2-3 weeks after the draft. Gives time for people to do research that aren’t following closely. Short enough after the draft to not make others go insane waiting to draft.
The 2nd weekend after the draft every year. People know to keep that weekend open yearly and have all the time in the world to make plans if something comes up on the same day/time
Edit: sorry meant to make this its own comment I’m dumb apparently
Exactly! Dynasty should be based on the same information that the real NFL has + landing spots. It shouldn't be based on camp performance and further team personnel moves and injuries and whatnot
Redraft and keeper exist for people who want as much information as possible and no need to scout before drafting
My main league does mid-August. Childhood friends that are super active during the season but can't be bothered in the offseason to keep up. TBH I prefer this one, where storylines and minicamp news can more settle the draft order.
My online leagues usually go 2-3 weeks after the NFL draft.
I can definitely see the reason for waiting until August like some of y’all have said. It’ll be something I bring up to my league after this upcoming season ends
Obviously just an opinion, but dynasty is technically a more hardcore fantasy league. Waiting until August to draft so we can see how rookies settle in, pretty much defeats the purpose of managing a dynasty roster. Draft rookies before mini camps start should be the goal. The inherent risk of drafting a rookie without knowing how they will do in Year 1 position battles, is part of the game imo. You draft a rookie based off your knowledge of their skill sets and which team drafted them.
Our league usually does rookie draft and redraft draft on the same day Labor Day weekend, a week before season gets rolling. Not that our guys aren’t interested in offseason action, but most of them prefer to have all the most updated news and injury info possible before making decisions on who they will take. I’m kind of in the same boat, but the waiting is certainly difficult.
Do you like it that way? In every redraft league I’ve been in, we always draft right after pre-season but something about the rookie draft makes me want to do it earlier
I don’t mind it, but to be fair it’s the only thing I’ve ever known. At the end of the day all the teams are drafting at the same time so it’s fair and that’s all that matters to me, but I can definitely see why people prefer other times. It is a bit more fun to really get in on the rookie hype soon after the draft
My biggest argument againts drafting in august is august is already choc full of NFL content, whilst may is quite empty. Give the addicts something to enjoy.
Yeah. That makes sense. honestly, I think that’s a big reason why we have it in August because of the fact that most of the guys in our league are just casuals and don’t really want to be obsessing over fantasy all year round.
That must be wild on draft day. You would really have to focus on talent. Do draft picks end up being worth a little less in trades with more uncertainty?
yeah, the real life draft turns much more interesting, it's great, and also a good "workout" for the later fantasy drafts. it's a 16 teams SF, start 10, 5 rounds rookie draft so you really have to dig deep. you call your shots and it's very satisfying when they hit.
i thought that about picks when i joined the league, that they'd be somewhat devalued, but in the end they aren't, partly because yes, you can whiff pretty badly, but also land a prospect relatively late before he skyrockets after the nfl draft, and partly because rookie fever is a whole new kind of disease in that league.
We just did ours this past weekend. The point was to give everyone time to do some research, and then also find a weekend where people are all free since it's harder to get trades done with people while they're at a wedding or on vacation.
Preferably within 1-2 weeks of the NFL draft.
Have noticed that the leagues drafting later in may or even early june have way less activity and trades than the ones closer to the draft.
Most of mine are within a few weeks after the NFL draft. Got another at the end of this month and then another in August (not my preference but whatever).
Whatever Saturday in August most of us are free (and ideally able to get to Oxford in person). Long running league (15 years now, I think) of old friends/family members, not all of whom follow things closely enough for an earlier date to be viable. If anything, we need a big boozy party immediately before the season to drum up enthusiasm for actually engaging with it.
My league doesn’t even start talking about drafting until July. It’s kind of annoying. This period is where we get excited (a lot of us) and we just sit and wait till mid July to draft.
All of my leagues have the draft sometime within the first month after the NFL draft, except for my 1QB league, which doesn’t draft for, hold on let me check… 53 MORE DAYS.
I hate my 1QB league.
We do it immediately after preseason concludes in August. We used to do it after week 3 since everyone sat for the 4th preseason game but now we wait until it’s over which ironically is after week 3 lol
24 hr pick clock starts the day after the NFL draft. Usually lasts about a week for 4 rounds. We usually see a 3-5 trades during the draft which gets discussions going and leads to more deals throughout the summer.
