Nailing Your First Round Fantasy Football Pick

As the 2013 draft day approaches, most people spend a large amount of time obsessing about their first selection of the total sixteen picks to be made. It’s true that the first round pick will lay the foundation for the rest of your team and is highly important to get right. Even though it’s highly critical to master the first round of your draft, the process does not have to be stressful or complicated one.

The first step is to put less importance on focusing on a specific player in the first round but instead focus on a type of player. This helps because unless you have the first overall pick, you really never know if a certain player will be available to you when it’s your turn in the order. If you base your research and team goals on getting one certain player, you could be set up for disappointment and will need to scramble to go in a different direction on the spot. This year there are two recommended types of players to consider for the first round.

Stud Running Back

As with most seasons, going into this year’s fantasy year the truly high-level stud running backs are limited. There are several rushers that have the potential to have great seasons, but they also come with too much risk to be your first round pick. If your league scoring system puts a solid emphasis on the RB position, then the following players are difficult to pass up if they are available:

1. Adrian Peterson

2. Arian Foster

3. Ray Rice

4. Doug Martin

5. Jamaal Charles

6. Trent Richardson

7. Marshawn Lynch

Although the running backs above are as sure thing as they come, the nature of the position still comes with increased injury risk. If you are looking to secure a more dependable option every week, or if your league has a high value on the WR position, such as PPR scoring format, then the elite wide receivers may be best for you. The following are the players to target as elite quarterbacks:

1. Calvin Johnson

2. Brandon Marshall

3. AJ Green

If you have a later round pick and all of the elite running backs are off the board, and you just don’t feel comfortable taking a receiver in the first round, then all is not lost. The upside with this situation is that your first and second round picks are close to each other. You will be able to grab two great players to form the core of your team. The following players are the next level of fantasy greatness. You should consider picking the available of the elite Quarterbacks:

– Aaron Rodgers

– Drew Brees

Following this approach to first round drafting, your team will be set up nicely for the future rounds. Don’t let your first round strategy be thrown off by last minute research or listening to another player in your league on draft day. Be the guy who drafts a smart and dependable stud player as the leader of your team.

The name of the first round drafting game is simple. Pick the player with the highest scoring potential but at the same time is the most dependable week in and week out. Try not to get sucked into the current flavor of the week flashy running back based on training camp or pre-season results. When it comes time to start scoring points, the name won’t matter if they aren’t producing wins for your fantasy dream team.