What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Strategies for keeping track of everything during the chaos of a live draft. (1 Viewer)

Z

Zachvdp

Footballguy
Strategies for keeping track of everything during the chaos of a live draft. 

What's the best draft strategy for a live draft when you've mocked drafted online and MFL10s where your draft list is constantly updated automatically? It's easy to look on your computer, see your roster, and which roster spots you need to fill or grab best player available. My strategy of crossing names off of my draft list hasn't been optimal. Between the food, the beers, razzing from other players, and keeping the draft moving along as Commissioner, I know I am not drafting in the best possible way. Any tips would be greatly appreciated thank you. 
 
Zachvdp said:
Strategies for keeping track of everything during the chaos of a live draft. 

What's the best draft strategy for a live draft when you've mocked drafted online and MFL10s where your draft list is constantly updated automatically? It's easy to look on your computer, see your roster, and which roster spots you need to fill or grab best player available. My strategy of crossing names off of my draft list hasn't been optimal. Between the food, the beers, razzing from other players, and keeping the draft moving along as Commissioner, I know I am not drafting in the best possible way. Any tips would be greatly appreciated thank you. 
Click to expand...
Once you decided to become commish and run the draft, you decided to put the league first and your own team second.

That's not a bad thing but it is true.

How do I combat this? I play dynasty to keep me my player opinions on point and use the VBD excel list on draft day. All names on one page and just cross names off. I tried using DD (original) but it was actually too much data for my brain on draft day. I tried a bunch of other techniques but just went back to simple. Running a smooth draft is key.

Of course this is a work league where the draft is on-prem and no beer drinking allowed. Beer makes commishing a good draft 20x harder.

Other suggestion would be to get a non-league guy to run your draft for free food and beer. If you are in NJ, I'd do it :D

 
I've tried using the draft dominator app and it just didn't work for me.  It was like information overload and I just didn't feel like I had enough time to be updating it and searching for players.  Last year was the first time I tried it so I need a little more experience.

I'm still a pencil and paper kind of kind, always have been.  I will have two lists, one that has the top 200 players on it and another with them all sorted by position.  I like to highlight the players I'm interested in and I just cross off the players taken.  It's not perfect but it's less stressful for me.

 
We have been doing a live draft online ( for those who can't make it) AND in person with CBS for years. It's the best of both worlds. Any reason you can't do both?

 
I think a draft list with tiers helps a lot. Especially if there is trading involved. It helps to know when the last guy of a tier might be gone though.

 
I've tried using Draft Dominator and it's just too much and I don't have as much fun.  So pen and paper for me.  I bring the following print outs:

1) Master draft list - Round by round spreadsheet of the picks and I write in each pick as they are made.  I use an egg timer for the timer.  After the draft I use this to then enter in the draft on MFL.

2) Roster position list - I use this to track how many of what positions each team has made.  This helps me personally know that say if everyone has their #1 QB already but me and there are 5 QBs in my current teir I'd be happy with that I could perhaps wait another round or two before drafting my QB.

3) Agenda - Used for the pre-draft meeting of course, not during the draft.

4) Cheatsheet - I've moved to a tier based cheetsheet and not one totally based on VBD ranking.  This alone has kept me on track as it's much easier for me to see at a glance where the tier breaks are vs. just a big listing of my top 75 at each position.  I'll also have a straight up top 75 overall listing to help me compare values across positions in the first 5-6 rounds.

That's pretty much all I need frankly.  Keep it simple.

Now my local auction league with salary cap is quite a bit more complicated and I bring a laptop for that because doing math while drinking is never a good thing.  LOL

 
Futz said:
We have been doing a live draft online ( for those who can't make it) AND in person with CBS for years. It's the best of both worlds. Any reason you can't do both?
Click to expand...
This. In my longest lasting league, we have a live draft but to kill 2 birds with one stone, we draft live on our hosting site. We used to enter the picks manually after the draft but nowadays with speedy wifi and everyone having laptops or tablets, we draft live through the site. This would most definitely solve your issue. 

 
Rhythmdoctor said:
This. In my longest lasting league, we have a live draft but to kill 2 birds with one stone, we draft live on our hosting site. We used to enter the picks manually after the draft but nowadays with speedy wifi and everyone having laptops or tablets, we draft live through the site. This would most definitely solve your issue. 
Click to expand...
To expand even further, we still use an old fashioned CBS draft board with stickers. It certainly gives the attendees of the draft an advantage because they can see the color coded positions which allows you to quickly recognize team needs around you. You can't underestimate this.

