Beginner's Guide to Fantasy Football, Part 7: Analyzing Your Team

Photo: USA Today Sports

Links to other parts of this series:

You’ve done it! Your draft was a huge success. Pop the cork, your job is done.

There is a certain temptation to do just that. It’s human nature to want to sit back and admire your own work. It’s also human nature to be attached to it. Often we come away from drafts unwilling to make changes to our starting lineups or rosters until it’s too late.

By all means, there is nothing wrong with taking pride in how well you feel you drafted. Gloat to your significant other, post your roster on Twitter, even do a little trash talking. Simply make it a fleeting feeling. There is much work to do yet.

Let’s take a look at a fictional team. For argument’s sake, let’s pretend this is a 12-team, PPR league with a flex starter.

Did Week 7 jump out at you immediately? That should be a big concern for this squad with the sheer number of byes it faces. Of course, it may not matter if the team is good enough to romp through the league. So let’s see how this team stacks up.

Quarterbacks - 8/10

Dak Prescott is going to win Comeback Player of the Year, and he's got a fantastic surrounding cast. Fields was a bit of a reach, but he should be a good backup once Chicago's coaching staff comes to its senses and puts him on the field over Andy Dalton.

Running Back - 6/10

This running back corps hinges on health. Austin Ekeler is going to be a great PPR asset if he can stay healthy. If touchdown regression works for him, he should crack the top 10 per game and has a shot at a top-5 season. Myles Gaskin was Miami's best running back when healthy last season, and he has no serious competition for touches. Raheem Mostert is in a similar boat in San Francisco, while Ronald Jones II II could be in for some big games if Leonard Fournette misses time or falters.

Wide Receiver - 8.5/10

Tyreek Hill is going to put up a lot of points, and Terry McLaurin should benefit immensely from Ryan Fitzpatrick joining his team. Amari Cooper could be one of the better values in fantasy football this year with Dak back throwing the ball in Dallas. If D.J. Chark builds good chemistry with rookie Trevor Lawrence, he could crack the top 24 in receiver scoring.

Tight End - 7/10

Losing Matthew Stafford will be a blow for his value, but T.J. Hockenson has all the opportunity in the world to retain his top-5 fantasy status at his position. Hunter Henry's value is questionable on a New England team that also signed Jonnu Smith, but he could have great production if Smith misses time or the Patriots just throw the ball to tight ends a ton.

Defense - 7/10

This fantasy owner did the right thing and waited for the end of the draft to take a good defense. You will note it wasn’t the penultimate round, rather the third from last. This was a solid strategy because it was likely most of the top-10 ranked defenses would likely be gone by the time 15.11 came around.

Kicker - 8/10

An indoor kicker in the last round works just fine.

The Rate My Team App

You can do some good self-reflection after your draft. But, as always, there is a Footballguys tool to make things easier and more comprehensive. Perhaps one of the more famous tools on the site, the Rate My Team tool takes all the pertinent information -- roster, scoring system, starting lineup, byes, etc. -- and automates a massive analysis on your squad. Just take a look at what it had to say about the fake team we drafted above.

Overview:

Congratulations! You seem to have grabbed quality players at every turn of this draft. It's rare indeed to be better than the average team at the three core positions (quarterback, running back and receiver), but we think this team is.

While this squad looks good, weakness at the supporting positions is keeping us from declaring it the league favorite. Still, you'd much rather be strong at QB/RB/WR and weak elsewhere than the reverse.

Players we particularly like on this team (and there's a lot to like here) include Terry McLaurin, Amari Cooper, Wil Lutz, and Chase Claypool. We have all these guys ranked ahead of where they're typically being drafted.

• With great inseason management, we think you have about a 90 percent chance of making the playoffs. Our Matchup and Waiver Wire tools at Footballguys.com would be a great place to start!
• With good inseason management, we think you have about a 85 percent chance of making the playoffs.
• With average inseason management, we think you have a 77 percent chance of making the playoffs.

You can read the rest of the analysis for our fake fantasy team here. You may note the analysis agrees with our snap judgment that running back is a weak spot. There is much more than that in that analysis, and it can give you a great idea of where you will struggle and how you might be able to fix potential issues on your squad. It will also highlight potential positional gluts on your team. If you have too many good receivers, for example, they may be good trade bait.

One of the better aspects of the Draft Dominator is the ability to see the projected total scoring for each of the franchises in your league. You can compare your draft to the others in your league using this feature and can target teams with strong running games, great quarterback play, and questionable receiver ability just by clicking a button. It is a fabulous tool that helps you truly break down your fantasy draft.