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Cheatsheets versus Draft Dominator (1 Viewer)

H

Hawkeye_53

Footballguy
Apologies in advance as I'm sure this has been answered, but I wasn't able to find it. 

I set up the cheat sheet with the exact same specifications as Draft Dominator, yet get very different results. Does DD have more "fine tuning" and I need to learn some additional steps? Thanks in advance!

 
Hawkeye_53 said:
Apologies in advance as I'm sure this has been answered, but I wasn't able to find it. 

I set up the cheat sheet with the exact same specifications as Draft Dominator, yet get very different results. Does DD have more "fine tuning" and I need to learn some additional steps? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...


Thanks @Hawkeye_53   Yes, the Draft Dominator is our most advanced tool for customized advice. Much more than the Cheatsheets which is meant to be simpler. 

If you do both, I would go with Draft Dominator. 

If you have any more questions on it, please let them know at help@footballguys.com. Thanks. 

 
I've often wondered this as well.  I've been using the VBD Excel cheatsheet for years and get flustered every year when I check it against the Draft Dominator.  I've been in a slump, missing the playoffs the last two years, so I'm going to switch it up and use the DD this year.

 
Hawkeye_53 said:
Apologies in advance as I'm sure this has been answered, but I wasn't able to find it. 

I set up the cheat sheet with the exact same specifications as Draft Dominator, yet get very different results. Does DD have more "fine tuning" and I need to learn some additional steps? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
If it helps at all, I have used the VBD excel spreadsheet for my auction leagues for years and my real drafts are much closer to those values than those found in DD.

 
greedygoat said:
I've often wondered this as well.  I've been using the VBD Excel cheatsheet for years and get flustered every year when I check it against the Draft Dominator.  I've been in a slump, missing the playoffs the last two years, so I'm going to switch it up and use the DD this year.
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Weird. I have found the exact opposite. 

 
wondering if there is a printable version that isn't as long & spacey?   more condensed.

 
MikesVikes said:
I would assume that the draft dominator is updated constantly while the printout remains the same.
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Correct. The big advantage of the Draft Dominator is that it's dynamic. It reacts to every pick and essentially creates a brand new cheastheet after every pick adjusting for the reduced player pool. It's pretty incredible. 

But we also know TONS of players prefer printed cheatsheets and adjusting for runs and scarcity as the draft unfolds. I totally get that. It's why we also have the Custom Cheatsheets. 

There are lots of ways to run a draft and we try to give people what they want. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
But we also know TONS of players prefer printed cheatsheets and adjusting for runs and scarcity as the draft unfolds. I totally get that. It's why we also have the Custom Cheatsheets. 
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OR the Draft Dominator Classic printed cheat sheets. I have NEVER drafted without them. 

 
I'm somewhat new here. Is Draft Dominator only intended for mock drafts or can it also be used in live drafts? 

 
Barksdale said:
I'm somewhat new here. Is Draft Dominator only intended for mock drafts or can it also be used in live drafts? 
Click to expand...


Of course it can be used in live drafts, that's what it is intended for.  We're not here to win mock drafts!  ;)

 
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I used to use DD but just ran into to many problems.  Drafts always have hiccups with a wrong player entered, backing out, resuming, etc...then you run into the same user errors happening with DD, you miss a pick, have to figure out where it is, then back out, then re enter.  Seems I was always ditching it by the 7-8th round and had to resort to sheets that had nobody crossed out to that point.  Back to old school cheat sheet, pen, and two high-lighters.

 
Army Eye said:
Of course it can be used in live drafts, that's what it is intended for.  We're not here to win mock drafts!  ;)
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Yes, but it relies on manual entry of picks, right?  I know I've sent in the suggestion several times when Joe asks for feedback...it would be great if DD actually live syncs with your online Yahoo/ESPN/etc. draft.  Much like one of the other popular websites and their drafting tool does.  Does DD do that this year?  My real drafts are starting up these next few weekends and I was trying to figure that out but it doesn't seem like it does.  Looks like DD can sync with the leagues to automatically import team names, etc.  But I don't think it does a live sync for a real draft?  If I'm wrong, I'll be so happy to learn that!

