Scoresheet Fantasy Football Drafting Packet
(First Stage of Two: For leagues drafting by sending ranking lists to the Scoresheet office.)

The game rules are the same no matter how you draft your team. But if you are in a league that is using the web draft system then you can mostly ignore the section on roster balancing, as most owners choose to turn off roster balancing for the web draft. (Turning off roster balancing means you will simply get the top available player on your list when your pick comes up, regardless of how many players you already have at that position.) But you can choose to have roster balancing on if you like, which will ensure you get a balanced team. If you have roster balancing turned on then the roster balancing rules as explained in the draft packet will be followed.

Welcome to Scoresheet Fantasy Football.

This packet contains all of the information you should need for drafting the first stage of your team. Included are player lists, an explanation of roster balancing rules, a description of how our football game is played, additional Scoresheet Fantasy Football rules, a sample blank depth chart, and a blank player ranking sheet.

Rank Your Players

After reading this packet, your first step is to complete and submit your ranking sheet. Our player lists are also included in this packet. Using these player lists, rank your top 120 player choices on the ranking sheet, in the order you want them to be eligible for drafting by your team. The number "1" player is that player on the ranking sheet you want the most, number "2" the second, and so on down the list. Once you finish your list, send it to us so that we can run the draft. Each owner will receive his first 13 players in stage 1 of the draft. The second 17 players will be drafted in stage 2 (you will get the results of stage 1, and then make out a new draft list for the 2nd stage.) Please include Scoresheet player numbers and player last names, but first names of players are not necessary. Since various owners always list far different players on their first ranking sheet, 120 choices is enough to allow each owner to receive 13 different players. (In fact, you'll probably get all 13 players from your first 100 picks - you can list less than 120 players if you like.) When your list is finalized, we recommend that you make a copy of it, as we keep the sheet that you send us.

How Draft Order is Determined

Team numbers will be randomly chosen, with the draft order reversing in each later round. (Team 1 picks first in round 1, team 12 picks first in round 2, team 1 picks first in round 3, etc.) As your team's turn comes up in each round, you will be assigned your highest-ranked undrafted player, subject to our roster balancing procedures described later in this packet. (Our drafting rules are designed so that you can list players according to how you think they'll perform in the upcoming season, and then you'll get a balanced roster, receiving starters at every position before you begin receiving reserves.) And you do not need to group players by position on your ranking sheet. Players should simply be listed in the order you think they are most valuable. As soon as the draft has been run we will send you the results and a new blank ranking sheet and instructions for stage 2. At the conclusion of stage 2, you'll receive the complete league rosters, along with blank depth charts to complete before the season starts. The stage 2 results will also include the season schedule of games to be played. You choose a team name when you send in your first week's depth chart.

When You Can Expect Your Team

Typically, we complete the draft and send out the results about 5-8 days after your postmark deadline date (meaning you should receive your draft results in the mail 8-11 days after your postmark date). But for this first stage, we will not actually place you in a specific league until we've received your ranking sheet. By submitting your ranking sheet a few days early, you generally can look forward to getting your first stage draft results back early! Sorry, but we do not give out results over the phone (or we'd never have time to get all the leagues drafted). But we will also post draft results on your league's web page as soon as your draft is run, and we will send you an e-mail message as soon as the first stage is done, letting you know those results are up, what league you are in, and what your league's web address is. A list of all our league's web page links can also be found at www.scoresheet.com/list.html

If we don't receive your ranking sheet on time, we'll have to use player's point total order from last year (the player number order at each position) as your draft list. Naturally, it's not nearly as much fun to have the computer draft for you! If for some reason you miss the postmark deadline please give us a call as soon as possible. (The mailing deadline is just a postmark deadline; we have allowed a few days for your sheet to travel through the mail.)

In essence, the draft is really very simple. We simply go down your list, awarding you the top listed player that still remains undrafted. We do keep track of the players you've already drafted and skip over the players whose positions are already filled, as we do want to ensure that you receive a balanced team. You do not need to group players by position on your ranking sheet. Instead, players should be listed in the order you think they are most valuable. A suggested first stage draft list should contain at least: 18 QB's; 15 or so RB's; 25 or so WR's; 8 to 10 TE's; 10 to 15 DL's; 10 to 15 LB's; 10 to 15 DB's; and maybe a few K's, P's, and kick return teams. And save your top picks for established quality players. We all like to gamble on unproven players, but for the most part they will still be available in later rounds. Use the first stage to get players you are certain will play a great deal and score well in this upcoming season.