Fantasy Football 2017: Auto-Draft vs Manual Draft

The ongoing debate regarding auto drafting versus manual drafting in fantasy football leagues continues.

To auto-draft or not to auto-draft? That is the question for fantasy football owners. The debate for the better method between an auto-draft and a manual draft all comes down to one thing: control. How much control and what type of control do you want as a team owner?

In manual drafts, fantasy owners select players round-by-round in draft order until they’ve filled every slot on their team’s roster. And while we do know the number of players that each team owner will draft, we don’t know which players will be drafted by which owner and in what order. So, often, if you’re on the clock and the player you want isn’t available, you’ll have to select another and you’ll have to do so within a couple of minutes before the system picks a random player for you. You must act fast.

Manual drafting is tedious, but involves an owner much more than auto drafting does, thereby providing you with a more realistic experience of what it is like being a team general manager in the hotseat. You’re able to go in with a strategy but may have to switch up the game plan if the players you want are off the board. It certainly can be a little hectic but it is very exciting.

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However, as we know, life is hectic and for this very reason, it is difficult to coordinate a draft time that works for all league members to join a live draft. Which is why auto-draft comes through with the clutch team formations, making several general managers happy when they are unable to draft live. In auto drafts, the system selects players for your teams so you’re not involved in building the team while on the clock (which may or may not be a significant factor to you). If you want to make all of the decisions for your team, auto-draft isn’t the best option.

There is a combination of the auto and manual draft methods that appeals to many as it’s the middle ground. The method is compiling a list of players you’d like to draft and then selecting an auto-draft so they system will draft these players (if available) for your team.

The “thing” that got me into fantasy football was the critical thinking, statistics, and data analysis involved in the game from the beginning to the end of the season. Formulating strategies to solve for X (a championship) using multiple variables is fun. Being able to choose the variables is certainly more enjoyable to me as it gives team managers more control in forming their team as well as providing andrenaline from being put on the spot for last-second decisions.

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With a new fantasy football season approaching rapidly, it won’t be long before you’re on the clock. Which draft method do you prefer? Do you think auto-draft takes away from the fantasy football experience as it minimizes the strategic and analytical thinking of the game from the start? Do you think it’s a “lazy” approach?

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