Tips and Strategy for Nailing Your Fantasy Football Draft

I've been playing Fantasy Football for about 12 years now, and I'd like to hope I've picked up a tip or two about the tips and strategy it takes to nail your Fantasy Football Draft. For some very odd reason I've decided to play in FOUR (woof) Fantasy Football leagues this year. I have my last and final draft this evening, and if you include the three mock drafts I did, this will be my 7th time drafting this season. One live, in-person draft, the rest online. I don't work for the ESPN Fantasy staff or anything, but I like to think I have a solid strategy for nailing a fantasy football draft. 

The leagues I'm in are all quite different, one is the NFL Fan Style Blogger Leauge  I told you about already, CB's all guy league, then there is my Mom's league that includes my 90 year old Grandmother who, bless her heart, took Dallas Cowboys' Kicker Dan Bailey in round two of the draft. Now, ok yes, if you want to take a jab at the Cowboys, Dan Bailey was technically our best player last year, he certainly put more points on the board than anyone else. That doesn't mean you take him anywhere before the very last pick. 

Say it with me.... KICKER = LAST PICK. 

Let's say it 4 or 5 more times, just for emphasis. Kinda like writing, "I will not pass notes in class" 100 times on the blackboard as punishment. 

I will only take a kicker in the last round

I will only take a kicker in the last round

I will only take a kicker in the last round

I will only take a kicker in the last round 

I will only take a kicker in the last round 

We good? 

Why, you ask? Well, the kickers are really all the same. Yes, some kickers are more accurate than others, but they aren't worth giving up an early round Running Back, Wide Receiver or even QB for. There will always be an available kicker on the waiver wire, so don't even stress your pretty little face about a kicker until the end. 

Some may argue with me on this, but I feel very similarly to defenses as I do to kickers. I usually take a defense NO EARLIER THAN THIRD TO LAST ROUND -- this will probably be round 13 or 14 based on league and bench size. 

WHY? I personally like to pick up a new defense each week based on who they are facing. 

For example, last year I tried to pick up whatever defense was playing a terrible offense. I couldn't tell you what Defense I initially drafted, because I had probably dropped them by week 3.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's dig a little deeper. Before you draft, take a look at your league's settings. Find out how many roster spots you have for each position. 

Generally a roster looks like this...

Quarterback 

Running Back

Running Back

Wide Receiver

Wide Receiver

Wide Receiver

Tight End

FLEX (You get to choose: Running Back or a Wide Receiver)

 Kicker

Defense

---

Plus 5 bench spots

There are variations though. Some leagues have fewer Wide Reciever positions. Keep your league's roster spots in mind while drafting. If your league is Wide Receiver heavy, I'd go in focusing on grabbing those guys right off the bat. 

To keep it simple, let's talk about how I break my draft down, round-by-round. 

Round 1

Wide Receiver/ Running Back

Round 2

Wide Receiver/ Running Back

Round 3

Wide Receiver/ Running Back

Round 4

Wide Receiver/ Running Back

Round 5

Wide Receiver/ Running Back

Round 6

Wide Receiver/ Running Back

Round 7

Wide Receiver/ Running Back

Round 8

Quarterback

Round 9

Tight End

Round 10

Best Available

Round 11

Best Available

Round 12

Best Available

Round 13

Best Available / Defense

Round 14

Best Available

Round 14

KICKER

There will be people in your league who jump at Cam Newton and Aaron Rodgers in round one. The best QB's will be gone, and you won't have a chance at them using my strategy... which is OK! I promise, come Round 8, there will still be solid QB options for you that will produce on Game Day. 

What QB to take that late?

Take a chance on one of these guys this year, I bet he will still be there in Round 8

Jameis Winston

Blake Bortles

Andy Dalton

   

 1. If you can get him in Round 2 or Round 3 - Grab Le'von Bell.  

He is only out 3 games, that's no big deal and he is a BEAST.

2.  Take a gamble on Josh Gordon if he is still available in a late round -- 9 or 10. 

Gordon is out 4 games, but has a connection with RG3 that dates back to College Days.

3. I like Greg Olsen in Round 3 or 4 more than I like Gronk in Round 1.

(After those two guys, don't mess with a tight end until Round 9) 

4. In a LATE round, I like to grab the backup to my best Running Back. 

Running backs go down like flies, hoarding his backup on your squad's bench is a solid idea.

5. Print out a depth chart for each team. 
This allows you to see who the starter (i.e. RB1) and backup (i.e. RB2) is for each NFL team at each position! 

So --- those are my secrets! 
Have any questions? Fire away in the comments, I'll do my best to help! 

P.S. - Don't Forget to use my hashtag #GamedayVibes again this season to link up all of your sports related Instas!! 

