How should I set up a single list for the best results in an automated Fantasy Football draft?
Les asked:
I am playing in a Fantasy Football league on FOX Sports. Last year I tried my own mathmatical strategy for an automated draft but it bombed. It is a single list of players and I would like to get 2 good running backs and a QB in the first three rounds – 6 teams playing. Any suggestions for how many at each position I should choose and in what order to accomplish this would be helpfull. Thanks!!
I am playing in a Fantasy Football league on FOX Sports. Last year I tried my own mathmatical strategy for an automated draft but it bombed. It is a single list of players and I would like to get 2 good running backs and a QB in the first three rounds – 6 teams playing. Any suggestions for how many at each position I should choose and in what order to accomplish this would be helpfull. Thanks!!
August 7th, 2008 in
Fantasy Sports | tags: Fantasy Football Draft, Fantasy League, Qb, Running Backs
i dont no but id like 2 set u up in my fanstys im i right some 1 email me
I’ve cut and pasted a long answer to another person’s similar question. The six team league will change the formula a bit, and I don’t know how FOX’s algorithm works. But, I thought the basic info might help you.
-Regards:
I’ve often thot about doin’ an article for Y! sports about how to autopick successfully. I managed to get a gold, silver and bronze medal out of 4 fantasy basketball teams last year via autopick (3 for 4, woohoo!). Football’s a little tougher, but you can do it.
There are two main schools of thought – reaching and reverse drafting:
One, reaching: if you’re willing to skip, say, your fifth round pick, you can reach for the rest of your draft.
Rounds 1 to 4, are fairly predictable. Pre-rank or leave Y! standard at least for RB’s and WR’s (drop or exclude the QB’s, or you could end up w/ both Bulger and Brees – too much value on the bench).
So, assume picks 1 – 40 are off the board by the time your 5th pick comes around. You should then look to the player ranked 51 or higher in the draft (preferably by ADP – average draft position, but the Y! pre-rankings will do), and put that ordinarily 6th round player in, expecting him to be your 5th round pick. Repeat w/player 61+ for the 6th, then 71+ for the 7th, etc. (multiples of 12, of course, if you’re in a 12 team draft).
In Y! leagues, where the algorithm will autodraft a starting lineup before it moves on to the bench, the computer will reach for the TE’s, Def, and Kickers for you. So, make sure none of them are ranked above 100 (120 in 12 team). It will take your highest ranked TE, DF, and K (you may want to put Bal or Chi above the TE’s).
Thus, rounds 7, 8 9 will be a TE, DF, and a K. Still worse, I think the algorithm will force you to take a backup of at least two of those positions, killing rounds 15 16. After the draft, you can trade ‘em or exchange ‘em from best available on the waiver wire. But, again, that’s why it’d be important in this strategy to keep your kickers all the way to the bottom.
Your second choice is to pre-rank a reverse draft. One guy did it in my Y! autodraft league very successfully.
Reverse draft means to keep the first two rounds, but do ‘em only with RB’s. Then, insert Gates at pick #21; Bears 22; and Vinatieri 23. At that point, you should have two good RB’s, including at least one stud, and THE premier TE, D, and K. It’s now round 6. A lot of live drafters will have waited til now for VYoung or Kitna. So, you can put in two mid-tier QBs selections if you want, and you can play matchup managment QB by committee through out the year. (Default will let you pick 4 QB’s and you don’t want that. so, be sure not to put in more than 3 names….) then, just rank WR after WR.
The theory behind the strategy is to have the best scorer PER POSITION at the most positions. You can use the strategy in a live draft, but it’s suitable for an autopick.
If it works, you’ll have the three best at TE, D K, will be very competitive at the two RB spots as well as the WR3 (after the top 20 or so wideouts are gone, WR’s 21-40 are all about the same…); and you should be okay at the QB and WR2. The drawback – you’ll be lacking at WR1 from the first week flyover, and nobody can really predict the best D or K. But, reverse drafting can field a good team.
Either method can be made more effective if you know your draft position ahead of time. But, we rarely do.
I’d be interested to know how it turns out.
Stay up late pre-ranking!
- Regards