Velcome to the 2019 Fantasy football season (sorry for my bad Dracula impression. Yes, I know this is written but trust me it is a horrible impression).
Let's answer the question you've been asking yourself since you click on this article. What the hell is a vampire league?
Here are the rules of the vampire league, all drafters have to wear sparkling body glitter and find a boring girl who loves chewing on her shoulder (that's right folks, an outdated Twilight joke, only the most current content here).
For real, here are the rules for vampire leagues. One player is the vampire, he or she can not draft; they have to build a team with the waiver wire. The people who draft a team can not use the waiver wire or trade for the whole season. The team you draft is what you're stuck with for the season. If a Fantasy owner loses a week to the vampire, the vampire gets to take a player from that person's starting lineup and trades the loser a player of the same position.
These are the basic rules for the vampire league, feel free the modified it any way you want. My vampire league decided to allow trading among the drafters, so there is a least one way, owners can improve their teams.
Those of you, who are the vampires in you leagues I'll be doing a weekly article giving you the best waiver wire options for your upcoming matchup each week on Tuesday. So come back when the sun goes down (Damn that's a corny joke if you can call it a joke).
Here is the draft (nine-team, which is for ten team vampire league) done with veteran Fantasy players.
2019 Fantasy Football Vampire League Draft
Free five-minute mock drafts against industry experts and custom analysis for your team with the FantasyPros Draft Wizard.
Embed from Getty Images
| Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saquon Barkley | Joe Mixon | Antonio Brown | Robert Woods |
| 2 | Alvin Kamara | Tyreek Hill | Travis Kelce | Amari Cooper |
| 3 | Christian McCaffrey | JuJu Smith-Schuster | Mike Evans | Josh Jacobs |
| 4 | Ezekiel Elliot | Odell Beckham Jr. | Adam Thielen | Chris Carson |
| 5 | David Johnson | Todd Gurley | Keenan Allen | Patrick Mahomes |
| 6 | DeAndre Hopkins | Micheal Thomas | Devonta Freeman | Leonard Fournette |
| 7 | Davante Adams | Dalvin Cook | Kerryon Johnson | Damien Williams |
| 8 | Julio Jones | Nick Chubb | Aaron Jones | George Kittle |
| 9 | James Conner | Le’Veon Bell | Stefon Diggs | Julian Edelman |
| Team | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zach Ertz | Marlon Mack | Deshaun Watson | Jarvis Landry |
| 2 | David Montgomery | James White | Josh Gordon | Matt Ryan |
| 3 | Brandin Cooks | Phillip Lindsay | OJ Howard | Dede Westbrook |
| 4 | Melvin Gordon | AJ Green | Tevin Coleman | Alshon Jeffery |
| 5 | Chris Godwin | Derrick Henry | Mike Williams | Tarik Cohen |
| 6 | Mark Ingram | Tyler Boyd | Evan Engram | Baker Mayfield |
| 7 | Tyler Lockett | Calvin Ridley | DJ Moore | Austin Ekeler |
| 8 | Cooper Kupp | Kenny Golladay | Miles Sanders | Robby Anderson |
| 9 | Sony Michel | TY Hilton | Aaron Rodgers | Hunter Henry |
As you can see the approach to the first part of the draft doesn't change from a regular league. It isn't until the later rounds when one can see different approaches taken. Some Fantasy owners were taking two defenses and two kickers; some Fantasy owners drafting one defense and kicker. The later rounds are where drafters need to focus because if they fail to build a good bench, it will wreck their season.
Drafting Tips For Vampire Leagues
Tip Number One
Draft only one defense and kicker. Do not sacrifice the depth of your running backs and wide receivers to make sure you have a backup defense or kicker to cover bye weeks. Just take the zero, but make sure you don't draft a team that has a bye week the week you play the vampire. Try to draft a defense and kicker with the same bye week, so you'll only have to worry about missing a defense or kicker for one week.
Tip Number Two
Grab a least one running back handcuff. Not many of the drafters in the draft took a handcuff, which I found odd. Not only does taking a handcuff, provide insurance for your team, but it also prevents the vampire from snagging elite production from the waiver wire.
Check our running back depth chart here.
Tip Number Three
Don't construct a team full of players from only one division, or draft three tight ends. You would think that would go without saying, but you would be surprised how many times this happens.
Good luck and have fun this year.
1 comment
[…] If you need a refresher on the rules of a vampire league, check out the draft result article. […]