The other day I told you not to spend a ton of your time worrying about who’s number one and to start reading up on many of the other players who will really help your team. Today I am going to offer up a thorough and systematic way to do this.

Here are five easy steps for you to use to study fantasy football players and, ultimately, draft a better team;

Step One - Study each team one by one. This way you get a feel for what each team has done in the offseason and what they might be able to do in the immediate future. Ask yourself, did they lose, sign or draft anyone notable? How will these players effect the player already on the team? Take notes on players who stand out to you. Also, browse over some stats to see if anything jumps out at you.

Step Two - Take note of their schedules. Based on everything you’ve read about the teams, you should be getting a feel for who you think has a favorable or unfavorable schedule.

Step Three - Make a list of players you want to target in the draft. Now that you are finished with the teams, go back through your notes and find the players who jumped out at you. Now is the time to look at them individually.

Step Four - At this point you should have a nice list of players that you like. Highlight and jot down notes about these guys on a cheatsheet. Either find and mark up an existing one or whip up your own.

Step Five - Put your knowledge and marked up cheatsheet to the test by participating in a mock draft. Doing this will help you see where your players will be going and help you adjust your sheet accordingly.

Bottom line, you can look at everyone else’s cheat sheet but you are throwing yourself at the mercy of someone else’s gut feeling. By studying each team and its players you will be able to assess them based on your own leagues scoring and your own personal criteria.