What's The Best Way To Determine Your Fantasy Football League's Draft Order?

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Fantasy football has exploded in popularity over the past 20 years, and it's helped bring new fans to the NFL. 

My first experience with fantasy football came in the before time, the long, long ago. 

Before I ever even played in a fantasy football league myself, I would help my dad score his league. 

See, kids today have no idea what it's like to score a fantasy football week by using a newspaper. 

That's right, kids! We used to have to go through the NFL box scores in the newspaper on Monday morning and individually score fantasy football matchups. Now, you all have that new-fangled Internet thing. 

Kids today will never have the joy of opening up the Monday newspaper, pouring through the NFL box scores and scoring their fantasy football league by hand.

Kids today will never have the joy of opening up the Monday newspaper, pouring through the NFL box scores and scoring their fantasy football league by hand. 

(John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images)

Actually, it was kinda cool because it gave me something to do in first period that didn't involve paying attention in class. 

Eventually, my dad let me into his league, and I've been hooked ever since. 

But I've always felt like one of the most overlooked aspects of the fantasy football league was the draft order. 

This is especially true with online leagues, where people often just let the hosting website randomly pick a draft order. That's no fun. 

I've always liked the idea of giving people some control over their draft slot. 

What my league does now is draw names out of a hat (original, I know), but instead of the first name out of the hat getting the #1 overall pick, that person can pick ANYWHERE in the first round that they want to draft. 

We've been doing this for three years now, and I believe we've had three different draft spots picked by the person chosen first. 

There are many ways that fantasy football leagues can determine the draft order, but what's the best option?

There are many ways that fantasy football leagues can determine the draft order, but what's the best option? 

(Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)

I like doing it this way because people usually come out of it feeling better about their draft position. Plus, some people like to draft early in the first round, others prefer to pick later and have their first two picks closer together. 

But how do you determine your fantasy football league's draft order? 

We posed the question to the OutKick audience on X. If your league has a unique way to determine the draft order, drop us a line! Or, email me at dan.zaksheske@outkick.com. 

I look forward to the responses and will post a follow-up on Monday! 

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.