VI. Do NOT Draft a Kicker or Defense Too Early
Don’t be the idiot who drafts the 1st defense or kicker unless all other positions are set and everyone else has been waiting on drafting them as well.
- My BIGGEST pet peeve in all of fantasy football is when the inevitable 1st defense is taken off the board in the 6th, 7th, or 8th round. When that person is asked why they made that pick the reason is always “because they are the highest scoring defense/kicker”. Great. That’s fine by me. Instead of taking a position player who will be starting every week with much more value than someone on waivers (this would be a RB3 or WR3 based on round 6), that idiot just took a defense that scores approximately two more points per week than the 12th best defense. That’s, right, only two points more per week from the best scoring defense than the number 12 scoring defense based on ESPN standard scoring. The best part is that the best scoring defense in fantasy isn’t even drafted in the top four in most standard leagues. It is rare that the best scoring defense is actually drafted as such so what’s the point in trying to draft that way?
- Playing defenses by committee is a very cost-effective way to have a great scoring defense without the draft-day price. What I mean by this is that having multiple defenses on the roster and playing them based on matchups is equally as effective as having a top defense. Let me ask this, would it be better to have a great defense go up against the league’s best offense or have a mediocre defense against the league’s worst offense? The latter should be available every week by simply targeting defenses available on waivers each week.
- Everything I just said about defenses holds true for kickers as well, typically even more so. The best kicker in the league usually scores only one single point more than the next 11 kickers on a weekly basis. There is no reason whatsoever to draft a kicker before the second-to-last round unless there is an insane league where kickers score a ton of points. If this is the case, find a new league as most are getting rid of kickers now anyway.
* This is block 6 of an 11-part series that will be posted over the course of the next week. It will then be posted in its entirety at the conclusion of the series. Thank you for reading and be sure to come back tomorrow to the Overtime Network for the next blocks!
