As a person who doesn't pay enough attention to the draft, I've had a successful formula in scraping up emerging players throughout the year and outlasting the bottom dwellers.

I probably need to do more on draft day, but it always seems to happen where a top pick or two go south with injury, have a bad year, get in a contract dispute, etc.

But more often than not, I've been successful at milking the free agency for good starters before anyone else notices them. I've saved many a season with that.

Last year I started 0-4 in two different leagues (and two wholly different sets of players) and suddenly thought I was absolutely clueless about things. Then I put 6- and 7-game win streaks together with good free agents, etc. Won one championship and made the playoffs with the other.

Hi Greg -- in my best season I started off terrible too, but stuck with it, picked up some free agents and made it to the playoffs. Once I got in, I caused havoc on the top seed, eventually going all the way and winning the league! Sometimes, it's more satisfying to win with a bunch of scrappy nobodies!

I actually think your middle rounds are the most important in your draft. If you do well in your middle rounds then if you're lucky enough for your top pick to have a good year and not get hurt you can run the table pretty easily.

It also depends on the type of draft you run. I was in a bid type draft last year and did extremely well in the middle rounds by picking up lesser know WRs such as Darrell Jackson and Plaxico Burress for really cheap because they aren't first tier receivers. I also picked up Drew Brees for a minimum bid. I was able to grab a lot more depth than most people. Depth also saved me on a few occasions during certain bye weeks.

Picking up surprises quickly and being on top of the waivers is another good strategy that most people overlook.

Last year I bid heavily on Shaun Alexander but following my stratgy above I ended the year #1 in points and in W/L standings even though he had a terrible year. And this was in a competitive league with a cash buy-in.