A very important item to remember on draft day, is to not only record which players have been selected, but also to write down which owner in which draft position took them. That way you can see what the other teams' needs are, and where you can hold off on a certain player you are targeting until it's necessary to draft him.
I usually bring two cheatsheets to my live in person drafts, 1 of them is a compilation of several websites average draft positions and the other is my personal ranking cheatsheets. Helps to show which players are being jumped on and which players I can hold off on until later.
I did so many mocks this offseason that I had covered a lot of the tough choices before my proper draft.
During my two proper drafts, I had no material at all in front of me. From having all the practice mocks, I knew which players I wanted and which I didnt.
I know that this has been seen before, but it might be at use for a few. The link below is an average ranking by position accumulated from various FF websites. Just make sure to observe the dates of the rankings since some are more outdated than others.
Wesley Walker wrote:I draft in Yahoo, which is a pretty user-friendly draft room. I also lay out a copy of some fantasy guide magazine or newspaper or something, just to have another list of all the players (it's the list more than their cheat sheets that help, though the rankings can hlp too).
But the most important thing is to absorb as much info as possible in the month before the draft. I really ignore the NFL from the months of February through July. In August, I read everything about it and do some practice drafts, like in leagues I join but in which I don't really care about doing well.
Then for the leagues I care about, I'm ready to go and then I wing it pretty much.
My question to everyone is: Do you guys keep bye weeks in mind while drafting, or do you just juggle around the bye weeks as they come?
Great points WW. I went through a good stack of mags and websites for about the last month and then really sat back and absorbed this info. Next, I printed up the Cafe cheatsheets, which IMO are the best that I've seen hands down. I then make minor adjustments to individual players, possibly pushing them up or down, break out teirs of players and target individuals who seem to have favorable things going for them. This really seemed to help me with the draft that I had this last weekend. I also highly encourage you to map out what positions that you are thinking about taking during what round. For example, in rd. 2, I decided that if Harrison/Moss was sitting there when I drafted, their value would outweigh that of a #2 RB at that time. If they weren't, simple enough, just grab one of the 2nd tier RBs. Be somewhat flexible but have some idea of direction that you need to go.
Wesley, I'm just winging it this year on the bye week. We'll see how it works.
I like simple pleasures, like butter in my ass, lollipops in my mouth. That's just me.
I tweak the cheatsheet to my league's settings (my league is slightly TD-heavy).
I'm bringing my whole draft guide. But most readily available will be my detailed cheatsheet, bye week grid, and strength of schedule sheet (with playoff schedule in red....i WILL be in the playoffs).
i make rankings but not to the T since every player is differnt and could be valued higher in different situations. the most important is to tier players so you know who has a better value at a given time in the draft. and always keep track (cross off) who is being drafted. also, keep track of what other teams took already, especially if you are picking in the beginning or end so you know you most likely can wait to draft a position.
In two live drafts I did Saturday, all I used was the Cafe Concensus Rankings. I didn't have to do much second guessing, just went by the highest player left at the position I needed.
Worked like a charm.
I'm just a little Hawaiian and a homesick Island boy,
I want to go back to my fish and poi ...
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by proncis » Sun Aug 29, 2004 9:26 pm 