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The Weight Loss Plan For The Girl Motivated By Shopping

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and alli® weight loss aid. All opinions are mine alone. #alliInmyLife #Before #CollectiveBias

A little over a month ago, I told you about my 30x30x30 goal I had set for myself: Lose 30 pounds, in 30 weeks, by the time I turn 30. I will say I'm doing pretty well so far, but I've already pinpointed exactly where I sabotage myself: WEEKENDS. 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

These are all days where Sarah does things like eat apples and yogurt, runs on the treadmill, does cardio kickboxing workout videos, eats spinach and cooks grilled chicken and, for the most part, avoids alcohol.

Saturday

Sunday

These are the days where Sarah orders Pizza Hut and snuggles in bed with CB while watching Golf or Rangers baseball. These are the days where Sarah is lazy on the couch with the pups and eats chips and salsa. These are the days when friends call and invite us to have a Weekend Funday that goes until the wee hours of the morning. These are the days of late night food and ruining all of my progress during the week.

I have one main barrier to losing weight, and they both start with S.

Saturday and Sunday.

I've been brainstorming ways to combat this, because I'm clearly ruining all of my progress during the workweek. Some ideas I've had are....

Don't accept so many invites to go hang with friends (meh)

Keep busy and active by tackling a project around the house with CB

If I'm going to indulge be sure to hit the gym FIRST

A few years ago, I put together a plan of attack for weight loss, and today I am giving it a little face lift!

Step One: Admit your Weaknesses

Mine? Saturday and Sunday laziness, food splurging, cocktails and beer.

Step Two: Make yourself a wish list. These are items you really want and these items will be your reward for when you accomplish different milestone goals.

Mine? Extra money for upcoming trips, Cowboys tickets, Clothes, Home furnishings

Step Three: You are going to start saving for items on your wish list! 

Each time you accomplish a task on your list, you drop the appropriate dollar amount in the piggy bank. You can either use an actual piggy bank, or if you don't ever have cash, like me, you can use something like a Smarty Pig app.

So now you need to determine how much expendable income you have and can dedicate. I'm not Dave Ramsey, I'm not going to recommend dollar amounts for your budget, but what I will do is show you what my point system looks like!

You should, of course, consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program!

Download Free Printable Version Here

Step Four: Determine what your goals are.
Each time you hit one of those goals, you can use the money in the piggy bank to purchase something off your wish list!

My first 5 goals for the 5 items on my wish list:

10 Pounds Lost

12 straight weeks at the gym (Starting Aug 1 as week 1)

18 Pounds Lost

7 straight days without a single cheat meal

Final GOAL Weight (30 Pounds Lost)

I have one other tool to help me reach my weight loss goals, and that is the alli® weight loss aid! alli® weight loss aid is the only FDA approved over-the-counter weight loss aid on the market. It works by blocking 25% of the fat you eat from being absorbed by your body. It can be taken by overweight adults (BMI greater than 25) 18 years and older.


Here's how alli® weight loss aid works...

Take one capsule per meal, up to 3 times per day. Each meal must have no more than 15g of fat. 

Be sure to take a multi-vitamin before bed when taking alli® weight loss aid 

H20, as I'm sure you expected, is your bestie

Be sure to eat a balanced, low-calorie diet and healthy exercise plan! 

For every 5lbs - 10lbs you lose through diet and exercise, alli® weight loss aid can help you lost 2-3 more. In studies, most people lost 5-10 pounds over a 6 month period*! 

I bought alli® weight loss aid at Target, and even have a coupon for you here!

OH.... AND....
I'm posting my before photo here for you guys, so you can continue following along with my 30x30x30 weight loss challenge an see my progress while taking alli® weight loss aid!

ACK!
So here goes nothing, wish me luck.
I hope you'll come play along with me!

*alli® (orlistat 60 mg capsules) is for weight loss in overweight adults, 18 years and older, when used along with a reduced-calorie and low-fat diet. Follow label directions. In studies, most people lost 5-10 pounds over 6 months.

Not Everyone Likes a Pizza Joke

 My mom called me out a couple of days ago for not having written anything funny lately. Maybe it is because last Friday I was at a silent auction charity event at a local brewery, and one event in particular happened that left me feeling the opposite of funny. Perhaps even borderline repulsive, if we're being honest. 

Here I am, trying to do good for the world by bidding on a few different items. They had lots of Cowboys gear, Blowouts From The DryBar (yes, please!), restaurant gift cards.... yada yada yada. I particularly had my eye on the DryBar auction because I have a wild and crazy mane and I'm highly lazy. 

I put my bid down, went and sat down and waited to see if I won. 

