While it's not the only thing determining your fantasy fate, a solid draft is always a nice way to start the season. After all, who wants to be playing catch-up before spring training is even over?
There's an old joke about two campers running from a bear. One camper asks his friend, "Do you really think you can outrun a bear?" His friend responds, "No, but I can run faster than you." A fantasy draft is a lot like this: You're not simply trying to evaluate players well, but getting more value from as many picks as you can than your friends/enemies.
You never want to go into a draft with a rigid plan, but in addition to your own rankings, you also want to know how your opponents are planning to draft. You can draft an amazing breakout candidate at 20, but if it was likely that nobody in your league was going to start thinking about the player until 80, you're not maximizing the value. I go into every draft in March with my cheat sheet, but I also pay attention to the biggest disagreement between ZiPS projections (with adjustments for expected playing time) and average draft position. Below are some of my over/undervalued players in this year's fantasy drafts -- though not all of them, just in case you're in one of my fantasy leagues!
For undervalued/overvalued pitchers, click here.