We've been diligently working here at Fantasy Knuckleheads to give you all of the tools you need to prepare for draft day, execute on draft day, and manage your team in-season. In my travels, I've been hearing industry experts lately talking about how they might like a certain player but wouldn't consider taking him as their "number one." What do they mean by that? And... Is it a valid consideration?
Before I reject the concept completely, allow me to try to explain what the sentiment means and why people say it. What most people mean when they say that they like a player but not as their #1 is that there is significant risk associated with the player. And, to follow the logic, if a player is risky than you shouldn't be basing the success of a particular position on someone with so much downside. It is important to build a foundation at each position with at least one dependable veteran who you know you can pencil in for certain numbers each week.
Fair enough. Now I will reject the concept completely.
The risk factor of each player should be factored into their ranking. It should be your goal to collect players of the highest possible ranking all across your roster. I may be in the minority here, but the goal in fantasy football is not to play it safe. It's easy to finish in the middle of the pack, but you need to give yourself a chance to win every week. You do that by gathering as much firepower as you can and using all of the tools available to you.
You may crash and burn, but it will be exciting. And, you may just win it all. You don't win it all by playing it safe. Not without a ton of luck, and that's not much fun at all.
The other thing is this: Risky players slide down draft boards. You can often scoop up multiple risky players and give yourself a bunch of high-potential options instead of being stuck with boring, mediocre players that are "safe."
The concept of ranking one player above another but somehow being unwilling to select the higher-ranked player because he doesn't qualify to anchor your position is insane. You're telling me that you'll draft Reggie Wayne ahead of Dez Bryant because you just wouldn't feel comfortable with Bryant as your "Number One"? Insane.
Listen, you ranked Dez ahead of Wayne (and you read Ray's article on 3rd year receivers... right?) because he is in a better position to get you more points in 2012. Draft him that way. Don't look past him to Reggie Wayne because you've waited on wide receivers and you need a safe veteran to anchor the position for you. Dez will be better than Wayne this year, draft him as such.
And understand your rankings and have rankings that are customized to your league. The cheat sheet here at Fantasy Knuckleheads is fully customizable and will give you a significant advantage in your league(s). Use all of the tools available to you including the training package and everything included in the FK membership... Now is the perfect time to grab the training program since you probably still have enough time before your draft to absorb the content and put it to good use, then execute on draft day, and use the program to navigate your in-season moves as well. Check it out here... and have a great year in fantasy football in 2012!
