The clock is ticking down. The NFL season is just around the corner. Fantasy leagues are forming, and everyone’s starting to mock draft. Are you? If not, don’t worry. Here are three tips you need to utilize in order to dominate your fantasy draft.

1. Don’t Always Take the Best Player Available

For the first three rounds, you can most likely get away with this. However, as you get deeper into the draft, especially in the middle where a lot of drafts can be “won,” you do not want to always take the best player available. It gets harder and harder for even the experts to accurately predict a player’s ADP (Average Draft Position). For this reason, inexperienced drafters often fall for taking the player at the top of the board.

This can be a serious trap that could cost you the season. What you need to do is scroll down a little bit and check out the 5-10 players below that top-of-the-board player. These are most likely the players that will not make it back to you by the next round. So scroll down, look for those players that are undervalued, and get your guy. Because if you don’t, someone else will.

Ideally, you should be targeting players that might have had a down year where you are expecting some type of positive regression. A good example would be D.K. Metcalf. He scored fewer touchdowns last year than every other year. Expect him to have more in 2023. However, you’ll see names like Najee Harris or Deebo Samuel ranked above him in terms of ADP. Metcalf should produce more points than both. If you practice this tip during your mock drafts, you’ll be one step closer to dominating your fantasy draft.

2. Utilize the IR Position During Your Draft

During the later rounds of your fantasy draft, get a player that is starting the season out on the IR. Preferably someone that has a high upside and will be playing by the time fantasy playoffs begin. Last year’s example was Jameson Williams, WR for the Detroit Lions. He entered the season on the IR due to a torn ACL from his last year in Alabama. However, he was projected to be available to play by the end of the season. Because of his early draft capital, and on top of being on a potent offense, he was someone you could draft in the last two rounds and place on the IR. This allows you to free up a spot on your roster and have one extra guy on your team than all of your league mates. Then, you can utilize the player in your IR slot later in the year for a playoff push.

This year’s example is Kyler Murray. He’s projected to play towards the end of the season if all goes well from last year’s injury. If this remains true, you can get Kyler after the 10th round in most fantasy drafts. Although the Cardinals are projected to have one of the worst records in the NFL this year, you can draft him as your second QB, throw him in the IR slot, and dominate not only your fantasy draft but make an aggressive playoff push too.

3. Don’t Fall for Preseason Hype Videos

#Titans coach Mike Vrabel praised 2nd-year QB Malik Willis in a big way – "Glaring improvement."

Vrabel: “I thought Malik [Willis] came out of the spring with glaring improvement,” (via @TDavenport_NFL)

“We feel good about where we’re at,” Vrabel added, “You can’t have too many… pic.twitter.com/bjIGlQkYC2

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 26, 2023

We’re all guilty of this. Now that we are a few weeks away from the regular season, your Twitter feed is about to be flooded with “Allen Robinson Comeback Season??” or “Anthony Richardson Throws PERFECT Spiral in Practice!!” Don’t fall for these. Unfortunately with these hype videos, this causes players to fly up the draft board. Stick to the basics. Be wary of a WR3 on the Steelers who did absolutely horrible last year, and be wary of a rookie QB who specializes in running the ball. You get the idea. Hype videos are meant to build attraction toward the upcoming season. They’re fun to watch, yet dangerous. If you ignore the preseason hype videos, you’ll dominate your fantasy draft.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jon is the host of The Eye Test: A Fantasy Football Podcast. He and his fellow co-hosts make fantasy football simple. So many times, people get wrapped up in advanced stats that don’t even matter. By making fantasy football simple, it will give you a higher chance of winning. Subscribe on Youtube or follow us on Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook for daily content.