Free Fantasy Football Strategies:
If you’re looking for a few free fantasy football tips for the 2007 NFL season to improve your fantasy football odds, FootballLOCKS.com has a few FF tactics for you. Fantasy football strategy topics below include;

• Strength of Schedule
• Trimming Your Draft Board
• FootballLOCKS.com's - 2007 Double Whammy Teams
• Draft Mentality!

We’re not going to give you the obvious fantasy football cheat sheet info readily available from many sites that deal exclusively in fantasy football. We’ll skip the "what to do with your first pick" fantasy football advice, other than to mention we did point out last season if you were debating whether to take Alexander, Tomlinson, or Johnson with the first pick, we sided with Tomlinson, because while the Chargers lost a QB who was on top of his game (Brees), their schedule was leaps and bounds easier compared to that of 2005, a key strategy when comparing year over year expected performances.

We also mentioned that the Seahawks had an easy schedule in 2006, but went on to mention they lost an amazing offensive linemen, as did the Chiefs, hence more justification for Tomlinson.

Okay so you still want our answer for this year? San Diego's schedule isn't as easy as last season's. Not even close. Don't expect LT to duplicate last season's ridiculous numbers. That being said, you're probably not going to hurt your fantasy football team by taking him with the first pick.

Just beware the Chargers' first two games are against the Bears and the Patriots, two of the toughest defenses in the NFL. If for some reason LT were to take a tough hit, or get injured, suddenly there are 14 games to go and you just lost your #1 pick.

On the flip side, once LT makes it through week 2, the schedule eases up, with the toughest defensive games remaining being, at Denver, at Minnesota, at Jacksonville, and home to Baltimore out of the next 14 games.

However, when you add the above 4 games to the games at New England, and home to Chicago, suddenly you see 6 brutal defensive matchups out of 16 games. So the Chargers' schedule is nothing like last season's cup cake affair.

Personally, I like the way Alexander's schedule lines up in the first half of the season. It's relatively soft. And it doesn't get tough until week 11, which would be a good time to trade him away as games versus Chicago, at Philadelphia, at Carolina, and versus Baltimore grace the remaining schedule. Not to mention a game at Atlanta which could be tough if John Abraham is still healthy at the end of the season. That's potentially 5 tough defensive games in the last 7 weeks. It's what I like to call a real Jekyll and Hyde schedule if you catch my drift for Alexander and the Seattle Seahawks in 2007.

The Cardinals are another team with a Jekyll and Hyde schedule. I think Edgerrin James will have a great second half of the season. James may be worth trading for around week 10.

Speaking of Jekyll and Hyde, the Steelers have a very easy first half schedule. Willie Parker should be a solid play for the first half of the season, then trade him away. Same goes for Willis McGahee in Baltimore. A very nice first half schedule, actually through week 11. Then look to package him in a deal for Edgerrin James... Jekyll and Hyde schedules have been one of my most valuable fantasy football secrets over the years. And now I'm spilling the beans about this incredible FF secret. Make sure you consider this important fantasy football tactic.

Continuing on with more free fantasy football information... Some running backs who look to be in good spots for most of the 2007 season are Steven Jackson (potentially my favorite). The Rams have a few tough games at the beginning of the season. But after week 6 it should be really smooth sailing for Jackson.

And Travis Henry could be the steal of the draft, as long as he gets his share of goal line carries. The Broncos have one patch of games that's rough near the beginning of the season, but then it's smooth sailing. (Keep an eye on that sprained knee though)...

Frank Gore is another solid pick as the 49ers don't exactly have the toughest schedule in 2007. And I think Rudi Johnson and Laurence Maroney will put up solid numbers as well.

I really like Brandon Jacobs too, if we only knew how many carries he's going to get with Droughns on the squad.

All this talk about scheduling and you should already be an expert on our first free fantasy football draft tip, strength of schedule!

Strength of Schedule / Weakness of schedule:
Whatever you want to name it, if there’s one free fantasy football draft tip you should take away, it’s to use those strength of schedule charts that are popping up all over the internet. Just remember to make adjustments for injury situations and off season roster moves because those charts don't always reflect reality!

