What time of year is best to draft in fantasy football? All you need to know ahead of 2023 season

Modified Aug 08, 2024 19:23 GMT

2023 NFL Draft - Rounds 4-7 — Preparing for the 2023 Fantasy Football draft season

While Fantasy Football drafts can take place at any time during each NFL offseason, most leagues wait as late as possible to do so. The longer the league waits, the more information each manager will have about the players they are thinking about drafting. This includes their projected role within their NFL team, as well as their health.

Most of these factors are determined during NFL training camp, especially for rookies and new additions to a team. The NFL preseason can also provide additional knowledge as to how each player will be utilized with their team for an upcoming season. The preseason also comes with a ton of injury risks, which is extremely important to pay attention to in Fantasy Football.

If a league conducts its draft prior to training camp or preseason and one of its best players gets injured, it can derail its fantasy season before it even gets started. Waiting as long as possible eliminates some of this risk, though injuries are always a risk in Fantasy Football. Managers will also get a better idea of roles, which directly impacts their fantasy projections.

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Roles can also be impacted by contract situations, potential trades and free agent signings. Waiting as long as possible before a draft can allow all of these things to play themselves out as much as possible. For the 2023 Fantasy Football season, many notable names, including Saquon Barkley, Dalvin Cook, Josh Jacobs and Austin Ekeler are facing uncertain situations.

Facing a tough decision on draft day? Check out our 'Who Should I Draft' tool that provides valuable insights to make the best pick.

Usage is one of the most important factors when making fantasy projections. How much a player will be used within their team's scheme directly impacts their eventual statistics and ultimately their fantasy score. While rankings can be made at any time, they become more accurate when additional information becomes available as the offseason plays itself out.

All things considered, the best time for fantasy leagues to host their drafts is as close to the kickoff of Week 1 of the regular season as possible. Ideally, they can wait until the complete conclusion of preseason. In order to properly line up schedules for all of the fantasy managers in a league, any time in August is considered fantasy draft season, but again, the later the better.