Gamesmanship and Your Draft
Posted 8/7 by Mark Wimer, Exclusive to Footballguys.com
One of the most fun (if not the most fun) times of the year is the month of August - because that's when fantasy football drafts are in full swing. For fantasy football fanatics everywhere, this is the time to dream of league dominance and a big trophy for the mantle. Everyone's got the same record, and prior to the draft, everyone has the full width and breadth of the NFL to consider as possible members for their squad. It is the very scope of possibilities that gives savvy and well-informed fantasy owners their chance to bedazzle and bamboozle the less experienced or less well informed owners in their league in the days prior to/on draft day. Let's take a look at some strategies you can employ to mislead, misinform and otherwise disadvantage your opponents prior to/during a live draft.
Pre-Draft Tactics
False Hyping: In order to disguise your real intentions on draft day, it is wise to talk up players that you have no intention of drafting. For example, there are lots of different opinions about Cedric Benson's prospects for the coming year - some fantasy owners really like his prospects, while others are more guarded, given his short track record in the league and concerns about his attitude in years past. If you are one of the latter people, this is the time of year to sing Benson's praises. Point out the reports out of training camp that Benson's pass-catching abilities are improving. Talk down Rex Grossman and highlight that the Bears are a run-first team. Don't overdo the hyping, but (especially with younger/less experienced owners), seek to guide conversations about RB prospects towards Benson. If you're lucky, someone will reach for Benson before they should - at worst, you'll have diverted attention from the guys you really want on your team.
Gloom and Doom: The opposite of false hyping is also a useful strategy - slagging the players you want on your squad might help them slide to you later in the draft than you think they should. Donald Driver's recent, highly publicized shoulder problem early in training camp is a perfect opportunity for glooming - especially if you think that the injury is no big deal.
Trade Offers: If your league allows trading of draft picks (either before draft day or during the draft), you should try and craft deals that play to your draft strategy. For example, if you feel that there is a great deal of depth among the WR pool this year, seek to move down and acquire more picks in the mid rounds. If you are convinced that there is a big drop-off between the prospects of the elite tier of RBs vs. the second tier of RBs, then you should seek to move up in the premier rounds of the draft to acquire 2 entrenched starters. Whatever your projections/rankings indicate would create an advantage for your team will help you target trade offers appropriately.
Pricey Trade Offers: In a similar vein, sometimes there are fantasy owners who feel they absolutely must have Steven Jackson (for example) on their team. If you know that someone in your league is anxious to acquire a particular player, and you are in a position to draft that guy, use this to your advantage. Hold the other owner up for a kings' ransom in picks (or in dynasty leagues, a combination of players and picks). If you ask, the other owner might say yes - you never know unless you try.
Draft Day Tactics
Mock Bad Picks: In every draft, there are times when even the most experienced fantasy owner makes a bad pick. This is the perfect opportunity to rattle your opponent. Allow me to illustrate with a real-world example. The commissioner of a redraft league I play in was flustered because the time clock was running out and his targeted players had been selected in the few picks before his selection. In panic mode (he had earlier drafted the starting Carolina RB at the time, Stephen Davis), he blurted out "Fred Lane", because he wanted to back up his starting RB. However, Fred Lane had A). been traded to the Colts during the offseason and then B). been murdered by his estranged wife. Needless to say, this commissioner was mercilessly hounded for the rest of the draft (and did rather poorly with his mid- to late- round picks).
Pricey Trade Offers, Part 2: When an opposing owner shows signs of being confused/flustered/unsure of him or herself, this is the perfect time to offer a trade to take the troublesome pick off their hands. At best, they say yes and you get an advantageous deal. At worse, you put the owner under more time pressure and tighten the screws, maybe throwing him/her into panic mode.
Mock Good Picks: If there is a good pick made by an owner, but done in a tentative way after visibly waffling between two or three players, tease that person about their pick. Clearly, they were not sure about who to take with the selection - that is the moment to crack a joke like "Oh yeah, Mr. Injury Prone Gore, niiiice pick!". Hopefully you'll further rattle the owner and make them ever more nervous about their draft strategy.
Bring Bad Research Material: Is there a fantasy magazine that you bought back in July that disappointed you? A lame draft list posted on someone's blog somewhere on the internet that you can bookmark (or print out and bring along) to offer as "the latest advice" to those owners who show up to the draft unprepared? Make sure to have some of these "helpful" materials in your computer bag/on your browser's favorites to offer to that guy who walks in with a short, handwritten list of 50 players (or a top-100 list from the Sporting News, or some such) - be "helpful" to them (while you're running the latest updated version of the Footballguys.com Draft Dominator). Another good tactic is to simply scatter the bad research material on a coffee table in the room where the draft occurs - the unprepared owner will find it all by him/herself. Finally, if you're truly adventurous, try this.
The above are just a few examples of the tactics that fantasy owners can use to attack their opponents during a fantasy draft. Apply them selectively when your opposition appears to be vulnerable, and you'll weaken their chances to challenge your squad later during the regular season. Happy Drafting!
