22 replies to this topic

[Mike FF Today]

Evaluate Your Drafting Tendencies

Mike Davis' Q&A column for August raises an interesting subject. In the effort to become better drafters, we'd like to hear from you guys - What are your specific strengths and weaknesses as a drafter? Email Mr. Davis and he'll be using your responses in his Week 1 Q&A column.

Thanks!

[nobody]

My biggest problem is that I'm usually buzzed by the fourth round. My strength is that I don't mind grabbing a guy early if he won't be there on my next pick. I also plan out my picks well. I don't look at the individual pick but I look at who I can get later as well so that all the pieces work together.

[tommy8370]

Weaknesses (there are more of them):
1. I tend to fall in love/out of love with too many players. I have too many players who I will never draft, and more that I should have less manlove for.
2. In the later rounds, I tend to only draft young unproven players with "potential". I need to do a better job of not giving up on the vets.
3. I pay way too much attention to what ADP a player is taken at. I usually let my gut feeling subside, even though I did tons of research and feel somewhat confident in a player. Last year, that one guy for me (and countless others) was Arian Foster. Also see #4 for why ADP is just a guideline.
4. Until recently, I never really went back over the years and looked at how our scoring system affects player projections. We use 6 points for QB TD's, -1 for sacks, we have points for KR, we also use a flex and IDP. It ABSOLUTELY makes a difference.

[GridIronAssassin#1]

Strengths:
I'm usually early and never late.
I'm very polite and try to strike up friendly discussion.

Weaknesses:
I don't cheat.
I help others who are my opponents if they need advice.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy!]

I tend to get caught up in "one guy" rather than grouping players in tiers and taking them when value dictates. I end up often reaching a round (later in the draft) for guys I really like.

[yostevo]

My strength comes from the 16 oz. curls I do for the duration.

My weakness is that happy hour ends half way through the draft.

[RaiderHater's Revenge]

is this like an interview?

My only weakness is that sometimes I work to hard and spend too many extra hours in the office.

pretty much the same for Fantasy Football. My weakness is also my strength. Sometimes I over analyze

[Kopy]

Strengths:
I'm usually early and never late.
I'm very polite and try to strike up friendly discussion.

Weaknesses:
I don't cheat.
I help others who are my opponents if they need advice.

Are you trying to get a date from 1 of the 11 other guys?

[Kopy]

I tend to get caught up in "one guy" rather than grouping players in tiers and taking them when value dictates. I end up often reaching a round (later in the draft) for guys I really like.

Same here. I often tunnel vision players. Grabbing them a round or 2 higher than there ADP would dictate.

[Fantasy Noob]

Strengths
1. Drafting for value
2. Evaluating scoring systems and adjusting draft strategy to account for it
3. Trusting my rankings and following them
4. Fairly self-disciplined and don't get too upset when a player I was targeting gets taken right before my pick. When I first started I was prone to messing up my next pick as I was so zoned in on that 'guy' and did not have a secondary player targeted. In large part this is just to using the player que in online drafts, my first couple years I ignored this and it hurt me badly.
5. Kind of a continuation of #4 but I really test out all the software and draft pages of new websites that I use, minor thing but when your on the 2min clock finding players, queing them up and selecting them can add up and rush your pick causing a mistake.

Weaknesses
1. I am prone to overdoing value picks especially at RB and tend to hurt my QB,TE positions.
2. Get too set on one drafting strategy. Last year especially got too focused on WR/WR strategy. This year waiting on QB/TE.
3. I play multiple leagues and this splits my focus a bit too much.
4. I talk too much during drafts about fantasy football, online and in person. It could tip my drafting strategy and picks.
5. I don't actually watch much football which hurts my waiver wire skills quite a bit, I am dependent on these forums and highlights and that really does not cut it in competitive leagues.
6. I try to 'win' all my trades, which means they are ridiculous for the other person, I am working on this but it is so hard to overcome.

Random Thoughts

When drafting multiple teams, in the past I made the teams very similar. This was fine when I picked the right sleepers but last year especially with my WR/WR strategy it really hurt me in most the leagues I played in, only won 1 of 9. This year I have endeavored to mix up my first 4 rounds on several of my teams. My thought was, that since I cannot predict injuries, with multiple teams with different "star" players I won't have to worry as much about injuries. More of those teams will be in contention and as long as I keep up on team management and waiver wire, it should help me hoist multiple

[madd futher mucker]

I'm not going to comment on my drafting strengths, other than to say that more than one of my competition have told me that I'm the strongest drafter they have ever encountered.

