It is time for all of you Fantasy Football competitors to get ready for the upcoming 2009 season. Many sports websites have their experts already putting out their Top 50 players to be drafted for leagues. Now you have to go through all of these and make your best decision on how to draft your team for a winning season.

Fantasy Football leagues can either be a Free or a Premium service. Custom leagues are moslty purchased but there are some sites that will let you customize a league for free. Customized leagues can be more challenging and exciting. I find these type of leagues for the more accomplished fantasy football competitor.

I hope to have Have just started this site, so keep checking back as I begin to build a place for us to plan, discuss and enjoy the upcoming season.

Topics below can be helpful to you as you begin your Fantasy Football draft. More to be added as the season gets closer.

1) When Do I Draft?

2) Fantasy Football Pre-Rankings

3) What To Look For Before Drafting?

4) The Small Things!

5) Draft Day Is Here

6) Be Sure Of Draft Choices

7) 10 Things You Should Know About The NFL "Bye Weeks!"

8) Time To Draft Your Fantasy Football Team **NEW**

Be Prepared! This means that you draft when you have studied all the information you find on websites, blogs, hubs and magazines. Make a list of players you prefer and a list of players as a 2nd or 3rd option.

In online drafts, you are able to "schedule" the date and time of the draft. Schedule when you have the proper amount of time you will need, preferrably when you are alone. The online draft time limits are short and can go from 1 to 2 hours or sometimes longer.

I suggest you schedule your draft time as close to the beginning of the season as possible. Some team positions are still questionable and your "choice player" could be injured in mini-camps or preseason games. I usually drafts all of my teams between the 3rd and 4th presesason game. Most NFL team positions have been determined for the first game of the regular season by now.

Drafting too early could come back to haunt you if your player is injured or traded to another team before the regular season begins. A good source of information I have found on TV for immediate updates is The NFL Network.

Whether you use the Live Draft or Automatic Draft in your football league, you must decide on the rankings of the players available to try to get the players you want. Especially if you do not use the Live Draft.

In this year's Pre-ranking I have been viewing on sites, it seems the emphasis is all about running backs this season. Some of the major stars of the past two seasons are ranked rather low down in the rankings. Alot of second year players are ranked very high on these lists. It seems that the editor of these rankings are projecting what they believe these players may do instead of just going by history.

Make sure you look hard at these rankings and make any changes you believe are best for your team. If you don't, you could get stuck with players you did not want. I didn't pre-rank in one league last year and I forgot and missed my Live Draft and I got a horrible line-up. Everyone else was in the Live Draft, so I got "left-overs." Won't let that happen again.Especially after an 8th place finish out of 10.

A rule to remember...don't pre-rank or choose players just because they are your favorite player or play for your favorite team. Not if you are serious about winning. Better check the "Bye-Week" of the players before selecting. Would be disasterous to have most of your line-up on a bye-week and no one to plug-in that week. So choose wisely.

Just because a player was a major fantasy points stud the year before does not guarantee he will be this year. There are factors you need to know before you enter the draft. I will list a few here.

1.Health-Did the player have any injuries at the end of last season? What about injury in mini-camps? And age can be a factor when there are injuries.

Read articles from team pages and NFL sites to check on a player you are after. How bad was the injury and what type was it. For a running back...was it the "carring arm" or the leg or foot?

These type of injuries can and will effect the play of the RB in the season to come if not completely healed.

QB-What about elbow, shoulder, back or leg injurie? Concusions? All of these will factor into the ability of the QB's play. Especially if the injury of an arm is the throwing arm.

Offensive Line-These are the people that you may not know all the names of, but they are the nucleus of how the offense will perform. These guys opens lanes for RB's and protect the QB so he has time to throw the ball. What type of injuries are there here?

2.Players on Team-The new players on a team can effect the performance of the player you seek. Check the team's drafted players and players acquired in the off-season. Will the new players take away touches of the football? With RB's, will the new back share some of the load?

WR-Did the team acquire a "star" player to add to the team? Did the team trade a good WR? Who is the QB? Example...Denver traded Jay Cutler in the off-season. Will the receivers in Denver be the same with a Kyle Orton? Will Devin Hester become a '"star" in Chicago with Jay Cutler?