Navin Johnson said:
I used to use DD but just ran into to many problems.  Drafts always have hiccups with a wrong player entered, backing out, resuming, etc...then you run into the same user errors happening with DD, you miss a pick, have to figure out where it is, then back out, then re enter.  Seems I was always ditching it by the 7-8th round and had to resort to sheets that had nobody crossed out to that point.  Back to old school cheat sheet, pen, and two high-lighters.
Click to expand...
This is my problem as well.  Especially now that my leagues have moved to an online draft given Covid.  You're only given 60-90 seconds per pick.  You're looking at your main Yahoo/ESPN draft because you have to pay attention.  You're trying to flip to another popular website that has a live sync drafting tool because it's just easier.  But you also want to come to Footballguys and the DD because it's awesome. And yes, then you have your cheatsheet printed out in minuscule type that you're also trying to old school cross out.  That's a lot to do in 60 seconds.   You're  trying to manually enter in the pick in DD while the other site does it automatically.  And then you forget one pick and like you said, you're off by one pick and it's just a mess.

I've played around with DD more this year and love the dynamic changes in values for the auction mocks.  Never noticed that before, or maybe I just didn't do auction mocks.  But it would be awesome if it live synced.

 
greyhorse said:
Yes, but it relies on manual entry of picks, right?  I know I've sent in the suggestion several times when Joe asks for feedback...it would be great if DD actually live syncs with your online Yahoo/ESPN/etc. draft.  Much like one of the other popular websites and their drafting tool does.  Does DD do that this year?  My real drafts are starting up these next few weekends and I was trying to figure that out but it doesn't seem like it does.  Looks like DD can sync with the leagues to automatically import team names, etc.  But I don't think it does a live sync for a real draft?  If I'm wrong, I'll be so happy to learn that!

This is my problem as well.  Especially now that my leagues have moved to an online draft given Covid.  You're only given 60-90 seconds per pick.  You're looking at your main Yahoo/ESPN draft because you have to pay attention.  You're trying to flip to another popular website that has a live sync drafting tool because it's just easier.  But you also want to come to Footballguys and the DD because it's awesome. And yes, then you have your cheatsheet printed out in minuscule type that you're also trying to old school cross out.  That's a lot to do in 60 seconds.   You're  trying to manually enter in the pick in DD while the other site does it automatically.  And then you forget one pick and like you said, you're off by one pick and it's just a mess.

I've played around with DD more this year and love the dynamic changes in values for the auction mocks.  Never noticed that before, or maybe I just didn't do auction mocks.  But it would be awesome if it live synced.
Click to expand...
I'll have the draft site up with DD and click back and forth or Alt+Tab.  DD has news, depth charts, rankings, staff comments, bye conflicts, etc all in one place so you can quickly check through alot of stuff in your 60-90 seconds.  Also helps to pre-rank the players on the draft site with the initial DD rankings before you start so guys are easier to find, top options should be right at the top of the list.  It really is a helpful tool and easy to use, but maybe that's because I've been using it for like 10-15 years.  If you're not confident, practice with a mock draft or two and you'll have it down in no time.

I also do kinda miss just sitting around in a room with a clipboard, my cheatsheet (from Cheatsheets.com), a pen, a highlighter, a beer and no computers.  I was in a league that tried to keep a "no computer" rule early on but gave in when the whole industry started heading that way.  I also miss back when not everyone had basically the same rankings and things were more unpredictable.

 
greyhorse said:
Yes, but it relies on manual entry of picks, right?...  

...but I don't think it does a live sync for a real draft? 
Click to expand...
These are my questions as well and you phrased them better than I did.

