KDS

[The Franchise]

+4

[ForLoveOfTheGame]

I'll take knowing my pick as early as possible once the preseason games are over as the risk of injury is all I'm worried about. I can't recall ever changing my rankings much once preseason is over.

[Coyote Streakers]

Still a strong proponent of choosing draft slots at the table. Each draft is different so after about 10-15 picks you have to change your whole strategy anyway depending on what was picked in front of you. You never know who is going to fall to you and the first round hasn't ever won anyone a league that I've been in. Draft slots at the table is my vote and ALWAYS will be!

This

[Cocktails and Dreams]

I will never quite understand the logic behind wanting KDS and wanting a draft pick earlier than the last possible moment. The beauty of KDS is the ability to shape your draft as you desire. The fact is that things change up until the draft. So in my opinion the best way is to not have KDS at all and you deal with what you are dealt, or better yet be able to have a say in where you draft(KDS) but be able to use it how it should be able to be used. That means current information and that means as close to the draft as possible.

For those that want KDS and want their spot early here are questions I have. Most want to prepare for their spot. Well how in the world can you set KDS properly if you don't prepare? It is impossible. And information changes drastically this day and age. Guys move up, guys move down. This information age, it happens more than ever. There are thousands of drafts that go on in the time we have to set our KDS and when the draft is as it happens now. Don't you want the most current information to shape how you want to set it? Think Doug Martin last year. How much did he move up by the time you set your kds and when the draft was. Moved half a round to a round. So if you were designing a plan to get him the plan became outdated big time by the time you drafted. This shouldn't be the case.

At the table is obviously the best. That is how it is done across the street in the big leagues and nobody would want it any other way. The big leagues here should certainly have it this way. As for main events, they don't have KDS and that is also how I think it should be. But if you are going to have it, don't confuse it with needing draft picks early. You cannot have it both ways and be effective. Figure out if KDS is more important or early draft spots are. And then either don't have KDS or have it ran as late as possible.

Your online leagues fill up the day of many times. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone bitching about not having pick earlier there. And there are way more of those than any other event. And the bigger leagues(main events, etc) are more important leagues and therefore it is even more important that people can set KDS with the most current information. You also have the issue of confusion on when the KDS deadline is. It is a pain in the ass to keep updated on when I have to have what drafts set by when.

I think that a hardline 24 hour rule is perfect. Is it close to draft? Yes. Does it allow for current information? Yes. Does it allow for everyone to prepare after knowing spot? Yes. Does it make it easier for NFFC to explain when deadlines are? Yes. Does it make it more simple for everyone to know when they have to have KDS set? Yes. Can it be easily set up to autorun 24 hours in advance of draft? Yes. Does it make it easy for people to know when they can go on and look and see where they pick from? Yes.

I challenge someone to name one negative of going to auto run 24 hours in advance of draft. Those that say they need more time to prepare, that is garbage. You can prepare from all spots if you want. And you need to anyway to set KDS properly.

[Sandman62]

I think that for many, the preparation includes mock drafting. And if information changes right up until draft day that could affect our ability to acquire our desired players in the first couple of rounds, then wouldn't it also be true that mocks that were done prior to that would be less useful due to those same changes?

Perhaps a compromise? Instead of the current one week, maybe 3 or 4 days?

[BillyWaz]

I will never quite understand the logic behind wanting KDS and wanting a draft pick earlier than the last possible moment. The beauty of KDS is the ability to shape your draft as you desire. The fact is that things change up until the draft. So in my opinion the best way is to not have KDS at all and you deal with what you are dealt, or better yet be able to have a say in where you draft(KDS) but be able to use it how it should be able to be used. That means current information and that means as close to the draft as possible.

For those that want KDS and want their spot early here are questions I have. Most want to prepare for their spot. Well how in the world can you set KDS properly if you don't prepare? It is impossible. And information changes drastically this day and age. Guys move up, guys move down. This information age, it happens more than ever. There are thousands of drafts that go on in the time we have to set our KDS and when the draft is as it happens now. Don't you want the most current information to shape how you want to set it? Think Doug Martin last year. How much did he move up by the time you set your kds and when the draft was. Moved half a round to a round. So if you were designing a plan to get him the plan became outdated big time by the time you drafted. This shouldn't be the case.

At the table is obviously the best. That is how it is done across the street in the big leagues and nobody would want it any other way. The big leagues here should certainly have it this way. As for main events, they don't have KDS and that is also how I think it should be. But if you are going to have it, don't confuse it with needing draft picks early. You cannot have it both ways and be effective. Figure out if KDS is more important or early draft spots are. And then either don't have KDS or have it ran as late as possible.

Your online leagues fill up the day of many times. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone bitching about not having pick earlier there. And there are way more of those than any other event. And the bigger leagues(main events, etc) are more important leagues and therefore it is even more important that people can set KDS with the most current information. You also have the issue of confusion on when the KDS deadline is. It is a pain in the ass to keep updated on when I have to have what drafts set by when.

I think that a hardline 24 hour rule is perfect. Is it close to draft? Yes. Does it allow for current information? Yes. Does it allow for everyone to prepare after knowing spot? Yes. Does it make it easier for NFFC to explain when deadlines are? Yes. Does it make it more simple for everyone to know when they have to have KDS set? Yes. Can it be easily set up to autorun 24 hours in advance of draft? Yes. Does it make it easy for people to know when they can go on and look and see where they pick from? Yes.

