The Fantasy Football Game Plan

Like most fantasy football fanatics out there, I'm spending this week getting ready for my draft. But unlike some people in my league, I'm headed into it with a game plan in my hand.

The draft is the single most important part of a fantasy season every year. Most teams will still have no fewer than half of their drafted players remaining on their roster by the end of the season. Considering the other half (or less) is picked up over the course of four months, it really reinforces the fact that you need to enter your draft knowing what you're doing.

That's why sites like Mock Draft Central, Fantasy Football Calculator and Couch Managers have gained popularity in recent years. The serious (and even some of the casual) fantasy football owners will spend multiple hours on those sites, trying different strategies to see where players are likely to fall and building a game plan in their heads of how the actual draft will unfold. in your Fleaflicker leagues, you can mock draft directly on their site using your own settings!

---

---

In our Game Plan, we've done all the hard work for you. Moving through countless mock drafts and gauging relative player value, we've come up with what should be the best way to maximize your draft selections throughout your entire draft. Below, you'll find three Game Plans, broken up by draft position. Print out the one you need and bring it with you into battle. When you're on the clock, you'll be glad you did.

Picks 1-4

Landed a top four selection in your draft? Congratulations! Your reward is one of the four can't-miss running backs in 2010. Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson will go 1-2, while Maurice Jones-Drew and Ray Rice go 3-4. Take your pick; we'll see you in the next round.

With your next two picks, one of them has to be a WR, as all potential WR1s will be gone by your next picks. With your other selection, you can grab either a workhorse back like Ryan Mathews or Cedric Benson, or another top-flight WR. My preference is to take two WRs here, as I really like the RB2 and RB3 values in the next few rounds.

With your elite RB and two WR1s on your team, you're looking great already. With your next two picks, you'll spend your fourth rounder on an RB2 like Ronnie Brown, Matt Forte or Jahvid Best. Your fifth rounder can be used on a Tier 2 QB, if a guy like Matt Schaub falls, or an elite TE like Dallas Clark, Antonio Gates or Vernon Davis. If you can't get good value, pick up a third WR like Hines Ward or Hakeem Nicks.

In Rounds 6 and 7, you'll want to have your third RB. I'd get Marion Barber or Ahmad Bradshaw, and I'm definitely targeting Ricky Williams if I'm a Brown owner. If you have three RBs and three WRs by Round 7, you'll want to add a value pick at QB or TE. If you were able to land a QB in Round 4 or 5, use this opportunity to grab a third WR like Johnny Knox, Malcom Floyd, Jeremy Maclin, Mike Wallace or Terrell Owens.

You'll ideally have three RBs, three WRs and a QB after seven rounds, but if you haven't drafted a QB, don't worry. Grab one in Round 8, a Brett Favre or Matt Ryan if available. If both are gone, take Donovan McNabb, who has an excellent schedule this year, in Round 9. With your other pick, you can draft your TE or a fourth WR. If you already have a QB, look for value at RB or TE.

By Round 10, you'll likely have a QB, three RBs, four WRs, and a TE. If you don't pick up the one you're missing in the 10th round, as long as you can find good value. Zach Miller and Chris Cooley are two excellent TE options that could be available. If you have a weak QB1, use this opportunity to grab Ben Roethlisberger. Otherwise, draft a solid No. 4 RB. In Round 11, you'll want Willis McGahee if you drafted Rice. If you didn't grab a second QB. By this point, you should have two QBs, four RBs, four WRs and a TE.

Round out your draft by taking a team defense, an upside WR like Legedu Naanee or Mike Williams, a RB handcuff for your stud RB (Javon Ringer, Toby Gerhart or Rashad Jennings), and finally a kicker. If you have extra rounds in your draft after those 15, fill them with RB handcuffs or lottery tickets, and upside WRs.

Picks 5-8

Being in the middle of the draft, you're more likely to land targeted players, as you don't have to wait 20 picks in between half your selections. Most of you will take a RB first round, some will go with Andre Johnson. I prefer the latter. In the second, you're looking for an RB1 like Ryan Mathews if you have Johnson, or a WR1 like Miles Austin, Brandon Marshall or Roddy White if you land a RB. If you can't get any of those guys, one of the top two QBs fell to you. Grab him.

If you don't have a WR by the third, you should be looking for a WR1 in the next two picks. If you already have a WR, you can look for a quarterback in Rounds 3 or 4. Spend the other pick on a second running back. After four rounds, you should have a QB, two RBs and a WR.

The fifth and sixth rounds should be spent picking up second and third WRs. I'll be looking first at Dwayne Bowe, Nicks or Ward, and then Pierre Garcon, Jeremy Maclin, or Santana Moss. If for some reason you only have one RB by the fifth, spend either a fifth or sixth on a second RB like Marion Barber. Ideally, you'll have a top-six QB, a top-six RB or Johnson, a top-six WR or Mathews, a second RB like Pierre Thomas, Beanie Wells or Forte, and two other top-25 WRs.

In the seventh and eighth rounds, you'll want to shift back to running backs. Arian Foster, Ahmad Bradshaw, C.J. Spiller, Michael Bush and Ricky Williams should all be targeted. If you can't grab one in the eighth, grab another solid WR -- that'll be your strength this year, and you'll probably look to trade from your group of four good WRs at some point.

In the next three picks, you'll be looking for a tight end, a second QB, and your fourth RB or your fourth WR, depending on what you did in the eigth round. You'll likely be leaving the QB till the 11th round if you already have a top-six option at the position. Close out the draft with handcuff RBs and upside plays at the RB and WR position, as well as a defense and a kicker. Only take a defense earlier if the rest of your draft is falling perfectly and you have good depth at RB and WR, or if you plan on taking handcuff RBs late.

Picks 9-12

Welcome to my world -- more often than not, I get stuck at the end of the draft. Lady Luck and I aren't friends. In the first two rounds, I'm definitely taking one WR, as the top six guys are way ahead of the receivers that will be left in the third round. I'll spend that other pick on one of the top two QBs, but if they're gone when I pick, I'll go with Ryan Mathews or Rashard Mendenhall as a RB1.

Opportunity Rocks

---

Looking for underrated players who are in position to succeed this season? Paul Bourdett has you covered. In the third and fourth rounds, you'll want to grab two RBs to counteract the WR-QB strategy. I have a soft spot for Ronnie Brown in the fourth, especially since I'll be targeting Ricky Williams as my third RB in the sixth. If you went WR-RB earlier, you can go RB-QB here. You'll have a QB, two RBs and a WR at the end of this round.

If you went WR-QB early, Rounds 5 and 6 will be spent locking up a third RB and a second WR. However, if you have two pretty strong running backs on your team already, spend these two picks on two WRs like Nicks, Ward or Garcon.

If you only have two WRs on roster and you start three, spend the next two rounds picking up a few more. If you only start two WRs and a flex, you'll want to grab another RB here, a guy like Michael Bush or Arian Foster. After your eighth pick, you'll have one QB, three RBs, three WRs, and one more RB or WR.

You're looking for a tight end in the ninth or tenth round. With the other pick, take a fourth RB if you don't have one yet, or a fourth WR or second QB if you do. In the 11th round, grab a backup QB if you haven't and if Roethlisberger, Matthew Stafford, or Chad Henne are still on the board. Otherwise, take that fourth WR or a team defense. Spend the rest of your draft finding upside plays at WR and RB, or picking up RB handcuffs.

Take these strategies into a mock draft or two (or several) with you before your real draft to see if you like them. If you aren't satisfied with how your team turns out, tweak the game plan to take advantage of your particular preferences. Good luck on Draft Day!