Exciting Ways to Determine Your League's Draft Order

August 31, 2021

How to decide your fantasy football league's draft order? Frank Dyevoich breaks down some fun and exciting draft order ideas ahead of the 2021 NFL season.

Christmas is finally here! Of course, by Christmas, I mean fantasy football draft season! The time to hang out with friends and family as you draft the juggernaut squad that is going to dominate your league mates from Weeks 1 through 16. Tis' the time to trash talk your opponents into therapy. Tis' the time to build the army that will take you to the promised land. Draft season is exciting enough on its own, but how can we make it even more exciting? By adding fun and competitive ways to determine the draft order!

Most fantasy football leagues decide their draft order by the reverse order of last year's standings, or by letting the computer randomly generate the order approximately one hour before the draft begins. However, these outdated methods are boring and leave much to be desired. After all, maybe the person who finished last the previous year does not want the first pick. There have to be better options out there, right? So let's look at some exciting ways to determine the draft order for your fantasy football leagues

Regardless of the method for choosing the draft order, I am a huge proponent of letting the league members chose their draft position based on the outcome of a competition. This incentivizes each member to fully participate instead of planning for specific ways to avoid the middle picks. What I mean is that the person who wins the first spot in the draft should not automatically receive pick one, rather he/she should be given the first selection of where they want to draft. This puts even more control in the hands of the league members and promotes full participation because the last place finisher does not get pick 12, he/she gets the pick that no one else wanted. So let's look at some unique and exciting ways to determine the draft order for your fantasy football leagues.

Competitions in Other Sports

The first method to select your league's draft order is by competing in other sports. This is simple and allows each member to control their own fate.

Foul Shots: Surely each league member knows how to shoot a foul shot, right? The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings to take a foul shot on a basketball court. The first person to make a basket gets to choose their draft spot first. Repeat until all draft spots are filled. If you want to make it even more challenging than making one foul shot, you can change it to a three-point shot, or make everyone shoot 10 or 20 foul shots and the order will be determined by the number of shots made. Whoever made the most foul shots gets to pick their draft spot first, and so on down the line.

Pitching Competition: The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings to try and knock over a can with a baseball. The catch is that the member must "pitch" the baseball, meaning that they must throw it nearly as hard as they can. The first person to knock over the can gets to choose their draft spot. Repeat until all draft spots are filled.

Batting Cages: The league members all gather at a local batting cage facility. Each member gets one round in the batting cage. The commissioner should keep a count of the number of hits each member gets. Whoever had the most hits gets to choose their draft spot first, and so on down the line. To make it more difficult, the league can agree to increase the pitch speed inside the cage.

Miniature Golf: The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings and begin a 12-man round of mini-golf. The lowest score gets to choose their draft spot first. A fun twist on this game is to add the hole-in-one skip option, meaning if a player gets a hole-in-one, they do not have to complete the course and get to choose their draft spot immediately. To make the process a little shorter, the league can go to the 18th hole and allow one shot to each member. Whoever makes it in first gets to choose their draft spot, and so on down the line.

Bullseye Bonanza: The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings and begin throwing one dart at a dartboard. The first person to hit the bullseye gets to choose their draft spot first. Repeat until all draft spots are filled. I can attest from experience that this can be quite time-consuming, and alcoholic beverages should wait to be consumed until after you hit the bullseye.

Cornhole: The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings and begin tossing one beanbag at a Cornhole board from the same distance away. The first person to get the beanbag into the hole on the board gets to choose their draft spot first. Repeat until all draft spots are filled.

Other Competitions

Dave and Buster's: The entire league takes a trip to Dave and Buster's and purchases a $20 game card. The member with the most tickets after the $20 is spent gets to choose their draft spot first.

Arcade: Similar to Dave and Buster's, the entire league goes to a local arcade and chooses one game. In the reverse order of last year's standings, the league plays the game and the highest score gets to choose their draft spot first. Popular choices include Skee-Ball, the basketball arcade game, racing games, pinball, and Pac-Man. An alternate method for the arcade is to pick a game that two people can play at the same time and face off tournament style until there is a winner who gets to choose their draft spot first.

Potato Sack 40-Yard Dash: Some league members are undoubtedly faster than others, so a straight-line foot race might not be fair to all parties. In order to even the stakes, add a potato sack! The league members line up in the reverse order of last year's standings and "run" the 40-yard dash in a potato sack. The member with the fastest time gets to choose their draft spot first. If more than one member cannot finish the full 40 yards, then the person who made it the furthest gets to choose their draft spot first out of the non-finishers. If you wish to shorten the race, the league can choose to do a 20-yard potato sack race.

The Wonderlic Test: Each league member takes the same official Wonderlic Test and the member with the highest score gets to choose their draft spot first, and so on down the line.

Brain Freeze: Each league member fills up the same size cup with a Slurpee flavor of their choosing. Everyone begins drinking at the same time, and a member is finished the moment they stop chugging the Slurpee. If more than one person is able to chug the entire Slurpee without stopping, then the member who finishes first gets to choose their draft spot. Assuming no one can finish the Slurpee before brain freeze sets in, the member with the least amount of Slurpee left in their cup when they stop chugging gets to choose their draft spot first. DISCLAIMER: Ignoring the signs of brain freeze can be dangerous. Don't be a hero.

Laser Tag: The entire league goes for a night out to play laser tag! The member with the highest score after the match is over gets to choose their draft spot first.

