Fantasy football is either the greatest or the worst thing that has ever happened to sports fans.
When you win, you’re on top of the world, giving you bragging rights and, hopefully, walking away with some prizes at the end of the year.
When you lose, you’re the butt of the entire league’s jokes, getting crap for those first- and second-round picks that didn’t quite pan out—so choose carefully.
As frustrating as a bad team is, it can be worse when you can’t watch your team perform, as too many of us still think a TV is the only place to catch the action. Oh, you poor, poor people. Get with the times and take advantage of NFLSUNDAYTICKET.TV, which offers all live out-of-market NFL Sunday afternoon games from anywhere on various mobile and connected devices to NFL fans who cannot get DIRECTV satellite service.
OK, now that we’ve given you an idea on how to watch your team, here’s some info on how to make sure your team actually wins, as these are tips on the best way to optimize your fantasy season.
Get Insurance
We’re not talking Obamacare here, but actual insurance that will help take your fantasy football team to great heights—and give you less heart attacks each weekend.
If there’s one thing that great fantasy football players understand it’s that depth is what wins you championships.
Sure, talent is great and all, but when an unforeseen circumstance happens, does starting a third-string wide receiver really sound like the best bet? Not in our opinion.
While having a running back like Jamaal Charles is great and all, why not go after two more studs at the same position just in case he happens to go down with an injury like he did in 2011? Save yourself from fantasy football suicide by allowing your backup to come in and fill the spot.
Having too many good options is a good thing—and drafting the best players available during your draft to do that would be a wise choice.
Gamble… Just Not Too Much
If you asked us to name three players who will most definitely breakout in this year’s fantasy football season, we would list off the trio we have on our radar, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.
Still, because a guy isn’t well-known or has had past success, does that mean we should stay away from him? Hell no!
Players like Calvin Johnson and Dez Bryant are big names who entered the league with a first-round aura and lots of hype, so everyone knew about them.
However, if you took a chance on former sixth-rounder from the 2010 NFL draft who erupted in 2011, 2013 and 2014, you’re still smiling, because that player ended up being Antonio Brown—who has his sights on becoming the best wideout ever!
Not every gamble will pan out like Brown did, but it would be nice to snag a player who is on the verge of stardom before he gets there, and team him with the All-Pros in your starting lineup—it just takes a little bit of a risk.
Catching lightning in a bottle once is hard enough, though, so don’t revolve your entire draft strategy around playing the guessing game for the last four or five rounds—remember, a title is built on depth.
Don’t Get Distracted From The Action
There’s a good chance that you already know about the greatest invention known to every football fan ever, DirecTV’s RED ZONE CHANNEL®, but there are other options out there for fans to get their fill and analysis from the experts.
Yeah, they’ve got your back.
We understand that things come up on Sunday’s and that you can’t watch all every play, but that doesn’t mean you should be left out in the dark, so do yourself a favor and get a service that helps you stay in the fantasy zone no matter where you are—unless that happens to be church, we’re not so sure the big guy upstairs wants you thinking about fantasy football while saying some prayers.
NFLSUNDAYTICKET.TV MAX offers the exclusive DIRECTV FANTASY ZONE channel for live game-to-game fantasy analysis every Sunday afternoon.
Never Overthink
Friends often ask what makes a good fantasy football player. Want to know what the answer is? Never, under any circumstance, overthink.
Just like preparing for an interview or trying to be smooth while approaching that hot chick at the bar, once someone’s mind starts running rapidly, that’s when mistakes tend to happen—and fantasy football is no different.
Go ahead and read all the analysis prior to the draft to get you prepped, but whatever you do, don’t change your mind.
You may be thrown for a curveball when a player gets picked right before you were going to take him, but don’t freak out and go with a lesser talent who plays the same position, simply take the guy who you believe in the most and stand by the choice.
Trust us, fantasy football might seem like an exact science to some—especially those who have a few titles under their belts—but more than anything, it’s about confidence, so prove that you have what it takes to snag that girl’s number by keeping things simple.
Running Back, Running Back, Running Back
The NFL may have evolved into a throwing league over the past few years, with passing records dropping like they’re hot, but that doesn’t mean that running back still isn’t the most vital position in fantasy football.
That’s right, I just said that—and I’m not smoking something funny.
Whether you take an elite passer in the first-round like Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning, or wait to grab a few second-tier guys who you plan on splitting duty between, you can never have enough running backs.
More often than not, these are the players who will be going down with injuries, so stash your bench with backups, even backups to backups—OK, that’s a little much—but you get the point!
There’s no way to tell who will break out and become this year’s sleeper, but what you can do is grab a runner you believe in late in your draft and keep him until you’re forced to drop him. Why duke it out with the rest of the league to try and get him off waivers when a star goes down, right?
Be prepared, bros, and get NFLSUNDAYTICKET.TV now so you don’t miss a moment of the action.