members of your team could wind up with you picking up your desired player as the season draws to a close. Yes, you need to be on high alert as your league completes its draft – but from there, the season will be unpredictable, and you’ll need to follow the facts in order to win.