 
Funkley said:
And have a plan and stick too it. 
Click to expand...
This is not good advice. You should have the flexibility to roll with what a draft gives you. Force feeding a plan will have you missing out on talented players.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Futz said:
This is not good advice. You should have the flexibility to roll with what a draft gives you. Force feeding a plan will have you missing out on talented players.
Click to expand...
Agree to disagree. Remember that he's asking for advice on how to control the chaos. 

 
Funkley said:
Agree to disagree. Remember that he's asking for advice on how to control the chaos. 
Click to expand...
I think we are talking about two different things here. As a commish of a draft, yes have a plan, but no to managing your actual team's draft.

 
At least half the guys in my auction league run DD, and I'm one of them. We have a dedicated non-owner auctioneer, and a big screen display of the draft board. I cant imagine running a draft like ours and trying to draft a team at the same time. I find the DD essential in keeping track of everything - I can instantly see how actual player prices compare with my projections, and how it affects the greater player pool. Having a positional breakdown of my opponents' teams and their max possible bids is also extremely helpful.

 
Donny Loved Bowling said:
At least half the guys in my auction league run DD, and I'm one of them. We have a dedicated non-owner auctioneer, and a big screen display of the draft board. I cant imagine running a draft like ours and trying to draft a team at the same time. I find the DD essential in keeping track of everything - I can instantly see how actual player prices compare with my projections, and how it affects the greater player pool. Having a positional breakdown of my opponents' teams and their max possible bids is also extremely helpful.
Click to expand...
Pretty much every online draft service provides these features.

 
bonscott said:
I've tried using Draft Dominator and it's just too much and I don't have as much fun.  So pen and paper for me.  I bring the following print outs:

2) Roster position list - I use this to track how many of what positions each team has made.  This helps me personally know that say if everyone has their #1 QB already but me and there are 5 QBs in my current teir I'd be happy with that I could perhaps wait another round or two before drafting my QB.
Click to expand...
Very underrated one here. If you can get one or two or three guys a round later, it can make a big, big difference.

 
bonscott said:
pen and paper for me.  I bring the following print outs:

1) Master draft list - Round by round spreadsheet of the picks and I write in each pick as they are made.  I use an egg timer for the timer.  After the draft I use this to then enter in the draft on MFL.

2) Roster position list - I use this to track how many of what positions each team has made.  This helps me personally know that say if everyone has their #1 QB already but me and there are 5 QBs in my current teir I'd be happy with that I could perhaps wait another round or two before drafting my QB.

3) Agenda - Used for the pre-draft meeting of course, not during the draft.

4) Cheatsheet
Click to expand...
I do pretty much the EXACT thing......but for me I combine 1 and 2 on your list by putting the Pick by Pick up top on the page and the Positional Rosters below.....I make it fit on a legal size page (or 11x17).  That's seems to cut down on the "shuffle of papers".  Your comment about knowing others roster needs is even more critical if you are drafting NEAR (but not directly on) THE TURN.  It can help tell you what the guy on the turn is going to do and you can gain an advantage and steal his picks if needed.

On the Agenda, I am curious what you have as your "bullet points".

For my Agenda, I usually have:

  1. Welcome back.............anyone have a child, wedding, divorce they want to update everyone about?
  2. Champion from Last Year......."so and so" got lucky and won last year........congrats, now get off my lawn!
  3. Cheerleader from Last Year....I have a bobblehead cheerleader trophy and this is even more fun to talk about and award to the worst record
  4. Rules...........................talk about rules we changed and also the most common rules people forget about such as the Waiver Wire / FCFS deadlines
  5. Money.........................payouts and weekly winner pots
  6. Draft............................here's my cell phone for any online drafters.  Pls plug it in NOW just in case of a computer issue.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Futz said:
To expand even further, we still use an old fashioned CBS draft board with stickers. It certainly gives the attendees of the draft an advantage because they can see the color coded positions which allows you to quickly recognize team needs around you. You can't underestimate this.
Click to expand...
We do the same thing and also use CBS. You're not in PFFL are you?

