How Much Time Per Pick / FanDraft '22 Features Spotlight
In this installment of Commissioner Corner, we discuss considerations with draft clock times, and also put a spotlight on some new features in FanDraft '22
ON THE CLOCK:
HOW LONG SHOULD YOU SET THE DRAFT PICK TIMER?
It is often an after--through, but the amount of time you (the Commish) set for the draft pick timer can have a profound impact on your draft. Too short of a draft clock will make things feel anxious and hard to enjoy. Too long of a draft clock, and impatience sets in.
One thing is for certain, no matter what the draft clock gets set at, nobody is going to be completely happy. You’ll have owners that want to take their time and savor the draft event, and other owners bitching that it’s taking long. The key is to have balance and flexibility.
Below are a series of recommendations for keeping everyone mildly happy, and helping to assure a good flow to your draft:
Change the clock time at a certain point in the draft:
The first rounds of the draft are the most fun, and it’s early so nobody’s patience has yet been tested. Start off with a lengthier draft clock time, and then reduce it later on. It’s also worth considering reducing it even further for the final 2 or 3 rounds of the draft. This is when everyone is filling up their roster with backup kickers and defenses.Establish the Clock Rules prior to starting the draft:
This will make sure everyone clearly understands what’s happening, which will reduce the more vocal ones from yelling out “This is taking too long! Lower the draft time!”
The more everyone understands what to expect, the less questioning that will take place.Utilize “Draft Extensions”:
Some owners are very fast at deciding their picks. Other owners will occasionally need a little more time. Giving owners a set amount of “extensions” will allow more flexibility in your decided draft clock time, and help keep everyone happy.Decide what to do if the clock hits zero, and no pick has been made
You need to have a rule for what happens if a team hasn’t made a pick by their set draft time. Using a forced “extension” is one way to deal with this.
Some leagues will be a little harsher and just skip that pick.
Whatever you decide, make sure everyone understands the rules ahead of time.
All this said, a good rule of thumb is to simply not be a jerk. I sometimes just give a verbal warning of “You need to choose a player in the next 5 seconds or you’ll lose this selection”, and it’s been a no-fail method of forcing the said owner to make an immediate pick.
A Good Starting Template
Every league is different, so there is really no “perfect setup” for your draft clock rules.
However, if you want a good jumping-off-point, here’s a template that has worked very well for the two leagues I have commissioned for 10+ years each:
For the first 4 rounds, the draft clock will be set for 3 minutes 30 seconds
For the remaining rounds, the draft clock will be changed to 2 minutes.
For the final 3 rounds, the draft clock will be reduced to 1 minute.
Each team will be allowed 2 “Extensions”, each of which will add one minute to the draft clock. If desired, both draft extensions may be used twice consecutively for a single pick.
(Optional) If you use a draft extension, you must do a shot of whiskey.
SPOTLIGHT ON SOME NEW FANDRAFT '22 FEATURES
If you’re ever curious about what’s new and changing on the FanDraft platform, we keep an up-to-date “Change Log” on our website here. However, what’s listed there can be a bit general, so we thought it would be nice to focus in on a few of the new features in FanDraft ‘22 this year.
Utilized to their full extent, you can really create some added fun and a much more engaging draft experience!
The Pick Is In
You’ve seen this while watching the NFL Draft: A team submits their pick on paper, and suddenly that “oh so recognizable” audio chime comes in, and you see “The Pick Is In” on the screen. Then the commissioner goes up and formally announces the selection.
Now you can reenact this same experience at your draft with FanDraft. You can turn on and customize this feature through the AUDIO setup area in your dashboard.
Want to prevent your users from seeing you enter the pick while you type it in? Check out this tutorial here.
Customizable Sound Effects
Do you have some audio that works as an inside joke for your league? Or maybe a good fart sound would be appreciated. Now through the AUDIO setup area, you can customize up to two SFXs that the commissioner can play at any time during your draft.
Keeper On The Fly
Sometimes leagues will have teams with compensatory picks, or a team that has more than one pick in a round.
To handle this situation, the commissioner will now have the ability to step in and utilize an in-draft tool called "Keeper On The Fly". This will allow you to essentially add a player to a roster at any point in the draft.
Set a Draft Date
There’s almost always one or two owners who can’t make the draft, and dealing with them just adds further work to the already burdened commissioner. Now you can set up a draft date, which will queue sending an automated email to those owners on your draft day with all the information they need including:
- the draft date and time, and instructions for how to log in and access the draft.
Don’t worry though, as you won’t be locked into that date and time, and can actually draft and start whenever you please.
Mobile Compatibility
To further ease the experience of the remote owner, we added mobile compatibility to make drafting on different devices a much more improved experience. This way if you have some remote owner who only has access to a phone or small tablet, they’ll still be able to engage with the draft.
Want to check out these new features? Start setting up your 2022 league in FanDraft!