Because I'm very well prepared, I can make quick, unemotional draft decisions so I'm never the one holding up the draft. I don't play any of the head games that some guys here talk about.

In a live in-person draft setting, the hardest thing for me is keeping up with everyone elses picks by position, so that I can better guess who will fall to next round when I'm drafting near the turn.

[nobody]

I'm not going to comment on my drafting strengths, other than to say that more than one of my competition have told me that I'm the strongest drafter they have ever encountered.

I can vouch for that. I've heard many stories about what an amazing drafter madd futher mucker is.

[Fantasy Noob]

I'm not going to comment on my drafting strengths, other than to say that more than one of my competition have told me that I'm the strongest drafter they have ever encountered.

Too much ego, if you can't admit to a weakness and everyone has atleast one then you can't improve as a drafter. This thread has been very insightful and even filling out a reply helped me think about ways to improve my drafts.

You should really consider reviewing your strengths and weaknesses as a drafter. Based on your cheat sheets, I am going to hazard a guess that your extremely analytical, which is good but does come with an inherent weakness. Stats can be made to say anything you want and they are only a model of past behaviour, for engineering and science this can be well accounted for but on a fantasy football playground? Injuries, trades, bad matchups, players performing poorly or differently due to weather, their breakfast, whether they got laid last night and whether or not their wife happened to catch them all add up to a game of imperfect information.

Not trying to pick an internet fight since that is about useless but you are one of the most insightful posters on this website. Hearing your take on this would actually help the rest of us quite a bit.

[madd futher mucker]

Too much ego, if you can't admit to a weakness and everyone has atleast one then you can't improve as a drafter. This thread has been very insightful and even filling out a reply helped me think about ways to improve my drafts.

You should really consider reviewing your strengths and weaknesses as a drafter. Based on your cheat sheets, I am going to hazard a guess that your extremely analytical, which is good but does come with an inherent weakness. Stats can be made to say anything you want and they are only a model of past behaviour, for engineering and science this can be well accounted for but on a fantasy football playground? Injuries, trades, bad matchups, players performing poorly or differently due to weather, their breakfast, whether they got laid last night and whether or not their wife happened to catch them all add up to a game of imperfect information.

Not trying to pick an internet fight since that is about useless but you are one of the most insightful posters on this website. Hearing your take on this would actually help the rest of us quite a bit.

LOL = I probably should not have responded to this post, because I was afraid that was how it would come off. But I was actually trying pretty hard to be modest.

I've pretty thoroughly documented my 'take on drafting' on this board. I do exactly what I preach, because it works.

See my personal PPR projections and Draft Cheat Sheets
http://www.fftodayforums.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=386533

and Target Drafting by Round
http://www.fftodayforums.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=386403&st=0&p=4535369&hl=drafting&fromsearch=1&#entry4535369

And One Dozen Tried and Proven Ideas for a Great Draft pretty much sums up my approach to drafting.
http://www.fftodayforums.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=385620&st=0&p=4525276&hl=draft&fromsearch=1&#entry4525276

My ego aside, I'm really a pretty humble guy . I merely repeated what I overheard one of our seasoned veteran league members comment to a newcomer to our league during a break in Saturday night's live in-person draft. I thought there might be a kernel of truth in it because I've heard similar comments before.

I think I already identified my biggest drafting weakness in live in-person drafts: keeping track of the other owner's draft picks by position. It can be hard to keep track of everything. I can be deadly in slow internet drafts though.

Regarding the stats part of your post, I use stats to quantify what my thought process is about each team/player. With so many players to consider, that is the only sane way for me to be able to compare them at draft time. But I do not rely on last year's stats as a basis for this year's expected performance. Like many others, I tend to factor in injury and other concerns into my projections on an ongoing basis. When Leshoure went down, Best got elevated. Beanie moved way up when Ryan Williams went down. I seek situations where there is significant clarity. I WISH i could say Andre Roberts is the WR2, but Doucet has a good chance of unseating him. Have to then downgrade both. Similarly the Benn/Briscoe situation in TB devalues both players. That said, you do the best you can knowing that nothing is certain in fantasy football and you only have to be just a little more 'right' than your competition.

[Big Blue 06]

My strengths:
I'm always well prepared and I am not afraid to jump the gun on a player if I think they won't be there at my next pick.

Weaknesses:
I don't always ride the waves well (run on this position or that position) and I lose patience waiting for the less prepared drafters.

