THE DRAFT

The draft will be 19 Rounds long; each team will draft 19 players/defenses.

The Draft is a serpentine (back and forth) order draft where any player may be drafted at any time.  Draft order is determined by draft lottery.  There is no limit on how many players from a certain position you may draft, meaning that if you want 9 QB’s, go ahead, but you’re likely to get garbage for the rest of your positions, and you can only play 1 QB a week anyway.

In previous years teams have been reasonably close to:
2 QB’s          These abbreviations are used throughout
5 RB’s          the packet, their meanings are as follows
6 WR’s         QB = Quarterback
2 TE’s         RB = Running Back
2 K’s          WR = Wide Receiver
2 D’s          TE = Tight End
           K = Placekicker
           D = Defense

Defenses:  You will draft at least one team’s Defense/Special Teams.  Each week, your team will start 1 team’s D.  For example, the Green Bay Packers, thus any defensive/special team scoring by the Packers will mean points for you.

You may only start one defense, never more, no matter what.

Special scoring applies to Defenses/Special Teams.  When you draft a Defense, you also get that teams Special Teams, meaning that if they return a kickoff for a TD for example, you will score the Defensive Touchdown points.
Other factors like fumbles recovered, interceptions, safeties, blocked field goals, and blocked extra points, etc. also score points.  Remember that teams have bye weeks, so you will eventually need a backup defense for the week when your #1 is off, then again, a lot of teams switch back and forth depending on who plays who, so maybe you’ll want as many options at defense as you can budget in your 19 roster slots.

You may draft and carry as many defenses as you wish, but you may only start one each week, and, just like position players, only one team in the league can have a given team’s defense, meaning that two people can’t have Denver or something.

Also note that individual players DO get points for scoring on special teams.  Thus if one of your WR returns a kickoff for  a TD, you get TD points for him doing that.  Also, if you had the defense/special teams of the team he played for in the lineup too, you would score twice on the same TD.  Sort of like when a QB and a WR hook up for you, it’s an interesting strategy, but nothing to stake a season on.
 

On the draft board, players will be posted as they are selected, A player’s Name, Position and Team will be on his label on the big board.  For reference purposes, the NFL team abbreviations used by WAFFLE are as follows:

BUF  = Buffalo Bills          DAL = Dallas Cowboys
MIA  = Miami Dolphins        NYG = New York Giants
NE   = New England Patriots PHI = Philadelphia Eagles
NYJ  = New York Jets          WAS = Washington Redskins

BAL = Baltimore Ravens       CHI = Chicago Bears
CIN = Cincinnati Bengals      DET = Detroit Lions
CLE = Cleveland Browns       GB  = Green Bay Packers
PIT = Pittsburgh Steelers     MIN = Minnesota Vikings

HOU = Houston Texans         ATL = Atlanta Falcons
IND = Indianapolis Colts      CAR = Carolina Panthers
JAX = Jacksonville Jaguars   NO  = New Orleans Saints
TEN = Tennessee Titans        TB  = Tampa Bay Buccaneers

DEN = Denver Broncos         AZ  = Arizona Cardinals
KC  = Kansas City Chiefs      STL = St. Louis Rams
OAK = Oakland Raiders        SD  = San Diego Chargers
SEA = San Diego Chargers     SEA = Seattle Seahawks

The Draft Order has not been determined yet, as it is pending the results of the draft lottery.

Each team will get a draft slot 1-10.
The first pick of the draft goes to Team 1, then Team 2, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and finally 10.  The second round begins with Team 10, and works backwards to Team 1.  Thus, every team will get at least 2 of their top 20 picks, it is mathematical fact, I went to college to learn this.

Who to draft:  I recommend picking up at least one magazine, or reading some online material or calling each NFL team's front office.  You want to know who these guys are, what they are expected to do, and how much demand there is for them.  You may not need to draft QB Eli Manning NYG in the first round…chances are good he’ll still be there next time around, then again, if you have your heart set on him, nothing pisses you off more then when the guy right before you takes the guy you have been eyeing. Trust me it sure is fun to take a guy on Tim, John, KD or RJ and hear a loud burst of cursing, at least, its funny as long as no one gets hurt….too badly.
 
 

Generally speaking, RBs and QBs are at the heart of any Fantasy Football team, however this certainly has exceptions, but for the most part QB and RB are the thinnest positions out there.  Teams have still been very successful with gaping holes at one position or another, but you’ll want to try to draft to put yourself in the best position to have great players out there in every starting position.  The fact is, if you put together a squad of 3 dominant Running Backs, you might be able to get by with a crappy QB, and if you have a QB stud, maybe having garbage WR’s won’t be as big a problem.

So, as you sit there at the draft and think about whom to draft.  Remember you can only start 1 QB a week, so having more than 1 great QB is strictly for depth and trade purposes, and you will probably want to look at other positions before you draft your second QB, then again, I have been wrong before, maybe your #1 QB will get hurt and you’ll look like a genius for having a first rate backup…see, if I really knew what I was talking about, I’d have a trophy by now.