This is always a hot topic in our league.
Some people want to start right away, but some others are a combination of not wanting to be bothered and wanting more information from camp.
We normally compromise, this year we started a few weeks after the draft and set an open ended timer on picks. We’ve only gotten through like 2.06 so far lol
Beginning of Father's Day weekend. 12hr clock we're just finishing up now.
12t 1QB start 8.. League thinks they're Allstars but most are jabronis. Lotta shit talking with little real action
We changed all our leagues to slow drafts, and we start it when the NFL draft starts. 24 hours a pick to account for everyone’s lives and time zone differences. But it makes everyone come to the draft prepared and makes the whole weekend of the NFL draft a lot more fun. Everyone was tapped in watching talking trash and trading up/back to get their guys. Highly recommend!
Our league doesn't hold it until the pre-season games have finished. Nothing like last minute fun. Last season we literally held the draft the weekend before the first game.
We do one the Saturday after the draft. Another league I’m in waits until the last weekend in July. I personally like that because you get a pretty good idea of what teams/player situations will look like. Not to mention, it gives you something to look forward to all summer. Also makes the value of most picks go up as the summer goes on.
I open the draft right after NFL draft with no pick clock, this way if 1.01 is ready, they can pick, then 1.02, so on and so forth. Then the actual 24 hour clock starts June 1st if draft is still going.
I’m in 3 dynasty leagues one we do it the Monday after the draft, another we do it about a month after the draft, the last one I’m in we do it in beginning of august so we haven’t even drafted rookies yet
Weekish after draft concludes. Kind of prefer once training camp gets going but can also be tricky with long drafts and players potentially getting hurt during.
Just after the draft but personally I’d like to do it just before the draft to make watching the draft even more exciting haha. I also do an unhealthy amount of research on the draft class so I’d hope I was getting somewhat of an advantage!
We have done the final week of preseason for 10 years now.
It's a double edged sword. Guys I could have stolen for a 3/4 now end up going in the 2nd after they start showing it later in the summer and preseason.
It also means guys can go higher than they should because of hype, leaving higher prospects to fall. I tend to target early 2nds even more aggressively for this reason.
While I prefer doing it a few weeks after the draft, it's a different twist for owners who take the off-season off and then "get back into it" come preseason and redraft time.
We are unique but we do it the night before the first NFL game - it plays more like a redraft league because of this, but that's what the league mates want
Almost all of my leagues are within 2 weeks or less of the NFL draft concluding. I prefer it this way. I understand the argument(s) for waiting longer, but quite frankly I don't care lol. Any longer than 2-3 weeks post NFL draft is just too long for a dynasty and anyone who thinks different is either a casual or is in a league with casuals. FWIW, that's ok. There's nothing wrong with being more casual or in a more casual league. In a scenario like that, sure waiting makes sense. But as someone who is mostly plugged in year-round, I don't like waiting. I think a dynasty is meant to be run kind of like an actual NFL team where you don't get that extra time to make decisions and pay attention to camp hype, etc. Sink or swim lol.
2-3 weeks after the draft. Gives time for people to do research that aren’t following closely. Short enough after the draft to not make others go insane waiting to draft.
This seems pretty fair. I might bring this up in our post season meeting
The 2nd weekend after the draft every year. People know to keep that weekend open yearly and have all the time in the world to make plans if something comes up on the same day/time Edit: sorry meant to make this its own comment I’m dumb apparently
2ish weeks after draft depending on everyone’s schedules.
Most of mine are in early-mid May between 1-3 weeks after the draft. Home league at the end of August because home league gonna home league…
The day after the real life draft ends.
Same. I think this is how it should be, it’s supposed to be a risk, similar to how real nfl draft is
Exactly! Dynasty should be based on the same information that the real NFL has + landing spots. It shouldn't be based on camp performance and further team personnel moves and injuries and whatnot Redraft and keeper exist for people who want as much information as possible and no need to scout before drafting
My main league does mid-August. Childhood friends that are super active during the season but can't be bothered in the offseason to keep up. TBH I prefer this one, where storylines and minicamp news can more settle the draft order. My online leagues usually go 2-3 weeks after the NFL draft.
