I just BOMBED my fantasy football draft. I wasn’t able to draft any of the players I wanted. I got sniped in every single round! When I look at my team, I really don’t like what I see. I don’t know how I will be able to win with a team like this! Now, what?

How many of us have had drafts like this? I think that for many of us who have been playing fantasy for a while, we can safely say that we have had at least a few drafts like this. But, if you are new to fantasy, or you don’t do a ton of drafts…you might not have had this feeling as much.

The fundamental truth of fantasy football is this. The draft is just the beginning. No matter how much we hate our draft there is still much work to be done during the season. In the next couple of paragraphs I will go through the rest of what you need to do to make sure that you are set up for success!

You will hear many analysts say that while you cannot win your league on draft day, you can lose it. I think this is somewhat lazy analysis, and assumes too much. No matter how good, or bad, your draft was, you still need to manage the roster during the season. This includes a variety of activities that include managing the waiver wire, navigating injuries, and potentially negotiating trades.

Now, if you are as down on your roster as you say you are…you probably want to get to work immediately to see what changes you can make to get your roster into shape. And believe me, there is a lot you can do. The draft is just the beginning, and as soon as you have a chance to let the dust settle, I recommend looking at the available players list to see if another one of your league mates may have cut someone, or maybe there was a player that got overlooked. Doing this sooner rather than later gives you an advantage over your less diligent opponents. This might be all you can do until we get to Week 1 and we finally see real game action.

This is when things start to get interesting for you. Once we see real action, we find out how accurate we were with our preparation. Sometimes, our analysis is great, but other times we find out that guys have much different roles than we expected them to have. Sometimes, we get an unfortunate injury that tries to derail our season. Now, our ability to manage the roster comes to the forefront.

The first thing you need to do is study the waiver wire to see if there are any hidden gems that are still available there. If there are, you need to make smart decisions about who to cut so that you can add these players. If you handcuffed your Hero RB…your handcuff RB should not be a potential cut candidate. If you drafted a player you knew was going to take time to ramp up…they should also not be high on your cut list. Potential roster spots that I would consider to be first cut candidates for most leagues would be…your second QB, your second TE, your second D/ST, or your second K. (Notice a trend?) In most standard leagues, you are only starting one of these positions and carrying extras limits your roster flexibility. Being willing to cut them means you can be able to add the depth or breakout player you need.

The second thing you need to do should be to look at your league rosters and see if there are any potential trade partners for you. If you have an abundance at one position, but were weakened at another due to circumstances in Week 1…see if there is a potential trade partner out there that can help reinforce your team. In my experience, trades are often difficult to complete, but if you can make one work, then you put yourself in a better position to succeed.

The last thing that I suggest is to manage your time well. By understanding what the important cutoff times and dates are in your league, you can give yourself an advantage over your leaguemates by making moves before they can. This sounds like an amazingly simple piece of advice, but it is one thing that I have seen make a huge difference in the outcome of leagues.

Other than that, all of the standard advice holds true. Check with your favorite analysts outlets to make sure you have the most current news and weekly projections. I hope that The Sports Affiliation, and myself are 2 sources that you turn to. But, these little things are important, and I will be here all season to help you navigate the changing landscape of the fantasy football world, and hopefully help you win your league championship!
As always, you can catch me on X(Twitter) @2fatguysff and all my content will be posted on our website at www.thesportsaffiliation.com. For the most up to date and quicker answers during the season you can access our discord server at https://discord.gg/zKNpR3G5