In the Draft Dominator "Draft Settings" I can change the Basic Draft Settings to either Mock Draft or Real Draft but it doesn't seem Real Draft syncs with the actual online draft. Maybe it's not intended to at this time...just wondered if I was missing something.

 
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I usually just use the VBD Excel cheatsheet and print it out to draft with.  I have used Draft Dominator in the past but it gets too hard to keep up with 90 second clock and players chosen within 20 seconds.  Add in if I make a mistake it is very hard to correct.

However for my first draft last week I decided to give DD another shot.  Only it looked very different than I remembered it.  It didn't give me a "suggested" pick when it was my turn which was the whole reason I wanted to do it.  What did I do wrong?

 
Keith1 said:
OR the Draft Dominator Classic printed cheat sheets. I have NEVER drafted without them. 
Click to expand...
I've used these the last few years over the VBD Excel cheatsheets...big difference is that there is wider group of expert rankings used to build the rankings (which you can weight in DD), right?

 
Payne said:
If it helps at all, I have used the VBD excel spreadsheet for my auction leagues for years and my real drafts are much closer to those values than those found in DD.
Click to expand...
Do you adjust the sliders in DD?  I do (and have for years) in my auction league and find it to be very accurate.  Last year it was scary how close it was.   

 
gump said:
I've used these the last few years over the VBD Excel cheatsheets...big difference is that there is wider group of expert rankings used to build the rankings (which you can weight in DD), right?
Click to expand...
I know what I am about to say is archaic, but I enter my league scoring, print out the Draft Dominator sheets, go to the draft with my sheets and a "wish list" of guys I am looking for in each round (based upon my own research, FBG analysis articles like Waldman's gut-check teams, etc.) and a draft chart. As guys are picked I cross them off the cheat sheets and enter them in my chart. When it's my pick I look at my wish lists and the cheat sheets (and the chart of who has been picked already so I can get a sense of what the guys picking around me are likely to do) and go from there. Probably about as old school as you can get, I know, but the whole idea of the computer telling me who to pick was always something I thought took away from the whole fun of drafting in the first place. 

 
Keith1 said:
I know what I am about to say is archaic, but I enter my league scoring, print out the Draft Dominator sheets, go to the draft with my sheets and a "wish list" of guys I am looking for in each round (based upon my own research, FBG analysis articles like Waldman's gut-check teams, etc.) and a draft chart. As guys are picked I cross them off the cheat sheets and enter them in my chart. When it's my pick I look at my wish lists and the cheat sheets (and the chart of who has been picked already so I can get a sense of what the guys picking around me are likely to do) and go from there. Probably about as old school as you can get, I know, but the whole idea of the computer telling me who to pick was always something I thought took away from the whole fun of drafting in the first place. 
Click to expand...
Yes, of course.  This is how we always all did it.  But now with all of the drafting tools - especially ones that live sync which it appears DD does not - there is a whole new advantage to having this information that once wasn't easily obtainable.  Value based drafting, pick predictors that can suggest whether or not a player will be available to you at your next pick based on who your leaguemates have selected, and just easier access to statistics and data at your fingertips.  Having the computer suggest who might be some targets to consider in no way takes the fun out of drafting.  I'm still the one making the decision.  Otherwise why not just autodraft?

 
Keith1 said:
I know what I am about to say is archaic, but I enter my league scoring, print out the Draft Dominator sheets, go to the draft with my sheets and a "wish list" of guys I am looking for in each round (based upon my own research, FBG analysis articles like Waldman's gut-check teams, etc.) and a draft chart. As guys are picked I cross them off the cheat sheets and enter them in my chart. When it's my pick I look at my wish lists and the cheat sheets (and the chart of who has been picked already so I can get a sense of what the guys picking around me are likely to do) and go from there. Probably about as old school as you can get, I know, but the whole idea of the computer telling me who to pick was always something I thought took away from the whole fun of drafting in the first place. 
Click to expand...


