Fantasy Football Trading Tactics
During the fantasy football season, you’ll want to trade players to upgrade some weaknesses in certain positions on your team roster. When trading, you target a player and then decide what you’re willing to give up to get him. Use these fantasy football trading strategies to put together a successful deal:
Buy low, sell high (and vice versa). Trading is all about making your team better without making it worse (in other words, improving one area without hurting another). In order to do this, look to trade for struggling studs who you think will rebound. Trade away your average players who have great stats so far due to soft schedules or injuries.
Trade from strength. If you have solid depth at a certain position, you can trade your depth to improve a weaker position on your team. Having a strong bench is a nice luxury, but only your starting lineup can win you games.
Make two-for-one offers. Look to upgrade a position by trading two decent players for one true stud. If you can identify a trading partner who has depth issues or a losing record, you can make the deal work.
Know the NFL schedule. Most fantasy coaches are so focused on the next game that they don’t plan ahead to avoid bye-week conflicts and poor matchups. By knowing the schedule and the upcoming matchups, you can make trades to avoid problems that could harm your team’s chances, and you can pinpoint teams that are headed for trouble (prime trading candidates if you remind them about their situations).
Be proactive, open-minded, and diplomatic. A big key to successful trading is your attitude. The other owners don’t want to be shown up or make trades with a jerk. Look to make offers that help both teams, and consider all offers you receive, no matter how wacky they may sound!
Football Glossary
ACC
The Atlantic Coast Conference of college football teams.
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AFC
An acronym for the American Football Conference.
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AFL
An acronym for the American Football League.
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BCS
An acronym for the Bowl Championship Series.
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Big Ten
A college athletic conference whose eleven-member institutions are located mainly in the Midwestern United States.
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bye week
A week during which an NFL team doesn’t play; every NFL team has one week of the season off.
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center
The player who snaps the ball to the quarterback. A center handles the ball on every play.
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DEF
An acronym for Team Defense.
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fullback
A player who’s responsible for blocking for the running back and also for pass-blocking to protect the quarterback. Fullbacks, who are generally bigger than running backs, are short-yardage runners.
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kicker; placekicker
The member of the special team who is responsible for field goal and extra point attempts.
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NCAA
An acronym for the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
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NFC
An acronym for the National Football Conference.
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NFL
An acronym for the National Football League.
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Pac-10
The Pacific-10 Conference is a college athletic conference that operates in the western United States.
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Punt
A kick to the opponent without the use of a tee.
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quarterback
The leader of the team. The quarterback calls the plays in the huddle, yells the signals at the line of scrimmage, and then receives the ball from the center. Then he hands off the ball to a running back, throws it to a receiver, or runs with it.
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running back; tailback; halfback; wingback
A player who runs with the football.
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SEC
The Southeastern Conference of college football teams.
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snake draft
A draft in which each fantasy coach has one pick in each round. Each team makes its first-round pick based on a predetermined order.
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ST
An acronym for Special Teams.
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stud
A top-rated fantasy football starter.
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tight end
A player who serves as a receiver and also as a blocker. The tight end lines up beside the offensive tackle to the right or the left of the quarterback.
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waivers
A situation where a player is dropped from a team roster; the player goes on waivers for a limited time before becoming a free agent. All coaches then have a set amount of time (usually two days) to decide whether to add him to their teams.
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wide receiver
A player who uses his speed to elude defenders and catch the football. Teams use as many as two to four wide receivers on every play.
