Ultimately the fun of fantasy football comes from using your football knowledge to your advantage in a competitive arena. When I did my first fantasy season in 2007 I was just like you, I only followed the Seahawks and thought the idea of FF was stupid and kinda lame, I only did it because I was pestered by family and friends. I hated my first fantasy season even though I had 18-1 career year Tom Brady. I swore off fantasy drafts until 2012, and only did them because my brother begged me every year.
But after seeing the movie "Moneyball" and discovering how the same concepts applied to PC/JS building a dynastic team, it made the idea of FF really fun because it gives people a way to look for undervalued assets and market inefficiencies in a somewhat similar way that actual GMs do. It's kind of the same kind of fun you get from flipping stocks, I guess, but it's football related instead and involves no financial risk.
The best thing about FF is that it makes you a much more involved NFL fan. Suddenly you really care about NFL games that don't involve the Seahawks in any way because you want to see if your #2 WR can get you the 11 points you need to win your weekly fantasy matchup. I'm actually really glad I got into FF in 2012 because it made me a much smarter and better informed fan of the league and gave me a richer perspective on my own team.
It also helps soften the blow of a Seahawks loss when I know my fantasy team won a crucial game that week. I would say maybe a third of my NFL enjoyment last season came from non-Seahawks games. Having a team to manage and follow definitely enriches the NFL experience.
But will you enjoy your first season? Probably not. I hated my first season because I was drafting teams based on how good the players were, not how good they are in fantasy. It wasn't until the light bulb came on and I figured out how to exploit market inefficiencies to win games that it became a lot of fun.
And hey, FF isn't for everyone. I'm a super-competitive guy and I think this game really plays to competitive types. So if you are indifferent about being the best or wanting to win this might not be for you.
Now as far as the draft strategy goes...
I think in the situation you laid out it's probably just best to draft BPA as much as possible. I use Yahoo and they have a nice feature that lets you see the average draft position of every player as you go through the draft which helps even new players to draft semi-intelligently. You should try to draft players you like or enjoy watching, just be sure your wife uses the average draft position guidelines to make sure she doesn't draft them way too early. If you don't have any favorites, going BPA by drafting the highest average draft position player available is a solid strategy.
Last season favored WRs and QBs more than usual, and with the new rules emphasis, 2014 will probably favor them even more. It's a very deep year for both WR and RB so it's okay to go WR early if the board falls that way. You could even go for a QB/TE early and still make it work because it's such a deep year at WR/RB. Usually though, players take at least 1 RB in the first two rounds. Often they start off RB-RB. Last year I started WR-WR in two leagues and finished #1 in points in both of them, so at the end of the day it just comes down to getting good players.
Here are some of the basics as far as positional value.
I mentioned drafting for BPA before. Up to this point in the year, there have already been thousands if not millions of fantasy drafts and fantasy mock drafts that have occurred. This data is collected and charted, and most fantasy draft sites will tell you the "average draft position" of every player from that sample so you'll know the approximate order every player has gone in. You can think of it as being like drafting "Mel Kiper's best available," except that the fantasy rankings are usually pretty smart.
Ideally, you want to get at least 2 RBs in the first 5 rounds in a 10 man league. I'd recommend as many as 3 in the first five rounds since RB is the riskiest and most important position in fantasy. Now, if you know the league like the back of your hand like the best do, you can put off RB quite a bit and get some RB steals in rounds 6-10 to help cover your RB group. But since this is your first draft I would recommend to stay close to the fundamentals and get 2 RBs fairly quickly (first five rounds). You could even go for 3 RBs in the first five to help offset the risk, RBs are really risky and bust frequently.
WR is going to be very deep this year. There are going to be some top 25 WRs going in the middle rounds. The argument for going WR early is that they tend to be much safer than RB. So if your wife is drafting and the best player available is a WR at your first pick, it's okay to take a WR there.
It's okay to take a QB early assuming he's a good value by the average draft position guidelines. So if Peyton Manning's average draft position is 10, and you pick 13th, Manning is a good value and it's totally fine to take him there.
