The NFL regular season is only a couple of weeks away, which means it’s time to start preparing for your fantasy football league draft!

In my opinion, fantasy football is the most exciting fantasy sports game because the season is shorter and each team only plays once a week. Every great decision or costly mistake you make is magnified and really ramps up the excitement when watching games. Like all fantasy sports, 90% of how well team will perform during the season is dependent on what you do in the draft.

I’ve been playing fantasy football for 8 years now and I’ve definitely learned some useful things along the the way. I’m not claiming to be an expert, but having played in many leagues with different people I’m confident that these tips will be able to help whether you are an experienced player or playing for the first time.

In no particular order, here are 10 tips to help you take down your friends, family, co-workers and other football fans this fantasy football season!

1) Know the Rules

Make sure you understand the rules that your league has for scoring, trades and adding/dropping players. Most leagues follow the default settings, but some league commissioners like to add in extra positions and scoring categories. Be aware of these possible differences from the norm.

2) Attend the Draft

Like I said before, the best indicator of how your team will perform is based on the draft. Do everything in your power to actually be present at your league’s draft. There is nothing worst than playing with a team that you didn’t even pick. Having a team that was picked by a computer or the other players in your league takes out 99% of the fun of playing fantasy football.

3) Availability is the Best Ability

Make sure you know which players have nagging or even season ending injuries. The football season is short and if you draft a player that will miss a significant amount of time, you’ll be digging yourself into a hole.

4) First or Last

Either take one of the elite players at a position with less depth earlier on in the draft or much later in the draft, not in the middle. This is all based on position scarcity. Some positions have a lot more depth like running back and wide receiver. You don’t have to worry as much about missing out on one of the top tier players at those positions because there will be guys in the tier below that are very comparable. On the other hand, positions like quarterback and tight end are very top heavy. Either take a quarterback or tight end early so you get one of the elite guys, or wait until later in the draft to get one. There isn’t a huge difference once you get past the top group.

5) Head over Heart

It can be really easy to pick players from your favourite team because you want them to do well. Don’t fall for this trap! Don’t pick a player just because he plays for your team when there is clearly another player on a different team that is better. There’s nothing wrong with taking players from your favourite team as long as they are actually good. For example, if you’re a Packers fan, go ahead and draft Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy and Randall Cobb. However, if you’re a fan of a team that won’t be very good like the Jaguars, you might not want to draft anyone from the team…

6) Buyer Beware: Rookies

Rookies are always very intriguing because everyone wants to draft the rookie that explodes onto the scene like Odell Beckham Jr. did last season. However, the vast majority of rookies aren’t worth where they’re drafted because they’re transitioning into the league and will not reach much of their potential right away. My advice is to pick one rookie that you really like and try your best to draft them as late in the draft as possible in order to maximize the value of the pick.

Here are some rookies I would recommend drafting this season:

• Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland
• Todd Gurley, RB, St. Louis
• Melvin Gordon, RB, San Diego
• Nelson Agholor, WR, Philadelphia
• Devin Funchess, WR, Carolina

7) Bye Weeks

Each team has a bye week during the season where they don’t play a game. Try to draft players with different bye weeks or else you’ll be setting yourself up for a really tough matchup if all of your best players are off at the same time.

8) Don’t be Lazy

Make sure you have your players picked and slotted before the deadline each week. There is no worst feeling than losing a matchup just because you forgot to set your team. Put it in your calender, set alarms, leave yourself a bunch of sticky notes. just make sure you’ll remember to do it!

9) Don’t Sleep on Sleepers

Always keep your eye out for sleeper players later in the draft and in the free agency pool because each season there are a few players that breakthrough and become fantasy stars. This is especially important if your team ends up having one or a few players injured.

Here are some players to keep your eye on:

• Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Minnesota
• Latavius Murray, RB, Oakland
• Alfred Blue, RB, Houston
• Eric Ebron, TE, Detroit
• John Brown, WR, Arizona

10) Stay Positive and Have Fun!

Fantasy football can get very competitive and even a bit heated at times. Although you want to preserve the spirit of competition, you should also remember that the point of playing is to have fun! Stay positive and be respectful of the people you’re playing with.

Best of luck to all of you playing fantasy football this season!