Preparation: Without preparation, you may as well send your fat aunt Gladys into the draft room with a cheat sheet to pick for you. And depending when your cheat sheet was printed, you may end up drafting Drew Pearson.

1. NFL Draft - Rookies rarely contribute to fantasy value.  Of course there are exceptions, but generally, it takes a year or two to really learn the system and start putting up numbers.  Those who do succeed are typically in the right place at the right time.  Randy Moss is the best receiver example - he was a major talent drafted into a throwing offense with Chris Carter on the other side.  I normally don't like drafting rookies because their hype forces them to be drafted earlier than they should.

2. Free Agents - A big time #2 receiver has switced teams and now he's going to set the world on fire, right?  No.  History has shown that receivers who had fantasy value tend to drop in a big way after changing teams.  How many of you drafted Peerless Price or David Boston early?  How about Johnny Morton last year?  Again, it takes time to learn the system with a new team.  Plus, a number 2 tends to get single coverage.  When they move on to become #1, they face double teams and struggle.  This isn't a recent trend, either.  Alvin Harper 'needed' to get out of the shadows of Michael Irvin in order to get to the hall of fame.  He went to Tampa bay as their #1.  Anyone heard from him since?  In your draft, let the suckers take the big name guys who switched teams.

3. Pre-Season NFL games - Watch them.  They mean more than you think. Trends start showing themselves and hidden talent emerges. Years ago, people wrote off Brett Favre when Sterling Sharpe retired.  In pre-season, I noticed that he still was gun slinging and his new favorite target was a young receiver named Robert Brooks.  I drafted them both late that year and reaped the benefits. (Note added by George: "I drafted Brooks, you traded for him".

4. Cheat Sheets - These are great tools, but only if you know how to use them.  What most don't show is the drop off point.  In other words, a cheat sheet will rank quarterbacks from 1 - 50.  What it won't tell you is that 1-5 may be real studs, 6-15 are all about the same and the rest are a crap shoot.  So If your picking and you need a quarter back, if #5 is still there, you might want to grab him.  If all 5 are gone, why take 6 when 15 is just about as good?  You could grab a more talented back or receiver and come back to him.

5. Pick a Service - Whether it's this web site or another, have a fantasy football website email periodic updates to you.  At least you'll know going into your draft who has a broken leg.  This will help prevent you from being laughed out of the room.  Unless you have the time to research all teams' websites on your own, you'll never be able to keep up with the information a service can provide.  And if someone else in your league is getting this information and you don't, who has the advantage?

6. Do some mock drafts.  Join a few Yahoo or other free leagues just to see what people are thinking when they draft. 

7. Know how to pronounce the names of the players you're drafting.  And maybe know the team they play for.  It might not sound like a big deal, but it is.  Unless you're using this as a disinformation scheme.

8. Know your league.  Based on your leagues rules, what position will prosper the most?  Do you start 3 wide receivers?  Tight ends? 2 quarterbacks?  Are you in a 20 team league and you have the first pick?  Sounds great, but you won't pick again until all backs and many quarterback's are off the board.  You might consider trading down.  Does the scoring system favor td passes?  That makes quarterback's more valuable.  Before you decide who you are picking, know at least as much as the rest of the league.  Ever notice that active commissioners win more than most?  It's because he's usually most familiar with the league.

Draft

1. Have you ever noticed that in just about every draft a running back or quarterback is taken first?  Why?  In the case of the quarterback, the person drafting is probably new, or the scoring system is so off line that quarterbacks are at a premium.  Some leagues even have 2 starting quarterbacks, so in that case go ahead and load up.  But if you are in a normal league, the back is usually the way to go.  And not just for the first pick but for most of the first round.

2. Many teams will have two receivers with fantasy value.  Very few teams have 2 backs worth anything.  This means that there are only about 30 backs who really have fantasy value, and when you factor in team production, significantly less.  There's typically only about 15 backs who have what it takes to be a big time fantasy league contributor, so imagine having 2 of them in a 10 team league.

3. Don't be the first to take a kicker or defense.  Keep loading up on skill positions until one or two come off the board, then look to make your move.  Kickers are crap shoots, anyway, so why waste a pick?  And remember - a big time scoring defense almost NEVER repeats the next year.

4. Don't be intimidated if people laugh at your picks.  If you've done your research and you know what you're doing, let them laugh.  Of course feel free to laugh at them.  The draft is probably the most fun you'll have.

5. Draft a long shot late in the draft.  Someone with a huge upside that maybe not everyone believes in.  If he pays off, you'll have a cheap stud or wonderful trade bait.

Season

1. Stay on top of everything.  Leagues are not always won and lost at the draft, and almost every team in every league finishes with a different starting lineup than they started with.

2. Don't be fooled by week 1.  A lot of times you see a guy you didn't expect catch 3 td passes in the first week and then do very little the rest of the year.  Look back at preseason and see if throwing to him was a trend.  Or wait until week 2.

3. Watch for injuries.  If Shaun Alexander goes down, you may be able to pick up Maurice Morris cheaply.

4. If someone on your team comes out of nowhere, odds are he'll go right back.  Consider a trade for a known commodity.

Starts

1. Always start the guy you drafted to start.  When you go fishing for a great performance from a lesser player, odds are you'll come up empty.  If you do and you sat a better player, you'll kick yourself.

2. Injuries are not always a reason to sit a star player.  Brett Favre threw 4 td's on a badly sprained knee.  Trust me, I know.

3. Don't bench a star player because he's playing a tough D.  Many times stars show up with their best performances against good teams.

4. One exception to the 'never bench a star' rule is when you have a talented player on a bad team, playing a very good team on the road.  More than likely they'll be shut down completely.  Even if you sit him, you won't lose a lot.  A great example was LaDainian Tomlinson on the road at Denver.

5. If you have a choice of defenses, remember that defenses always play better at home.  Unless you have the resurrection of the 1985 bears, consider this.

Basically

There's no exact formula for winning.  But by just paying attention before and during the season you'll be in or near the money ever year.  And don't be shy about asking for advice, either from a friend or from this site.  And be brave enough not to take the advice if you just don't agree.