Decisiveness

  Posted 8/5 by Mark Wimer, Exclusive to Footballguys.com

The live draft - the day of reckoning, when your powers as a NFL prognosticator are put to the test. The day when all your hard work and preparation pays off (hopefully). While you are in the trenches on draft day, your opponents will do their best to undermine your efforts. They will try and rattle your cage, probing for weakness while using any number of tactics to distract you from assembling your team. They may poke fun at one of your picks ("What a reach!"). They may make phony trade offers, seeking to use up your allotted time for determining selections. It's all part of the psychological warfare that makes a live draft so much fun - and so challenging. In order to counter the various assaults that enemy owners level in your direction, it is important to show decisiveness.

First off, show confidence in your draft sheets and/or your Draft Dominator software. Part of building up this confidence is accomplished by studying your materials. If you are using the Draft Dominator - strongly recommended - you should practice using the software via the Mock Draft function - before draft day. Knowing what you are doing will allow you to stay cool when you are debating between 2 or 3 different players, methodically checking their "X" values and bye-weeks. One trick to staying cool is to establish a standard order in which you look over each player ("X" value, injury risk information (if any), and then bye week, for example). When it comes time to make a selection, do so firmly in a clear voice. If you sound hesitant, you can be sure that the other owners will go into attack mode.

Secondly, be prepared for trade offers by setting a time limit for consideration - and stick to it. Don't let the other owners dicker and dither with you forever. If you establish a reputation for only considering serious trade offers from the very beginning, you'll avoid a lot of wasted time during the draft. In the same vein, when you make an offer to another owner, be ready to pull the trigger if they agree - this will encourage the other owners to take your offers seriously, at face value.

Finally, be ready to meet any trash talk with cheerful repartee. Getting flustered or angry will play right into the hands of the other franchise owners. Laugh and go along with the flow, maintaining an air of confidence in your team and your methods. Soon enough, the by-play will turn someone else's way, leaving you to concentrate on the task at hand.

Draft day is one of the highlights of the NFL season - and it is the foundation for your team's success in the upcoming year. Cultivating an air of confidence and decisiveness will help you get off to a solid start. It will also make the experience of participating in a live draft much more rewarding. Happy Drafting!