Hi @Keith1 I don't think that's archaic at all. I know a ton of people love printed cheatsheets. That's why we put so much effort into creating the brand new Custom Cheatsheets https://www.footballguys.com/cheatsheets this year. It's new from the ground up and built for exactly what you're talking about. You can enter the crucial details about your league and super easily print a Custom Cheatsheet dialed into your speciflc league. We have a ton of options here but if your league settings are not offered, you can do the same thing with the Draft Dominator https://www.footballguys.com/draft-dominator and create a custom cheatsheet in the same format. It prints beautifully and includes tier breaks. I love drafting like this. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
Hi @Keith1 I don't think that's archaic at all. I know a ton of people love printed cheatsheets. That's why we put so much effort into creating the brand new Custom Cheatsheets https://www.footballguys.com/cheatsheets this year. It's new from the ground up and built for exactly what you're talking about. You can enter the crucial details about your league and super easily print a Custom Cheatsheet dialed into your speciflc league. We have a ton of options here but if your league settings are not offered, you can do the same thing with the Draft Dominator https://www.footballguys.com/draft-dominator and create a custom cheatsheet in the same format. It prints beautifully and includes tier breaks. I love drafting like this. 
Click to expand...
Glad to hear I am not the only dinosaur when it comes to this. I may not win my leagues each year, but that is typically because of trades that didn't work out, injuries, bad line-up decisions or just plain bad luck. It is NEVER because I did not draft well. 

 
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Keith1 said:
Glad to hear I am not the only dinosaur when it comes to this. I may not win my leagues each year, but that is typically because of trades that didn't work out, injuries, bad line-up decisions or just plain bad luck. It is NEVER because I did not draft well. 
Click to expand...


Not remotely a dinosaur. A TON of people love printed cheatsheets. Especially ours with tiers and when they're customized to your league. I love them too.  I totally get it and it's why we created a brand new feature just to support those. 

 
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Joe Bryant said:
Not remotely a dinosaur. A TON of people love printed cheatsheets. Especially ours with tiers and when they're customized to your league. I love them too.  I totally get it and it's why we created a brand new feature just to support those. 
Click to expand...
Hi Joe, thanks for the great work.  Could you comment on my comment above about the Draft Dominator and the lack of live syncing? I obviously don't understand what is needed to make something like this work.  Just thought since Footballguys can sync with Yahoo/ESPN/other platforms for mocks and League dominator, that the flow through must be available.  Another popular fantasy site does have a live sync with drafts and it's so convenient.

I did a real auction draft on ESPN while also using the DD, and I felt like I spent the majority of my time trying to type in the players name, assign the cost, assign the team, etc.  Instead of spending time thinking who I wanted, evaluating the current bids, etc.  Also, when a team gets a full roster, are they automatically taken out of the nomination process?  It didn't seem like they did (and if it did, I must have messed up somewhere), so the team nominating on DD wasn't really the real team nominating on ESPN, but that really doesn't matter since all that does is who wins the player.  

I don't think the lack of live sync is an issue in snake drafts, since it's relatively easy to just pick a player.  But the extra steps and typing you have to do on auction are cumbersome.  

 
greyhorse said:
Hi Joe, thanks for the great work.  Could you comment on my comment above about the Draft Dominator and the lack of live syncing? I obviously don't understand what is needed to make something like this work.  Just thought since Footballguys can sync with Yahoo/ESPN/other platforms for mocks and League dominator, that the flow through must be available.  Another popular fantasy site does have a live sync with drafts and it's so convenient.

I did a real auction draft on ESPN while also using the DD, and I felt like I spent the majority of my time trying to type in the players name, assign the cost, assign the team, etc.  Instead of spending time thinking who I wanted, evaluating the current bids, etc.  Also, when a team gets a full roster, are they automatically taken out of the nomination process?  It didn't seem like they did (and if it did, I must have messed up somewhere), so the team nominating on DD wasn't really the real team nominating on ESPN, but that really doesn't matter since all that does is who wins the player.  

