Fantasy football is a great way to compete with your friends and win bragging rights. However, with the complexities of the draft and weekly managerial tasks, having a winning season can seem impossible. Thankfully, your peers have some advice.

Beginning your season, the fantasy football draft functions much like the NFL draft, with several rounds of picks where players take turns building their rosters. You can choose to manually pick your players, or you can have the system auto-pick from the best-rated ones. Drafting quarterbacks is when it becomes counterintuitive, which brings us to our first piece of advice from Brendan Birt ’26: “When drafting, don’t pick QBs in the first round like in the NFL.” While in the NFL draft quarterbacks are often picked up fast and early, in fantasy football, wide receivers and running backs score more points weekly, and the pool of strong running backs thins quickly. So, make sure to choose your picks wisely.

Speaking of quarterbacks, our second piece of advice comes from Knight Root ’26, who says, “Don’t draft Kyler Murray in the third round.” Root speaks from the experience of one of his friends. To the untrained eye, this might seem like an inconsequential choice, but it is a mistake you definitely want to avoid. Interpreting and researching player statistics and past performance is important when considering your picks in the draft. Don’t bank your season on a player who is on the brink of a breakout season. If they end up underperforming, you may be left in a predicament, especially if you sacrificed an early pick for them. Research your picks and balance your roster, and you will have a promising season ahead of you, unless you pick Kyler Murray.