blonde NFL Fantasy League 2019/20

[Sheriff Fatman]

Hi all

Just been doing some backup of last year's D-League before activating the league again.  One thing that has been requested is the draft order for this season, which is as follows (NB: this is the basic ranked order prior to adding the various trades, so there'll be some changes to follow when I add in all the traded picks by round):

Basic Draft Order For Each Round:

1st - The Age of Latavius   10th Place Finisher - Consol Non-Qualifier
2nd - Blacklaw's Braves           9th Place Finisher - Consol Non-Qualifier
3rd - Tifosi BlackHearts           Consol Winner
4th - Vegas Venoms           Consol Runner Up
5th - Absolutely Gash           Consol 3rd Place
6th - Linux/MattyHollis           Consol 4th Place
7th - My Tight End Ertz           4th Place
8th - MANAGER RETIRED   3rd Place
9th - Spider2 Y Banana           Runner Up
10th - ArkansasGravediggers   Winner

This uses the same principle as last year, in that the consol winner gets the higher pick, runner up 2nd, etc.  The one change is that, in moving from ESPN to Yahoo, the consol this year only had 4 teams in it, instead of 6 previously.  Consequently, the two bottom placed finishers, who failed to qualify for the consol, occupy the top two spots.

I'll will post a full draft list order by round, taking into account the trades, in the next few days and expect the league to 'go live' for the season by the end of the week.

Maybe I've misunderstood Curtis, do you mean that is the draft order the site has thrown out and you will change them to reflect the correct draft order that were earned using our system or you have changed the draft order after the season just because the site has made it the above?

Can't have a different draft process result than the ones we played for during the season can we? The point of the Conso was to make teams try every week even when the couldn't make the play offs.if we are going to then implement a different draft order simply coz the site has done that then what was the point of Tifosi, or any of the teams that finished 5-8 in the league standings trying to win games at the end of last season. Basically Dean won 4 matches to get pick number one when he would have been better off not putting a team out for the first of those 4 games to try and finish either 9-10. Then put out a proper team if that failed and he finished 8th to try and win the Conso. We can't change the order we have just played a season to define just cozy the site has done it differently can we. We just need to move the picks to their correct teams as tho they were traded on the site?

What's the point if a Conso event if you are better off not making that? We played last season with the same Conso as the season before that the winner to 4th in the Conso got draft picks 1-4. How can two teams just move up 6 spots in every draft round just because the new site we have used have listed them differently to the rules we were playing?

I haven't changed anything from the logic of the previous methodology.

The only difference is that, when the league ran on ESPN, the consol competition included all 6 teams placed 5th-10th in the standings, resulting in a draft order which determined picks 1-6.  The league that season had a 9th/10th place play-off within the Consol competition, so teams finishing 5th-10th in the league rankings playedin in a competition which determined places 5-10 overall.

On Yahoo, the consol competition included only the 4 teams placed 5th-8th, so those finishing in 9th and 10th place were excluded from it.  Consequently, the consol competition determines picks 3-6, rather than picks 1-6.  The point of the consol competition is that the winner still gets the highest pick of those available, giving an incentive to remain competitive.  The two finishing 9th and 10th don't get an opportunity to play in the consol at all.  Given that they are the teams with the worst overall records, and assuming neither of them soft-played during the season (i.e. their teams were the best available from their roster) then giving them picks 5 and 6, as you suggest, is a far less equitable solution, IMO.

As far as I recall, there was no option within Yahoo to create a 6 team consol competition.  If there was, I'd have used it, as it makes for a far better game for teams to have fixtures all the way through the season.

[bobby1]

Hi all

Just been doing some backup of last year's D-League before activating the league again.  One thing that has been requested is the draft order for this season, which is as follows (NB: this is the basic ranked order prior to adding the various trades, so there'll be some changes to follow when I add in all the traded picks by round):

Basic Draft Order For Each Round:

1st - The Age of Latavius   10th Place Finisher - Consol Non-Qualifier
2nd - Blacklaw's Braves           9th Place Finisher - Consol Non-Qualifier
3rd - Tifosi BlackHearts           Consol Winner
4th - Vegas Venoms           Consol Runner Up
5th - Absolutely Gash           Consol 3rd Place
6th - Linux/MattyHollis           Consol 4th Place
7th - My Tight End Ertz           4th Place
8th - MANAGER RETIRED   3rd Place
9th - Spider2 Y Banana           Runner Up
10th - ArkansasGravediggers   Winner

This uses the same principle as last year, in that the consol winner gets the higher pick, runner up 2nd, etc.  The one change is that, in moving from ESPN to Yahoo, the consol this year only had 4 teams in it, instead of 6 previously.  Consequently, the two bottom placed finishers, who failed to qualify for the consol, occupy the top two spots.

