THE DRAFT IS A GALA EVENT
It is a celebration of the brand new NFL season, so deal with it like one. Acknowledge final yr’s champion with an awards ceremony. Give them an engraved trophy. Print up T-shirts with their staff brand. Announce new staff names. Vote on league rule modifications. Present final season’s worst staff with “The Hammer Award,” an precise hammer nailed to a chunk of wooden. Celebrate good instances, come on.
WEAR APPROPRIATE ATTIRE
I’m not speaking a jacket and tie. This is an NFL fantasy draft, so put on NFL gear. If you will have a Josh Allen jersey, put on it. If you will have a foam cheese head, put on it. If you’re coming to the draft straight from work, seize your new Commanders hat and put on it.
FUEL UP
Expert drafting requires wholesome mind perform. How you gasoline that mind is as much as you. My son Billy brings a complete Jersey Mikes No. 6 (roast beef and provolone) to his draft, washed down with a bottle of ice-cold root beer. He is a cognitive wizard after a meal like that, drafting a playoff staff two years in a row.
BRING CHEAT SHEETS
Go to FantasyGuru.com and obtain our NFL Season Fantasy Football Rankings. Adjustable to PPR or Non-PPR, the record will be adjusted by tiers, positions, groups, byes and even consensus ADP. You gained’t discover a extra correct or user-friendly program on the net.
THE WRITE STUFF
What did the forgetful skydiver say when he jumped out of the aircraft? “Aw chute!” Don’t be that man. Remember to convey a pen. On second thought, convey TWO pens.
BASEMENTS ARE BEST
I’ve been to drafts in loud bars, which will get costly and distracting. I’ve been to drafts in backyards, swatting away gnats and mosquitos. I’ve been to drafts on decks the place the lighting is so poor I used my telephone flashlight to see my cheat sheets. Give me a moist, well-lit basement, a TV tray desk, and an enormous draft board duct taped to cement block subsequent to a shiny white fridge from 1956. Now that’s what I name a Fantasy Football Draft.
TWO-MINUTE DRILL
Your draft ought to be energetic, not a treatment for insomnia. Some leagues enable 5 minutes per draft choose. At that charge, a twelve-team league would choose for 15 hours. Make your draft brief and candy. Everyone has had six months to resolve who they need to draft. Two minutes is loads of time.
LIVE AND IN PERSON
Attending a draft along with your fellow league members is all the time nice enjoyable. The pleasant face-to-face banter of competing franchises makes reminiscences that final a lifetime. I can nonetheless bear in mind the evening the rookie proprietor of the AC Heartbreakers drafted Vincent Alexander, a alternative participant from the 1987 strike season who was out of soccer. After haranguing him for ten minutes, we took no mercy and made him preserve the choose.
AVOID TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
For higher or worse, leagues are now not a bunch of native buddies from work or the neighborhood. My leagues have homeowners from New Jersey to Maryland to Chicago. Whether you employ Zoom, Google Meet, or stay drafting in your league web site, all require a pc connection. Make certain yours is ready and prepared. Nobody likes ready for Herschel from L.A. making an attempt to get his WiFi going after the draft began.
DO NOT USE PAYPAL OR VENMO
This isn’t an city fantasy. Matthew Berry even tweeted this out final yr. Using PayPal or Venmo for Fantasy leagues is in opposition to their firm phrases of service. They can freeze your account and typically take your funds when you get caught. Cash is king.
CURE FOR THE QUARANTINED
COVID continues to be a menace. No one is aware of the way it will roar again this fall. Adding two roster spots or permitting COVID contaminated gamers to be positioned on IR till wholesome will curtail lineup shortages on sport day.
DON’T BRING YOUR BABY
My twin brother Clark introduced his toddler son to a draft years in the past. The child shrieked continuous for 16 rounds. Clark had a child bottle in a single hand and a beer bottle within the different. The distracted, aggravated league homeowners suffered by what ought to have been the very best 4 hours of the NFL season. I’m fairly certain Clark gained the league that yr. Devious, proper?
A SUCKER IS BORN EVERY MINUTE
When a fellow proprietor asks my opinion on the draft, do what I do; LIE TO THEIR FACE. “What do I think of Joe Burrow in the next round? Are you crazy? I would be all over Peyton Manning with your next pick. I know he’s retired, but I just read on this new hot Fantasy blog that Manning is signing with Seattle for his big comeback. Then in the next round, be sure to grab Geno Smith. He will be Manning’s backup.”
HOOKED ON STEPHONICS
You did 1,000 mock drafts through the summer season. Every time, Stephon Diggs was out there within the second spherical. But on draft day, one other proprietor snags him simply earlier than you choose. Don’t panic. Don’t throw your cheat sheets throughout the room. Move on to your subsequent alternative. Plus, it’s best to have identified higher — the proprietor who took Diggs calls his staff Stephon the Gas.
RULES ARE NOT MEANT TO BE BROKEN
No changes to any league guidelines ought to be allowed after the draft begins. You can’t make stuff up as you go alongside. If points come up, desk them for subsequent yr.
Next week: 2022 Bold Predictions
* * *
This season I’m teaming up with FantasyGuru.com, the best supply for Seasonal, DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports) and Sports Gaming recommendation. Look for Fantasy Billboard each week within the Daily News and a separate column at FantasyGuru.com. Check it out!
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com