I find the snake draft format to be among the fairer NFL DFS strategies because everyone gets a fair shot at drafting top players. What is a snake draft in fantasy football? The draft order is flipped with each round.
Even if you start out badly, you can always recover in later rounds. DFS is filled with all sorts of draft formats. Understanding these will impact the strategy you adopt. Snake drafts are popular in fantasy football, but you can’t conduct them anyhow. I want to unpack what the concept entails, how to play them, and the best strategies.
Explore the Essentials of Snake Drafts in Fantasy Football This November
What is a snake draft in fantasy football?
So, what is a snake draft in fantasy football? This is the main draft format used in fantasy football matchups. Each team manager gets to pick one player per round. However, the draft order is reversed with each round. So, if you were the last to draft in the previous round, you go first in the next one. The process continues until the draft is complete.
I find this the best fantasy draft strategy when you group players according to their strengths and place them in tiers. This way, you don’t panic if someone snatches a player you’re after before you get a chance. You simply move on to the next one on your tier. In the snake draft, once a player is drafted, he can’t be picked by another team.
Snake draft vs Auction draft
When figuring out what is a snake draft in NFL fantasy football, I noticed that many players mix up snake and auction drafts. Both formats are used in fantasy football but play out a little differently. I like to think of snake drafts as the beginner’s playground and auction drafts are when the training wheels fall off. I’ve rounded up the differences in the table below.
| Snake Drafts | Auction Drafts |
|---|---|
| No budget required | Fantasy football managers pick players within a fixed budget |
| Every team manager waits their turn to pick a player | Players are nominated, and team managers bid for desired players |
| Team managers can only pick one player per round | Team managers can bid for as many players as they want |
| Long waiting time between picks, but the draft process ends quicker | Overall draft process takes longer to conclude |
How to play fantasy snake drafts
Now that you know what a snake draft is in fantasy football, let’s discuss how you go about the process.
As I said, when playing snake drafts with daily fantasy sports, the pick order is reversed for each round. Let me break that down for you.
- Research: Once you know what your snake draft type is in fantasy football, research is crucial before you get down to business. Check out the recent stats on player news, injuries, and rankings. The last thing you need is to shortlist a player who sprained an ankle a week ago!
- Familiarize yourself: Next, you must learn the ins and outs of your chosen fantasy football league. Do receptions not matter in your league or is it a Point-Per-Reception league? Asking these questions helps you know which position to prioritize.
- Create your tiers: The next step is to create your tiers for each position based on the strengths of different players. To do this, you list your top players for your different positions, i.e. QB, RB, WR, and TE. Segmenting your pool of players makes it easy to pick the best position in a fantasy football snake draft when it’s your turn since you’ve narrowed down your options.
- Make your picks: It’s now time to join any of the new daily fantasy sites and take turns drafting players using a back-and-forth format. For instance, if you pick first in Round 1, you pick last in Round 2 and then first in Round 3 and last in Round 4, etc, until the roster is complete.
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Snake draft strategies
Part of learning what’s a snake draft in fantasy football is mastering the strategies involved. You’re not doing yourself any favors by going into a draft unprepared. Here are a few tricks to hide under your sleeve:
🏃♂️ It’s OK to fill your bench early
Any daily fantasy sports guide can confirm how various unpredictable factors, such as injuries, affect your lineup. However, don’t shy away from picking whoever you perceive to be the best player for the position at any given time. If there’s a wide receiver you want early on, go after him even if your starting lineup isn’t complete yet. Such positions are pivotal to any successful lineup, so loading up on them early is to your advantage.
🛡️ Snatch the defense and kicker
Logic would tell you to wait until the last two rounds to draft a defense or kicker. In my experience, you don’t have to wait that long. In fact, you gain an advantage by picking these positions a round or two before everyone else catches on. You must target kickers with good offenses and defenses with excellent pass-rushers to give yourself an edge over the competition.
🤔 Trust your gut
Other players are hell-bent on using DFS tools like the NFL DFS lineup optimizer to draft a strong squad, and that’s great. However, it’s also okay to go with your gut feeling. Fantasy team managers pick the wrong players all the time, even after lengthy deliberations. If you’re going to be wrong, you might as well take your L, knowing you went with your intuition. So, if you’re convinced a certain player will break out even if rankings say otherwise, go ahead and draft them. Besides, I reckon it’s way more fun to get what you believe is a value pick than to watch another manager reap the benefits of picking your guy.
👀 Pay attention to other rosters
When drafting players, don’t be a horse with blinkers. Study the rosters around you and find out what other managers are doing. That way, you use these opportunities to identify value players and decide if they’re a fit for you or not. By checking out other rosters, you can predict who they’re likely to pick. You can then grab the player to flip the odds in your favor. The idea is to maximize the value of every pick.
Snake draft pros & cons
I mentioned earlier how I’m a fan of snake drafts because they kind of level the playing – or is it drafting field. However, like everything else in DFS, be it tools like the fantasy lineup optimizer, snake drafts have good and bad nuances. I’ve outlined both below:
Drafting made simple
As we come to the end of this guide, you will now know what a snake draft is in fantasy football. Snake drafts are a less volatile draft process compared to say auction drafts. Everyone has a fair chance at picking a player and has a chance to walk away with a decent team.
Snake drafts aren’t all fun and games, though, because it’s easy to lose out on high-value players, especially in larger leagues. Your best bet is to plan your tiers well ahead of time while keeping your ears on the ground for the latest player news. Incorporating strategies like NFL DFS ownership projections when drafting is also a good idea. If all goes well, you’ll be raking in those points with your stellar team.
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What is a snake draft in fantasy football FAQs
🤝 Can I make a trade with snake drafts?
⚖️ Is a snake draft fair?
⭐ What is the biggest benefit of a snake draft?
⏳ How long does a snake draft last?
Simon Day
Simon has been writing about Gaming and Sports for over a decade, with his work featured in a variety of well-known gaming magazines. This year, he joined win.gg as an Editorial Specialist, where he continues to share his passion for the industry through insightful and well-crafted content pieces.
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