I'll will post a full draft list order by round, taking into account the trades, in the next few days and expect the league to 'go live' for the season by the end of the week.

Maybe I've misunderstood Curtis, do you mean that is the draft order the site has thrown out and you will change them to reflect the correct draft order that were earned using our system or you have changed the draft order after the season just because the site has made it the above?

Can't have a different draft process result than the ones we played for during the season can we? The point of the Conso was to make teams try every week even when the couldn't make the play offs.if we are going to then implement a different draft order simply coz the site has done that then what was the point of Tifosi, or any of the teams that finished 5-8 in the league standings trying to win games at the end of last season. Basically Dean won 4 matches to get pick number one when he would have been better off not putting a team out for the first of those 4 games to try and finish either 9-10. Then put out a proper team if that failed and he finished 8th to try and win the Conso. We can't change the order we have just played a season to define just cozy the site has done it differently can we. We just need to move the picks to their correct teams as tho they were traded on the site?

What's the point if a Conso event if you are better off not making that? We played last season with the same Conso as the season before that the winner to 4th in the Conso got draft picks 1-4. How can two teams just move up 6 spots in every draft round just because the new site we have used have listed them differently to the rules we were playing?

I haven't changed anything from the logic of the previous methodology.

The only difference is that, when the league ran on ESPN, the consol competition included all 6 teams placed 5th-10th in the standings, resulting in a draft order which determined picks 1-6.  The league that season had a 9th/10th place play-off within the Consol competition, so teams finishing 5th-10th in the league rankings playedin in a competition which determined places 5-10 overall.

On Yahoo, the consol competition included only the 4 teams placed 5th-8th, so those finishing in 9th and 10th place were excluded from it.  Consequently, the consol competition determines picks 3-6, rather than picks 1-6.  The point of the consol competition is that the winner still gets the highest pick of those available, giving an incentive to remain competitive.  The two finishing 9th and 10th don't get an opportunity to play in the consol at all.  Given that they are the teams with the worst overall records, and assuming neither of them soft-played during the season (i.e. their teams were the best available from their roster) then giving them picks 5 and 6, as you suggest, is a far less equitable solution, IMO.

As far as I recall, there was no option within Yahoo to create a 6 team consol competition.  If there was, I'd have used it, as it makes for a far better game for teams to have fixtures all the way through the season.

I'm not sure that's really true tho bud, the league page on the new Yahoo league had a tab with 4 team spots available in the play offs and 4 team spots available in the consolation so it was visible that there were only 4 consolation spots. If the teams that finish 9th and 10th are going to be given draft picks above the consolation teams what is the point of playing to get into the consolation event?

You said above that the team that finished 9th and 10th didn't get the opportunity to play in the consolation but that's to their benefit if you are retrospectively going to change the set up for a season that has already been played. In that new system there is no benefit whatsoever in trying to finish in the consolation spots 5-8 when you cannot reach the play offs, you are better off aiming for 9th or 10th if those two spots are going to be given draft picks 1 and 2. What was the point in Dean winning his last 2 regular season games to make certain he was in the consolation event and then win the consolation to be then given pick 3, he would have been better off losing those first two winning matches with a view to finishing 9th. It makes the consolation event the 2nd best option if you miss out on the play offs, that cannot make sense can it?

If you are in 5th to 8th and can't make the play offs you want to finish 9th or 10th now?

That is the same for all teams in the consolation spots if 9th and 10th are going to get picks 1 and 2. It was on the site that 9th and 10th wouldn't be in the consolation heat but they now get rewarded more than the teams that do finish 5-8, that cannot possibly give any incentive to remain competitive going forward using the system you have retrospectively added. Dean is worse off for winning 4 games on the trot.

The post season schedules were there on site, 4 play off spots and 4 consolation spots. How is the guy that finished 8th in the league, had to win 2 more games to win the consolation now worse off than the guy that finished 9th?

It looked clear given the league set up and we even had convo's about it on here that 1-4 in the Consolation got draft picks 1-4, 9th and 10th must get 5 and 6 and the play off teams get picks 7 to 10, with the winner getting 10th.

