Why have a fantasy draft prior to any preseason games being played?
If you have a group of dedicated owners, I think you can schedule
to have your draft in late August. I know that summer is a time
of family vacations and preparing the kids (if you have them) for
the upcoming school year but by moving your draft to late August
you can accomplish all of your summer activities prior to the draft.
That way the draft can go on uninterrupted. Also by late August
most positional battles have been decided, injuries have reared
their ugly head, and potential stars have been identified.
There is a fair amount of luck involved in winning any league, but
to reduce the amount of luck involved move your draft to late in
the summer. That way you can know if Mike Anderson is worth a first
round pick or perhaps Terrell Davis is your man. A draft can be
finished in a day with a dedicated group whether it be online or
live. Some owners will argue that an earlier draft date allows for
time to make trades. While I won’t argue that fact, however
I feel if you set your cheat sheet up properly there should be very
little trading prior to week one unless you are drafting with trades
in mind. I’ve heard that earlier draft dates allow for a leisurely
draft pace. If you want a leisurely pace, go watch a baseball game!!
Set a date and time for your draft and get it done!
To ensure a smooth, enjoyable draft you should consider the following
things:
Set a date that works for everyone if possible
Set a reasonable time limit for picks to be made
Have procedures in place should the time limit expire for an owner
Consider having pick lists made for owners who may be absent for any period of time
Ensure roster size and requirements are known prior to drafting
Serve plenty of beer to your opponents an hour or so before the draft begins
Have fun
None of the above items is anything new but you would be surprised
to know how many drafts are held up because one or more of the above
was not taken into consideration. Don’t let this happen to
your draft.
A neat idea we do in one of my draft leagues is that at the conclusion
of the draft we conduct an exit poll on who we think drafted the
best team. Each owner ranks the others from best to worst and the
results are tallied to get a consensus preseason ranking. Of course
this ranking means little but it can serve as motivation to those
who feel they should have been ranked higher.
