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Fantasy Index Reader Column

Off-Season To-Do List

It's almost the end of June and there's no NFL football being played, but that doesn't mean you can't be thinking about fantasy football. Here are some things that every good fantasy owner should be doing this off-season as we all wait for training camps to start.

1. The News – You'd be surprised how much you can learn by just keeping up with the daily news. Read the sports section of the newspaper, pick up a magazine, watch ESPN or the NFL Network if you have if, but stay informed. You don't want to be that guy at your draft that gets laughed at when he tries to draft Curtis Martin. (By the way, he retired.)

2. Old Faces in New Places – Free agency, trades, and roster cuts all occur in the off-season and while you don't have to know about every single one of them, you should be aware of the big ones. Some examples are Travis Henry signing with Denver, Randy Moss being traded to the Patriots, and Jamal Lewis landing in Cleveland. Again, just stay informed.

3. The Draft/Rookies – Did you watch the draft? If so, great. If not, don't worry. Only a handful of rookies matter every year, but the ones that do, matter greatly. Go back and take a look at the draft results and refresh yourself with some of the names and teams. Names like Marshawn Lynch, Adrian Peterson, and Calvin Johnson aren't the only ones to know.

4. League Ideas – Be thinking about what you want to do different from last year. Do you want to start up a keeper league? Do you want to add points per receptions to your scoring? Do you want to try out IDPs (independent defensive players)? Do you want to keep everything exactly the same? Now is a good time to start thinking about topics like these.

5. Contacts – Send out a few emails and make a few phone calls and see what your old league-mates are doing these days. Don't have any old league-mates? Get some friends together and start talking about creating your own league. Fantasy sports are as much about friends and family as they are about the actual competition that goes on. Who knows, maybe the girlfriend or wife wants to play this year.

Andrew Martinez
Houston

Reader Columns are submitted by Fantasy Football Index readers. Opinions expressed in Reader Columns are not endorsed by the publishers of Fantasy Football Index. We're just contributing to the marketplace of ideas. Learn more about how to submit your own reader column.

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