When is your league's draft? (Poll)

[derekhiny]

I don't believe in this "wait until 2 weeks before the regular season starts so the training camp battles work themselves out" or waiting until the last minute to draft to avoid the injury bug. If you want to be as realistic as possible, you have to take your lumps like the real NFL teams do......

I agree with this. Drafting during the NFL preseason is for people who don't want to do any work and need to be spoon fed the rankings right off a rankings sheet to make every decision for them. This is dynasty, not redraft. Owners who actually put the time in should be rewarded for doing so. If you swing and miss, so be it. But it shouldn't be as easy as drafting in August after depth charts are set, thousands of articles have been written, and everything has been made crystal clear for everybody. Negates the work done by people who actually do research, and puts the people who didn't do anything back onto an undeservingly even playing field. As far as being worried about drafting somebody who then gets injured later on in the summer, again, just the nature of the game and no different than what happens to NFL teams. People shouldn't be so dependent on immediate production from their rookies, anyways.

[kadun2]

2nd week of pre-season

Why the sad face? That's the perfect time imo. That's when i'm having my leagues rookie draft. I have leagues that are starting in the next week or two. I think that's crazy drafting a guy before you even see them hit the field in the pros. I suppose they like it that way so they can get bargain picks that blow up later.

At this point in the year I believe I am more prepared then most of my leaguemates in most leagues I am in. The longer we wait the more clarity/information there is. I've done my homework, I'm ready now. Besides, right after the NFL draft is an exciting time to do the fantasy draft, in my opinion.

[BuckeyeNation]

My leagues' drafts are anywhere from the day after the NFL draft until the first week of June. Most are held 1-2 weeks after the NFL draft. May goes by very quickly for me...

[bruiser]

My leagues' drafts are anywhere from the day after the NFL draft until the first week of June. Most are held 1-2 weeks after the NFL draft. May goes by very quickly for me...

All of this

[TommyL31]

I don't believe in this "wait until 2 weeks before the regular season starts so the training camp battles work themselves out" or waiting until the last minute to draft to avoid the injury bug. If you want to be as realistic as possible, you have to take your lumps like the real NFL teams do......

I agree with this. Drafting during the NFL preseason is for people who don't want to do any work and need to be spoon fed the rankings right off a rankings sheet to make every decision for them. This is dynasty, not redraft. Owners who actually put the time in should be rewarded for doing so. If you swing and miss, so be it. But it shouldn't be as easy as drafting in August after depth charts are set, thousands of articles have been written, and everything has been made crystal clear for everybody. Negates the work done by people who actually do research, and puts the people who didn't do anything back onto an undeservingly even playing field. As far as being worried about drafting somebody who then gets injured later on in the summer, again, just the nature of the game and no different than what happens to NFL teams. People shouldn't be so dependent on immediate production from their rookies, anyways.

Pretty much this. My keeper leagues all draft in August and that makes sense but drafting after mid June defeats the point of dynasty in my opinion.

[Telperion]

We draft before training camps start, so late June.

[Zebrahead07]

Both my leagues draft on May 15th, 2 weeks after the draft.

[Oddball456]

I don't believe in this "wait until 2 weeks before the regular season starts so the training camp battles work themselves out" or waiting until the last minute to draft to avoid the injury bug. If you want to be as realistic as possible, you have to take your lumps like the real NFL teams do......

I agree with this. Drafting during the NFL preseason is for people who don't want to do any work and need to be spoon fed the rankings right off a rankings sheet to make every decision for them. This is dynasty, not redraft. Owners who actually put the time in should be rewarded for doing so. If you swing and miss, so be it. But it shouldn't be as easy as drafting in August after depth charts are set, thousands of articles have been written, and everything has been made crystal clear for everybody. Negates the work done by people who actually do research, and puts the people who didn't do anything back onto an undeservingly even playing field. As far as being worried about drafting somebody who then gets injured later on in the summer, again, just the nature of the game and no different than what happens to NFL teams. People shouldn't be so dependent on immediate production from their rookies, anyways.

