Every major fantasy football platform provides a draft grade to managers once the draft process is complete. This grade gives a quick overview of how good that particular system thinks your squad is.
The ability to easily share these grades on social media gives them a lot of influence, but how important and accurate are fantasy draft grades? Should fantasy managers work toward getting those good grades when using a mock draft simulator? Let's dive into this to find out more.
What Is a Fantasy Draft Grade?
A fantasy draft guide typically mimics school grades, meaning that fantasy managers are given an A, B, C, D or F grade, with plus or minus add-ons where applicable. These grades are generated by sites such as RotoWire and ESPN using a variety of factors. Simulators and other tools that evaluate your roster are part of any fantasy football draft kit.
These factors include elements such as point projections, roster balance and tier rankings. For example, in the roster balance category, these formulas will usually grant higher grades for a team that has a very good bench at all positions than to a squad with a strong running back bench and a subpar wide receiver bench.
These algorithms generally push fantasy managers toward building better squads, so they can be a solid rule of thumb for a team's composition quality. Using ADP fantasy football rankings helps in that goal, as well as deploying a draft assistant.
Do Draft Grades Actually Matter?
One issue with draft grades is that they often are built with a focus on entertainment factors. Fantasy managers can tell when this is the case, and it leads them to think of fantasy draft grades as having less predictive value than they might in a more perfect world.
Another downside of fantasy draft grades is that they often misvalue potential breakout players and fantasy sleepers. If a fantasy manager invests in a platoon running back with the idea that this player can take over the backfield during the season, the fantasy draft grade won't factor that upside element into the analysis.
Fantasy draft grades also only analyze where the squad is at that very moment, based on the factors outlined above as well as fantasy football rankings and more. Every wise fantasy manager knows that much of the real success of a season stems from intelligent navigation of the waiver wire and trade blocks.
How to Interpret Your Fantasy Draft Grade
There is value in fantasy draft grades if you know how to interpret them. If your team earns an "A" grade in this analysis, what this usually means is that your squad has few weaknesses headed into the season. It probably has a strong set of starters and a high percentage bench.
If all goes well with this team, it should be a playoff contender. A "B" grade suggests that your squad may need some general improvements. These will usually be highlighted in the grade analysis and are often simple to address during the season.
If your team gets a grade of "C" or lower, it is a sign that there is something wrong with your fantasy draft strategy. It may be that you stocked up on backups before getting your last starters, have starters that aren't reliable enough or have a bad bench. Pay close attention to the grade notes here, as these are issues that you will need to address very soon if your team is to stay competitive.
Turning Your Draft Grade Into a Winning Season
Using all of the above information, here's how you can help turn your fantasy draft grade into a winning season for your fantasy squad. Step 1 is using the grade as a starting point to tell you what type of improvements are needed on your roster.
Step 2 is using those guidelines to assist you in prioritizing selections in both the waiver wire and free agency markets. You can also use this early analysis to help you determine trade strategies to shore up weak spots on your roster and where to focus on NFL news.
The roster knowledge provided by a fantasy draft grade can also help you with weekly lineup optimization, as you will know which parts of your roster to lean on when it comes to toss up lineup decisions. You can also subscribe to RotoWire for complete access to draft tools such as a fantasy football cheat sheet, and analysis.
