Fantasy Draft - what positions do you pick in the first few rounds?

[extremeskins04]

For you guys that do the Fantasy Draft in the game, I'm curious what positions you try to get in the first 5 rounds or so. Like I guess it kind of depends on when I'm drafting first, but I assume 1st round is almost always a QB otherwise you won't get anyone decent by the time the 2nd round comes.

With that being said, which positions do you draft in the first 5 rounds? Also name some of the players you've drafted.

[Herbn]

Always go QB first (I restart if I'm not in a position to take a young QB I want to build around). LT and CB are mostly interchangeable for No. 2 and 3. I go DT after that.

Just restarted my CFM, and these were my top picks:
Cam Newton, Aqib Talib, Matt Kalil, Marcel Dareus and Lavonte David.

For reference, my last CFM it was this: Andrew Luck, Matt Kalil, Patrick Peterson, Ndamukong Suh (I highly recommend trying to draft Suh) and Julio Jones.

I switched to a 3-4 defense, so that impacted my draft heavily. Keep in mind what style of offense/defense you want to run before you make your picks so you can plan.

Here are some tips I left in another fantasy draft related thread:
1. Pause the draft right when you start so you have all the time in the world to carefully make your picks.
2. Take a really good, young QB first.
3. IMO CB/LT/DT are recommended after your QB (not in any particular order). Build the team as if you were a real GM, going after the most important positions first.
4. Look at their development before drafting. Superstar/Quick development ratings are obviously your prime targets here, and you want to avoid slow development players if possible.
5. You can wait to get a good RB. I got David Wilson really late (much better in game than real life), and Eddie Lacy (awesome in game even if his OVR doesn't reflect it early on) even later.
6. The same goes for wide receivers. Although, I did take Julio Jones in my top 5, and he's been pretty much unstoppable. However, I got Justin Blackmon and Cecil Shorts much later on, and Blackmon is being groomed to take over for Jones once his contract is up (I'm anticipating him asking for a lot of money, so I plan on trading him in the last year).
7. Draft young players. If you see two players with similar ratings but one is 24 while the other is 28/29, always go younger.
8. Don't always go by the projected draft positions for players. It's pretty accurate early on, but then it goes all out of whack as the draft progresses.
9. Keep track of trends. If teams suddenly start to go on a run for tight ends, then you should be doing the same. Sometimes you have to anticipate a trend if you really want a specific player at a particular position.
10. Speed, strength and acceleration are probably the most important ratings you should be looking at (they're much more expensive to develop).
11. Don't be afraid to restart your draft if you don't have a team you really like. Like I said before, I restarted mine 4 times until I had a team I liked (my team is pretty ridiculous... 2 Super Bowl wins, and I'm in a position to win a third with my team even more stacked after two great drafts).

[extremeskins04]

Great info Herb!

A few more questions:

1. Being that i'm running a 3-4 defense, is a prime DT more important than a fast pass rushing OLB? or even a GOOD run stopping MLB?

2. CB's are a tricky for me because I want a good star CB that has good m2m coverage but also ZONE COVERAGE as well. I play coach mode and I find that alot of the plays in ANY defense have alot of Cover 2, Cover 3 plays, etc? Those are the plays where I usually will give up alot of passing yards to other cpu teams. Is there any good method of getting a decent CB core? I assume the FS and SS play a huge part in Cover defenses also.

3. What offense and defensive scheme do you set before you draft usually?

I have set:

QB: Mobile (i try to get colin kaepernick if i can usually)
HB: One Cut
WR: Posession
TE: Vertical Threat
LT and RT: Pass Block
LG, C, RG: Run Block

LE and RE: 3-4 Versatile (I think)
DT: Nose Tackle

OLB: 3-4 pass rush
MLB: 3-4 tackler

CB: M2M coverage
FS: Playmaker
SS: Run Support


What do you think? Could you also answer questions 1 and 2 above? Thanks man.