Pretty much this. My keeper leagues all draft in August and that makes sense but drafting after mid June defeats the point of dynasty in my opinion.

"defeats the point of dynasty" seems a bit overly dramatic for pushing a draft back a few months....

I understand what you guys are saying – I am up to date on most of the rookie information and am on this site daily so I am set to go. Several guys in my league are heavily into fantasy baseball, there are vacations to go on, warm weather to enjoy. I do like that my league doesn’t draft until after a couple of preseason games are played. I am completely back into football mode, watching it every weekend, getting excited to see the guys I want to draft out there performing even if it against 3rd/4th stringers.

Curious – for the leagues which have a rookie/FA draft quickly after the NFL draft, are waivers open directly after the rookie/FA draft? I will say that is another thing I am happy with is that all summer long I don’t need to worry about waivers. I am extremely busy during the summer and besides the work week I am not glued to my phone or computer. I guess I have enough stuff going on that being able to take the summer “off” from football appeals to me. If that makes me someone who "don't want to do any work and need to be spoon fed the rankings right off a rankings sheet to make every decision" then hell, I will open my mouth take all the tasty morsels being spoon fed to me.

[Oddball456]

I also wonder how much the ADP shifts between drafts that happen the weeks directly after the NFL draft and the drafts that happen once preseason games start.

[Coogan Football]

Doing ours a week after the NFL draft this year, although I'm very intrigued by the idea of doing it before the actual NFL draft

[Harry Hood]

I like drafting during the preseason. I love how much the extra information effects the draft. It's a different beast. Mistakes are made. Players fall. Anyone complaining about not being rewarded for their research should not be. Your research is awarded 10 fold.

[M-Dub]

Our draft is three weeks after the NFL draft. I think that gives everyone plenty of time to revise and finalize their draft boards based on landing spots, while still allowing for a robust FCFS free agency period during OTAs, training camp and the preseason so teams can still snag a potential "diamond in the rough" that might've been overlooked in the draft.

For redraft leagues, the later the draft is, the better. But in dynasty, I like having the draft fairly soon after the NFL draft. As others have said, it feels a little too easy to hold a dynasty rookie draft 2-3 weeks into the preseason. Plus, it'd just be boring waiting around all offseason for an August draft. My league has expanded rosters throughout the offseason, so part of the fun is adding and dropping fliers on the end of your bench during the preseason.

On the other hand, I don't think I'd like drafting prior to the NFL draft. Assuming the point of dynasty is to more closely replicate real football, then the point of the rookie draft should ostensibly be to provide the shittiest teams with a greater opportunity to select the best incoming talent. Landing spots can significantly affect a rookie's short- and long-term value. Holding a dynasty draft before the NFL draft adds more of a gambling/luck factor to the game, IMO. If I want to gamble, I'll go to the casino and play blackjack or roulette. I prefer dynasty to be more of a skill-based game, like poker.

[Coogan Football]

I like drafting during the preseason. I love how much the extra information effects the draft. It's a different beast. Mistakes are made. Players fall. Anyone complaining about not being rewarded for their research should not be. Your research is awarded 10 fold.

Care to explain this part?

[Friction]

I think you gotta do Devy if you don't want people handed their rookie rankings. I know I was way higher on guys like Mixon and Sterling last year (OU fan) and then saw them both vault up about half way to three quarters of their last collegiate seasons, when I had already had them both as high-end firsts. That is really the only way to "reward" your research and dedication to college players. Too much quick access nowadays. Lots of fantasy players have no idea who half these players even are until the NFL draft. I always wondered what rookie rankings would look like if there were no rankings, forums, cheat sheets, etc. It is what it is, so you gotta find diamonds in the rough, take risks beyond the group think (good thing to do anyways), and find other unique strategies to give yourself a leg up. That's where trading and really hitting on those 2nd rd and up guys pays off.

[Dr.Graffin]

We hold our rookie draft starting 2 days after the end of the actual draft. I like it this way.

In my other devy league we hold the devy draft in August, and regular rookie draft within a week of the actual NFL draft.