Getty Which snake draft positions give fantasy managers unique competitive advantages?
If you do fantasy snake drafts, you might have a favorite draft position. Maybe you hit big a couple times at pick #4, and to this day you swear there’s no better spot. Or maybe a popular website ran some analytics and found that if you drafted at #11 in the last two seasons, thanks to guys like Justin Jefferson (2022) and CeeDee Lamb (2023), you would have dominated.
I run an annual league featuring 150+ managers separated into 12 distinct divisions, and the biggest manager complaints I read in the draft rooms are from those picking at one of the corners. They lament how they pick first, and then have to wait 23 turns until it comes back to them. Or they’re frustrated that by the 12-13 turn, all the best players are gone, and then they have to wait 23 more picks. By the end of the third round, (you guessed it), “all the best players are gone.”
But corner pickers have the power to draft in ways their opponents cannot. If they capitalize on these differences, they can crush their draft. Here’s why.
Picking at the Corners Cuts Down on Sniping
I’ve shared the biggest manager complaint before the draft. The biggest complaint during the draft is when someone gets sniped. As most of you know, that’s when you’re ready to snag a specific player on your next turn, and an opponent (often the one picking right before you) takes him first.
These painful moments can frustrate even the most seasoned fantasy footballers. I once got sniped three times in the first five rounds. Yeah, it happens, and it’s why we always need strong backup plans.
But if you pick at one of the corners, you’re cutting down on the number of times you can get sniped. Sure, a bunch of your opponents could take all your favorite players in the lead-up to your two selections. But once the draft comes back to you, you have firm control of your next two picks.
So instead of taking a team’s #1 WR in round 3 and then hoping an opponent doesn’t grab his near-elite QB in round 4, you can stack both guys (if that’s what you want to do). There’s no waiting around and hoping your strategy pans out. Cutting down on “waiting around and hoping” is the surest way to select the guys you want/need and not getting rattled mid-draft.
Timeshare RBs are Corner Drafters’ Best Friends
Building off of the snipe-reduction angle, here’s a real-world scenario: In 2017, I was picking at the corner and drafted Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams in the eighth and ninth round, respectively. They were rookie teammates in Green Bay. Individually, they were longshots to make a meaningful fantasy impact. But together, they formed the perfect hedge.
As it turned out, this tandem combined for five 20+ point fantasy performances. Williams’ dominance began in Week 12 when Jones was inactive.
If I’d had, say, the #6 pick that year, I might have played it safe with a lower-upside player. Or I might have taken Jones and then watched as an opponent sniped Williams. Instead, I pretty much locked up the Packers’ backfield, knowing that one likely would exceed market expectations.
Each preseason, managers have similar RB tandems to choose from–two guys battling for the #1 spot, where the “winner” could/should become a weekly fantasy starter. Picking at the corner, you can secure a monopoly on multiple muddled backfields and wait patiently for one RB to rise to the top.
No other draft position affords this kind of flexibility or power. So the next time you’re picking at the corner, there’s no need to complain. Instead, embrace it.