That system means you do have something to play for when you are in spots 5-10 and their is an incentive if you are 9 and 10th to get into the consolation event. If you use the one you mention now then 6 of the 10 teams will be better off losing games late in the season, that will make it far less competitive than it was, not more competitive and makes it far more likely that play off order will be determined by playing against teams that could be better off by not winning.

The consolation teams would now all be 2 draft pick spots worse off for getting into the consolation event, there is no point in a consolation event that leaves you worse off than teams that didn't make it is there?

I

[TightEnd]

(i would say this)

having argued that the previous system made no sense at all a few months ago (but it was my fault for being unaware of it and thus making trades within flawed thinking) it appears entirely logical, as in the NFL itself, that the team with the worst record gets the top pick and a chance to improve first

after all, to the best of my knowledge teams 9 and 10 put out their strongest line ups every week, so played it straight.

in the final week i then had no opportunity to do anything as the consol round excluded me

not even teams in the NFL play it straight weeks 15-17 where draft position is on the line

all that said, whatever Sheriff decides, won't kick off either way (much, lol ) given my 24 hours of excitement just past at the prospect of Ezekiel Eliott alongside Gurley on my roster :-) (which frankly was my aim since about October when i blew things up in expectation of getting the top draft pick only to be told i would finish bottom and then pick 5th which seemed a grim motivation for a bad team)

[LeKnave]

Agreed bobby, the whole point of the system was to stop people tanking it off when dead for the playoffs.  Which is exactly what this new system is going to provoke.

We even spoke about this at the time of the consolation playoffs, so not sure what has changed in the meantime.

Just caught up on the last few pages.

Re the draft order in the D League, the system we use was intended to defend against abandoned teams, hence the emphasis on staying competitive through the consol.

Agree with Tighty's sentiments regarding a rebuild being a legit strategy and it does penalise teams doing this.  However it's the lesser of two evils for me to have it this way round.

However, in sheer volume of picks there's still a huge draft benefit to come.  With maybe one or two exceptions there's no slam dunk rookie draft picks in Fantasy.  Consensus top 2 this year, from memory, were Gurley and Gordon and their fortunes have differed significantly.  Simply having plenty of 1st rounders will still achieve the overall aim of the strategy.

Also worth noting that Horneris did the initial draft last year with a similar strategy, as he took lots of rookies from memory.  He's reaping the benefit this season.

Just thought it was worth clarifying the reasons behind the slightly odd method of doing the draft order.

[TightEnd]

its completely legitimate to do so. In professional and fantasy sport!

the game operates over multiple years where some years can be rebuilds for future success (or a chance of it)

nothing wrong with a team tanking and entirely the luck of the draw as to whether you draw a team doing so(in a ultiple season league not a single season league where i agree its frustrating to come across a team that isn't picked that week) towards the end of a fantasy season

[LeKnave]

its completely legitimate to do so. In professional and fantasy sport!

the game operates over multiple years where some years can be rebuilds for future success (or a chance of it)

nothing wrong with a team tanking and entirely the luck of the draw as to whether you draw a team doing so(in a ultiple season league not a single season league where i agree its frustrating to come across a team that isn't picked that week) towards the end of a fantasy season

But seeing as there were rules in place to prevent this from the get go it can't be a legit strategy as most, if not all parties believed it to be against he rules.

[Sheriff Fatman]

Looks like there's going to be some debate on this, so feel free to add your views over the next few days.  I'll review at the end of the week and put it to a league vote if necessary.

[TightEnd]

its completely legitimate to do so. In professional and fantasy sport!

the game operates over multiple years where some years can be rebuilds for future success (or a chance of it)

nothing wrong with a team tanking and entirely the luck of the draw as to whether you draw a team doing so(in a ultiple season league not a single season league where i agree its frustrating to come across a team that isn't picked that week) towards the end of a fantasy season

But seeing as there were rules in place to prevent this from the get go it can't be a legit strategy as most, if not all parties believed it to be against he rules.

one idiot, me, didnt think so lol hence the trades though i can genuinely say i tried to win every week afterwards, picked best available team

anyway i will go with what is decided, no bother either way

i understand the points being made.

[Sheriff Fatman]

its completely legitimate to do so. In professional and fantasy sport!

the game operates over multiple years where some years can be rebuilds for future success (or a chance of it)

nothing wrong with a team tanking and entirely the luck of the draw as to whether you draw a team doing so(in a ultiple season league not a single season league where i agree its frustrating to come across a team that isn't picked that week) towards the end of a fantasy season

But seeing as there were rules in place to prevent this from the get go it can't be a legit strategy as most, if not all parties believed it to be against he rules.

