by: God (as told to his humble servant John Holler)

 

Editor's Note: Below you will find THREE of the TEN Fantasy Demandments for 2011.  If you'd like to read all ten, please click HERE to order our 2011 Pre-Season Draft Guide.

“In the beginning, he that is God created fantasy football. He looked and said it was good.” Genesis 17:52

Some may find it sacrilegious to disseminate the word of the Lord, but, when it comes to pulling off a successful draft, it doesn’t hurt to have a little help from above. When God issued the Ten Commandments, they were all life lessons that, on face value, made absolute sense, but are almost never followed, which renders them effectively moot. Most people have stolen at some time in their life. Worshiping a graven image is open to interpretation. The Lord’s name is taken in vain on a daily basis. Football is played on the Christian Sabbath, so is his been broken. Parents have been dishonored. Everybody lies. Everybody covets. Many commit adultery.

Even as the Lord’s vessel in this regard, it could be argued in court that I have broken nine of the Ten Commandments. They don’t have sticking power. Therefore, the Big Man has set down his 2011 Ten Demandments. He’s a little stricter with these. Disregard them at your own peril. Commandments tell you what to do. Demandments require your action. Feel free to ignore any of them. Nobody remembers the hookup you had a couple of years that sent Commandment No. 7 out the door. What you do is your business. I’m just the messenger. Personally, I think God chose me only because I’m a restricted free agent and the dark side was sending out feelers. The Big Guy knows I’m loyal to the home team and he sweetened the deal to get a contract extension on my soul done. I signed his tender offer and pass along his list to you.

Just so you know, the Lord is nervous this year. 2012 was supposed to be the End of Days, but, according to Him, 2011 is going to be different than any draft you’ve been involved with. You don’t have to adhere to The Word, but, if you are seeking fantasy redemption, become another sheep in the flock and hear the good news of the Kingdom.

 

The First Demandment

Thou Shalt Be Aware of the Frailty of Thy Tribe – Injuries are a part of life in the NFL. In 2011, it’s going to be a whole different animal. While many may pooh-pooh the lack of OTAs and minicamps as being meaningless, nothing could be further from the truth. Having interacted closely with players – the "let’s go have a beer" type of meetings without recorders or interview questions – and you learn that the grind of an NFL season makes it nearly impossible for players to do anything quickly from midseason on. Their muscles ache, but are beaten into reaction and are conditioned to take the sort of explosive movements needed on game day. Mark the Lord’s word on this one. Players who have a history of nagging injuries, especially those susceptible to muscles pulls (hamstrings especially) should be avoided or devalued. When ranking players (most owners use our rankings as a framework and tweak it to elevate players they have strong convictions in and devalue players that they have had before and just can’t stand), pay special attention to those who have missed time with muscle pulls. Injuries happen, but those players (especially wide receivers) that are asked to run 40-yard dashes up the field 20 times a game will be the most likely to be affected by the lack of offseason workouts. As a result, more attention will need to be paid to drafting players with a history of playing through pain and making sure that wide receiver depth is strong (you will lose at least one of your WRs to injury…He guarantees it).

 

The Sixth Demandment

Thou Shalt Not Spare the Rod On the Child – The NFL is a young man’s sport. If you haven’t proved yourself by the age of 25, you probably never will. If you’re a running back, you’re a has-been at the age of 30. Most wide receivers have their best seasons in the rear-view mirror by the age of 30. They’re always replaced by younger, stronger, faster players. However, this year, as with so many of the other Demandments, the stink from the lockout still lingers. In recent years, first-round rookie quarterbacks have enjoyed a surprising success rate as opposed to the historical view, in which first-round QBs were a 50/50 proposition to be a success. In just the last couple of seasons, rookie QBs like Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, Josh Freeman and Sam Bradford have all led their teams to success – the first three to the 2010 playoffs and the last two within one win of the postseason. But, this year’s rookies will be entering training camps months behind on the learning curve – whether they are quarterbacks, running backs, defensive linemen or cornerbacks. As a rule, coaches fall back on what they know works, which will likely lead to veterans being on the field when the game is on the line and the rookies will be on the sideline. Dynasty leagues require the rookie class to get gutted, but expect to see more misses than hits this year. Many rookies that are being counted on will be stunned by the speed of the game and, if they aren’t as mentally strong as they are physically gifted, they may struggle. Few college players make a seamless transition to the pros, but enough do that fantasy owners continuously jump on them earlier than perhaps they should on the dice roll on greatness (remember how late Adrian Peterson lasted on the draft board in his rookie year?) It’s always cool to be the smartest guy in the room who can predict a guy like Clinton Portis as a rookie or Arian Foster last year has what it takes to be special. However, they built up your confidence in OTAs and minicamps and solidified that confidence in training camp. This year’s rookie crop has been deprived that and will be thrown into the deep end of the pool without knowing whether or not they can swim.

 

The Eighth Demandment

Thou Shalt Follow the Sun – This is something the Lord has always believed in, but doesn’t always feel the need to enforce. Most leagues allow roster moves deep into the week. If you have a player in a late-Sunday afternoon game, you make roster moves up until game time of the players involved. When you get in the middle to later rounds and you have a couple of players you essentially have rated equally, give precedence to East Coast players. When a West Coast player is questionable on the injury report and is vital to your roster, you have to wait until 4 p.m. on Sunday to be sure he is going to play. Every East Coast team plays the majority of its games at 1 p.m. on Sunday. You won’t have any players "frozen out" on your roster until the Sunday early games begin. It may not seem like much, but believe me, when the moment comes that you have to bench someone in an early game and then pull the guy in the late game (replacing him with some deep bench guy or waiver-wire pickup), you will see the rationale in this decision. This shouldn’t be a consideration in the first five or six rounds, as the talent pool gets drained, but, when you’re building depth, having players more likely to have their playing status known as early as possible can be the difference between winning and losing Week 8 or 9. How many of you have lost a division title because of a hard-luck loss in which a running back in the late games was a DNP? Advantages, no matter how small, are advantages.

 

There they are. Ten simple guidelines for your fantasy draft that, if followed, will go a long way to helping build a champion. Like most Biblical advice, it’s up to you whether you accept it or reject it, but, as the Good Book says, adhering to the rules will get you into the Kingdom of the Lord in the Land of Milk and Honey. Go forth, be fruitful and understand that, while these aren’t the End of Days, they are going to be strange days indeed. Many teams will need Divine Intervention to succeed. So do you. Follow these simple rules and your chances of getting in the Kingdom of Glory at the end of the fantasy season will be greatly enhanced.