Short Roster Drafting (1 Viewer)

[jim2658]

Looking for ideas on how to adjust drafting strategy to handle redrafts with short rosters - 14 on team, 9 start (1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 DEF, 1 PK).

With such short rosters, there will obviously be plenty of waiver fodder in the pool post-draft, including some who may become the next Colston or Jones-Drew. Does it make as much sense to target guys with allegedly high upside late, or do you need to adjust? With larger rosters, I prefer to target big upside players rather than medium floor/low ceiling guys as my WR5/6 and RB 4/5. It's harder to carry pure upside when I have to start 9/14 of my team every week.

1) It seems (even more than usual) imperative to carry 1 D and 1 PK except for bye weeks - and look for late bye weeks when possible to give RB/WR sleepers time to wake up

2) It seems more valuable to snag a reliable QB and D and TE earlier than usual to minimize roster impact on sleepers.

3) By reaching a bit for QB/D/TE or two of these, the RB/WR situation deteriorates quickly at the elite/top end - you get reduced to finding mid round gems.

Thoughts? Experience in this type of format? Thanks.

 

[stevegamer]

Boy those rosters are tighter than a 95 pound virgin.

Anyway, bye weeks are magnified.

TE/D/PK should idelly have different byes. That will allow you to have no more than 4 players for those 3 spots, or 3 if you are just churning through roughly equvialent players. If you can set up and get a QB you want to ride with a different bye, that's 1 reserve slot for 4 positions.

No reserve TE/PK/D if you want to do well.

Skill is actually diminsihed, as everyone essentially has a huge reserve roster available on waivers - breakout guys will come from the pool early.

If it's based on reverse standings, losing early can help, as you possibly get a good player who emerges early - Colston, Boldin, Warner, etc.

 

[lloyd christmas]

Ive played with a similar structure for a few years, here are some observations.

Obviously only keep 1 D, K and TE. Late season byes are a huge help, not only to let your upside guys come through, but also because teams will drop decent TEs, very good D's, and even some of the best k's during their bye weeks. If you can clear an extra roster spot, you can snab some top talent at the lesser positions.

Having said that I dont think its wise to select TE's or Defenses significantly higher.

I wouldnt reach for a QB either. I think WR is the place to move up. Ive taken WRs early a couple of times. I landed two in the top 10 one year, spending 2nd and 3rd picks on them. At points during the year they were the only two receivers on my roster. It seems crazy, but frees you up to build the rest of your roster with depth, and as noted there will be decent WRs on the waiver wire almost constantly.

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

Boy those rosters are tighter than a 95 pound virgin.

Anyway, bye weeks are magnified.

TE/D/PK should idelly have different byes. That will allow you to have no more than 4 players for those 3 spots, or 3 if you are just churning through roughly equvialent players. If you can set up and get a QB you want to ride with a different bye, that's 1 reserve slot for 4 positions.

No reserve TE/PK/D if you want to do well.

Skill is actually diminsihed, as everyone essentially has a huge reserve roster available on waivers - breakout guys will come from the pool early.

If it's based on reverse standings, losing early can help, as you possibly get a good player who emerges early - Colston, Boldin, Warner, etc.

 

[AB in DC]

Obviously, no one will be drafting any real sleepers. So the key question is how the FA system works.

If you can, get yourself in position to be first in line when a breakout player emerges. If you can't, scrub the box scores even harder than usual to catch a player on the verge of breaking out.

Spend your last two picks on players with an easy September schedule. They'd be the first to go in FA if you don't draft them, so the draft may be your last chance to get them. And if they don't break out against good matchups, it'll be pretty safe to drop them. Avoid borderline players with some tough early matchups -- you'll probably have another chance to get them in FA if/when one of your other picks doesn't pan out.

 

[TheFanatic]

Ive played with a similar structure for a few years, here are some observations.

Obviously only keep 1 D, K and TE. Late season byes are a huge help, not only to let your upside guys come through, but also because teams will drop decent TEs, very good D's, and even some of the best k's during their bye weeks. If you can clear an extra roster spot, you can snab some top talent at the lesser positions.

Having said that I dont think its wise to select TE's or Defenses significantly higher.

I wouldnt reach for a QB either. I think WR is the place to move up. Ive taken WRs early a couple of times. I landed two in the top 10 one year, spending 2nd and 3rd picks on them. At points during the year they were the only two receivers on my roster. It seems crazy, but frees you up to build the rest of your roster with depth, and as noted there will be decent WRs on the waiver wire almost constantly.

I'm not so sure I would go with this approach. WR's are the player that usually comes from nowhere and breaks out during the season and can be had off the WW (Boldin, Colston, Furry, etc). QB's and RB's don't do this as often. So I would put more emphasis on these positions.

I'm doing something similar to this in a 14 team league on Tuesday. Basically 2 bench positions and for some reason a single IDP that won't score more than 50-60 points based on the scoring system and the top guys last year. I'm wondering if I can forgo that position entirely and have a 3rd bench option....