3. Defense-How good a team's defense is can determine how well the offense performs, especially in fantasy football. A poor defense can favor the passing game, IF the right personnel is on the team. Look at the San Diego Chargers from last year. L.T was injured and Rivers had a monster year statistically because they trailed alot or had no other option but to pass the ball.

When a team falls behind in the score, they will turn to the passing game and the RB suffers. I

4.Coaching Change- A new coach can bring a new style fo play for a team. His strategy can change the role of the players and their fantasy value.

5. Weather/Stadium-Football starts in the fall but continues into the winter months. In the south the weather is usually not a huge factor in the game except for rain. The northern part of the U.S. is a different story. Extreme cold and snow can change a game! A team with a strong running game, such as Pittsburg and the NY Giants have done well in these conditions. The passing game seems to fall off in these type of games.

Indoor or Outdoor games can make a difference to the game.

6.Team Schedule-This is a huge factor to a players performance. You should check to see if the player is playing against multiple top rated defenses each week. Bye weeks can be a killer to fantasy teams. Typically fantasy teams have 15 players with 9 in the starting line-up and 6 on the bench. If you have 5 or 6 players who have a Bye-week the same week you could be looking at a loss. You have to draft to compensate.

I have seen some try to drop and pick-up from waivers players during bye-weeks to help with the line-up. But, the danger is that when you do this, the player you dropped may have been picked up by someone else.

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Do your homework before the draft and you will have a Fun and winning season!

The Small Things

When everyone chooses their players for the Fantasy Football team the “Star Players” all get snatched up as soon as possible in the first few rounds of the draft. Then the challenge really begins. It is time to take the other WRs, RBs or select a TE, K, or Team Defense.

It is easy to get caught up with offensive players who normally get the big numbers or whoe are well known. There are positions that can make or break a winning team in a league. There will be ups and downs with any offense and a WR, RB or QB may not have a great statistical week and when that happens, where do the points come from. The TE, K or Defense is not a high producing position in fantasy football compared to the top 3 positions of QB,WR or RB. But there are a few players, if available, you can draft that will help. If you are lucky enough to draft a Jason Witten, Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez you know what you will get point wise.

If these players are taken, you still can be successful. There are other ways to help your team with those fantasy points you are after. Team Defense is a position that can be huge with winning football league. Most will wait until the 8^th, 9^th or later rounds to draft a defensive team. Then you find the top 5 or 6 teams already off of the board. After you have your QB, 2 RB’s, 2 WR take the time to look at a top-notch defense. Depending on which defense is still available, it might be advantageous to draft a defense in the 5^th or 6^th position. If a top 5 defensive team is still available you might consider taking them now. A lot of league champions have team defenses that perform well statistically week after week.

Who do you draft as a Kicker? Many times I have seen the “final” draft spot on a team roster be a kicker. This is another ignored roster position that can make a difference. A 9^th or 10^th round selection would not be a bad idea to select a kicker. A team that has a very high scoring offense will have points from their kicker. You should research to see which teams scores more touchdowns than field goals. You receive more points from field goals than touchdowns in fantasy football. Leagues will award points based on distance of a field goal such as 3, 4 or even 5 points. Extra points only give you 1 point.

What to do when you have the starters you want? Now it is time to draft for back-ups. Injuries do and will occur. The “bye weeks” will need to be filled. One of your starters may have a bad team match-up. Who then will fill in and will help you team? For an injury to a player you can either draft his NFL team back-up or choose another RB that is a starter. I would have a least one extra team starter, but also if there is a high touted “rookie” out there, he may be worth drafting for the bench until you see what he can do later in the season.

Work the “waiver wire” pages on your league page. Everyone has the chance to build a stronger team this way. I know in my years in fantasy football I have always had to pick up players from time to time and drop some from my teams. There may be a week for example where both your starting RBs have a bad match-up with top defenses. If there is a player you can do without on the bench, you can drop him and add a player from the waiver wire for that one week. Know your league rules on waivers. Depending on the settings, you may be able to reclaim a player you dropped either 1 day, 2 days or longer. Some leagues set waiver pick-ups by a formula that includes team records. You really need to be knowledgeable with the league rules.

