Tricks of the Draft Trade

[Harry]

As I’ve gotten older I’ve become inclined to share my draft tools more often. Maybe a few will be good enough to outlive me. One of my favorites is the way I use a spreadsheet to structure my big board for round one and sometimes round two on a deep draft. I don’t just enter names sequently going down. Of course I list names, but I leave blank rows to show gaps in talent. The more rows blank, the larger the skill drop off. I realize that’s subjective. The other advantage is when I hit a cluster of 4-5 players with no blank rows it tells me I should consider trading down. I’d say overall I adhere to the theory of BPA, but just at need positions. I do this after the combine. So this year when I get to pick 16, if there’s a cluster; a good offer would likely trigger a trade down.

 

[Stout]

As I’ve gotten older I’ve become inclined to share my draft tools more often. Maybe a few will be good enough to outlive me. One of my favorites is the way I use a spreadsheet to structure my big board for round one and sometimes round two on a deep draft. I don’t just enter names sequently going down. Of course I list names, but I leave blank rows to show gaps in talent. The more rows blank, the larger the skill drop off. I realize that’s subjective. The other advantage is when I hit a cluster of 4-5 players with no blank rows it tells me I should consider trading down. I’d say overall I adhere to the theory of BPA, but just at need positions. I do this after the combine. So this year when I get to pick 16, if there’s a cluster; a good offer would likely trigger a trade down.

That's an elegant way to visually show yourself where the tiers end and begin.

 

[Sandan]

when I hit a cluster of 4-5 players with no blank rows it tells me I should consider trading down.

I get the ranking and blank rows but

Call me dumb but I don't get it, why ?

 

[oaken1]

I get the ranking and blank rows but

Call me dumb but I don't get it, why ?

If you have a 5 player cluster you can trade back 4 spots and still be assured to get one of the guys you want. While at the same time increasing your draft value by gaining additional picks.

 

[Harry]

I get the ranking and blank rows but

Call me dumb but I don't get it, why ?

A blank row indicates the previous player was a significantly better choice. Multiple blanks in a row indicates the previous player was dramatically better. No blank rows between choices says the players are of similar value. A little cluster without blanks in between means you could trade down and still get a player of the same approximate value.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Could you share a snapshot of one of your older spreadsheets for those of us that are more visual learners?

 

[PDXChris]

Could you share a snapshot of one of your older spreadsheets for those of us that are more visual learners?

I think this is the first one @Harry ever did!

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[ASUCHRIS]

I think this is the first one @Harry ever did!

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He was spot on with Samson and his hair...nice work Harry!

 

[Harry]

Could you share a snapshot of one of your older spreadsheets for those of us that are more visual learners?

Sorry I guess I should archive that stuff. I usually review them and discard about mid-season when I go through them to see how I did. I also don’t keep my old draft notes. If my brain works well enough I’ll post this years sheet sometime during the season. I kept some of that stuff at first but after pilling it up for the first three years I realized it was just taking up space. You’d think you could use it to hone your skills, but what I saw was pretty much simply what I saw. I could never conclude why I overrated or underrated guys. If I thought they had good hands and they dropped a bunch of passes, I still saw what I saw during their collegiate season. Weird, huh!

 

[Harry]

I think this is the first one @Harry ever did!

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That does look familiar.