Once summer is in full swing, it’s time to start thinking about your upcoming fantasy football season. Once you’ve decided to start a league after reading our beginner’s guide to fantasy football, the main focus should be determining your draft order. This should be one of the best parts of the entire fantasy football season. As such, we have you covered with a plethora of options across various categories to get your brain into snake draft mode.
ATHLETIC PROWESS
One of the best categories of deciding who gets to draft Justin Jefferson has to be flashing the athletic prowess that won your intramural flag football league back in college.
DODGEBALL
Start with two teams of six. The winning team then stays on and splits into two smaller teams of three. Continue on until only one is left standing. The winner then gets to select their draft slot, and so on. Want that first pick? You better be prepared to stay light on your feet.
DECATHLON
A decathlon/American Ninja Warrior-style endurance course is also a great choice to separate the 1.01 from the 1.12. Start out with a beer chug, followed by dizzy-bat spins, cornhole toss, and a 40-yard dash. Spice it up depending on your group, or tone it down for the dad-bods in the league. Flip cup, beer pong, etc.. all are fair game to add as you see fit.
SKEEBALL
Does at least one of the GMs in your league have children? Head to Charles Edward Cheese’s family fun establishment for some skeeball. It’s a self-explanatory process here, where the highest score gets the first pick, and so on.
MINI GOLF
A league outing to the nearest miniature golf course is a great way to spend some time with your league and distract each other on every stroke on the course. Keep it PG-13, these are family establishments after all.
LAWNMOWER RACE
For those who reside in the country, gas up the John Deere and make a lap around the yard (or block). First place (or fastest time) gets the first pick. Just alert the neighbors ahead of time…
VIDEO GAMING
Bringing the sticks into real life is one of the most fun ways to determine fantasy football draft order.
MADDEN TOURNAMENT OR ROYAL RUMBLE SIMULATION
If your league is more on the sedentary side, the classic Madden football tournament or simulation is a good way to determine your order. This might be the preferred method if your group is spread out geographically.
Another football video game-centric method is the Madden cover challenge. Whoever can name the most Madden years and their related cover athlete wins the top prize.
Another alternative (and personal favorite I’ve used several times) is a battle royale simulation on the wrestling video game of your choice. This sees each GM select a wrestler as they proceed to watch (in person, or via a live stream) as they are tossed over the top rope, one by one. The last man standing reigns supreme.
MIKE TYSON’S PUNCH OUT OR SUPER MARIO BROS
For the older generation, begin a ladder in Mike Tyson’s Punch-out with a set time limit. Whoever has the most KOs by the timer’s end receives the first pick. In the event of a tie, speedrun level 1-1 of Super Mario Brothers. This will undoubtedly test reflexes and memory of which pipe contains the shortcut to the flag.
MENTAL FORTITUDE
If athletics and video games aren’t your league’s cup of tea, there are other categories that may appeal to the brainiacs.
MATH SPEED TEST
If one of you has school-age children, steal a page of their math homework, add problems to beef it up if needed, and make a copy for each GM in your league. Whoever can finish first, or has the most correct answers when the timer goes off will have the pleasure of drafting first overall.
STATE CAPITALS
A method that’s sure to have you revisiting your grade school days, simply print off a blank map of the USA. Whoever can fill in the most states and their state capitals wins. Just make sure you don’t spill the Ecto-Cooler on your finished copy.
MCU MOVIE RELEASE
If your group is more on the comic nerd side, you can hold the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe for the un-informed) timeline contest. There’s flexibility in this method also, as you can either list the films according to the chronological events within the films or via theatrical release order.
STANDARD OR TRADITIONAL
For the boomer crowds, there are also fairly standard and cookie-cutter methods to choose from.
I won’t cover them each in detail, since they have been the default since the beginning of time. Picking names from a hat, using a web-based randomizer like the league’s host website or random.org, or the NFL’s method of leveraging the prior seasons’ record. Last place team receives the first pick, the champ receives the last pick, and so on. Also, it’s too late now, but for the 2024 season, every owner can pick a horse in the Kentucky Derby and the draft order can be finalized in order of finish.
No matter how you determine your league’s draft order, make sure it’s fun for all in the league. The draft is easily the best part of the season, as undoubtedly only aggravation will come in the months that follow. Rest up, stretch, and study, because landing Travis Kelce or Ja’Marr Chase should be this summer’s top priority.
