Field Yates' 10 essential rules for fantasy football drafts

Whether you are new to fantasy football or simply want a refresher on the basics, following Field Yates' 10 rules will make sure you leave your draft with a solid team, ready to compete for your league championship.

There are many ideas that my good friend and former colleague Matthew Berry has shared over the years that are worth passing along at any time.

My favorite one might just be his suggestion to anyone that plays fantasy football to bring aboard one new person to the game each and every year. While it may feel like everyone you know plays fantasy football, it's both invigorating and fulfilling when you can find someone who has not yet had that experience and bring him or her along for the ride.

And if you're one of those people who is new to this fantasy football thing, you're in the right place!

As best we can, we're going to outline the things that you need to know about how to draft your fantasy football team.

This is the first and most important rule that I can share: your draft is about finding value. If you've never played fantasy football before, the highest-scoring players on average are also names you are most familiar with: the quarterbacks. You may look at Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady's stats (both real and fantasy) from last year and think: «Hey, Brady was the fourth-highest-scoring player in all of fantasy, I'm getting him at pick eight and this is a steal!» Not so fast.

While Brady is the GOAT, he's also a quarterback — a position that contrasts to the real world of football in fantasy because it's easy to find one. The top 12 quarterbacks in scoring average last season posted at least 18.8 points per game. Only three total running backs scored at least 18.8 fantasy points per game, and you will be