All News & Analysis

Premium Content Sign Up

Trade Wins: Revisiting VBD

JuliusThomasI mentioned in an earlier column that I live in Melbourne, Australia. Because of the time difference, I have found myself in precarious situations trying to draft or manage my team.

This year, my draft occurred on a Wednesday at about lunchtime. Unfortunately, I had an important meeting downtown just before so there was no time to get back to the office to start the draft. With only minutes to go before my draft commencement, I ducked into an Internet cafe and used one of their free computer terminals. While others around me were busy searching for a hostel to crash at or an under-the-table temp job, I was busy debating Doug Martin or LeSean McCoy with my first pick (Note: I made the wrong choice).

I felt a little bad for using up precious free internet time, but hey, it's fantasy football! In fact a staffer at the cafe walked by, saw what I was doing and sympathized with my plight. He was in from California and used this cafe to draft his team a week prior. So I was left to complete my draft, thanks to the universal language of fantasy football.

Looking back on draft day, remember how important Value Based Drafting (VBD) was to your draft strategy? VBD is like your anniversary or Halloween: you don't think about it all year except for a few weeks when much focus, attention and planning are devoted to it. In those weeks leading up to your draft, you bandy VBD about as often as PPR and RG3. If you follow its principles, then you understand why you shouldn't take a QB in round 1 despite them being the highest scoring position in the game. And despite your kicker outscoring your RB5, you understand the reason for taking them at the end of your draft.

But VBD can be a valuable tool used to identify trade targets in season too.

DOMINATE FANTASY FOOTBALL & BETTING WITH AI-POWERED DATA & TOOLS TRUSTED BY ALL 32

Unlimited Fantasy League Sync
Fantasy Start/Sit Line-Up Optimizer & Waiver Wire
WR-CB & OL-DL Matchups, PFF Player Grades, & Premium Stats 2.0 Tools
Nathan Jahnkes Rankings - #1 Most Accurate Last 70 Weeks
PFF Best Bets, Player Props, & Power Ranking Tools
NFL Mock Draft Sim with Trades & Draft Grades

Already have a subscription? Log In

All Featured Tools

Subscriptions

Unlock the 2023 Fantasy Draft Kit, with League Sync, Live Draft Assistant, PFF Grades & Data Platform that powers all 32 Pro Teams

$31 Draft Kit Fee + $8.99/mo
OR
$89.88/yr + FREE Draft Kit