Just to confirm that rebuilding via a draft, trading players for picks, is a perfectly legitimate strategy in Dynasty, and every team will have to go through some form of rebuild over time.  That's very different to tanking a season by not picking legitimate starting lineups and deliberately trying to lose games.  People seem to be confusing one with the other, or at least treating them as the same thing.

[bobby1]

its completely legitimate to do so. In professional and fantasy sport!

the game operates over multiple years where some years can be rebuilds for future success (or a chance of it)

nothing wrong with a team tanking and entirely the luck of the draw as to whether you draw a team doing so(in a ultiple season league not a single season league where i agree its frustrating to come across a team that isn't picked that week) towards the end of a fantasy season

But seeing as there were rules in place to prevent this from the get go it can't be a legit strategy as most, if not all parties believed it to be against he rules.

one idiot, me, didnt think so lol hence the trades though i can genuinely say i tried to win every week afterwards, picked best available team

anyway i will go with what is decided, no bother either way

i understand the points being made.

I think it's a legit tactic bud and very brave too, when I mention teams not trying coz they cannot make play offs etc we all know you will be and were trying every week with what you had left. But when blowing up a squad and rebuilding it there are obvious consequences re how competitive you will be short term. If 9th and 10th are given draft picks above the teams that played in the consolation then you get rewarded above them for giving up short term competitiveness for a longer term process which was your choice.

Don't really agree with the comparisons to real life leagues because we run a consolation event that in the retrospective ruling you will be worse off qualifying for. Given a few convos last year and ones you and I had too I don't think anyone else expected you to get pick one for finishing 10th given the league and consolation set up were set up on site as 4 team events. If we take out your situation and just look at it clean a set up where 4 teams qualifying for a secondary prize end up worse off than someone that failed to qualify for that prize makes little sense. I'd say you finished 10th in the league and that means you also finished 6th in the secondary event, the Consolation event and therefore missed out on a chance to get one of the top 4 prizes which are the top 4 picks. The guy that finished 9th also didn't qualify and gets pick 5 and you get pick 6 and the top 4 in the consolation get picks 1-4.

Why else would we run a consolation event if being in it is worse than missing out?

[TightEnd]

"If 9th and 10th are given draft picks above the teams that played in the consolation then you get rewarded above them for giving up short term competitiveness for a longer term process which was your choice."

and that's precisely why i did it. short term pain for long term reward rather than an upside of mid table at best each year

would not have done it if i had realised that the system wasn't as "pure" as the nfl/nfl draft pick process, but accept that was a mistake on my part 

[Horneris]

tl;dr but will go with whatever LeKnave thinks as he always knows whats best

[the sicilian]

hi guys

just see this.. why dont we try the nba way to prevent tanking and operate a lottery draw for the top picks ?..maybe revise it a bit with the 9th and 10th getting less lottery picks than the top two conso people

[Graham C]

When are we all systems go again?  Plus, any space in the Dynasty league yet?

[Sheriff Fatman]

FAO Dynasty Players.

I've created a poll on the league page for you to vote on the draft order rules to be used, as the opinions above weren't exactly conclusive.  Please vote on your preferred option before midnight this Sunday, after which I can confirm the draft order and we can start drafting.

You should all now be able to see your current rosters on the site.  There's an option to set keepers for the new season which also has a deadline of Sunday (although I think I can amend this if necessary).

Everyone needs to set their keepers before this deadline (basically, everyone you don't intend to replace via a draft pick).  I think once I go live with the new season, the site will throw any non-keepers back into the player pool (as it assumes they all become draftable again) so I'm proceeding with caution on this.

Our draft is set to be an offline draft, and the plan is to do a process similar to last year (with 24hrs available to make picks).  Just looking at the best options to do this, but the intention is to begin drafting on 1st August, so that we have plenty of time available to complete it (in reality, I suspect it might take a week or so to complete).

Also, it makes sense to get fees in from everyone ahead of the draft (so if we have any managerial changes to make we get them sorted ahead of time).  I'll PM details to everyone, but if you can all get Dynasty entry monies to me before next Monday, that will be great.  Give me a shout if any issues anticipated with this.

For now, the main thing is to vote on the draft order and to set your keepers before Sunday.

Please shout if any issues.