For lack of any kind of buildup, I did not win the Drybar gift card. 

The guy on the microphone told us all to go back, there were several auction items still available with zero bids, and we could probably get them for a steal. I popped up and headed back over to the table. Like everyone else I was eyeing each and every available prize, one by one. 

Fitness - yoga. 

Fitness - personal training.

Fitness - 30 day gym membership

Fitness, fitness, fitness. 

Every single available prize was fitness related. 

For some reason, shy quiet Sarah decided to scream to the 26 or so people standing around the table....

"Fitness? More like fitness whole pizza in my mouth!!!"

Now I understand I did not come up with this joke on my own, but I've whipped it out a few times and gotten lots-o-laughs each time I've cracked it. Well, not only did NOT ONE PERSON laugh, nor did they even smile. 

Several briskly walked -- heck, it might have even been a slight jog -- away from the table. The way you'd walk briskly away from a bum that was babbling too loudly some incoherent nonsense about things that probably happened to him back in 1964 while simultaneously wielding a gun above his head.  

All I did was make a pizza joke. A good pizza joke. Which apparently made everyone around me feel so uncomfortable that they had to Usain Bolt away from me. 

So, anyway -- MOM -- this is why I'm not feeling very funny as of late... 

NFL Fan Style x Venus Trapped in Mars

I think I type this exact sentence year after year, but.... FOOTBALL IS SO CLOSE I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT. 

Nothing makes me happier than hitting the sports bar for the Vols game on Saturday, and then morphing into the couch on Sunday for a full day of NFL. 

Days when there's NFL football in London? Well that is just like a day of euphoria. 
Wake up, brew coffee, morph to couch around 8am -- a full 4 hours earlier than usual. 

I think I might have to stop talking about it or else I'll be in trouble for the rest of the day, filled with lust for that first official kickoff to football. Friday night was almost too much for me to take, watching my BOYS in pre-season action! 

Dak Prescott looked pretty darn good, Romo's clavicle and myself are both thrilled about his performance. 

Last year, you might remember I got the coolest opportunity to partner with the Dallas Cowboys and film a video about Female Fan Gameday Rituals. Oddly enough, I still haven't gotten the go ahead to share that video. I'm thinking I might follow up today for the 400th time -- I have no doubt I'm probably annoying them!

Can you blame me though??? I am dying for you guys to see it, mostly because the pups make their cowboys debut in some pretty fresh threads.

I misjudged a little on the size of Veenie's jersey. She was a bit thicker than I realized, perhaps too much gameday queso, like her mama. I'm joking - the dogs do not get people food unless their Grandmom is in town and she sneaks it behind my back.

BUT THIS YEAR.... I have another really cool partnership with NFL Fan Style that I think you're going to dig! This entire NFL season, I'll be one of eight NFL Fan Style Bloggers participating in an NFL Fan Style Fantasy Football League! I think you'll recognize a couple familiar faces participating... like this chick and this chick! 

Throughout the year, all 8 of us will be sharing exclusive content centered around NFL Fan Style... and mine will of course be ALL ABOUT THEM COWBOYS, BABY -- (as I'm sure you already guessed). 

In other news, this will collectively make 4 total leagues I'm playing in. 
Genius, or idiotic? I'll select genius! One of the leagues has my 90 year old grandma in it, I'm sure she will present the most intense competition I'll see in any of the 4 leagues. 

Our draft is tomorrow, so wish me luck. I'll be spending my evening creating my Draft Toolbox.

Who do you have as your number one pick this year??

Let the games begin! 

Be sure to follow along all season long with me and the other 7 ladies using the hashtag #NFLFanStyle! 

The Walk-Up Experience

Sometimes collaborations come through my inbox and I literally gasp, OMG! This happened a couple of weeks ago when I was en route to Key West. I got an email from Lowe's asking if I'd like to come to the Ranger's Ballpark and chat with Elvis Andrus (our star shortstop) about his at bat walk-up experience. 

DO I? Yes, yes I do want to do that. 

So Elvis had his entire walk-up documented in virtual reality, so you could get a 360 degree view of what it is like to step up to the plate as Elvis Andrus. 

"What would my walk-up song be?" Good question, thank you for taking the time to ask me that. I've never thought of what my walk-up song would be in the past 9 minutes. Hmm...

Well,  you generally get two songs, so first at bat would be Rocky Top (obvi) and then second at bat would be Wipe Me Down by Lil Boosie. I can rap every word to that song and, correct me if I'm wrong, but, I feel like that tidbit would really play out well on a resume. 

Back to my bro, Elvis. I can refer to him as "bro" now, because we posed for a picture with each other while we were both really sweaty -- he was sweaty because he had been warming up for a game, I was sweaty because I'm a Texan transplant who spends Summer coated in a double thick layer of moisture at all times. 

