When is the best time to hold a fantasy football draft?
Editor’s Note: This article originally published on July 22, 2022. It has since been updated.
We’ve reached the point of the summer where fantasy football group chats have started to heat back up. NFL players are reporting to training camps and every fantasy commissioner is hearing the same question over and over again:
When’s the draft?
Whether dynasty league or redraft, keeper or brand new, finding the right draft date is hardly convenient. Not when you have a group of 10+ people who all think their suggestion is best.
Fortunately, we have a solution, We polled the FTW staff and learned when the best time to schedule your draft is.
Tell the group chat to chill.
The Weekend Before Week 1
The perfect time to hold a fantasy draft is the weekend before the first game, a.k.a when you can steer clear of the preseason injuries. I always get too excited for draft season and start to bug the league manager about starting it sooner, but then a few players will randomly catch an ACL injury during camp and I’m like, “yeah, let’s actually wait a bit on these drafts”.
-Cole Huff
Labor Day Weekend
Labor Day Weekend is by far the best time to hold a fantasy draft. Everyone’s off, chilling out, with no stresses in the world. The preseason has been sorted through and you more or less know who is healthy for the year and who left August unscathed. Holding it any sooner would be silly, premature, and overzealous. The draft will still be there if you wait until that first weekend of September. It’s not going anywhere! Of course, holding it any later would be foolish, risking absolute chaos with all your pals. Be proactive: Labor for fantasy fool’s ball on Labor Day.
-Robert Zeglinski
Before Week 2 Preseason Games
Anything before Week 2 of the preseason is a great way to tick off your league as, inevitably, your friends will draft someone who will get injured in a game or during training camp. Be kind and send dates in the last week of August, which sometimes leaves some clarity about position battles but a hair of uncertainty ahead of pre-Week 1 practices to make things interesting.
-Charles Curtis
When Starters Are Done With Preseason Games
The best time to draft is when you’re absolutely sure the majority of starters are done playing preseason games and can’t suffer a fluke injury. That was previously after the third of four games, but now that the preseason is reduced to just three games, I’d recommend waiting for the whole thing to finish.
-Prince Grimes
Opening Day Of Training Camp
My colleagues are weak! Set your draft for the day training camp opens. Prove you’re the best talent scout before every guide comes out and the experts weigh in. Navigate around all the injuries that come your way like a real GM has to. It’s like playing a video game on extra hard mode. You will also probably be overthrown as commissioner if you do this, but what a way to go.
-Blake Schuster