I don't think the lack of live sync is an issue in snake drafts, since it's relatively easy to just pick a player.  But the extra steps and typing you have to do on auction are cumbersome.  
Click to expand...


Hi @greyhorse We've looked at live synching for years and have always chosen not to pursue simply for reliability. With all the different platforms, it's a giant task. And we've never felt comfortable entrusting something as crucial as the live draft to being able to accurately synch on the different platforms. What we have done is make it exceptionally fast and easy to enter picks into the draft dominator. In a couple of seconds, you can enter the pick on snake drafts. I agree an auction takes a bit more. We felt that was the most secure way to handle something this important. 

And thanks for the feedback. We'll continue to try and make this better each year. 

 
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I’ve used DD for years to get customized cheatsheets. I’m a big fan.

I don’t understand why when I’m looking at a customized cheatsheet in printable format that some players at the same position are ranked higher, despite having a lower projected point total. 
 

For example Kyler Murray is showing as the #1 QB with Mahomes at #2. But Mahomes is projected to have more points. 
 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

 
Max55 said:
I’ve used DD for years to get customized cheatsheets. I’m a big fan.

I don’t understand why when I’m looking at a customized cheatsheet in printable format that some players at the same position are ranked higher, despite having a lower projected point total. 
 

For example Kyler Murray is showing as the #1 QB with Mahomes at #2. But Mahomes is projected to have more points. 
 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
Click to expand...


Not sure what you're seeing there. Best bet is to let them know at www.footballguys.com/help and give them some info on exactly your league scoring and they may be able to help see what's up. Thanks. 

 
Lots of good feedback/ advice here. I did have a quick question(s) myself for @Joe Bryant regarding DD Projections:

  1. Is there a way to see when specific Footballguys expert(s) last updated their rankings? (ie: Bloom updated on 8/22, Amico 8/10, etc...) As there's now 6 Experts that the DD is taking into account for "Consensus", it'd be helpful to know who updated when to take into account injuries, roster depth-chart changes, preseason game analysis, etc...
  2. As mentioned above, there's now 6 experts providing rankings on the DD; do/would you use the "Consensus" or have certain people you weigh higher/lower?
Thanks in advance!

 
dkp993 said:
Do you adjust the sliders in DD?  I do (and have for years) in my auction league and find it to be very accurate.  Last year it was scary how close it was.   
Click to expand...
I have not. Maybe I should revisit that. I just plug my parameters into the VBD spreadsheet and it works well.

 
4th&inches said:
Lots of good feedback/ advice here. I did have a quick question(s) myself for @Joe Bryant regarding DD Projections:

  1. Is there a way to see when specific Footballguys expert(s) last updated their rankings? (ie: Bloom updated on 8/22, Amico 8/10, etc...) As there's now 6 Experts that the DD is taking into account for "Consensus", it'd be helpful to know who updated when to take into account injuries, roster depth-chart changes, preseason game analysis, etc...
  2. As mentioned above, there's now 6 experts providing rankings on the DD; do/would you use the "Consensus" or have certain people you weigh higher/lower?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...


Hi @4th&inches

1. On the Projections Page https://www.footballguys.com/projections/preseason if you click the dropdown box that says "Projector" it lists each projector and the date of their last projections.

2. I use the FBG Consensus. There are some proprietary behind the scenes adjusting we do with weights that are private but in my opinion, the FBG Consensus is our best set of projections. It's the one I use. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
Hi @4th&inches

1. On the Projections Page https://www.footballguys.com/projections/preseason if you click the dropdown box that says "Projector" it lists each projector and the date of their last projections.

2. I use the FBG Consensus. There are some proprietary behind the scenes adjusting we do with weights that are private but in my opinion, the FBG Consensus is our best set of projections. It's the one I use. 
Click to expand...


thanks for the answers above and input. 

