You may never have a warroom as dedicated as the one depicted above, but there are certain things every fantasy owner should know when he pre-ranks his players. But believe me, these tips can make or break a draft, and create the impression on your friends that you’re a genius when it comes to drafting.

1. Your league’s rules — A fantasy guide or its “cheatsheets” won’t mean anything if your league doesn’t follow the same scoring procedure. Know if bonus points are awarded to 300 or 400 yard passers or 150 yard rushers and adjust your rankings accordingly. Know if receivers are awarded points per catch or if quarterbacks score 3, 4, or 6 points for touchdown passes. Rules like these can drastically alter rankings.
2. The schedule — Hey, maybe a running back plowed through average defenses last season. But if he’s up against teams that are strong against the run in 2007, his statistics will show it. And that can go both ways. If a rookie quarterback struggled last season against a bunch of great defenses but his team’s schedule is a cupcake this year, take note and bump him up.
3. Set it up in tiers – Tiers are basically a way of grouping players with similar potential, together. It will go a long ways on draft day if, for example, you need both running back and quarterback, but with only 2 1st tier running backs remaining and 4 2nd tier quarterbacks remaining it makes sense to draft the running back this round and wait until the next round to grab your quarterback.
4. Surrounding Cast — A player, no matter how talented, is only as good as his teammates. A great example of this is Edgerrin James last year. Everything about James’ past said that 2006 was going to be a great year. But without a great offensive line, he got pounded. The same holds true for a quarterback. Without a running game to take pressure off him, a quarterback will struggle.
5. Offensive Lines — This fits in with the previous tip, but it’s worth saying twice. Maybe a running back or quarterback struggled last season because of a faulty offensive line. But if that team took strides to improve the line for 2007, you might be wise to adjust accordingly.

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