Vince Russo's The Brand

Make no mistakes about it—I’m a mock draft guy through, and through.

Every year, the second my fantasy drafts are scheduled, I immediately go to Yahoo and start participating in mock drafts. No matter what time of day, or night, whenever I have any free time, I immediately lock in my spot in a roto draft and start–more, or less, “practicing”.

Mock drafts are VITAL if you want to draft a successful fantasy team. Knowing your position in the draft, and understanding where players are falling and it what rounds they are generally  being drafted is key when putting your strategy together. Another importance of the mock draft is knowing where the “hidden gems” are. Who’s going in the later rounds that you could hold off on and plug into your starting line-up once your earlier picks have already been used. Can I wait on a second baseman until round 20 when Joe Panik is still available, or, do I need to fill that position early on due to it being scarce.

However, there are pitfalls to mock drafting. Manager beware of getting in the routine of who you’re going to draft when because when the “real” time comes, you could be left standing alone in the base paths as your competitors have simply passed you by—by paying attention. Come draft day you need to be aware of TRENDS. If pitchers start drafting early—you need to change your strategy and pick up that ace sooner than you expected. Same goes with relievers. Many fantasy players don’t pay attention to drafting their closers until the later rounds when they tend to pick up who’s available. Trust me–there is a huge difference in points and categories between Fernando Rodney and Craig Kimbrel.

As you get closer to your draft, I will be on here almost daily to give you some pointers that will guarantee you success. But, please keep in mind—I can’t give you ALL my secrets as my competitors are closely monitoring this looking for the opportunity to use my expertise against me!!!