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Draft day for fantasy football players is like Christmas time. As the day draws closer and closer, you become overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation for one of the greatest days of the year. It has been nearly eight months since you set a lineup, picked up a free agent or checked the injury status list minutes before game time.
As the Countdown To Draft Day board on your refrigerator shows less than 30 days, it’s time to start thinking about mock drafts. Many fantasy football players undertake countless hours of research on who they want on their list come draft day, and participating in a mock draft can greatly benefit your team in the upcoming season.
Related: Top 5 2013 Fantasy Football Players: New York Jets
Every fantasy league has different playing styles and draft day styles, so you may think that participating in a mock draft won’t translate over into your own respective league, but this is wrong.
Getting a feel for where each player will be approximately drafted gives you the upper hand come draft day. This is the biggest element to watch in a mock draft. In nearly every league, Minnesota Vikings‘ Adrian Peterson will be drafted no. 1 overall and if he isn’t, you can bet he’s picked in the no. 2 slot.
Where do the running backs get drafted after Peterson? The level of elite running backs is quite slim this year, and it’s a solid bet that the majority of the top 20 picks in your draft will be running backs, especially if you are in a PPR league format.
Detroit Lions’ Calvin Johnson should be the first receiver off the board — into what draft pick does he fall? How long can you wait in the draft to start going after some of the other big-time receivers like Chicago Bears’ Brandon Marshall or Houston Texans’ no. 1 Andre Johnson?
For players like these, it depends on what position in the draft your team has. Before entering a mock draft, if you know what position you will be drafting from come actual draft day, you should pay attention to what players get selected around those individual picks.
Another thing to watch during your mock draft would be when quarterbacks are taken. If you’ve looked into this season’s fantasy draft at all, you know the quarterback position is extremely deep this year and advisors are telling you to wait on drafting a signal-caller. Be sure to watch for when the run of quarterbacks starts to take place and how long you can wait to select someone that you can depend on every week.
If you have never participated in a mock draft before, it’s not too late to start now. Log on to any of the sites that conduct drafts and search for a mock draft. You won’t lose anything by participating in a mock draft — in fact, it’s a safe bet to say that you will be glad you did it, and draft day will become a little less stressful for you.
Tristen Challe is a Fantasy Writer for Rantsports. Follow him on Twitter @TristenChalle
