It’s that time of year when the stakes are high and football is king. Whether you want to impress your boss or avoid watching your girlfriend beat you when she chooses players according to jersey color, here are some tips that will help you win it all.

• Study last season’s top performersBefore you start drafting for this season’s fantasy football league, you’ll want to take a look at last year’s studs. There’s no guarantee that these players will be what they were last year, but it’s a great start. While the pre-season and projected stats are nice, last year’s performance can be an indicator of a player’s real fantasy value, but don’t let it be your only factor in choosing who to draft.
• Draft the best quarterback you canThe NFL is a quarterback-driven league. In fantasy football, an exceptional quarterback will score you the most points, and an elite quarterback on a good team is an extremely valuable and consistent prospect. If a great quarterback falls into your lap, draft him! You certainly won’t regret it when you watch the points come in.
• Draft consistent playersConsistency is the key to success in fantasy football. A player that racks up 30 points in a game against a weak team, but gets a goose egg against a good team is a player you want to avoid.
• Draft a dark horse playerIn fantasy football, particularly toward the end of the draft, upside is the key. Draft a younger player with potential over a veteran on the down slope of their career any day. Take Steve Slaton for example. His 2007-2008 season is just one of many examples of a player that was young and certainly not early round worthy, but turned out to have great upside and broke into fantasy stardom. Paying attention to a player’s college career can assist you in your quest to find your dark horse player, who falls under the radar of the more popular guys.
• Watch out for injuriesAs mundane as it may seem, the preseason can tell you a lot about the health of a player. Drafting a player that is nursing a nagging groin injury through preseason is risky. Pay attention to injuries and watch out for twisted ankles, hamstring or quad strains and other nagging injuries that can get a player on the field but prevent him from really living up to his potential.
• Look at a player’s entire career including collegeInstead of only looking at a player’s last season, take into account their entire career, number of injuries and their role in the offensive lineup. A player’s college career can say a lot about how they will be as a professional. On the same note, a player’s early professional career can say a lot about his upside potential, both in his prime and veteran years. Look at a player’s entire body of work and cut him some slack if he had to deal with a severe injury or an off-the-field issue.
• Watch out for bye weeksBye weeks are incredibly frustrating when you don’t plan appropriately. You can end up with both your starter and bench player having the same bye week, and this will inevitably lead to you giving up a player in a trade that you may not want to lose. Think about bye weeks when you draft, especially when you look at back ups.
• Take risksTrading hot players to improve your weak ones is something you’ll want to consider as the season progresses. This applies especially to late round difference makers and dark horse players.
• Look at the team and positional matchupsThis might be the most critical of all factors to consider in fantasy football. Don’t just look at records, look into the individual matchups and personal history of a player against a specific team. If you draft right, your upper end early round players should cancel out and the league can be won with dark horse players that are played at just the right time against just the right team. Match ups are critical for separating yourself from the pack and must be constantly monitored.
• Remember to have funFantasy football is definitely a competition but it’s also supposed to be fun. So, instead of throwing chairs when your player has a bad game or your team loses, have a beer and relax with your friends because that’s what watching football is all about.

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