Engel's Angles: Maximizing Your Fantasy Joy With Slow Drafts

What are the greatest moments of anticipation for you? Is it walking into a stadium and feeling the buildup until that moment when you actually see the field? Is it taking your seat just before your favorite band takes the stage? Is it waiting for that package to arrive? Waiting for the newest season of a great show? Counting the days to the release date of a new video game?

Looking forward to something positive illuminates the day. That electric and lingering tingling of emotion can find its way into any avenue of our lives, from romance to real estate to graduation. In fantasy football and other fantasy sports, we enjoy that feeling so many times throughout the schedule. It starts as we get closer to draft day, and continues weekly through the regular season and playoffs. We even revel in the anticipation of waiver wire results and trade proposals.

So why not try to maximize that enjoyable sense of expectancy even more? Let’s get another natural, healthy high through fantasy football. If I told you that you could immerse yourself in that sort of feeling 16 times a week wouldn’t you want to sign up for it?

Stretch Out the Excitement

Sure you would. That is why you need to start participating in more “slow” Fantasy Football drafts. Sure, hardcore fantasy players are well aware of these. I know high stakes types who even do a few at a time. But I find that many mainstream fantasy players are not familiar enough with the concept. If you have not participated in a slow draft, you are missing out on a constant flow of excitement and buildup. If you are a slow drafter, add some more to your schedule, as we indicate later in this feature.

Fantasy drafts are customarily set for one solid date and time and participants will get between 30 seconds to one and a half minutes per pick. It will take a few hours and you are then done. You may look forward to your draft all year and then it’s over too quickly. In many cases, the anticipation turns to anxiety, as once the draft is finished, you may have nothing much to do for a while until the season actually starts.

Slow drafts, however, space out the windows of great expectation and make the draft longer and more enjoyable over a period of time. If you can exercise patience, you will extend the thrill of the drafting process over several days, sometimes taking a week or more. A slow draft can be termed as any draft process that allows for a four-hour time clock or longer. Personally, I believe the eight-hour clock is an ideal setting.

It’s essential to settle on the right amount of time per pick to strike the correct balance between buildup and impatience. You want to give everyone something to look forward to, but you do not want to frustrate them either. Four-hour windows may make the draft go too quickly, and anything longer than eight hours will cause the draft process to drag and spark unrest. Once you have decided on the right structure per pick, you will find that the slow draft process can brighten up your entire week. You may end up with a roster you like even better than one you might construct under the pressure of time constraints.

Personally, slow drafts make my days and weeks more fun. Once I find out where I am picking, the greatest flows of anticipation rain through my fantasy senses. Who will be picked ahead of me? Will someone I do not expect fall to me? That feeling only lasts for minutes in a one day draft. Now it can last for hours. If I am at fifth, and Ezekiel Elliott drops to me after a few hours, that makes the feeling of reward even greater. Because my next pick may not be for several more hours, I can now bask in the glow of it instead of rushing to queue up my picks for the next round.

Now that my first pick is confirmed, I have many more hours to prepare for my next pick with much eagerness. Of course, I will always be ready to make a highly informed pick in a one day draft. In the slow draft, though, you can take your time to carefully consider your next selection. This can be a nice luxury for those who are usually very busy and never seem to get enough time to study up as much as they want to. You can do extra research between picks.

Even those of us who play Fantasy Football at the highest levels will second-guess ourselves at times when our picks approach. With extra time to consider all of the factors that will go into making our next selection, we can be much more comfortable with who we will choose when our turn comes around again.

Slow Drafts Create Buzz and Lead to Satisfaction

Slow drafts also improve camaraderie and increase the chatter between league mates throughout the draft. I recently witnessed a draft in a corporate office in which the participants made their selections over multiple weeks. Every pick generated an electric stir. People chatted electronically and in-person frequently before and after every selection, The slow draft turned every pick into an event.

I am currently participating in two slow drafts, and it adds a pair of fun layers to every day. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I want to do is check the draft board to see who has been picked and who may potentially drop to me in the next round. Throughout the day, I find myself checking back and looking forward with great enthusiasm to those moments when email alerts inform me that I am on the clock.

Every day brings two to three new rounds, and now I am drafting daily for a week or more instead of being done in just a few hours with emptiness now between me and the regular season. There is also a strong sense of satisfaction as you assemble your roster and watch it grow into how you carefully envisioned it. Once you are done, you will take a deep breath and soak yourself in a wonderful sense of pride. You built this team patiently carefully and with great precision. You were never or rarely were “sniped” because you devoted the perfect amount of time and attention to detail while ultimately building the best possible roster.

My always-growing love for slow drafts is in no way a harsh criticism of one-day drafts. I also enjoy the rapid, high-pressure pace of them and constructing my roster under such conditions. When I want to experience a thrill in a shorter window and amp up the intensity, standard drafts remain a terrific experience. The slow draft, however, spreads the fun over more time.

Of course, there can be pitfalls in slow drafting. There is an unspoken etiquette of trying to not use the entire clock and bog down the pace more than one should. Also, if news breaks during a slow draft, and someone is on the clock when it happens, the participant with a current pick could luck into an available player that is suddenly projected to take on a larger role and land him immediately.

Still, there is too much to like about slow drafting, and there is no reason to wait to jump into one. I am also aware that many mainstream players have not become exposed to Best Ball drafts yet. On many platforms, including the FFPC, you can join a slow draft Best Ball league right now. Best Ball leagues also serve as a strong preparation tool for your actual upcoming league drafts. If you are an experienced Best Baller, the more slow drafts you are in, the more fun you are having.

If I can, I find a way to enjoy fantasy sports every day of the week. Participating in slow drafts ensures I’ll have that sort of fun on a daily basis. There is nothing like spending a few hours, anticipating I may get to land DK Metcalf in the fifth round. Once I confirm he’s on my team, I’ll celebrate for hours. Maybe tomorrow morning, I will be celebrating again.

More Fantasy Football Analysis