Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane scored 26.2 fantasy points against the New England Patriots. Photo courtesy of AP Photo.
CALEB BALL | STAFF REPORTER | cdball@butler.edu
Overtime, or “OT,” is an opinion column series where the Collegian takes national sports headlines or polarizing topics and gives them a Butler-centric angle.
Draft night: in sports, those are two words that may carry the most impact behind “Game 7.” For franchises, it can determine the future of the organization, or it could lead to darkness and despair. For fans of the game, it means a whole new opportunity to prove to their friends and family that they know sports better than anyone else. This introduces two other words: fantasy football.
Fantasy football is just that: a fantasy. Leagues of friends take each other on in a battle amongst themselves for the top spot. Points are determined in weekly matchups by a starting lineup that accumulates points for a variety of stats. The tricky part is knowing who to draft and when.
Junior sports media major Aaron Rhoades has been playing since sixth grade and has developed his own strategy.
“[On] draft night I usually go after scorers first, like running backs and receivers,” Rhoades said. “I usually wait a little bit for anything like a quarterback because you’re gonna get most of your points from [skill position players].”
This strategy is common among experienced fantasy football players, but it does not dictate success. Injuries and draft busts happen every season, which can lead to turmoil. Another drawback to this system is that the best quarterbacks and supporting roster spots might be taken in the first few rounds.
For junior creative media and entertainment and strategic communication major Jackson Cornett, his experience differs. He also played fantasy football in middle school, but he took a hiatus until this year. His approach is different come draft night.
“Usually I go for names that I recognize,” Cornett said. “Since I’m kind of dipping my toes into the pool of football, I am aware of at least a few players. If I can get two or three recognizable names, that’s kind of my whole deal.”
This can follow suit with drafting Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce or quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the first round. Their names and image are out there so much in the media, it is easy to get caught up on their names when it comes time to draft. This can turn out to be the opposite of Rhoades’ approach, where he takes running backs and wide receivers first. Cornett’s approach can land him a quarterback in the first or second round.
Again, this approach does not garner success or failure. With that being said, there is another popular draft method people abide by: the auto draft. This is a method that requires no strategy and no hard work, because the app does it for you.
Sophomore creative media and entertainment major Colin Dwyer has experimented with this style of drafting.
“At first, it was just [feeling] the vibe of the entire group and just following along with it,” Dwyer said. “If I can, I just auto-draft because usually that works for me.”
The draft is a foundation of the team for the majority of the year, but it is not permanent. Waiver wire pickups and trades are integral to driving a successful team into the playoffs. The waiver wire consists of a pool of players that nobody has on their team, like free agents. Noticing trends and watching the games gives an edge to victory, but every week can be different based on matchups and chance.
Not everybody will make the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean to phone it in at the end of the year. Fantasy is fun for the winners, but the losers? Not so much. Winners can get some money, and for Cornett and his family, the pot is $100. Losers not only have to pay the winner, but in some cases, it means punishments.
“One of my buddies had to sit in a Denny’s for 24 hours and eat pancakes,” Rhoades said. “Every pancake he ate, it was an hour off.”
The three key takeaways from this are as follows: the league is not won on draft night, but it can be lost; play until the last whistle to avoid punishments and most importantly, do not draft Kyle Pitts.