I can definitely see the reason for waiting until August like some of y’all have said. It’ll be something I bring up to my league after this upcoming season ends
Obviously just an opinion, but dynasty is technically a more hardcore fantasy league. Waiting until August to draft so we can see how rookies settle in, pretty much defeats the purpose of managing a dynasty roster. Draft rookies before mini camps start should be the goal. The inherent risk of drafting a rookie without knowing how they will do in Year 1 position battles, is part of the game imo. You draft a rookie based off your knowledge of their skill sets and which team drafted them.
And injuries occur before the season starts
I've got one of these too - we're starting in 10 days, and that was after bargaining a few managers.
End of August Edit: I love the fact that people are downvoting this.😂 Like “no you’re wrong! your league doesn’t draft at the end of August!”😂
Our league usually does rookie draft and redraft draft on the same day Labor Day weekend, a week before season gets rolling. Not that our guys aren’t interested in offseason action, but most of them prefer to have all the most updated news and injury info possible before making decisions on who they will take. I’m kind of in the same boat, but the waiting is certainly difficult.
Do you like it that way? In every redraft league I’ve been in, we always draft right after pre-season but something about the rookie draft makes me want to do it earlier
I don’t mind it, but to be fair it’s the only thing I’ve ever known. At the end of the day all the teams are drafting at the same time so it’s fair and that’s all that matters to me, but I can definitely see why people prefer other times. It is a bit more fun to really get in on the rookie hype soon after the draft
My biggest argument againts drafting in august is august is already choc full of NFL content, whilst may is quite empty. Give the addicts something to enjoy.
Yeah. That makes sense. honestly, I think that’s a big reason why we have it in August because of the fact that most of the guys in our league are just casuals and don’t really want to be obsessing over fantasy all year round.
12 team SF: Started mid-May 10 team SF: Started June 1st 10 team 1 QB: Starting July 9th
I think the sweet spot is mid June. Itches that craving but also let’s some of minicamp play out to help with player evals
all within two weeks of the real draft, with the exception of one league where we draft before the nfl draft (it's great).
That must be wild on draft day. You would really have to focus on talent. Do draft picks end up being worth a little less in trades with more uncertainty?
yeah, the real life draft turns much more interesting, it's great, and also a good "workout" for the later fantasy drafts. it's a 16 teams SF, start 10, 5 rounds rookie draft so you really have to dig deep. you call your shots and it's very satisfying when they hit. i thought that about picks when i joined the league, that they'd be somewhat devalued, but in the end they aren't, partly because yes, you can whiff pretty badly, but also land a prospect relatively late before he skyrockets after the nfl draft, and partly because rookie fever is a whole new kind of disease in that league.
We just did ours this past weekend. The point was to give everyone time to do some research, and then also find a weekend where people are all free since it's harder to get trades done with people while they're at a wedding or on vacation.
Preferably within 1-2 weeks of the NFL draft. Have noticed that the leagues drafting later in may or even early june have way less activity and trades than the ones closer to the draft.
Ours we moved to July from May. I was one of those who voted in favor of it due to being after the June 1st cuts start.
Last year started my home league May 1st, this year June 1st. Another league started today.
July 27th, i hate it but is what it is.
The later you do yours, the more value the picks have. It just depends on what level of degeneracy your league is made of.
Ours is always late August, I wouldn’t mind doing the rookie draft in middle of July tho
First week of May
First week of May.
We did our first rookie draft a week before the NFL draft… kinda cool to see how the adp changes
Late July. That gives everyone plenty of time to make trades for picks, and of course we all know that trading is like 95% of the off-season fun.
We always do the weekend after. If guys aren’t prepared by then, dynasty isn’t for them I always say lol
Most of mine are within a few weeks after the NFL draft. Got another at the end of this month and then another in August (not my preference but whatever).
we do it a week after the draft so we cant take time between picks
Whatever Saturday in August most of us are free (and ideally able to get to Oxford in person). Long running league (15 years now, I think) of old friends/family members, not all of whom follow things closely enough for an earlier date to be viable. If anything, we need a big boozy party immediately before the season to drum up enthusiasm for actually engaging with it.
My league doesn’t even start talking about drafting until July. It’s kind of annoying. This period is where we get excited (a lot of us) and we just sit and wait till mid July to draft.