Unless Jimmy Graham is sitting there around the 10th pick or so or Gronk is there in the 30s, I wouldn't draft a TE early. You can get a solid TE much later in the draft, maybe as late as the 10th round you can get a solid starter at TE.
Never draft a defense or kicker earlier than the 12th round (most experts wait until their final two rounds (14-15) to take them, but I would say it's okay to take them a little earlier if you want. Round 12-13 is just fine and gives you an early jump on the available options). Defenses and kickers vary so much every year that it's a waste to invest a good pick on most of them. Even a great defense like Seattle is not worth drafting until the later rounds because invariably there will be a defense that comes out of nowhere to finish ahead of them in points (last year it was Kansas City, a defense that went undrafted).
Fantasy bargains.
Try to go BPA or close to it in the first 6 rounds or so. After that it's all about finding bargains. Here are a few I like:
QB:
Mid-to-late round bargains: Cutler, Romo, Dalton, Wilson, Kaep, Ryan, RG3 (you should be able to get one of these guys in the 8th or 9th round no problem and they are better in fantasy than they are in reputation).
If Stafford, Luck or Newton fall to the 6th round they are huge bargains there.
RB:
Mid-to-late round bargains: Joique Bell, Fred Jackson, Ben Tate, Reshad Jennings, Danny Woodhead, Stevan Ridley, Darren Sproles, Ray Rice, Frank Gore, Bishop Sankey, Chris Johnson, Shane Vereen.
In the early rounds I strongly recommend any of the top 5 RBs (Peterson, Charles, McCoy, Forte, Lacy) if you have a top 5 pick. I also think Marshawn Lynch is a minor steal (currently going 10th overall).
WR:
Golden Tate is going to have a huge season playing in Megatron's shadow and he's been turning heads this preseason. To me he's a 5th round value but he's currently going in only the 10th round. Michael Crabtree is also under-rated in fantasy and is going 5th round. Ditto Michael Floyd. Julian Edelman is a good buy in the 8th round.
Cordarrelle Patterson is this year's ultra sleeper in fantasy, he could finish #1 in the league but is only being drafted mid-5th round. I've been watching the Minny offense this preseason and Bridgewater looks damn good. I am very bullish on Patterson.
Jordy Nelson would have been #1 with ease last year, and then Aaron Rodgers went down. He's currently going early 3rd round.
TE:
You could probably pick a TE out of a hat and be just fine. I like Jordan Cameron in the 6th round. I also like Greg Olsen in the 7th and Dennis Pitta in the 9th. There are so many good options you really can't go wrong so long as you follow the average draft position guide.
Def:
Wait until rounds 12-15 to take one. The Patriots are a trendy value buy. Hard to go wrong with Carolina or Cincy. The Giants and Browns are flying under the radar but are pretty good. If you want the Seahawks D be prepared to overpay a lot (as much as I love our defense, they aren't worth reaching for in fantasy). Defense also accounts for special teams, so if a team has a kicker returner stud you could factor that into your decision.
Kicker:
You can pretty much draft a kicker randomly very late in the draft and be okay. I always look for Hauschka though because he's one of the best value buys every year. That might chance this year after his strong 2013 season.
With defense and kicker, it's best to see how things shake out. Often times you'll be able to find an upgrade after the draft in free agency because kickers and defenses are so random and unpredictable in fantasy.
If you really want to win, the key to winning your league will be watching the waiver wire / free agency and looking for bargains to upgrade your team. Last year the #1 fantasy defense, the #3 TE, the #5 RB, the #1 and #8 WRs were all either undrafted or late round picks.
Last tip:
The best "build" for a standard fantasy team is 1 QB, 1 TE, 1 Defense, 1 Kicker, and then a ton of RBs and WRs. QB, TE, Def, and Kicker don't really require backups since the waiver wire / free agent group during the season is usually pretty good in those four areas. You'll need to pick up a replacement for those four positions when they have their bye-weeks, but you can punt them the next week after they've covered your starters bye week.