THE DRAFT

The draft is probably the most important day of the fantasy football season. Contestants that have a strong draft will most likely find themselves at the top of the standings during the regular season. The first step in a successful draft is choosing your draft method. STATS Fantasy Football offers five draft methods: Live, single-list, multi-list, email, and offline draft.

Regardless of the draft method you select, each team will draft a roster of 22 athletes during the draft. Athletes may only be drafted at the position listed on the online player list. All un-drafted athletes become free agents following the draft and can be acquired by any team on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once you have received your roster following the preseason draft, you may expand to 24 athletes by signing free agents or trading.

Drafts for single-list and multi-list drafts are processed on different days throughout the pre-season. Draft lists must be prepared by 11:59 PM CT on the day before each team's appointed draft day. Team owners using the single-list or multi-list draft do not need to be online for their drafts. For live drafts, dates and times are determined by the Commissioner's office and are available at different times and days throughout the pre-season.

Live Draft
The live draft option allows you to control every athlete that is placed on your 22-man roster. The draft will last 22 rounds and draft order will be randomly selected prior to the draft (1-12). The order in which team owners draft reverses in each successive round, so that the owner who drafts first in the first round, will draft 12th in the second round, and so on.

You will have 90 seconds to draft an athlete in each of the 22 rounds. If you do not select an athlete within the time limit, an athlete will be chosen for you. If you fail to make a selection for two consecutive rounds (i.e. do not select a player within the 90 second time limit) the auto-draft feature will be enabled for your team automatically. If you can’t participate in the live draft, you will have the option to rank all athletes in order of preference and have our auto-draft draft for you. The auto-draft will look at both an athlete's position and ranking before making a selection. The computer looks to see which starting positions you need to fill, then selects the highest-rated athlete to fill one of those positions. If you do not rank athletes, you will be provided a set of default rankings based on last season’s point totals. So, if you are given a receiver in the first round, another will not be selected until all your other starting positions are filled. If you choose to rank athletes and not participate in the live draft, the positions from which you will be drafting and the number of athletes you will draft at each position are as follows:

Position	You Draft
Quarterback	2
Running Back	4
Receiver	6
Kicker	2
Coach	2
Overall Defense	2
Rush Defense	2
Pass Defense	2

Contestants participating in a live draft may draft as many athletes at a position as they want, however, each team must be able to submit a valid starting lineup before Contest Week 1 (i.e. one (1) QB, five (5) RB & REC, one (1) kicker, one (1) coach, one (1) OD, one (1) RD, and one (1) PD).

Single-List Automated Draft
Prior to the draft, you'll rank athletes in order of preference based on knowledge, research, and gut instinct. The single-list draft method allows team owners to draft the best athlete available at any given draft spot, regardless of position.

When the draft is processed, each team will be given a draft position at random (1-12). At each draft position, an owner receives the highest ranked athlete who is still available to be drafted. The order in which team owners draft reverses in each successive round, so that the owner who drafts first in the first round, will draft 12th in the second round, and so on.

If you do not rank athletes, you will be provided a set of default rankings based on last season’s point totals, regardless of position. These default rankings are only displayed as a reference and owners should customize the athletes' ranks as they see fit. To prevent an owner from drafting too many athletes at a single position, the single-list draft method includes a maximum number of athletes you can draft at each position:

Position	Maximum
Quarterback	2
Running Back	4
Receiver	6
Kicker	2
Coach	2
Overall Defense	2
Rush Defense	2
Pass Defense	2

Multi-List Automated Draft
In each league, there will be 12 owners grouped in three four-team divisions. There also will be 12 drafting categories, guaranteeing every owner a No. 1 pick at a position. The categories from which you will be drafting, the number of athletes you will draft in each category, and the number of athletes in each category you can rank are as follows:

Position	You Draft	You Rank
Quarterback - AFC	1	12
Quarterback - NFC	1	12
Running Back - AFC	2	24
Running Back - NFB	2	24
Receiver - AFC	3	36
Receiver - NFC	3	36
Kicker	2	24
Coach	2	24
Overall Defense - AFC	1	12
Overall Defense - NFC	1	12
Rush Defense	2	24
Pass Defense	2	24

In the multi-list draft, you'll get the No.1 pick at one position, the No.2 at one position, etc.; and one position, you'll get the 12th pick. This doesn't mean you'll get your 12th-ranked player; it means you'll get your highest available choice after the other 11 owners have chosen from that category.

This means if you think the best NFC Quarterback is Kurt Warner, with Brett Favre the next best, rate Warner 1st and Favre 2nd. There are no tricks. If your first choice is Warner, and you pick 8th at QB, but Warner hasn't been chosen among the first seven picks, you'll get Warner. If you don't rate all the athletes you're entitled to rate in a category (for example, only ranking your top 10 kickers even though 24 will be drafted), we will award you the available athlete with the highest number of fantasy points from last year. You can even elect to not rank athletes at all if you wish. In this case, you always will get the highest available point producer from last season as your pick at each position.

E-mail Draft
Like the live draft, the e-mail draft option allows you to control every athlete that is placed on your 22-man roster. The draft will last 22 rounds and draft order will be randomly selected prior to the draft (1-12). The order in which team owners draft reverses in each successive round, so that the owner who drafts first in the first round, will draft 12th in the second round, and so on.

The draft will begin with an automated e-mail sent to all 12 contestants informing them that the team selected to pick first in the first round is on the clock. At that time the contestant on the clock can go to the web site provided in the e-mail to make his/her selection. A list of available athletes at each position will be provided. After the selection is made, an automated e-mail will be sent to all 12-league members to inform them of the athlete picked and what contestant picks next. This process will continue for all 22 rounds. Each contestant will have 24 hours to make their selection in each of the 22 rounds. A contestant does not have to take 24 hours to make a selection. If a contestant chooses an athlete before the 24 hour time limit has expired, the clock will start running for the next contestant as soon as the selection is made. If you do not select an athlete within the time limit, an athlete will be chosen for you. Because of the length of time allowed to make each pick, if a league’s draft has not completed by 11:59 PM CT on Friday, September 7, 2001, all remaining picks will be selected automatically. Automatic selections will award each contestant the available athlete with the highest number of fantasy points from last year.

Contestants participating in an e-mail draft may draft as many athletes at a position as they want, however, each team must be able to submit a valid starting lineup before Contest Week 1 (i.e. one (1) QB, five (5) RB & REC, one (1) kicker, one (1) coach, one (1) OD, one (1) RD, and one (1) PD).

Offline Draft
Owners may wish to hold their draft offline and submit their rosters afterwards. To do this, simply use the single-list automatic draft. You must have every owner place their pre-drafted athletes in the top 22 draft rankings, and those are the athletes they will receive when the automated draft is run. Be aware, however, that the league must be full and all owners must set their lists properly. Owners will be held responsible for correcting any errors in the draft, by using trades and waiver claims.