How to Pick Fantasy Football Starters

Far too often fantasy football owners make the mistake of starting the same line-up week in and week out. This makes sense for some players that produce fantasy points every week come rain or shine, but these players are rare. Evaluate your fantasy football starting line-up every week to field the most competitive team possible.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Evaluate the match-ups for each player every week of the season. Sometimes a running back will face a team with a particularly strong run defense and may need benching. Conversely, a player on the bench may face a sub-par defense that will give him a significant match-up advantage.
2. Realize that some players do remarkably well against certain teams and struggle against other teams. There is no rhyme or reason for these poor or excellent performances; therefore, check a player's historical stats against that team and bench or start the player as necessary.
3. Check for any injury information prior to game day. While most owners just check their player's injury status, it is prudent to check the status of other players that are relevant to your player. For instance, if a star defensive player on the opposing team is out with an injury then this can increase an offensive player's fantasy point value that week.
4. Verify the teams that have bye weeks before picking the starters. Every football player's team has one week off during the year and if an owner plays that player on their off week, the owner will receive no fantasy points from that player for the week.
5. Remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Often a fantasy football owner will start a player that is a historically good player but is having a bad season, based on the hope they will produce as they did in the past. In football a player's production can drop dramatically due to injury or age. Do not keep starting these players based on past glory.