League

August 23, 2023

Last night was our league fantasy football draft.  I mentioned before our 10 team league is centered around relationships with my son Alex, who is also the commissioner.  Several days before the draft I went out to the website and broke down the standings for players last year and the predictions for this year.  I came up with an elaborate plan to determine the position order that I would draft and the top players (and by how much) in each position.  This year’s draft had another nuisance as Alex was joined in selecting the players for his team by his son.  Brooks had assured his dad they would draft all the good players and then win the championship.  Just like the 32 teams that play in the NFL, we all start on an even playing field (0 – 0) and know there is a chance we can win it all.

When I looked online, I found dozens of Fantasy Football draft sites offering to give you the best information to make your picks.  I play in an ESPN Fantasy League which offers free advice (as well as in-depth advice for a price) which is much like the other draft information sites.  Another example is the 2023 Yahoo Fantasy Football Draft Kit which touts “being updated daily and we’ll continue to add new content here all the way up until the season kicks off.”  The kit provides the rankings, sleepers, busts, position previews, and the expert analysis you need to become the league champion.  You can try mock drafts to help hone your drafting skills.  You can subscribe (for a price) to the Yahoo Fantasy Football Show and receive up to the minute advice five times a week.  After the season begins the site offers Yahoo Fantasy Plus to keep you up to date during the season and to give you “an exclusive edge on the competition”.  With all that advice you are sure to win, right?

The order of league draft picks can be determined randomly or by the previous year’s league standings, where the team with the worst record picks first, followed by the team with the second-worst record, and so on.  In some leagues owners retain the same draft position in each round, but our league uses a “serpentine” or “snake” draft.  In the snake draft, the owner who picks first in the odd rounds picks last in the even rounds, while the owner who picks second in the odd rounds picks second to last in the even rounds, and so on.  League drafts can be conducted in “live” or “auto” formats.  Live drafts involve team owners selecting players in real time, while auto drafts are those in which selections are made by the computer based on pre-draft rankings set by the owner.  Owners who are not present at the time of the draft will often “auto-draft” while the rest of the league makes live selections.  Leagues where the owners live near to each other can hold the draft at a single location with a draft party.  Sinc e my league is scattered across the country, we all draft from home, and many use the auto draft format.  

Thoughts:  Last night I drafted in the middle of the pack in our league.  That meant I was alternately the fifth and sixth pick in the 16 rounds of the snake draft.  For all my planning, I did not get any of the top two players at their position, only two others were in the top three, and my tight end fell completely off the chart.  My hope is for one of the undrafted rookies to have a breakout season and I can pick him up early.  You never know.  So far, I am still tied for first (0 – 0) for the season.  While nature seems to use an opportunistic approach for survival, humans often take an optimistic approach.  We hope for the best even as we try to create a better outcome.  Try to treat life like my fantasy draft knowing there will be opportunities for the future.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.