For many football fans, simply watching your favorite team play every week just isn’t enough anymore. Fans are now resorting to fantasy football, which allows friends and competitors to come together to play against one another by creating their own teams from the entire NFL roster. Fantasy Football can easily become more involved than rooting on the local team, and that involvement starts with the fantasy football draft to put your team together. Here are some simple tips to help you along the way with your fantasy draft.

1. Create a strategy in order to obtain the players you want to draft.

You’re not going to get every star player out there, so it’s important to learn players from all the NFL teams.

2. Know what order you’ll be drafting in beforehand.

You'll have a better idea of knowing what your potential future team could look like.

3. Mock drafts are important practice to building a quality team, but not essential.

It’s important because you have a better idea of how all players rank and what round they will be drafted in.

4. If you have access to NBC Sports Network and ESPN, look out for shows like Fantasy Football Now and Fantasy Football Kickoff.

The analysts give excellent tips on what players are worth and not worth drafting.

5. Do you homework on fantasy football, as a whole, if this is your first rodeo.

The difference between leagues with Points-Per-Yard (PPY) or Points-Per-Reception (PPR) make a major difference on what players you want on your team.

6. Good running backs are of a wider variety than wide receivers, so be on the lookout for RBs sooner than later.

7. Don’t draft a quarterback in the first round!

You’re wasting your first round pick for someone of greater fantasy value. There are plenty of solid QB's going in later rounds as well.

8. Pay attention to players’ bye weeks.

You do not want many players in the same position with the same bye week, or else you’re setting yourself up for trouble.

9. Kickers shouldn’t be drafted until the last two or three rounds.

A strong defense should be considered before the 10th round, but any other position should be drafted any time after the 10th.

10. Remember that this is only fantasy football.

Even if you’re a brave soul who decides to put money on a league, it’s meant to be fun at the end of the day!

So there you have it. These tips are sure to give you a better start to building the ultimate fantasy team. Sure, there are many random things that can happen during your draft(s), and things don’t always go as planned. However, it’s important to have some sort of blueprint, as a passionate owner, to guarantee yourself a chance to win.

Good luck, fantasy owners!