I challenge someone to name one negative of going to auto run 24 hours in advance of draft. Those that say they need more time to prepare, that is garbage. You can prepare from all spots if you want. And you need to anyway to set KDS properly.

As someone who likes to get me draft spot as early as possible (only because I am impatient when it comes to fantasy football!), I can't argue any of the points Chad has made.

The main one for me, is that there is always so much confusion as to WHEN I need to set it. Sure, it is because I do a bunch of leagues, but it is also because the main event is fractured into 20+ different time slots. While everyone loves options, I would love to go back to the days of when you walked in the room and there were 7+ tables.

For me to draft on the 2nd weekend, it is VERY difficult, because I have to get approval to take off 2 of the first 4 days of school when the kids come back. It could be even harder this year due to the fact I have a new principal, but I should know by this afternoon. However, I find a way and get it done. What I am getting at is have the drafts on TWO days (Friday and Saturday) of each weekend, AND THAT'S IT. All lives and onlines will be on those days, for a total of 12 times slots.

Sorry.....got a bit off topic, but walking into a room with one classic draft, etc. kinda kills the whole reason to travel IMO.

As for the KDS thing, I again would LOVE to have it right at the table. I know that can't happen this year, but it would be great. Biggest problem I see is that online drafters would probably have to have theirs a bit earlier, and someone would complain they had an advantage because they got theirs an hour earlier than the live drafters.

Definitely something to consider, but if it is in the rules that draft slots are given out "x amount of time" ahead of time for this year, you obviously have to abide by that.

[76erfan]

i think stand alone leagues such as diamond/super/ultimate etc maybe you give owners the option if they want to do kds at the table. But the national championship live events definitely should be uniform as to when you get your draft picks.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Chad is right on two points:

1) KDS is designed to give you the best chance to plan your draft strategy. It doesn't mean that you're going to get your most desired draft spot, but there is a better chance that you will get a more desired spot through KDS. And so we do want to give you as much time to set your KDS as possible while still understanding that many people still want time to plan for the draft spot they get.

2) Owners in the NFFC Online Championship last year for the most part got their draft spots within 24 hours of the draft time and had no problem adjusting to the later announcements of the draft order. Everyone really adjusted well last year to us filling leagues later than ever before.

So yes, we want to find that balance that Chad is asking for. But Mike is also right that some folks still like to mock draft and prepare for their draft spots. So where is that balance to appease everyone in the NFFC Classic and the NFFC Primetime where hundreds of thousands of dollars are on the line? Let's find it.

Sure, we can definitely consider doing draft spots on the spot or the day before our highest dollar events, although last year we did have resistance to that by our Diamond League owners. I think there is more support for that from a vast majority of our owners now. But let's talk about the Main Events.

Will a lot change with your KDS settings if we announce picks on Monday after the pre-season games are done? If we wait until Monday or even Tuesday to announce draft picks for the Aug. 28-31 Primetimes and Classics, is that too early? Are you really making unintelligent KDS settings without seeing the last few days of notes?

And even with draft dates splintered among different dates and times on Sept. 5-7, is it impossible to set accurate KDS settings if draft spots are announced on that Monday after all pre-season games are well done? Last year we were consistent by announcing draft spots 7 days in advance of your draft date; if people want continued consistency maybe we announce all Mains on the Monday or Tuesday before any drafts that week, or 3-4 days before your scheduled drafts. Does that work?

I think we can make the draft spot announcements later this year if folks want that, but we know that some folks would still like them as early as possible. It's a mix we have to deal with by allowing KDS rather than just straight random drawings. Keep the feedback coming and we'll find a workable solution.

As for going back to the good ol' days of one draft date, one big location, etc., yeah, we all miss those days Billy. Heck, I miss WCOFF's big draft when 70 leagues were drafting at once. But that genie has left the bottle and the market has changed. Nothing ever stays the same in this market.

[greenwichsttavern]

whose to say you get the draft pick you put in for ? for those people that go with a certain strategy to draft at the beginning or end of the first round and get the complete opposite draft pick, whats the harm in knowing that you have to change strategys 7 days before the draft rather then 24 hours before it ? For those of us that put countless hours into this is it the end of the world to find this out a day before the draft ? no, but its better to know a week before for sure. Im sure most people in the last couple days before the draft dont want to drastically change their draft preferences that they have wanted from the previous week so they would rather know where they are drafting from a week before the draft. It's not like you are getting your draft spot 3 weeks before the draft where i can see a lot of changes happening like injuries to major players where you would want to change your kds, its 5-7 days before.

[Cocktails and Dreams]

Automatic run a certain number of hours before the draft is how I think it should be. Then I know when to go look and see what I got, and then can adjust for a 2nd team in that event quickly and efficiently if I want. We need to be able to avoid starting every team we own from the same area if we want as well. If 24 hours is too close what about 48? Seems like two full days before is plenty of time to calculate a plan, while not being so far ahead of time that we should be too compromised having to set KDS with incomplete information. It was be so clean and easy to do it this way. Also don't think it should be more than that unless you close signups to be consistent. Some leagues don't fill until the last day or two. They shouldn't be able to set KDS that late if others cannot. And they also don't have their draft spot as early as some, which could be a disadvantage. So if it is determined that it is needed longer than 48 hours for some reason, then signups should close for any leagues not full so things are consistent IMO.