 
Rhythmdoctor said:
We do the same thing and also use CBS. You're not in PFFL are you?
Click to expand...
Nahh. I've been running my local league for 24 years. Online everything is great but there's nothing quite like the one day a year that some people still join up for the live and in person draft. I don't miss the pen/paper/notepad/Lindy's FF Mag and Monday morning Detroit News stats from back in the day though.

 
Before the draft:

1) I make sure I'm up to date as of the scoring of the league, rules of waiver wire during the season, roster limits etc. even in leagues I've been playing for almost a decade I still look it up before the drafts just to have a fresh look at it. I also like to look up the last 2 drafts of the league just to get a feeling how it went last time around. l also like to make a VBD excel sheet (especially in IDP leagues) of the past season, just to get a feel for how important certain positions are due to scoring etc. (yeah fantasy football is great for excel nerds).

2) I like to have my tiers as a spread sheet prepared. The preparation process forces me to look things up, look at past performances etc. and most importantly to make me write down how I really feel about a player in comparition to other players.

3) Read the FBG newsletter everyday (especially on busy days !), just to make sure you don't miss something major.

Preparation is like 80% of your draft.

During the draft:

1) I just cross of the names of guys that are picked. Pen and paper for me, just like that oldschool feeling.

2) Talk trash as much as possible in a live draft, just so that the guys that are not prepared waste time on responding ;)

3) I try to make my choice as late as possible, don't like to lock my thoughts on a guys with 10 picks till it's my turn again.

4) I make my draft choice when I'm on deck, and like to draft fast when it's my turn. Again, a fast draft will favor guys who are well prepared. (Drafting fast doesn't always work for me even, I'm sometimes a little slow on decisions...^^).

5) If in a deadlock between a bunch of players, take players you like to watch, whose team you like to watch. 

I drafted with Draft Dominator in addition to my tiers for a couple years. It's not bad, as it takes the scoring / roster size of the league well into account. I would recommand it for beginners, I just don't feel I still need it, as a VBD analyse is a part of my preparation anyway.

 
My main league is an auction one.  I have a spreadsheet that I put all my projected stats in for each player and the league rules and it will give me a value for each player.  It's surprisingly accurate.  This helps me a ton in my preparation and on draft day.

 
Nemesis said:
On the Agenda, I am curious what you have as your "bullet points".

For my Agenda, I usually have:

  1. Welcome back.............anyone have a child, wedding, divorce they want to update everyone about?
  2. Champion from Last Year......."so and so" got lucky and won last year........congrats, now get off my lawn!
  3. Cheerleader from Last Year....I have a bobblehead cheerleader trophy and this is even more fun to talk about and award to the worst record
  4. Rules...........................talk about rules we changed and also the most common rules people forget about such as the Waiver Wire / FCFS deadlines
  5. Money.........................payouts and weekly winner pots
  6. Draft............................here's my cell phone for any online drafters.  Pls plug it in NOW just in case of a computer issue.
Click to expand...
Pretty close here as well:

1) Welcome back
2) Champ and Toilet bowl trophy presentations.  Champ can choose any other owner to present the trophy to him.  Let the smack talk begin!
3) Any new features on the web site I need these guys to be aware of
4) General notes and reminders
5) Rule changes going into effect (voted in the previous year or just being changed)
6) Proposals and open floor for discussion
7) Draft!

This year they guys are pretty active early (our pre-season trading starts Aug 1st and all 12 guys are pretty active on the site this year) so I'm getting some of the proposals out of the way now via message board discussion and voting.  This should reduce the pre-draft meeting time quite a bit since we are IDP and nearly 30 rounds the draft takes a while even with 2 minutes per pick.  But then we don't hurry, this is the only day a year we all see each other with some guys coming from out of town so we just enjoy the day.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'll use older DD until new DD is updated next year. I cross my fingers and hope through thorough investigation, I draft the most players that don't end up missing games or IR for any injury AND most upside players in 2016/17 (this is called luck, not Andrew).  :shark:

 
Futz said:
We have been doing a live draft online ( for those who can't make it) AND in person with CBS for years. It's the best of both worlds. Any reason you can't do both?
Click to expand...
Can you "pause" an online draft?  If so, I think this would help our live draft not take all day and allow the auctioneer to not have to neglect his team.  We do an auction style and having to play auctioneer, keep track of time, and their own roster is just too much

 
chad in Indy said:
Can you "pause" an online draft?  If so, I think this would help our live draft not take all day and allow the auctioneer to not have to neglect his team.  We do an auction style and having to play auctioneer, keep track of time, and their own roster is just too much
Click to expand...
Absolutely, at least you can with CBS as the commish. We take scheduled breaks to shoot the shhheaaattt,eat, smoke (for those who do) and to keep it social. There's nothing worse when people get together and then bury themselves into their comps in person. 