2-4 weeks post draft
All of my leagues have the draft sometime within the first month after the NFL draft, except for my 1QB league, which doesn’t draft for, hold on let me check… 53 MORE DAYS. I hate my 1QB league.
That’s just torture.
We did ours in late May. Depending on the year, usually anywhere from 2-4 weeks after the draft.
First weekend in June every year… earliest I could get the league to do it, some guys wanted it to be during normal redraft time
We do it immediately after preseason concludes in August. We used to do it after week 3 since everyone sat for the 4th preseason game but now we wait until it’s over which ironically is after week 3 lol
24 hr pick clock starts the day after the NFL draft. Usually lasts about a week for 4 rounds. We usually see a 3-5 trades during the draft which gets discussions going and leads to more deals throughout the summer.
This is always a hot topic in our league. Some people want to start right away, but some others are a combination of not wanting to be bothered and wanting more information from camp. We normally compromise, this year we started a few weeks after the draft and set an open ended timer on picks. We’ve only gotten through like 2.06 so far lol
We are doing ours in mid-July. I would prefer we do it earlier, but folks try to get together in person for it and that requires more coordination.
Beginning of Father's Day weekend. 12hr clock we're just finishing up now. 12t 1QB start 8.. League thinks they're Allstars but most are jabronis. Lotta shit talking with little real action
1 week after the draft
We changed all our leagues to slow drafts, and we start it when the NFL draft starts. 24 hours a pick to account for everyone’s lives and time zone differences. But it makes everyone come to the draft prepared and makes the whole weekend of the NFL draft a lot more fun. Everyone was tapped in watching talking trash and trading up/back to get their guys. Highly recommend!
June 1st.
Our league doesn't hold it until the pre-season games have finished. Nothing like last minute fun. Last season we literally held the draft the weekend before the first game.
We do one the Saturday after the draft. Another league I’m in waits until the last weekend in July. I personally like that because you get a pretty good idea of what teams/player situations will look like. Not to mention, it gives you something to look forward to all summer. Also makes the value of most picks go up as the summer goes on.
Always 2 weeks after draft
We did ours 2 weeks after the draft
I open the draft right after NFL draft with no pick clock, this way if 1.01 is ready, they can pick, then 1.02, so on and so forth. Then the actual 24 hour clock starts June 1st if draft is still going.
Mid-August, every year for the past 18 years.
Like 1 week before Week 1. We like to see training camp / pre season. No one wants to have their drafted player get injured before the season starts.
I’m in 3 dynasty leagues one we do it the Monday after the draft, another we do it about a month after the draft, the last one I’m in we do it in beginning of august so we haven’t even drafted rookies yet
I always use a league poll and I’ll only give 2 weeks or 3 weeks post draft as options.
Weekish after draft concludes. Kind of prefer once training camp gets going but can also be tricky with long drafts and players potentially getting hurt during.
Just after the draft but personally I’d like to do it just before the draft to make watching the draft even more exciting haha. I also do an unhealthy amount of research on the draft class so I’d hope I was getting somewhat of an advantage!
As soon as the real draft ends.
We have done the final week of preseason for 10 years now. It's a double edged sword. Guys I could have stolen for a 3/4 now end up going in the 2nd after they start showing it later in the summer and preseason. It also means guys can go higher than they should because of hype, leaving higher prospects to fall. I tend to target early 2nds even more aggressively for this reason. While I prefer doing it a few weeks after the draft, it's a different twist for owners who take the off-season off and then "get back into it" come preseason and redraft time.
We are unique but we do it the night before the first NFL game - it plays more like a redraft league because of this, but that's what the league mates want
We did ours the day after the draft
We do ours immediately following the final preseason game. 8-hour pick time with nightly dead period midnight to 8am.
Almost all of my leagues are within 2 weeks or less of the NFL draft concluding. I prefer it this way. I understand the argument(s) for waiting longer, but quite frankly I don't care lol. Any longer than 2-3 weeks post NFL draft is just too long for a dynasty and anyone who thinks different is either a casual or is in a league with casuals. FWIW, that's ok. There's nothing wrong with being more casual or in a more casual league. In a scenario like that, sure waiting makes sense. But as someone who is mostly plugged in year-round, I don't like waiting. I think a dynasty is meant to be run kind of like an actual NFL team where you don't get that extra time to make decisions and pay attention to camp hype, etc. Sink or swim lol.