Free Fantasy Football |How to Win with Online Live Draft

How to draft a fantasy football winning team? This is the question every avid fantasy football fan wants to know. I use the Live Draft, as I get an advantage over the automated draft. In Fantasy Football 2009, I shared tips and advice on how to prepare for NFL fantasy football and how to use the strategies outlined to draft your fantasy team.

I enjoy fantasy football on Yahoo Sports, ESPN and CBS Sportsline.com. I have made my first Live Draft through Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football. I chose the live draft over the automated draft. I will share the results of this draft.

I used my own information I have written about in my hub on Fantasy Football 2009 and instinct during the live draft. I stayed focused, but was able to adapt how to draft according to what I was seeing from the other team managers.

You cannot assume that the other drafting team managers will follow suit in selecting the players according to player rankings or how to achieve the team players you desire. You will have to pay attention to what is happening and be prepared enough to “stay in the game” to draft a winning team.

I found I was up against a few experienced fantasy football team managers in the draft process. This is a good turn of events. I can look forward to a great challenging season with this fantasy football league.

Let the games begin!

My First Draft of the 2009 Season

Aug. 16th, 2009. Thirty minutes before the scheduled fantasy football live draft I sign in to Yahoo sports to test my system for the java software. After I log on I find my draft selection position. I am in the 10th position.

This could be a good position or it could hurt my league team if I do not make my selections carefully. The draft is from the 1st league manager to the 10th team manager. And then the order reverses and goes from the 10th back to the 1st and so on until all 15 player positions per team are filled.

I get the 10th and 11th pick to start and do not pick again until the 30th and 31st position. A lot of players are selected from the draft board while I wait until my selection time comes back to me.

It is easy to see midway in the draft selections of the 1^st round the mind-set of the other league team owners and the way they are selecting their team players.

Running backs are normally taken in the 1^st round with an occasional exception to the rule. I noticed in the first 9 selections that Quarterbacks were being selected equally to the number of running backs. This was not the way I had forseen the draft to go. None of the "mock" drafts I had practiced drafting with had anything near this type of player selecting.

My strategy was then changed. My being prepared before the draft is going to pay off now. I decided that with only two picks in the top 29 that I had better get the two best players available at their roster positions. L.T. (LaDainian Tomlinson) from the San Diego Chargers and Larry Fitzgerald from the Arizona Cardinals would be the base of my NFL fantasy team in this yahoo fantasy league.

Some would question my taking L.T. over some of the other options at running back. Last year's performance was down. He was injured most of last season. Chris Chambers and Antonio Gates were both dealing with injuries. The offense struggled with everything happening. L.T. appears to be healthy and through media reports he seems eager to prove he is worthy of his reputation as an elite running back.

When it came time for my next two draft selections at the 30^th and 31^st positions, I selected LenDale White from the Tennessee Titans and then Terrell Owens.I was amazed to see Terrell Owens, now with the Buffalo Bills, still on the draft board. I figured he would be gone before now. I guess some team owners may think he will not perform as well in Buffalo.

I believe T.O. will be very effective. He is a large,strong receiver. T.O. cannot just be double-teamed every down since Buffalo has Lee Evans opposite the field of Owens. I will buy my popcorn and and be ready to watch the show with Terrell Owens. Hopefully he will "show" well on my fantasy football team as well.

LenDale White may be the back-up running back to Chris Johnson of Tennessee on the team depth chart, but LenDale is the RB who gets the numbers in touchdowns. He still racks up yardage and he is usually inserted into the line-up when the team is near the goal line or in short yardage situations. Touchdowns mean more points in fantasy scoring than just rushing yardage alone, so I like the upside to White.

At this point I am feeling pretty good about the players drafted. My biggest concern now is selecting a quality QB (quarterback) that would be to my advantage for fantasy points on a weekly basis. My next selections are not until the 50^th and 51^st slot.

As my time was getting closer, the top 8 QB’s were already taken. Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles was still available so I selected my him as my QB.McNabb has for years questioned the lack of quality wide receivers on the Eagles team. This year he has several excellent choices.

I see another first team wide receiver still on the draft board in Roy Williams of the Dallas Cowboys. I could not pass on this selection. With T.O departed from the Cowboys, Williams becomes the #1 wide receiver.

I now have my starting QB, two starting RB’s and three starting WR’s. Now I need to think about quality back-up players for each position I may need for the NFL bye-weeks, injuries, team schedules and player match-ups.

The TE (tight end) position is limited on players who make a considerable impact on a fantasy football team. In my prepared strategy I had planned to draft my TE at this point. The Top 3 players (Jason Witten, Tony Gonzales and Antonio Gates) were already selected from the draft board. I altered my strategy once again in my selection process.

