
From brushing up on league lore to investigating past draft patterns, now is the time to start prepping for the 2024 fantasy season.

To anyone who considers themselves a fan of fantasy football, the life cycle of events is all too familiar:
Luckily for us, we're sitting firmly in the midst of our offseason era, which means we've got plenty of fantasy goodness on the horizon. But there's no need to wait. Just because we're not actively watching NFL games right now, it doesn't mean that we should be sedentary.
Do you find yourself asking the age-old question of, "What now?" Look no further.
Look, you wouldn't run a marathon without warming up before the big race, would you? The offseason is a time when we, the fantasy players, should be training. (Don't worry, this is just a metaphor. We don't actually have to run.)
If you enter your draft without the proper preparation, you might pull something. And at this age, I'm not risking it. So here's the regimen:
Sure, none of it's real. but that's never stopped you before. You play fantasy football.

If there's one thing you NEED to know before you draft (besides your league settings and the NFL player pool, of course) it's the ins and outs of your league mates. Not only their likes and dislikes, but their history in the league.
If you've been playing together long enough, you've hopefully kept tabs on all of the wonderful mistakes that have occurred in your league over the years:
League lore is important. It helps to know which of your friends will overvalue the QB position. It's beneficial to know which guy is going to reach for players from his home team. And damn if it isn't fun to predict who will draft the first defense off the board.
But more than anything, brushing up on your league's history will elevate your trash talking abilities. If there's one thing you NEED to do this season (besides winning, of course) it's trash talking your leaguemates under the table.
Like folklore, league lore deserves to be passed down year after year. So brush up now. It's the only tradition guaranteed to increase camaraderie while simultaneously decreasing your opponents' morale.
Ugh. I hate this part!
It's sooo much easier to blame my fantasy losses on a rule change, or a bad trade, or running out of FAAB. But sometimes, our failures are self-inflicted and the only way forward is by looking back.
If you can identify your weaknesses, you'll have a much better chance at fixing them - and fixing your fantasy teams. Plus, a little self-reflection never hurt league morale. So, check yourself before you wreck yourself.
It's not easy to admit when you're weak. But if you truly want a chance at winning this thing, or at the very least, want to enjoy playing, you've got to get your weaknesses in check.
Do you ever find yourself rosterbating to an ex… team? You should try it. Seriously. Take a look back at your draft results from previous years. Take note of your major hits and misses.
Really look for patterns here.
Old habits die hard, but we can't break 'em if we can't see 'em. So be sure to take some time this offseason to look at the picks of your past. Look back and learn something.
Quite frankly, I saved the best for last.
Before I can let you enter into another fantasy football season, I have to get a few things off of my chest. Four things, to be exact.