For example, the 2005 Dallas Cowboys finished 9-7. But if Flozell Adams hadn’t of been injured in week 5, and a couple of chip shot field goals had been made, the Cowboys might have gone 12-4. The Cowboys then added Owens plus depth on the offensive line in the offseason going into 2006 (not reflected in strength of schedule charts), and went on to put up a whopping 425 points in 2006! And it wasn't all Tony Romo. The Cowboys had the 3rd ranked offense in the NFL and were tied for first place when they benched Drew Bledsoe in week 6! Know any teams that need a great quarterback? How about the Bears?

Increasing the Value of Players in the Draft:
So use strength of schedule to increase the value of players on your fantasy football draft board. And don't be afraid to look further than solely relying on a team's statistics from the previous season. Offseason moves have an affect, both good and bad.

Decreasing the Value of Players in the Draft:
Use strength of schedule to devalue players on your ff draft board. For example, avoid drafting players from teams with the most brutal schedules unless they fall to you in later rounds making them value picks, paying close attention to the quality of defenses they are slated to play against. This can help you trim your draft board, and avoid problem players who are likely to find themselves in difficult playing situations throughout the year.

Trimming Your Draft Board:
Everyone knows that compiling a draft board can be a lot of work, and the draft moves fast. You need a good plan to stay focused in the heat of the moment. So when it comes to your draft sheet, look for ways to trim the fat and make your draft board leaner and meaner.

Be willing to think about what NFL players you don’t want to draft, because of their difficult schedules, in addition to those players that you do want to draft because of their easier schedules. The quicker you can say, “no” to drafting a player when scanning up and down the available players left in your draft at any moment in time, the quicker you can get to a player you know is a good pick for your team.

Divide Your Draft Board into 2 Key Columns:
On the left put players with easy schedules. On the right put players with harder schedules. This can you focus and improve you odds of putting together a team of players well positioned for success, which is especially important if you're betting large sums of money to win your league.

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Team / Player Draft Day Avoidance:
Before the NFL season begins, FootballLOCKS.com performs a study of the strength of each team’s schedule for the upcoming season to make NFL predictions.

If you read the free pro football predictions you can see the emphasis placed on scheduling as an element of making annual NFL football predictions against Las Vegas regular season NFL win totals. By the way, if you're betting NFL football this season, check out the preseason prognostications, you may find a few free NFL football betting tips.

Use the scheduling angle to make fantasy football predictions too. Case in point the 2007 Buffalo Bills are scheduled to play twelve games versus teams that finished at .500 or better in 2006, including a whopping 8 games versus teams that made the playoffs in 2006. Plus they lost Willis McGahee, and several key players on defense. And let's not forget how good the Miami Dolphins' defense is, so that's two more tough games (even though the Dolphins finished 6-10) which is mainly due to their woes on offense. The point is, I like Lee Evans as much as anybody, but I'll be avoiding him in the draft, unless he falls to me, just as I'll be avoiding just about everyone else on the Bills in 2007.

Furthermore, because the Bills' defense lost some key players, opposing teams’ offenses could dominate the time of possession, and stay on the field for the majority of the game, further reducing the opportunities for Buffalo's offensive players to rack up valuable fantasy football stats. It’s what we at FootballLOCKS call the fantasy football double whammy.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints coming off a great season only have to play 4 games versus teams that made the playoffs in 2006. Add to that the Saints' schedule in 2006 was absolutely brutal and they still managed to rack up huge offensive numbers, much to our amazement.

So on your fantasy football draft board cheat sheet, you might consider putting players from the Saints on the left side of your page (easier schedule) and players from the Bills on the right side of your draft board (harder schedule).

During the draft if you encounter a situation where players generally considered equal caliber are available from either the New Orleans Saints or the Buffalo Bills, you can make the clever draft pick by choosing the New Orleans Saints player who is more likely to be in favorable situations compared to the Buffalo Bills player because of schedule strength comparison.

You might even consider drafting players on the Saints who you consider to be of slightly lower quality ahead of players on the Bills who you consider to be of higher quality.

Defensive Strength of Schedule:
The point to take away is that the probability of any NFL player having a great season is diminished by the strength of defensive competition.

The conclusion is to beware of placing too much value on players in potentially tough scheduling situations. Otherwise the odds could turn against you costing you any money you bet in your fantasy football league. So make notes of which teams have tough schedules in the upcoming season.