My next two offensive players would be a RB and WR I could insert at any given week in my team line-up. Darren McFadden (Oakland Raiders) and Donnie Avery (St. Louis Rams) were my next draftees. McFadden was slowed last season by a foot injury, but he should see more action this season and NFL sport expert writers are really high on his potential. I have seen the team schedule in the AFC West and team opponents for the Raiders and even with the backfield of McFadden, Justin Fargas and Michael Bush; I can see McFadden contributing to my fantasy team. I can use him for a fill-in week , substitute him in a week my other starter has a bad defensive match-up or as an insurance policy in case of injury for a regular starter.

Since Torry Holt has left the St. Louis Rams for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Donnie Avery will see considerable more opportunities as the starting receiver. Marc Bulger should have a better season after injury last year and hopefully a better offensive line. With a healthy QB for St. Louis, the passing game will be improved and Avery's production is sure to rise.

To solidify my fantasy team, I now must think about team defense. I could see a few good options and was surprised to see certain defensive teams this late in the draft still on the board. It seems other team managers saw exactly what I did. Team defenses began to disappear from the draft board. The Dallas Cowboys defense was my choice. I almost took the Chicago Bears defense, but with the number of quarterback sacks from Dallas, mainly from DeMarcus Ware and Wade Phillips, the head coach, also working with the defense I decided on Dallas. The defensive stats for the Cowboys and fantasy football were too strong for me to ignore.

To add even more team depth, I added Chris “Beanie” Wells of the Arizona Cardinals. He is a NFL rookie player this season. Edgerrin James is gone from the team, Wells will receive his chance with this team to compliment a two-back running back tandem with Tim Hightower.

I made a review of my fantasy football team roster. I knew I needed to draft a good back-up QB and a starting TE. I made the decision that my next two draft rounds I would take care of these positions.

I selected Matt Hasselback of the Seattle Seahawks for QB and Anthony Fasano of the Miami Dolphins for my TE. Hasselback had injuries to his back last season and all of his receivers were also hobbled by the injury bug. A healthy Hasselback and the addition of T.J. Houshmandzadeh will add a spark to the Seahawks passing game.

Anthony Fasano had his ups and downs statistically last year. He is a solid TE and should be improved in his second season as a starter.

The only starting position left is the team kicker. I was settled on selecting my kicker with my last selection. It was time to select the team bench players for insurance, fill-in, and to watch their development if I thought this player might be worth taking a risk and drafting.

I finished my last three draft positions with Domenik Hixon (New York Giants WR), Earnest Graham (Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB) and for my starting kicker I selected Robbie Gould (Chicago Bears.) I wanted to select Nick Folk of the Cowboys as my kicker, but because of the team bye-week, I went with Gould of Chicago.

Gould is a very solid kicker. Chicago's offense should receive a boost with the addition of Jay Cutler. And this should also be cause for an increase for more points from the team kicker.

Now it is time to evaluate the players I have selected. There are several undrafted players that I want to keep a watch list on. With more time to contemplate and research, I may decide to add someone from waivers in place of someone on my bench who may be more useful to my team, whether as a back-up or bye-week fill-in. Rookies are an uncertain commodity to begin a fantasy season. Be sure to keep a close eye on these players. Their development could make a major impact for anyone.

It is time to do more research. I will need to check out the NFL team website for any information I can gather on the players selected for my team. I will need to pay attention to the TV networks for up to date news on players and teams. ESPN, ESPN News, the NFL Network, local network news, online sources such as NFL.com, CBS.Sportsline.com, Fox Sports, KFFL, Yahoo Sports, and the list goes on and on. I can “Google” NFL football and find anything I might want to know online.

All of this information can and will help me with decisions I make throughout my fantasy football season. The more I educate myself, the better the chance I will be rewarded with my Fantasy Football Championship.

I may look back at my draft choices and as far as the starters…I am very pleased. As I take a longer, more in-depth look at the bench players, I have to decide if I have the correct choices here.

1. Do I keep the bench as is and wait to see what unfolds?
2. Do I test the “trade block” to see what is out there? How can I add to my team’s strength? I am very solid at the RB position; I could bundle up a few players in order to arrange a trade with another team owner to build up depth at my WR position.
3. Do I take a risk on an untested rookie, who may be a “sleeper” or a “bust” performer?
4. Do not over-think decisions or make quick decision! Make sure to be well informed.

As in any football season, there will be players who will surprise and those who disappoint. There will be injuries and scrambles to find replacement players for fantasy football teams just as in real football play. The challenge is to stay a step ahead. Check out your competitor’s team, his match-ups and adjust as needed week to week. Always keep one eye on the waiver wire for players dropped from a team or a player who has seen an increase in productivity.

The best part…is having Fun!

Winning of course is better!

There are many resources online to keep up with news on your fantasy players and the NFL teams. I have included in this hub my favorite places to receive the best information to help with your Fantasy Football season. These are "Live RSS Feeds" so check back regularly for more updated news.