Hold Your Breath: The entire league jumps into a pool while an uninvolved third-party watches and keeps track. Everyone goes underwater at the same time and whoever surfaces first does not get to choose their draft position. Have the third party write down the order that everyone pops up out of the water and whoever stays under the longest gets to choose their draft spot first.

Video Game Tournaments: This one is pretty self-explanatory. The league chooses a video game to compete in, tournament style, and the winner gets to choose their draft spot first. Popular choices include Madden, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Super Smash Bros., WWE, and Mortal Kombat.

Pray To The Old Gods (and The New)

Here are a bunch of ways to determine the draft order that is completely up to the fates. The members of the league have no control over these outcomes, which can make the events that much more exciting.

Horse Racing: The entire league takes a trip to the local racetrack and selects one horse from the same race. The order that the horses finish is the order in which the league members choose their draft spots. This can also be done at dog races and pig races. If there are not enough horses for each league member to choose one, then break it up into four races. The first two races are six members each (assuming a 12-team league). The top three finishers in each race then choose a horse in the third race. The order of finish of the third race will determine the first six members who get to choose their draft position. The fourth race will be between the three bottom finishers from the first two races. The order of finish of the fourth race will determine the order that the rest of the league gets to choose their draft position.

March Madness: Each league member fills out a March Madness college basketball bracket and the highest score gets to choose their draft spot first.

Kentucky Derby: The commissioner of the league places the name of each horse in the Kentucky Derby into a hat. The member whose horse finishes the highest gets to choose their draft spot first.

NASCAR Race: The Commissioner places the names of 12 drivers in the next NASCAR race into a hat. This is more fun when the commissioner chooses drivers that no one has heard of because it evens out the odds and leads to league members screaming their heads off for guys like Quinn Houff and Ross Chastain (who?). The order in which the drivers finish the race is the order in which the league members get to choose their draft spot.

PGA Tournament: Similar to NASCAR, the league commissioner places the names of 12 golfers in the next PGA tournament into a hat. The order in which the golfers finish in the tournament is the order in which the league members get to choose their draft spot.

Video Game Simulation: In this method, the commissioner chooses a video game and assigns each member a character from that game. Then, the commissioner runs a computer simulation of the game to determine the results. The best examples are WWE Smackdown and Super Smash Bros. Each league member chooses a wrestler and character from a hat, and the commissioner simulates a Royal Rumble/Battle Royal. The order is chosen in the reverse order that a wrestler/character is eliminated from the competition. This means that the league member who is assigned to the wrestler/character that is eliminated first does not get to choose their draft spot, but is instead left with the only spot remaining.

Pizza For Everyone: This is one of my favorite ways to determine the draft order. Each league member is assigned to a local pizza place. At the same time, every member calls their pizza place and orders a medium pizza. The member whose pizza is delivered first gets to choose their draft spot, and so on down the line in the order the pizzas arrive. Bonus: Not only is the league's draft order decided in a completely unbiased manner, but the league now has 12 pizzas to eat!

Long Distance Ideas

Each of these ideas will require a Zoom conference or Messenger video conference to ensure the integrity of the competition.

Draw One: The Commissioner gets everyone on a video chat and instructs each league member to have a deck of cards handy. Starting in the reverse order of last year's standings, have each league member draw one card from the deck. After each member has drawn one card, the commissioner will write down each card that was drawn. Whoever had the highest card gets to choose their draft position first. In the event that two members draw the same card, they will each face off to determine who gets to choose when it is their time.

For example, there is an Ace, a Queen, a Jack, and a 10, but two members pulled an 8, so the Ace picks first, followed by the Queen, the Jack, and the 10, and then the two 8's face off to determine who picks their draft position fifth and sixth.

Online Poker: The Commissioner sets up an online Poker room with the league members. Everyone starts with the same amount of chips and the commissioner should keep track of the order that each member is eliminated. The member who wins the pot at the end gets to choose their draft position first, and so on down the line in the reverse order of elimination.

Drink Responsibly

The following competitions for selecting the draft order involve an array of drinking games.

Beer Pong: The Commissioner of the league sets up 12 cups on one side of a table, each with a number on the bottom. Each member then takes a turn throwing a ping-pong ball into the cups from the other side of the table. When a member makes a cup, the number on the bottom of the cup is the place in which they get to choose their draft spot.

Flip Cup: All league members line up around a table and fill up their red cup about halfway with beer. At the same time, all league members drink the beer in their cup and then try to flip their cup on its head. The league member who is the last one to flip their cup is the last place finisher and does not get to choose their draft spot. The remaining eleven members then repeat the process until there is one member left. The commissioner should be writing down the order people are eliminated. The last remaining member gets to choose their draft spot first. PRO TIP: Wet the surface in front of your cup for optimal sticking when you flip it. Dry the table in front of your league mates' cups after each round and hope they don't realize what you are doing.

Shot For Shot: All league members line up around a table and pour one shot of the same liquor for themselves. At the same time, the league takes the shot. Repeat this process until members start dropping out of the competition. The first league member to stop taking shots is the last place finisher and does not get to choose their draft spot. It is best if the league hosts its draft a few days after this competition. PRO TIP: Bring ibuprofen and lots of water.

NOTE: Beer Pong and Flip Cup can also be played with non-alcoholic beverages.

The hit TV show The League on FX introduced us to some fun ways to select the draft order, but most of us probably won't have the opportunity to try and score a touchdown in the Dallas Cowboys' practice, or the balls to try and race through an airport security line. As we've seen, however, there are a ton of perfectly legal, exciting ways to select your league's draft order. Have fun and more importantly be safe!

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