2023 VIP Draft Kit

Table of Contents

-2023 NFL Schedule
-Strength of Schedule

MOCK DRAFT

General Advice

• KNOW THE LEAGUE RULES! Understanding the rules of your league will help you rank and draft the appropriate players. This is key! For example, if your league rewards points based on receptions, seek out running backs that catch a lot of passes (Austin Ekeler, Christian McCaffrey, Rhamondre Stevenson, and Joe Mixon all had at least 60 receptions in 2022) rather than RBs that don’t catch many passes (Jamaal Williams and Cam Akers with just 12 and 13 respectively in 2022).
  
  Also, guys like Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, CeeDee Lamb, and Amon-Ra St. Brown all racked up at least 105 receptions last season, while TE Travis Kelce also accounted for more than 100. These guys may have have more value than guys like Brandin Cooks (just 57 receptions) or Zach Ertz (47). Also, pay attention to guys that find pay dirt if your league favors TDs.
  
  Stock up on guys like Davante Adams, who was not amongst the top 5 in receptions but led the league in TD receptions with 14 of them in 2022. Compare that to Chris Godwin, who caught more passes (104) than Adams (100) but only made it into the end zone three times. Place a premium also on guys like Jamaal Williams, Austin Ekeler, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, and Nick Chubb at the RB position (each with at least 12 rushing TDs). Pay particular attention to RBs like Christian McCaffrey and Austin Ekeler who score regularly rushing the ball AND catching the ball. Of special interest in Jerrick McKinnon who CAUGHT 9 TDS last year -- but scored only once on the ground. Meanwhile, be wary of a guy like Alvin Kamara, who touched the ball nearly 300 times last season (ninth most in the league) but only managed 4 total TDs.
  
  
• Make sure you are organized! Many owners come to the draft with 4+ fantasy magazines, notebooks full of data, sloppily prepared notes, and countless thoughts stored in their memory. This will likely put them on information overload. Therefore, don’t overanalyze things too much and fall into the trap of analysis paralysis! Bring this draft kit (especially the Premium Services version), a magazine, and well-prepared notes. Stick with your strategy! Trust us…you’ll be covered.
  
  
• Do your own homework! If you participate in an “Automated” Online Draft, then take the time to rank the players yourself. Accepting the default rankings means you’ll likely wind up with a mediocre team, while another owner gets a powerhouse team because they took the time to update their player rankings. Also, you need to remember that you have to rank however many players will be drafted and then some (this goes for any league). You can’t rely on just ranking your top 50 players only as then you’ll likely be unprepared for the middle rounds of your draft.
  
  
• Don’t get burned by drafting an injured player! Print out the injury reports and then rank and draft your players accordingly JUST BEFORE the draft begins. Check out our Nagging Injury List (included in the Premium Kit) too.
  
  
• Don’t forget about BYE weeks and the fantasy playoffs! You wouldn’t want to draft multiple players that are taking the same week off. This may cost you a victory and the chance to make the playoffs. With that said, too many fantasy owners obsess about their bye weeks when they shouldn’t. Wait until the later rounds before you start focusing on bye weeks for anything other than a tie breaker between two closely ranked players. Also, players that will get a dose of bad defenses like the Raiders or Jaguars in weeks 14-16 might be worthy of moving up ever so slightly in your rankings.
  
  
• Diversify your portfolio! Drafting too many players from the same team (such as the Minnesota Vikings) may give you a potent lineup, but if their offense struggles in a few games, it will kill you in those games.
  
  
• Again rolling with the whole diversity thing… Rank or pick a good mix of “consistent” players and “breakout” players. If you rank or pick too many consistent performers too highly, you’ll find yourself losing in weeks where you score barely above the average. If you rank or pick too many “breakout” players too highly, you’ll have the highest score one week and win and then have the lowest score the next week and lose. You should also avoid drafting too many rookies.
  
  
• Know the other owners in your league! Study the rosters, draft strategies, or auction values used by owners from last year as this will help you to better gauge player values or other owner’s strategy. You might be able to glean whether they subscribe to the stud RB theory (2 RBs in the first two rounds), the do-the-opposite theory (like always selecting a WR in the 1st round), or if they always draft a RB, WR, and QB in the first three rounds. Also, by knowing the other owners and paying attention to their roster you might be able to set up your draft better. For example, you are drafting 11th in a serpentine draft and the owner that is drafting 12th already has two stud RBs. When the third round comes along, you are torn between 2 RBs that you see as like-quality, but have one WR that you REALLY like. We suggest that you draft the WR and hope that one of the two RBs slip to you. Odds are good that the other owner won’t spend their first four picks on the RB position.
  
  
• Additionally, it doesn’t hurt to try to get the other owners talking fantasy football strategy in the days leading up to the draft. Remember that information is key! With that said, we’re not condoning complete espionage like sneaking into the Watergate Hotel to get a look at other owner’s rankings, but if you are able to get an idea of their strategy, or rankings, from them, it could help you gain an advantage. However, you might also want to be careful about them giving you misdirection.
  
  
• Know the key backups and handcuffs! For example, if you draft Dalvin Cook, you should look to get Alexander Mattison too.
  
  
• Keeper League - Keep the highest ranked players! If you’re in a Keeper League that only keeps a portion of your roster, make sure that you keep the players that have the best value in terms of the draft. For instance, you are allowed to keep 5 players in a 12 team league. You have Jonathan Taylor, Nick Chubb, Patrick Mahomes, AJ Brown, Josh Jacobs, and the San Francisco Defense. You should keep the top ranked players for your league, even if it means putting the #1 defense back in the player pool and keeping a 3rd RB.
  
  
• Dynasty Keeper League – Don’t forget about Free Agents! When ranking players in a Dynasty Keeper League, keep in mind that there may be some players that were not on fantasy rosters last year that should be ranked in the mix of the rookie pool. Some examples include QB Trey Lance (SF) and WR Michael Thomas (NO) who have the potential to play at some point in 2023.
  
  
• Auction - Do your math correctly! Rank Auction League values such that the total of all “draftable” players (i.e. 12 teams * 16 roster spots = 192 players) EQUALS the total budget allowed per team * the total number of teams (i.e. $100 budget * 12 teams = $1200). Therefore, the total value of 192 players would add up to $1200.
  
  
• Auction - Act interested! In Auction Leagues call out big name players that you're not necessarily that interested in early in the draft. Especially players that you feel will be drafted for more than the value you assign for them. Of course, you don’t ALWAYS want to call out players that you don’t want as then you become too predictable. See the following site for more information: Auction Draft Strategy - Do's and Don'ts.
  
  
• Auction – Don’t be the sentimental fool! Call out players off your buddy's or other owner’s favorite teams in Auction Leagues. Some guys that rode Adrian Peterson to a championship a few years ago may think that they could ride him to a championship again. Along the same line, call out rookies from their former or favorite colleges. Some sentimental guys who will throw away money and overspend on these guys.
  
  
• Auction – Audit others! Pay attention to every owner's money situation and team needs in Auction Leagues. Example: You have $15 of cap space with 3 good RBs and most of your other positions filled. There are 2-4 other owners with $35-$45 left that need RBs, so call out the best RB available. These owners will likely start a bidding war and it will deplete their cap space, thus bringing their cap space in line with yours.
  
  
• Auction - Be a little bit stingey! Hang onto $10-$12 until the end of Auction drafts because there will be quality players left at the end of the draft that you can fill your roster with. These players could provide the depth and sleeper prospects to propel owners to championships.