Drafting in leagues with deep STARTING rosters (1 Viewer)

[Frank Black]

For leagues that have deep starting rosters, is there an ariticle or discussion thread on draft strategy? I'm talking about leagues that start, for example 2QB, 3RB, 4WR, 1 or 2 K, 1 or 2 D, and perhaps 1 or 2 flex spots. I've seen a few threads about leagues that start 2QBs, but adding 3RBs and 4WRs to the mix shakes up things a lot.

What are the different draft strategies that pay off in these types of leagues, taking into account whether a league is PPR, non-PPR, scores 4 or 6 points for TD passes?

I know there are more interesting topics out there right now such as Favre, but for those brave enough to play in this type of league, it's probably not too early to think about strategy.

 

[GregR_2]

For leagues that have deep starting rosters, is there an ariticle or discussion thread on draft strategy? I'm talking about leagues that start, for example 2QB, 3RB, 4WR, 1 or 2 K, 1 or 2 D, and perhaps 1 or 2 flex spots. I've seen a few threads about leagues that start 2QBs, but adding 3RBs and 4WRs to the mix shakes up things a lot.What are the different draft strategies that pay off in these types of leagues, taking into account whether a league is PPR, non-PPR, scores 4 or 6 points for TD passes?I know there are more interesting topics out there right now such as Favre, but for those brave enough to play in this type of league, it's probably not too early to think about strategy.

Hey Frank.Pretty much every answer I have to any draft strategy is the same, because the same process works no matter what the league setup, so long as it is a draft.Figure out what you think the players will score this year in your scoring system. Use some VBD-style analysis to decide what the value of players are in relation to each other, and even arrange them in a cheat sheet which you won't use, but it's useful just to see the players overall value compared to one another.Now decide on how you think the draft will actually go. Normally you can start with ADP and modify it for your league's differences from standard leagues. In this kind of setup you need to go more on your league's draft history, or find a few similar leagues you can look at their past drafts.Now that you know where players will probably go and what their value is, start highlighting players who are going later than they should based on their value. Note both the individual players and also general trends, like "the 5th round seems to be a good spot to get a TE."Ok, so now you have a road map of where the value should exist in your draft. This is basically what Dodd's annual Perfect Draft article is, a map to the value spots in each year's draft, though it's tailored for standard leagues, so I'm saying, make your own Perfect Draft article.Now sit down and try to figure out how to steer your draft through those value spots. Do some mocks (draft dominator can help with that) on your own so you can try out different likely scenarios. You're not just seeing how best to hit the value spots, but wanting to understand the impact of your decisions like "if I don't take RBs early, how does that affect my middle and late draft... am I passing up the opportunity to take value players who slip because I was forced to grab additional backup RBs?"Once you've gone through all of this, now you have a draft strategy. You know what you'd like to do if the draft plays out the way that you hope. But more importantly, if things don't work as you expected, you understand in advance what the implications of your decisions are likely to be.

 

[SteveWynne]

For leagues that have deep starting rosters, is there an ariticle or discussion thread on draft strategy? I'm talking about leagues that start, for example 2QB, 3RB, 4WR, 1 or 2 K, 1 or 2 D, and perhaps 1 or 2 flex spots. I've seen a few threads about leagues that start 2QBs, but adding 3RBs and 4WRs to the mix shakes up things a lot.What are the different draft strategies that pay off in these types of leagues, taking into account whether a league is PPR, non-PPR, scores 4 or 6 points for TD passes?

Expanded Rosters. Great way to test your knowledge of the NFL players and force your league's owners to be more active (smaller talent pool equals more transactions). I can't speak to PPR or 4 point TD leagues, but I have been in a few expanded roster format leagues.It's really not too dissimilar, on it's face, from a standard league. You just have to account for the different scarcities. My experiences were in a 2QB, 3RB, 4WR, 2TE, 2K, 2D league with 10 bench spots, for a 25 man roster, with fairly standard scoring. Oh, and this one is an auction, which shakes things up a bit.Our #1 seed last year had a draft where he targeted high end WRs, decent RBs, and a QBBC. Because of the 4 WRs causing scarcity, and his drafting 3 of the pre-season top-10 WRs, he had an advantage from the start. At QB, he focused on getting a pair of decent QBs in the bottom of the top-10, and at RB he rolled the dice, skipping any top-10 guys, and hit the Adrian Peterson Jackpot.One of our more seasoned FFL veterans who was in the expanded format for the first time tried to corner the market on the low end QBs for trade bait as the bye weeks approached. This turned out to be a poor strategy, as owners in a league where you start 15 players are more willing to take a zero at QB instead of trading away value in exchange for a Miami or Oakland backup QB that they will discard the following week. Our playoff champion took the trophy with a QB combination of Kurt Warner and Sage Rosenfels, which just goes to show that waiver wire work wins championships. His championship opponent did not have any top-5 QBs on his roster either.RBs, surprisingly, have played little part in making or breaking any teams. Everyone is aware of the scarcity, and bids high end RBs upwards accordingly. So no one is capable of stockpiling at the position, and the bargains are elsewhere.Surprisingly, TEs, Kickers and D also are relatively dismissed, as in standard roster leagues. As they are no more or less scarce than in your standard 8 or 9 man lineup, they really don't matter much more or much less.

 

[OddibeMcD]

Two quality replies here.

 

[Frank Black]

Two quality replies here.

Absolutely!

 

[Frank Black]

Upon further thought, it seems like draft position would affect your strategy, especially in regard to the QB position. If you have an end draft pick, would it be wise to draft your 1st QB no later than round 2?