Is there anything planned incorporate the projector dates into the DD by chance?

thanks again

 
Both?.....My leagues have crazy scoring setups so i use draft dominator to customize the rankings for each.  I then email myself a cheat sheet from DD for each, and print it out for the draft.  I don't like to actually run DD for the draft.  I prefer to use pen and paper to cross em off as they're picked.......It's also not the only resource I use, but it can be a tie-breaker.

Edit to add....

So you're using the cheat sheets on DD? Or other cheat sheets on FBG?  If you are using DD you are customizing for your leagues unique setup, correct?

 
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@Joe Bryant - what projections does the VBD Excel Sheet use now? Sorry if I’m missing, but thought it was Dodds, who I see no longer projects.

 
Can someone explain this to me? DD has lost me. Example, Diontae Johnson is ranked 197/WR42 while the cheats have him ranked 59/WR25. By comparison, in DD, Claypool is ranked 56/WR22 and the cheats have him the same at 56/WR22. Scoring is standard non-ppr. Am I missing something?

 
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Can anyone tell me why the vbd is different on the draft dominator cheatsheets versus the right on the draft page? Chet sheets are about half the vbd value of the live draft page. It shows J Jefferson as vbd 180 on the main page and it has him at 96 on the chestsheet.
 
LeadoffMan said:
Can anyone tell me why the vbd is different on the draft dominator cheatsheets versus the right on the draft page? Chet sheets are about half the vbd value of the live draft page. It shows J Jefferson as vbd 180 on the main page and it has him at 96 on the chestsheet.
Click to expand...

Sometimes there will be a discrepency that the Draft Dominator is able to pick up a nuance in scoring that the cheatsheets don't pick up.

For sure, if there is a discrepancy, I follow the Draft Dominator. It's the most powerful and pulls in the most data.

If you're not sure which one to use, I go with Draft Dominator.
 
Joe Bryant said:
LeadoffMan said:
Can anyone tell me why the vbd is different on the draft dominator cheatsheets versus the right on the draft page? Chet sheets are about half the vbd value of the live draft page. It shows J Jefferson as vbd 180 on the main page and it has him at 96 on the chestsheet.
Click to expand...

Sometimes there will be a discrepency that the Draft Dominator is able to pick up a nuance in scoring that the cheatsheets don't pick up.

For sure, if there is a discrepancy, I follow the Draft Dominator. It's the most powerful and pulls in the most data.

If you're not sure which one to use, I go with Draft Dominator.
Click to expand...
Thanks Joe. To be clear, I’m referring to the cheat sheet WITHIN the draft dominator that I’m could be drafting from. On the main draft dominator draft page with all the teams listed and the green “start draft” button—I click “Draft Settings” right next to the name of the league. Then, “Print Chestsheets.” I’m not referring to the cheatsheets from within “Tools” at FBG. I’m not sure I understand the discrepancy from within the same program.
 
LeadoffMan said:
Joe Bryant said:
LeadoffMan said:
Can anyone tell me why the vbd is different on the draft dominator cheatsheets versus the right on the draft page? Chet sheets are about half the vbd value of the live draft page. It shows J Jefferson as vbd 180 on the main page and it has him at 96 on the chestsheet.
Click to expand...

Sometimes there will be a discrepency that the Draft Dominator is able to pick up a nuance in scoring that the cheatsheets don't pick up.

For sure, if there is a discrepancy, I follow the Draft Dominator. It's the most powerful and pulls in the most data.

If you're not sure which one to use, I go with Draft Dominator.
Click to expand...
Thanks Joe. To be clear, I’m referring to the cheat sheet WITHIN the draft dominator that I’m could be drafting from. On the main draft dominator draft page with all the teams listed and the green “start draft” button—I click “Draft Settings” right next to the name of the league. Then, “Print Chestsheets.” I’m not referring to the cheatsheets from within “Tools” at FBG. I’m not sure I understand the discrepancy from within the same program.
Click to expand...

Ok. Sorry then I'm not sure. Please go to www.footballguys.com/help and click "contact support" and they'll try to tell exactly.
 
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