In addition to strength of schedule, make a note if a team has a weak defense of their own, unable to keep opposing offenses from chewing up the game clock against them. If so, it can lead to a fantasy football double whammy where offensive players on such teams get fewer opportunities overall... All while playing against a tougher defensive schedule!

1) Double Whammy Teams With Questionable Defenses That Face Tough Defensive Schedules in 2007:
The following is a list of fantasy football double whammy teams that face defensively tough schedules in 2007 and don’t appear to have defenses strong enough to keep opposing offenses from chewing up the game clock on them, thus limiting the attempts of their own offensive players even further. Hence the FootballLOCKS.com fantasy football double whammy - reduced draft board player valuation.

Beware of drafting offensive players from double whammy teams near the average draft position seen in fantasy football mock draft and live draft results, as you might be over paying. The following teams qualify as double whammy teams in 2007.

• Tennessee Titans
• Washington Redskins
• Detroit Lions
• Buffalo Bills (lost key defensive players)

2) Double Whammy Teams Facing Easier Defensive Schedules Than Above, but with a Questionable Defense of Their Own and a Questionable Offense:
The following category of double whammy teams face schedules that aren’t the toughest from a defensive opponent standpoint, but their own offenses may simply not be good enough to capitalize on the favorable scheduling situation, while at the same time their own defense may not be able to keep the ball away from opposing offenses. Therefore, with few exceptions, use a bit of caution when drafting offensive players from these double whammy teams, valuing them lower than you normally would.

• Houston Texans
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Cleveland Browns

3) Double Whammy Teams With a Good Defense, but Also Facing a Very Tough Defensive Schedule And Having a Questionable Offense of Their Own:
These double whammy teams face defensively tough schedules, but have above average defenses of their own more than capable of getting the ball back to their own offense for more chances. However, these teams are not known to be offensively minded, so the sheer number of games they're scheduled to play versus teams with good defenses cannot be ignored, as the potential for many defensive struggles exists... Therefore with few exceptions use caution and beware of drafting too many offensive players from these double whammy teams, while also value them a little lower than you normally would.

• Oakland Raiders
• Miami Dolphins
• Atlanta Falcons
• Minnesota Vikings

Teams With Decent to Good Offenses Facing Tough Defensive Schedules, While Having a Mediocre to Good Defense of Their Own:
These teams are on the double whammy bubble. They face tough defensive schedules in 2007, but their own defense is more capable compared to the first category of full fledged double whammy teams at stopping the opposition. This should allow them to get the ball back to their offense more often than the first group of double whammy teams.

Note, even though teams in this category have above average offenses, it’s important that you do not discount the number of tough defensive games on their schedules. With few exceptions, draft offensive players using caution from the following bubble double whammy teams, valuing them a little lower than you normally would if they were playing on better teams.

• Pittsburgh Steelers
• New York Jets
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Green Bay Packers
• Philadelphia Eagles

Your Leaner, Meaner Fantasy Football Draft:
Now that we’ve moved players from a good portion of the NFL to the avoid column of your draft board where you will only be happy to pounce if they fall a few rounds lower in the draft than you normally would expect them to be drafted, your odds of winning should be improved as you will now have a much clearer path to fantasy football draft day dominance.

Keep reading for a list of teams with easier schedules such as the Seattle Seahawks, and a piece on teams with Jekyll & Hyde schedules.

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Teams Facing Easier Schedules in 2007:
See the following list of teams with light schedules in 2007 and try to draft players on these teams when faced with a choice of comparable players on other teams in the draft, especially the double whammy teams.

Teams Facing Easy Defensive Schedules That Also Have Good Offenses of Their Own to Take Advantage of the Weak Schedule:

• Denver Broncos
• Cincinnati Bengals
• New Orleans Saints
• St. Louis Rams

Teams Facing Tougher Defensive Schedules, But Still Having Offenses Good Enough To Score Points Against Most Teams:

• San Diego Chargers
• New England Patriots
• Seattle Seahawks
• Indianapolis Colts
• Dallas Cowboys
• New York Giants
• Chicago Bears
• Jacksonville Jaguars

Teams Facing Easy Defensive Schedules, but Without Top of the Line Offenses to Take Full Advantage of the Situation:
Even so, a few gems can usually still be found here.

• Baltimore Ravens
• Carolina Panthers
• San Francisco 49ers
• Arizona Cardinals