In theory, nobody has an unfair advantage on fantasy football draft day, because everyone is picking at the same time.
But nobody’s happy when you draft A.J. Green with your second-round pick days before he injures his ankle in training camp.
The age-old question of when you and your buddies should draft for fantasy football remains unanswered. It’s possible that it’s unanswerable. But we at NBC Sports Boston will do our best.
In an ideal world, your fantasy draft should happen as close to the first week of the regular season as possible. That way, owners can glean whatever conclusions they can from the five weeks of preseason football. Injuries, breakout players, last-minute roster cuts and impressive rookies can all emerge and make a big fantasy impact. Not to mention the potential impact of contract negotiations gone haywire.
Fantasy football is a game of information, and waiting until the days leading up to the first week of real football allows you to absorb the most information possible.
But it’s just not that simple.
The best time to draft is not the eve of the first regular season game. This year, the Packers and Bears open the centennial season of the NFL on Thursday, Sept. 5. Drafting on Wednesday, Sept. 4, is a solid time to draft, but not the most optimal. It’s also fun to have some time before the season starts to survey the landscape of your league and debate who had the best draft.
In general, drafting during the week can be tough for many fantasy football fanatics, since real life can get in the way. In order to have an all-out fantasy draft, the weekend has got to be the way to go.
The best time to draft, then, is the last weekend before the first regular season tilt. Make the final Sunday without football the official "fantasy draft holiday." This year, falls on Sunday, September 1.
But if that date doesn’t work, any time between August 30 and September 3 should suffice.
So run out to the store now, buy some chicken wings and a cardboard draft board, and gear up for your draft, because you should definitely be drafting soon. The best time to do it is in less than a month.
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