It’s becoming increasingly difficult to be a smart fantasy football player. Or rather, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to be a smarter fantasy football player than your leaguemates. You think Sterling Shepard is a sleeper? Well heck, so does everyone else — that’s why he’s going early in the eighth round these days.
With the proliferation of analysis and data and information, everyone has access to everything. Zero-RB was once innovative, but now it’s de rigueur. The smart fantasy players all know to eschew kickers, to load up on skill players, to pick up the backup when the starter gets hurt.
Which is not to say there isn’t still room for innovation in fantasy. There is. Below are five strategies that offer varying degrees of innovation for the 2016 season. You won’t be able to implement them all, but one or more of them could be the thing to set you apart from the rest of those smart drafters. Don’t be a smart drafter. Be a smarter drafter.
1. Wait as long as you can on quarterback, then hang back another round after that. Then draft Tyrod Taylor or Andy Dalton
Drew Brees and Cam Newton are fun to own. In the right week, they’ll win you your matchup even if the rest of your team lays an egg. But frankly, Tyrod Taylor and Andy Dalton could do that some weeks as well.
You’ve heard it by now, but quarterback is so deep this year they could use it for free diving events. The more running backs and receivers you can take early, the better your depth. And with guys like Taylor (going in the 10th round) or Dalton (11th) or, heck, Ryan Fitzpatrick in the 13th, there’s no sense in burning a pick on a bound-for-regression guy like Newton.
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