Alright, so I wanted to get a better handle on my fantasy football league this year. I’ve always just kinda winged it, you know? Picked players I liked, hoped for the best. But this time, I wanted to be a little more… strategic. So I started digging around for some decent rankings, and that’s when I stumbled upon these “FantasyPros” rankings.
Digging into the Rankings
First, I gotta say, there’s a ton of info on this site. It’s kinda overwhelming at first. They’ve got rankings for every position, different scoring formats, even dynasty leagues, which I don’t even play! But I just focused on what I needed: standard scoring, redraft league.
I started by looking at the overall rankings, just to get a sense of who the top dogs were supposed to be. It’s pretty much what you’d expect – big-name quarterbacks, running backs, and a few top-tier wide receivers sprinkled in.
The “Expert Consensus” Thing
What I found particularly useful was this “Expert Consensus Ranking” (ECR) thing they do. It’s not just one person’s opinion; they pull rankings from a bunch of different “experts” and average them out. Figured that was better than just trusting one random dude’s list, right?
I spent a good chunk of time just browsing through the different positions. Looking at the ECR, comparing it to my own gut feelings about certain players. Made some notes on guys I thought were ranked too high or too low. Kind of my own little “watch list” of players to target or avoid.
Customizing It a Bit
Then I saw that I could customize the rankings a little. My league uses a slightly different scoring system than the default, so I tweaked some settings. Changed the points per reception, stuff like that. It was cool to see how the rankings shifted based on those changes.
Putting it All Together
The Real Test: The Draft
- Used The Ranking In Draft Day.
- Printed a hard copy of the rankings, just in case my internet decided to crap out.
- Had the FantasyPros site open on my laptop, too, so I could see the live updates.
- Cross-referenced my “watch list” with the ECR as the draft went on.
Honestly, it felt good to have some actual data to back up my picks. Did I reach for a few guys I liked, even if they were ranked a little lower? Yeah, probably. But overall, I felt way more prepared than usual.
So, yeah, that’s my experience with the FantasyPros rankings so far. We’ll see how the season goes, but at least I feel like I’ve given myself a fighting chance this year. No more just throwing darts at a board!