[nobody]

I'll often murder owners after the draft that snipe players that I'm targeting. You would think that would be a strength, but it isn't. We're down to a 5 person league and I hear someone else is eying Roethlisberger.

[madd futher mucker]

I'll often murder owners after the draft that snipe players that I'm targeting. You would think that would be a strength, but it isn't. We're down to a 5 person league and I hear someone else is eying Roethlisberger.

Pun intended, but nobody will be able to top this post. in fact it was so good, I added it to my sig.

[stonewall]

Strength: Have always been involved with and a student of football. Played for as long as I could, and now watch tons of it at all levels, year round. Religiously re-watch games during the off-season that I have recorded...especially weeks 14-17 of the previous season, as often next years diamond is being roughly polished and on display for the discerning eye. Able to pretty accurately evaluate offensive talent....both existing and, particularly, forthcoming.

Weakness: Once a player "burns" me, I will never again draft him. He is dead to me. I can't stand to have a player that I can't stand on my roster. Also, I will certainly "reach" for a player I am determined to draft if I think that there is one iota of a chance of missing him. However, my slogan has always been "reach for the championship".

[Law]

Strengths:
Way over prepared - I read everything on the Interwebz!
Draft high value - I'm drafting quality backup guys while others are reaching
I pay attention to byes

Weaknesses:
I tend not to reach and sometimes miss on the next big thing

[jgcrawfish]

Strengths - I go in with a strategy, but am quick to adjust it. I'm flexible with the draft and do all I can to start runs, not be on the tail end of them. I don't fall "in love" with any particular player and I go with "my" list over anything that anybody else puts out. I'm willing to take risk on questionable players (I'll gamble on guys on suspension) but stay away from guys I view as injury risks. I'm usually more informed and up to date in info than the people I play with. I work the waiver wire like a sonofab!tch.

Weaknesses - I"m a bit cocky and overconfident. Some of my leaguemates have caught up with me somewhat and have improved as drafters/managers and I probably was slow to realize the gap had narrowed. For some damned reason, I start every season "en fuego" and go cold during the middle part (I actually honestly attribute it bad luck). I don't get too many trades anymore because I have a reputation for fleecing people in the past. I overvalue RB's, and to a certain extent WR's, but undervalue QB's and TE's. I'm not a good handcuffer. I overvalue ADP and sometimes get surprised when a guy I figured was gonna be there at 5.04 is gone at 4.8.

Aside: Although this stuff is supposed to be fun, I view it pretty seriously. I'm not a bettor, not a gambling kind of person. I don't do Vegas, don't care for casinos and don't play cards. This is my version of a gambling fix. I control it by doing no more than 3 leagues a year, but it's serious stuff. I bag on the guys in my "main" time league that they are paying for my kids college education every season, but they're paying for my fix. It's my 7th year in that league, and I've been in the final four every year except one...with 3 championships and 1 finals loss. I have an extremely competitive personality at times and it tends to come thru in FF.

[ppierce]

Strengths: Drafting mid to late round QB's. i.e Carson Palmer circa 2005, Tony Romo circa 2006 etc... Also have had great luck identifying up and coming wide receivers and running backs who are 1st-3rd rounders the following year.

Weaknesses: Early round RB's ALWAYS bust out on me. Not sure if thats luck or what but it always happens.

All in all i really flourish in the 4th rounds and on.

[Dragan187]

Ive been drafting with the same 11 guys for the past 19 years. With that being said...

Strengths - I know everyone's tendencies. The guy that always jumps on a qb early...does it every year. or the guy that goes RB/RB in the first 2 rounds...does it every year. I think knowing your competition like the back of your hand makes for a better draft.

Weaknesses - Everyone knows my tendencies.

[Hugh Dat]

strengths:
I track everyones draft picks...i do this on a grid that i make (it is similar to a standard snake draft board, but much smaller). It is especially helpful when drafting near the beginning or end of the round so you can wait on that TE if the guys picking before your next pick already have TE's. A standard draft board will help, but my league does not have one.

I constantly scour the internet for player news even at the risk of ruining my marriage. I can't tell you how many times my wife has threatened to leave me.

I keep my drinking to a minimum until the draft is over. There is one guy in our league who can never remember his last few picks.

Weakness:
Following runs
Waiting on TE's until i am stuck with a TE on a Mike Martz offense.
Reading too much into the hype of a pre season star...Remember Wali lundy? (this year its Reggie Bush, he will get hurt at some point)