Can I tell you how excited I was to get to meet and chat with Elvis? CB got to come too, and we arrived at the ballpark around 2pm. Everyone else at the event was press, I was the giddy blogger in the Ranger hat with a stupid smile plastered on my face. I stuck out like a sore thumb, and security asked me like nine times if I was in the right place, "Ma'am this entrance is for press, stadium tours take place in the North Wing of the Ballpark."

 CB and I watch the Rangers almost every night, partly because we can't agree on any other programming, partly because we are die hard fans of the current AL West leading team. In addition to Elvis, of course, I'm also the biggest Emily Jones fan ever. Emily is essentially the Rangers on air sideline reporter - for lack of a better baseball term. I asked CB, "Do you think Emily will be there??!?!" He shrugged his shoulders.

Then wouldn't you know who walks up?!?

Look at my face!! LOLZZZZ. I look as happy as Veenie on a boat. Nerd alert. I pretty much terrified Emily, running at her for a photograph, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

While we were waiting for Elvis to come out, we got to test out the Virtual Reality experience for ourselves. I'd never done any VR before, so it took me a second to realize I had to physcially turn my whole body, not just my head. Face palm. 

It was really neat, you seriously got to see and hear every single 360 degree aspect of what it is like to walk to the plate as Elvis Andrus!

I of course didn't miss the "at bat pose" photo opp that was made available to fans. As you can clearly see, I excelled at JV softball, you're welcome.

Just like a league of their own, base-balling in skirt. You may call me Gina Davis (or perhaps Rosie O'Donell) from here on out.

Then Elvis joined us, and he even got to experience the VR of his own walk-up for the first time. He giggled a lot and it was really cute to watch!

I did the exact opposite of what the rest of the press was doing, and I took a selfie.
(I can't imagine why security thought I was there for the ballpark tour!?!?)

Then we had the chance to ask Elvis some questions.

I asked him:

"So Elvis, for the sequel, what do you think about doing a virtual reality walk off home run, followed by a gatorade bath where you get doused with gatorade by your teammates repeatedly?"

He laughed and said that was a fantastic idea!

He thought I was totally adorable and charming, then we posed for a picture and he realized how sweaty I was and the charm wore off.

There were a lot of cameras going off at once in all different directions, can you tell? Elvis was looking at CB's camera, you'd have thought I'd be too? Ah well.

We got to stay for the game that night, and although there was a lengthy rain delay we made it through the whole thing and earned an 8-5 victory, including a Mitch Moreland firework home run!

*CB insisted on receiving photo credit for this pic... so... photo credit CB. 

Next time you head to a Rangers' game, be sure to check out the Lowe's Elvis Andrus 360 degree walk-up, located on the 3rd base side. Not in Dallas, check out his full video (sadly, sans VR) here! 

Thanks to Lowe's and the Rangers for such a treat! 

Let's do it again sometime???!?!?!?! 

GIANT Macbook Air + Kate Spade + More GIVEAWAY

I have teamed up with a group of lovely ladies to giveaway a RIDICULOUSLY amazing assortment of goodies! This is your chance to win a Macbook Air, Kate Spade Handbag, Notebook and Water bottle! Enter in the rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One Happy Veenie

I've talked about my full time job here and there (full post on what I do here) but for those who don't know I work for an outboard motor company. One of the perks (which I never took advantage of until this year because I'm dumb) is the company boat. As you can imagine, an outboard motor company has a company boat for employee use. All you gotta do is put your name on the signup sheet and it's yours for the day! Another perk of working for an outboard motor company? The fact that everyone who works here is a boating enthusiast, and already own their own boat...so....ipso facto... the boat is available pretty much anytime I want it. 

My mom came in town this past weekend, so I put my name on the list to take the pontoon out. Once I was told dogs are OK on the boat, I promptly went out and secured a life jacket for Veenie. 

Now- for those wondering, "WHAT ABOUT GEE?" Well, Gee hates the water and is not to be trusted off a leash, because he is a beagle with a nose for the news. Trust me on this one, Gee with the house to himself, and no crazy Veenie jumping on his head at all times, that was a treat for him. 

So I strapped Veenie into her lifejacket and we headed out to Lake Grapevine. What happened next will put a smile on your face for the rest of the day. 

Yes, this is just a post with photos of my dog over and over and over again. Deal with it. 

And here she is helping CB catch fish....
(I know, I'm so annoying RN, I can't help it) 

Man oh man... What a delightful set of images. 
You think Veenie had a good day?!?

Still not sold? Ok, well check out this video. 
Dreams don't work unless you do #NoRest