Touchdown Tactics: A Winning Formula for Fantasy Football Prep
As a lifelong American Football fan, it may be surprising that I’ve only participated in two seasons of Fantasy Football.
My introduction to this world was many years ago, when I joined a friend league and had no clue what I was doing. Post draft, I looked at my league no more than 2 times the remainder of the season, and not surprisingly came in at the bottom of the rankings.
Last year I proposed to my family that we create a small low effort league with no buy-in, to bolster the fun of football season. Living “out of network” for the last decade means that each Fall I invest in the cable Sports Package so I can watch glimmers of my home team’s games on NFL RedZone. I’ve come to love this Sunday tradition and due to the exposure to all weekly games, figured I finally had sufficient knowledge to apply to Fantasy Football. I went rogue in the draft filling my team primarily with sleepers — and though I struggled through most of the season, I earned the ultimate W by the end of the playoffs.
This year, I’m adding some organization and forethought into the league, to set us all up for success and amplify the competition. I turned to my trusted Milanote platform to create a shared board with all pertinent information.
The main page includes basic details and the most important information. Some of this data is available in the fantasy platform, but I wanted to compile all content in an easy to read, one-stop-shop format.
I listed all tasks that need to be completed prior to season start, and indicated respective task owners. Be sure to communicate imperative tasks in another venue in case someone doesn’t look at your central resource (the shared Milanote board, in this case). I intend to create a league group text to share reminders, important dates, etc. — and will refer members back to this board for more information.
Under Resources, I addressed frequently asked questions via Key Information, a Glossary and How To’s (which I will vet as the season starts). I also included sections for Learning and Player Research to encourage league members to expand their knowledge on the Fantasy Football activity and active players.
I thought it would be fun to publish Power Rankings each week — completely at my discretion as the Commissioner, with potentially insubstantial justification — as a way to promote league chatter, competition and lighthearted smack talk.
Last year as a league we offered each other advice throughout the season based on things we’d learned and observed. The Power Rankings section is another way to issue guidance (e.g., if a fantasy team is ranked #1 because of the depth of players, other teams can follow suit and make adjustments as needed).
The Workbook is a location for each league member to strategize leading up to the fantasy draft and throughout the season.
Members can document notes, ideas, etc. from their personal research, build one or more “Dream Teams” and save references / resources they want to keep private from the rest of the league.
If using Milanote, I recommend each league member save a copy of the workbook board onto their personal Milanote homepage to keep their game plan private.
With this structure, your league should be prepared for an exciting and competitive season. Let the games begin!
I may make a series of fantasy football based blog posts based on lessons learned throughout the season — check back for the latest!
