In the coming days and over the course of the next two weeks, fantasy football fever will sweep the nation as coworkers, family, friends and foes alike will gather online or in person to hold drafts for the 2016 season. Even Yahoo! Sports has created a National Draft Day set for Aug. 28.
NASCAR XFINITY Series driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and fantasy fanatic Ty Dillon will be among those involved. Dillon plays and participates in season-long or daily fantasy games for fantasy baseball, basketball and football.
"I was in the SiriusXM fantasy league last year (made it to the finals) and I do about four to five fantasy football leagues every year but I've also in the past year-and-a-half gotten into daily fantasy stuff," Dillon told NASCAR.com earlier this month during a break in the action at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. "I love sports so much so it's something that I watch so many games on my own just being a fan that I could have some fun with it doing the daily stuff and I really have."
Dillon says he prefers season-long when it comes to football as it's how he first discovered fantasy sports. He went on to describe daily fantasy for basketball as "really tough" but enjoys baseball "because the analytics of the sport and the stats that you can find. I can do two hours of research a day on just daily baseball stuff. It's kind of a fun hobby for me."
The North Carolina native is big supporter of the Atlanta Braves, Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets -- the NBA team for which Dillon's wife Haley dances -- but his fantasy rooting interest never trumps that of the teams he roots for.
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Fantasy Tyland -- Dillon's team name of choice over the past two years -- will be ready to go to battle. The Dillons' friends and family league is where the big bragging rights are. The league has been running for several years and has grown into a high-stakes, competitive outlet. The chief trash talking in the league does not come from Ty's older brother Austin (who fields the No. 3 Chevrolet for RCR in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series), but from a surprising source.
"The one that talks the most trash is our mom (Tina)," Ty said. "She's really good. She's really competitive at fantasy, especially our season long. We have a lot of fun with it. It's something that we look forward to every year."
TY'S TOP FIVE FOR FANTASY FOOTBALL IN 2016
| PLAYER | TEAM | POSITION |
|---|---|---|
| Antonio Brown | Pittsburgh Steelers | Wide receiver |
| Julio Jones | Atlanta Falcons | Wide receiver |
| Todd Gurley | Los Angeles Rams | Running back |
| Allen Robinson | Jacksonville Jaguars | Wide receiver |
| Ezekiel Elliott | Dallas Cowboys | Running back |
And as Ty prepares to draft in that league, using the standard scoring format, he is honing in on what he think others around him will do when it's their turn to pick.
"The biggest thing is to know what league you're drafting in and what strategies other people like to use consistently every year," he said. "So if you can kind of be contrarian to their picks because there is going to be a big group of people -- in our league for some reason, a lot of people like to go quarterback in the first round. I think this year there's a lot of talk about people wanting wide receivers in the first round. (Ty also noted that the teams that drafted wide receivers early fared well in last year's league.)
"I think people like Todd Gurley (Los Angeles Rams running back) might be able to fall to me where I'm drafting. I might be able to go ahead and get that top-tier running back. … I think the first round is kind of who falls to you."
The fact that Ty and his family are big Panthers fans is also something he knows has to be considered in the family league. And that could cause competitors to reach a bit for home-team players.
"Kelvin Benjamin will probably go in the first round," Dillon said. "I hope he does, even though I love him and I'd like to have him on my team but it's not a good draft strategy. I think he's a late second rounder, maybe third rounder with high upside but can also kill your league. Anybody that plays for Carolina -- Cam Newton (quarterback) is going to go higher than he should in our draft -- is going to go higher than they should just because everybody's big Carolina fans."
For Dillon, leaving emotion at the door when it comes to selecting players is a key his success. Take a look below at who Ty has his eye on for 2016.
DILLON'S DELIGHTS: PLAYERS TY HAS HIS EYE ON
| Player | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Kirk Cousins | Washington Redskins | Quarterback |
| Allen Robinson | Jacksonville Jaguars | Wide receiver |
| Tyler Lockett | Seattle Seahawks | Wide receiver |
| Brandon Marshall | New York Jets | Wide receiver |