Fantasy Football Draft Strategy: “The Old School Patriot”- DC

There are probably a dozen names for this particular fantasy football draft strategy; Gridiron Experts has dubbed it The Old School Patriot. One reason is because it was used in a fantasy pool for a championship win back before the New England Patriots were loaded with big name players like Moss and Welker, and before Brady was well, Tom Terrific. But mainly this strategy was named after Bill Belichick and his recruiting process: find players who are hard working, blue collar guys.

This draft strategy might not be for everyone, but we thought it would still raise a few eyebrows for those who have given up on traditional methods.

Like the New England Patriots, your goal is to draft players that flat out produce and have no chance of inconsistency. That means you avoid players like Brian Westbrook, Ladainian Tomlinson, and Steven Jackson and draft players like Frank Gore, Clinton Portis, and Jones-Drew. Players like Brandon Marshall and H.Ward are in, and players like Terrell Owens and Roddy White are out. I know this may seem crazy to just avoid top players, but there is a method behind the madness. Basically you are trying to build a team that does nothing but produce week in and week out, in other words a team with no drama. The idea behind this draft strategy is that if everyone contributes as a whole unit, then you will put up enough points to win every week. No more relying on one guy or a big day to rack up enough point to get by, everybody does enough as a team to produce enough points to win.

To prepare you must do a little homework; get yourself a top 200 player rankings list either online or from a magazine and highlight key players. Look at each players stats week by week and decide on whether a player is a consistent fantasy producer of points or a roller coaster of inconsistency.

For Quarterbacks you need to look for how many games each QB was without a touchdown, if it was more than two, do not highlight him. Have two different colors of highlighters, one for average and the other for above average. Highlight players above average if they have at least one touchdown a game and more than three games with three touchdowns or more.

For Running Backs look for a player that does one of two things: either gets 100 yards per game rushing/receiving combined, or a touchdown and 40 yards rushing/receiving combined. If a running back has more than three games where he doesn’t reach this goal, don’t highlight him. You might be surprised at the results.

With Receivers you are looking for receptions; you want a guy who gets his catches, so highlight players based on the amount of work load the player gets per game. If he is known for one big play every other week, you don’t want him.
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Tight Ends are almost always inconsistent unless you have one of the top players. Unlike other draft advice articles we have written, The Old School Patriot requires you to grab one of the top tight ends to build a consistent weekly producer. The real skill here is to show patience with tight ends.

Kickers and Defenses need to be taken late and should be looked at as extras to your team. There is no way to predict a consistent kicker, but when drafting defenses look for teams with great defensive lines. Pressure causes sacks and may force interceptions.

Use previous years for injured players, you wouldn’t leave Brady un-highlighted. After you have gone through and formed your board, your draft strategy should become much clearer. Even tough decisions in the later rounds seem somewhat easy now.