 
every online drafting site I have seen has ~100% of the features and methods mentioned here.. 

stats, projected value, other teams needs, max bids... they allow you make any adjustments of values and rankings, queue up players... and on and on.

the only difference maker I can pick out these days is whether a guy has done practice runs or not... everything else couldn't be easier these days.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
matuski said:
every online drafting site I have seen has ~100% of the features and methods mentioned here.. 

stats, projected value, other teams needs, max bids... they allow you make any adjustments of values and rankings, queue up players... and on and on.

the only difference maker I can pick out these days is whether a guy has done practice runs or not... everything else couldn't be easier these days.
Click to expand...
And what do you do during an in person draft that's not on a computer, because that's what the thread is about.

 
Hawkeye21 said:
And what do you do during an in person draft that's not on a computer, because that's what the thread is about.
Click to expand...
I would suggest you use a computer.  Or tablet.. my phone worked fine last year.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You are coming online for advice on your draft, but apparently using an online service for your draft that provides nearly every single idea covered here is out of the question.

I guess keep scratching off your magazine lists. :shrug:

 
matuski said:
You are coming online for advice on your draft, but apparently using an online service for your draft that provides nearly every single idea covered here is out of the question.

I guess keep scratching off your magazine lists. :shrug:
Click to expand...
Holy crap.  Did you read the first post of this thread or even the title?  It's a discussion about how you like to handle your live, in-person draft.  Do you like to you draft software on your laptop or phone?  Do you prefer to use pen and paper?  Do you use a magazine or make your own spreadsheet?

You haven't really added anything productive to this discussion.

 
Hawkeye21 said:
Holy crap.  Did you read the first post of this thread or even the title?  It's a discussion about how you like to handle your live, in-person draft.  Do you like to you draft software on your laptop or phone?  Do you prefer to use pen and paper?  Do you use a magazine or make your own spreadsheet?

You haven't really added anything productive to this discussion.
Click to expand...
Your suggestion included having two lists and using a highlighter. Hey thanks?

My suggestion is to move the draft online.  You don't like it... skip past it. :shrug:   

Online draft solves every challenge we ever encountered in our "old live drafts", our "new live drafts" are easier for everyone - better for everyone.  Lose nothing from the old style - gain so much convenience, organization, interaction, and time... for both the group and individual.  Accommodates those that can't be there live - in real time.  Setting the whole thing up from scratch is a matter of minutes.  

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Good old FBG customized cheat sheets on paper with a clipboard. I tried DD one year and it was a disaster. 

 
matuski said:
Your suggestion included having two lists and using a highlighter. Hey thanks?

My suggestion is to move the draft online.  You don't like it... skip past it. :shrug:   

Online draft solves every challenge we ever encountered in our "old live drafts", our "new live drafts" are easier for everyone - better for everyone.  Lose nothing from the old style - gain so much convenience, organization, interaction, and time... for both the group and individual.  Accommodates those that can't be there live - in real time.  Setting the whole thing up from scratch is a matter of minutes.  
Click to expand...
A lot of people prefer to all be together and do the draft on their own. Some leagues types aren't allowed on the sites you mentioned.

My auction league has 24 teams in it that are drafted in two separate drafts. MFL has been the only site that works for it. We do a lot of be draft and the commosh inputs the players in a spreadsheet. He manually adds all the teams to the website and the rest is handle led by computer. 

The work put in is what's so enjoyable. When I just want to be lazy and do an easy league I join ones online. The original question was directed towards people who enjoy putting the work in. 

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Terpman22
Top 32 3rd String QBs - In Honor of the new "You get a free 3rd QB on Gameday" Rule
Replies
0
Views
452
Terpman22
Terpman22
ignatiusjreilly
What are the TYPES of mistakes you make in fantasy drafts?
2 3
Replies
101
Views
3K
TampaMike19
T
BobbyLayne
***MNF - Raiders at Lions*** (-8.0/46.0)
11 12 13
Replies
613
Views
8K
Joe Bryant
Joe Bryant

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Top