It's All About the Math

This is what I've known about "Fantasy Football" for a while now. It's all about the math. If you want to win, it's not about drafting players from your favorite pro team, or favorite college team. It's about which players put up the most consistent numbers.

I won our league last year, on the back of Michael Vick. (Although, my team was so good that I would have won almost every game without him...)

We had our draft Sunday afternoon, and what follows is my team, along with the player's pre-season fantasy ranking, calculated by NFL.com.

As you can see, it's a pretty deep team.

Aaron Rodgers QB - GB Preseason: #3
DeAngelo Williams RB - CAR Preseason: #8
Rashard Mendenhall RB - PIT Preseason: #9
Anquan Boldin WR - BAL Preseason: #5
Devery Henderson WR - NO Preseason: #21
Larry Fitzgerald WR - ARI Preseason:#8
Lance Kendricks TE - STL Preseason: #7
Phil Dawson K - CLE Preseason: #1
Green Bay Packers DEF Preseason: #1

There you have it. What I like about the team is few players from the same team...always a draft goal of mine (spread the risk around). Also, lots of players that might not be at the very top of their position, but collectively are near the top of all categories. (What I look for is consistency...) The lowest ranking player I have is Henderson, 21st at wide receiver...which is still not bad.


So, here's the breakdown for me:
Quarterback: Top five.
Running Backs: Both top ten.
Wide Receivers: Two top ten.
Tight End: Top ten.
Kicker: Number one.
Defense: Number one.

See, I like the way this all fits together. You want a team that is deep, not just reliant on a few stud players. But, I also have a few stud players. Don't underestimate defense and kicking either. You get a good fantasy kicker and defense, that those will be consistent points each week.

And wide receivers. Very important. The good ones can have unbelievable breakout games that really rack up the points. If Henderson can get his act together, this will be a great trio. (And if he doesn't, I've got Devone Bess on the bench, ready to take his place..)

It seems to me the biggest gamble I am taking is at tight end, with the relatively untested Kendricks. But the theory is that this could be Sam Bradford's breakout year, and if so, he's gonna be looking at Kendricks quite a bit. It's a gamble, and could turn out badly...or could turn out awesome.

The rest is, theoretically, solid.

Now, we just see how they play, week in and week out.