Need Advice on Dynasty Draft Over Time (not live) (1 Viewer)

[TheLurkerBelow]

One of my dynasty leagues is considering a move from a live draft that historically occurs right before the start of the season to a draft over time format and I wanted to see what advice people might have. Here are some specific questions I have, although any advice is greatly appreciated:

- What time limit to put on a pick? 1 day, 10 hours, 3 days, etc.

- 'Must conclude by' date. I'm thinking as long as we conclude before training camp opens then no one will have unfair knowledge, but is there a reason to conclude earlier than that?

- Web site to manage it or just do it via email? We use CBS Sportsline now, I'm assuming it can handle this format, but if anyone has had a bad experience trying this over there then I'd love to know in advance.

Thanks in advance!

 

[gandalas]

24 hours is fine for a rookie-only draft. With only 7-10 rounds to draft, it will be over LONG before the season starts, even in the unlikely event that everyone takes the full amount of time.

For a dynasty start-up, either 12 or 24 hours is fairly acceptable. I have been in both, and with pre-drafting, the average pick time is usually 1 hour or less anyway.

As far as a hard "End By" date, no REAL reason to have it anytime prior to about a week before the regular season starts. There are no points to gain prior to kick-off week 1, so no point in forcing the issue prior to that date. If you are going too slowly and think you may not finish in time, you can always adjust the pick timer 3-4 weeks before the season starts.

I don't know anything about CBS's system, but MFL has a fine slow-draft option. Pretty much 100% of all dynasty leagues I have ever been in use the slow draft option on there.

 

[SelenaCat]

There are 118 days until the first game of the season, so 1/day would only let you get through 9ish rounds in a 12-team league. I would be a little leery of 12-hour limits, however, as you may have someone make a pick at 8PM, and not everyone will have checked again at 8AM. An 18-hour limit would let you get through something like 13 rounds for a 12-team league. More if you encouraged owners not to take that long if they don't have to.

 

[jonboltz]

There are 118 days until the first game of the season, so 1/day would only let you get through 9ish rounds in a 12-team league. I would be a little leery of 12-hour limits, however, as you may have someone make a pick at 8PM, and not everyone will have checked again at 8AM. An 18-hour limit would let you get through something like 13 rounds for a 12-team league. More if you encouraged owners not to take that long if they don't have to.

MFL will allow you to set a certain time period (for example, midnight to 6 am) that the draft-pick clock doesn't run down.

 

[Dave Stauff]

Be alert to the fact that teams will use a lot of their allocated clock time if camp news is coming out during the draft. I know I routinely stay on the clock to see what camp injuries or rookie observations/info on camp performance come out over a 2 day period when on a 24 hour clock - this is particularly useful as you move toward the end of the draft, as sometimes a later round pick can grab a backup for someone who goes down in camp or preseason. There is no incentive to pick early and the draft will likely drag if many owners adopt this approach. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but you need to allocate enough time to allow for this possibility . . .

 

[TheLurkerBelow]

Be alert to the fact that teams will use a lot of their allocated clock time if camp news is coming out during the draft. I know I routinely stay on the clock to see what camp injuries or rookie observations/info on camp performance come out over a 2 day period when on a 24 hour clock - this is particularly useful as you move toward the end of the draft, as sometimes a later round pick can grab a backup for someone who goes down in camp or preseason. There is no incentive to pick early and the draft will likely drag if many owners adopt this approach. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but you need to allocate enough time to allow for this possibility . . .

This is what I meant when I was asking about "Must conclude by" date. I could easily foresee this situation occurring in our league, where any fair advantage is fought for. For instance, if a scrimmage or preseason game was coming up, no one in their right mind would use their draft pick until the last possible moment in order to get as much information from that even as possible. The person who drafts a guy the day before that game is at a bit of an unfair disadvantage. I'd prefer to set it so the draft concludes by mid-July, avoiding any significant camp news and events.