Edit: Oh and one more.

4. You said to try to draft Suh, but according to his style of play and scheme, he fits better with 4-3 defenses, not 3-4. Is he still probably one of the best I can get as a NT for a 3-4 defensive setup?

[Herbn]

1. I personally think DT is one of the most important positions for a 3-4 defense. You need to be able to control the line, which is what a NT is for. You can get good LBs in rounds 5-10, but the best DTs are generally taken earlier, and they're fairly rare. Tons of good OLBs or DEs that can play OLB.

2. I wanted a good, physical corner that can press receivers and have the speed to recover. I want to be aggressive with my blitzes, and having a CB that can control receivers/jam them to throw off timing is important for that. That's why I took Talib despite his not having a quick/superstar development rating. If you look at his attributes, a lot of them just jump off the charts.

You should consider taking a second star CB with one of your picks in the 5-7 range if you want to build out a strong secondary. I find SS is a pretty easy position to develop as long as they have a strong base.

3. I set the Washington playbook/base 3-4 defense before I got started. That looks like a good drafting strategy, and it more or less mirrors what I did. Make sure you get a good blocking TE too.

I don't worry too much about what they have listed in their scheme. I just look at the physical attributes/stats to determine if they'll fit my defense. I turned a DT into my LE because I thought he would be a good fit for my line.

4. Suh is a little underweight for a typical NT, but his freakish combination of strength, speed, etc. overcomes all of that IMO. I ran a 4-3 with him, and he was pretty much unstoppable, and I would have drafted him again easily if he was available for my 3-4. But I'm perfectly happy with Dareus, and perhaps Suh isn't the best fit for you.

[philipahoward2]

I run a 3-4 Defense too and I find that my DT doesn't end up getting very much playing time. If you simulate games, or even if you play games using gameflow, the computer will generally play nickel against 3 WR and dime against 4 WR. This is great to try to stop the pass, but the DT is usually the one who comes off the field for the nickel CB. I still think a good DT is essential in stopping the run in a 3-4 defense, but I thought I'd share what I've noticed. (BTW this is with the Baltimore defensive playbook)

Also, I don't think I've seen a single DT whose rating is highest with a Nose Tackle scheme. Just look for someone really big (300+, preferably about 320ish+) and with good strength. As was said before, speed, strength, and acceleration (also agility for positions where it matters) are the most important thing to look for as they cost the most to improve.

And Henry Melton and Karl Klug are two good smaller pass rushing DTs that fit pretty well if you move them to DEs in a 3-4. Big enough to stop the run, good enough to get to the QB too. Also gives you some versatility if you switch to 4-3.

[claw11x]

I prefer to build a loaded defense first. I think it is easier to develop an offense when you get players that are good at certain things. Ideally I would end up with two stud CBs early. 2 of Haden, Sherman, Peterson. Then in the next 2 picks I want a pass rusher and a stud safety.

[extremeskins04]

I did my fantasy draft and this is my team:

QB: C.Kaepernick
HB: D.Wilson
FB: B.Miller
WR: V.Cruz, C.Shorts III, J.Blackmon, E.Bennett
TE: D.Keller

Tackles: S.Baker, P.Loadholt
Guards: T.Wharton, K.Zeitler
Center: B. De La Puente

DE's: B.Raji, A.Garay
DT: N.Suh
OLB (pass rushers): P.Kruger, B.Mingo
MLB's: L.Kuechly, J.Laurinaitis

CB's: L.Hall, T.Jennings, R.Alford
FS: H.Smith
SS: H.Abdullah


Basically I took Kaepernick first, then Suh 2nd, then CB, WR, CB, then picked a FS and then 4 LB's. I knew I wasn't going to get a decent top of the line LT by getting a decent DT, WR, and two CB's.

Any comments?

[lisinas]

Too much talent between #2 #3 receivers, you dont need that , next time take a slot receiver later and use that earlier pick to get something more valuable.