Priority drafting last year's top running back

Football season is back and that means fantasy owners from all over the world will be chomping at the bit to draft and manage the "perfect" fantasy team. However, many of these owners will make the same critical mistakes that are made year in and year out when it comes to drafting. Avoiding a few simple but fatal mistakes could make the difference in the length of your fantasy season. Here are 5 mistakes that fantasy owners make:

1. Priority drafting last year's top running back. Every year a new RB bursts on to the scene with a 1500+ year. And, every year it's not the one from the previous year. Take last year for example. How many owners took Adrian Peterson or Michael Turner first in their drafts? Answer: Most. No one thought that unknown sensation Chris Johnson would have the season he had. Or that Maurice Jones-Drew would be #2. Not only that but teams nowadays are more and more likely to use 2 or even 3 running backs in their lineups. Pick Advice: Frank Gore; or go for a tandem like Marion Barber and Felix Jones.

2. Undervaluing the QB. This is not 1995 when 4000 passing yards was rare. The NFL is now a pass happy league and teams are using multiple running backs. I won my league 3 years ago with Clinton Portis as my RB. Oh, and I had Tom Brady and Terrell Owens. Pick Advice: Manning and Brady are obvious but think of QBs who will pass a lot this season like Carson Palmer or Phillip Rivers.

3. Over-thinking the Bye Week. Just pick. Don't let the bye week make you overthink. Most owners get themselves into roster problems when they look too much at the bye week. Sure it affects some more than others. There are 32 starting QBs. Last year I had Payton Manning and Kurt Warner. The bye week didn't affect me at all. Advice: Pick 2 starters and keep them!

4. Not doing Your Homework. Just like the real draft, owners have to do some homework. We all know that Ben Rothlisberger is suspended for the first 6 weeks. But it's good to know who else may be. Advice: Join a league like Yahoo! that makes it easy to keep up with NFL player news.

5. Drafting the entire offense of your favorite team. This is by far the most common mistake made by fantasy newcomers. It's easy to get caught up in having all of your favorite players on your favorite team on your fantasy roster. But what do you do when the bye week comes? Remember, fantasy football requires team objectivity. Advice: If you're myopic when it comes to fanship then don't own a team!