How to Ace Your Dynasty Draft with a Surplus of Premium Picks (Fantasy Football)

Beyond our fantasy football content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our free mock Draft Simulator – which allows you to mock draft against realistic opponents – to our Cheat Sheet Creator – that allows you to combine rankings from 100+ experts into one cheat sheet – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football draft season.

Last year just wasn’t your year in your dynasty or keeper fantasy football league. After falling out of contention early, you wisely set your focus on the future and traded assets to playoff contenders for valuable draft picks.

All of that hard work last season should have you in a position of strength entering your draft. Here are some tips that will help you make the most of your surplus of premium picks.

Run custom mocks with your league settings with our Draft Simulator

Take Your Shots

I always stress balance when it comes to drafting safer and riskier players. But a higher number of premium picks gives you the freedom to take a few more calculated risks on higher upside players than you normally would.

Stay practical, but don’t be afraid to shoot for the moon. Target players that you think have star potential and do your best to get them at a good value. Remember that taking risks isn’t the same thing as reaching for a player. When building out your cheat sheet, use upside as the tiebreaker when comparing players.

You also have more flexibility to trade up in the draft if you feel it’s necessary. However, don’t waste too many of your hard-earned picks to trade up for one or two players. Only trade up if you feel there’s a great value left on the board or if there’s a major drop-off coming within a positional group.

For example, there’s a huge drop off in value between Aaron Jones and the tier beneath him that includes more uncertain running backs like Kenyan Drake, Miles Sanders, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. If Jones were still on the board and I was a few picks away from being on the clock, I’d be compelled to package some of my picks to move up to ensure I get Jones. That’s a worthwhile move.

Target Younger Players

A pipeline of young talent is the backbone of any great dynasty or keeper roster. With more premium picks at your disposal, you have more chances to fill out your team with talented players in their first three years in the league.

While other owners in your league might use their limited draft capital on veterans to get more short-term value, you’ll have a greater opportunity to field a competitive team this season while assembling a strong roster for years to come. The more shots you can take on players with long-term upside, the better off your franchise will be.

Stockpile Running Backs

Year after year, running back is consistently scarcest position in fantasy. You need at least one stud tailback to have any chance at winning your league. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of these resources available.

But here’s the good news: thanks to your plethora of premium picks, you have the rare opportunity to find at least a few tailbacks with top-10 potential. In your upcoming draft, try to use the majority of your valuable picks on running backs.

So how should you handle the other positions? With so many talented wide receivers out there, you can afford to take one or two studs early and then wait to fill out your depth. Quarterback is deeper than ever, which means you can wait until the later rounds to find a viable starting option. And the top tight ends are hardly ever worth an early-round pick. You can hold off and take a late-round flier on a tight end with top-12 potential.

There’s no such thing as too many good running backs in fantasy football, especially when you consider the position’s overall durability concerns. The worst-case scenario is that you have a surplus of running back talent that you can later use as trade bait to address any other positions of weakness during the season.

Use your surplus of picks to create a surplus of quality running backs. It’s the best problem to have in fantasy football.

Get expert advice during your draft with our fantasy football draft software