On the Clock: Tips for Your Next Fantasy Football Draft

During the dog days of summer, while the temperature is consistently flirting with triple digits, the football season feels a long way away. But changing leaves and pumpkin spice is closer than you think. 

Football is just around the corner. And that means it’s time to prepare for your fantasy football live draft.

For all your NJ sports betting needs, the place to go is Ocean Casino Resort. Our Gallery Bar, Book & Games features a 100-foot elevated bar and lounge where you can monitor all the action at our VIP sportsbook. Or take advantage of the surrounding slot machines, blackjack tables, and roulette tables while you wait for your draft to begin.  

Feeling more interactive? Head over to the largest Topgolf Swing Suite in America and unleash playful competition with family and friends. 

When it comes to Atlantic City sports betting, fantasy draft day is like a holiday. The day of your live draft should be full of the food, drinks, music, and friendly banter with your buddies that makes for a great casino sports betting experience. But you also want to win. We’re here to help with some tips for picking a team that dominates your league.

#1 Know the Type of Draft

First things first, whenever you bet on sports in Atlantic City, you want as much information as possible. In a fantasy draft, the first bit of information you need to know (before player stats, positional value, or anything else) is the type of draft your league will be using. 

There are two main types of fantasy drafts you’re likely to see:

• Snake – Snake drafts are the more basic and traditional variety. They tend to be easier to understand for new fantasy players. In a snake draft, a randomized order is set before the draft. Round one proceeds in this order. In round two, the order “snakes” around with the person who picked last in round one now picking first with things progressing backward from there.

  As an example: let’s say you have an 8-person league. The rounds would look like this:
   

  • Round One: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
  • Round Two: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
  • Round Three: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
  • Round Four: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

And so on. So while having the first pick ensures you get your top choice, your next pick won’t happen until everyone else in your league has drafted twice.

• Auction – In auction drafts, every person in your fantasy league will be given an amount of hypothetical money. Now, when the first pick comes up, whoever has that pick will “nominate” a player and everyone can bid on that player using their hypothetical money. The player will go to the manager with the highest bid.

  In this type of draft, you aren’t limited by when your next pick is. Instead, you have to make smart financial decisions or you’ll soon find your bank of money depleted. 

As for strategic differences between the two types of drafts, snake drafts encourage you to rank players based on how many points they’re likely to score and the depth of the position, then draft the best players available. 

Auction drafts require a bit more work upfront as you need to know how much you value each player as part of your overall bank. If the auction drives a player’s price above your valuation, you may have to pass on the player or risk overpaying.

#2 Know Your Scoring System

Knowing the type of draft your league uses will majorly affect your strategy. Knowing the scoring system your team uses won’t have quite as marked an effect, but it’s still important. 

There are two main types of scoring systems:

• Standard – A basic scoring system that awards points to QBs for passing yards and passing touchdowns while subtracting for interceptions. Points are also awarded to rushing yards and touchdowns and receiving yards and touchdowns. Points are subtracted for fumbles.
   
• PPR – PPR is similar to standard scoring except you also gain points for every reception a player gets. This allows pass catchers to earn more points for your team than in a standard system.

Both systems will also award points to kickers and defenses, but they won’t be affected by the differences in the system. The main strategic advantage to consider here is that in a PPR league, a pass-catching running back becomes more valuable than they would be in a standard league. 

Those extra points per reception can add up, so it’s worth looking for RBs that also get involved in the passing game.

#3 Understand the Value of Positions

It’s draft day. You and your buddies are hanging out at the casino, having a good time. It comes time to start the draft and one of your friends is on the clock. They decide to use their first-round pick on the Buffalo Bills' defense.

It’s now your duty to make fun of this friend for the rest of the day.

You see, the mistake your friend made in this hypothetical is that they didn’t understand the value of different positions in fantasy football. It’s not that the Bills won’t have a good defense this year. It’s that a good defense is unlikely to win you many points in fantasy. 

To make sure you’re a formidable foe, here are some tips about fantasy value:

• QBs tend to score the most points of any position. However, this doesn’t mean you need to draft a QB too early. The difference between the best and worst QBs isn’t as much as you might think. QBs score plenty of fantasy points, but you can find a good one even in later rounds.
   
• RBs tend to go early and with good reason. A productive RB will generally score more touchdowns than a productive WR. And in PPR leagues, you get points for every reception out of the backfield (even short ones). Most importantly, there aren’t that many productive RBs.

  NFL teams don’t value running backs like they once did. That means a lot of different backs are likely to get touches unless the team has someone truly special (Derrick Henry and Alvin Kamara come to mind). Top running backs score a lot of points and are scarce, making them very valuable.
   

• TEs are a top-heavy position. Although not as valuable as top RBs, there are a few TEs that consistently put up big numbers. Unfortunately, after those few, things become bleak fast. If you miss out on the top guys, there’s no need to rush to find a TE as you’re unlikely to get great value.
   
• If you don’t have a top-tier RB, trying to load up on WRs to make up the difference can sometimes be a smart play. WRs don’t produce as much as RBs in fantasy, but it’s a deeper position so you have more opportunity to load up if needed.

Don’t draft from behind the computer. Make your draft day into an event worth remembering. Take your team to Atlantic City and host your draft at Ocean Casino Resort.