Another situation to watch for is the weather forecast. If the game is in a Dome setting, it does not affect the game. If the game is played in an open football stadium the weather can completely change the game. Know whether it is cold, extremely hot, rain, snow, fog or windy is forecasted. You may need to adjust your roster accordingly to help your team.

The small things of Fantasy Football can make a Champion or last place finisher in football league play. It could be the difference in the reason that you lost that “Championship Game” of the league.

The time has come to draft your players. Will your preparations pay off? Have your lists with you. Be sure the day before and morning before the draft you have checked all injury reports, breaking news on sports channels/internet and team pages of the players you seek. Have your lists of second or third choices with you.

The draft time is short and you do not want to lose your pick because you took too long. The automated draft list is set up on the internet sites and you should make sure you have a pre-ranking set up just in case you miss a selection anad the computer will pick someone you prefer instead of a player that is computer selected.

Make sure you are ON TIME! The draft does not wait until everyone gets there. Unless you are having an outside of the internet draft, but then your group may not wait on you. What will your team look like if you trust your friends to draft for you? Planning is a key to success.

In online drafts once you have made the selection for your choice of player, it is done. There is no changing it. Be sure of your selection. Know who you are drafting.

1. Player highlighted in Yellow is on “bye” week ---another player must be moved into the starting line-up for this week.

2. Player highlighted in Blue has an injury that could keep the player out of the game and should be replaced in the starting line-up. Follow-up on injury reports online and television programs. Don’t be caught off guard at game time.

3. There are 9 starting positions each week in your line-up; 6 bench positions. Your fantasy players score no points for you when they are on a "bye week."

4. At the scheduled time start of a game; all players in that game are locked into line-up. Players cannot be changed even if injured during game. Choose line-up wisely.

5. Points calculated by scoring system of your league settings is for “Starters” only. You receive no points for players on your bench.

6. As you can see in this roster situation, players will need to be picked up from “waivers” to fill in for starters on the “bye week” and because of injuries. A bench player is normally moved in, but as you can see 3 bench players are “out” for injuries and one is on a “bye” and the other 2 have bad match-ups.

7. Players from the Team roster will need to be “dropped” from the team to make room for players acquired from “waivers” to fill the line-up. If not, you will receive “0” points for that roster position score that week.

8. Once a player is dropped, you may or may not be able to re-acquire the player. Depending on “waivers” settings, you may have to wait 2 days to try to pick this player back up. All players on waiver after being dropped are also available to ALL teams of the league. Another team may claim your dropped player. There are “waiver ranks” by which is used to select which team will receive the player off of “waivers” if more than one team is after that player.

9. When you do pick up a player off “waivers” make sure you check the players match-up for that week. Ask yourself if this player is just for this one week or is if this is a player you can use at another time. Weekly using players from “waivers” just to have a good match-up, is extremely risky and can hurt your team. Steady performances are what you are looking for.

10. Surviving “Bye Weeks” can be a challenge. A team that can get through these 7 weeks (which is weeks 4-10) and do well has a chance of winning the League Championship. You have to plan for these weeks at the draft. Do not wait until you are in the position as in this chart above. Then you will panic, make mistakes and have regrets.

The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies and the Hall of Fame Football Game marks the beginning of the NFL Football season for 2009. It is now time to get busy with your Fantasy Football draft selection if you have not already drafted your team players.

In preseason the teams concentrate more on the rookies and players working for positions or just a place on the team. The starters will see extremely limited roles in this part of the season. The final preseason game the starters may play as much as a half of a game just to tune-up for the first game.

For the Fantasy player watching these games or reading reports through media coverage, be careful making player draft decisions by the statistics from the preseason. An offensive player may excel in the preseason against a defense with limited starters, but not have the same result when the real season begins.

If you are about to make your fantasy team draft or drafts, I suggest using the information you gain in the preseason to look for back-up players, injury reports and rookie players.

Good luck to everyone and remember all of the information in the other articles on this page.

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