A way to beat the autopick in fantasy football

[MrCrowesGarden]

If you ever get stuck having to do a Yahoo autopick draft for fantasy football, I might have the solution that works for you. I'm trying it in a league this year.

The first thing to remember when doing a Yahoo autopick draft is that it will draft all of your starters first (presets are 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF.) So, even if there's still that sleeper RB available in round 9, you probably won't get him because both of your starting RB slots are filled and you still need a kicker or defense.

So, here's what you do:

1. Edit your ranking, and exclude all kickers and defenses so you don't draft one at all. For the most part, they're interchangeable and you can pick one up off the scrap heap from week-to-week based on matchups. Also exclude all TEs except those four or five elite ones like Gates, Gonzalez, Heap, etc.

2. Put your top six to ten WRs at the top of your rankings. While the rest of the league is spending their first two picks on RBs, you're going to get two of the best WRs in the league and a darn good one in the third.

3. List your TEs next to ensure you get one you want.

4. List your top 40 or so RBs next. Most people's top ten ranked players are RBs, and they usually take up about 17 of the top 20. If I were doing a live draft, that's how I'd do it too, but there's a good chance if you do it that way, you'll get some erratic WRs. The top 18 RBs will be gone, but you'll make up for it in depth: no one else will be able to draft another RB until the 10th round! You'll probably get guys like Edgerrin James, Thomas Jones, Marshawn Lynch, Ahman Green, etc.

5. List your QBs after that. If you're in a standard 10-team league, you're guaranteed a top 10 QB because the other nine teams likely have theirs and are shut out from getting another one until the 10th round.

You likely won't get a true first-rounder doing it this way, but you won't get stuck with a bunch of dogs either.