Objectives for the Draft Software
Trial:
This season we are going to use new draft software so
that we can have optional player queues that will make picks for you when you
are unavailable (you're welcome West Coasters and Italians). The new
software will also eliminate duplicate picks and the need to consult the
game file for player stats. In short, while it isn't perfect, it's damn
good and should answer the requests that many of you have made about improving
our previous clunky system. Because it is new, there will be a learning
curve to get everybody familiar and prepared for the real draft. To
get everyone up to speed, we are going to have a quick two-day trial of the
software beginning 9am ET on Wednesday, May 14th. Participation is mandatory
- if you don't participate in the trial, there will be no sympathy from the
League Office if you screw things up during the actual draft. Below you
will find instructions on how to use the new draft software. I suggest
that you print them out, read them thoroughly, and consult them
frequently. I know this might seem a little complicated, but the program
is pretty intuitive once you understand the basics - hence, the trial.
Your goals in our two-day four round trial
should be to:
1. Make a pick manually when you're on the
clock.
2. Populate your Priority list and let the software make an auto pick
from your queue.
3. Decline a pick (or pass).
4. Let your time expire so
that your pick is SKIPPED. Then, later in the draft, UNSKIP and choose a
player in that skipped draft slot.
Once you have those four things figured out, you're good to go. A
thread will be set up on the webpage for any questions you might have
.
Before the Draft:
Step 1: Connect to the Draft at http://www.aaroncraneinstitute.com/football/apcfb_draft/
Step
2: Register
Locate the Register Button at the top of the page, click on
it, and fill in the form.
You MUST use the EXACT three letter team code provided here for
your Team Name. It is a quirk of the software that the three letter team
code must match exactly (all caps) with the team name abbreviations used to set up
the draft. Don't screw this up.
INV WSS CIN
BEN CLE BAR
LAK ALA WAU KUT SAL
BRX
PST CRO CAR RGG ATL
SWF
VAN SEA BAY LVR WAR NYH
Your
Username is up to you and it goes without
saying that your password should be easily remembered and
written down.
Enter your email address for email
notification of when you're on the clock. Optionally enter your 10
digit cell phone number (no spaces or dashes) and identify your
phone carrier if you'd like to get a text message when you're
on the clock. (Note: The email and sms features aren't currently
working but we're troubleshooting them).
I recommend ticking the
Keep me logged in box.
Click the Register Button.
Step 3: Go to GM
Options (menu at the top)
The only one thing that concerns you here now is the
AutoPick feature. Tick the box to turn it on (you can turn it off
later) then scroll down and hit SAVE.
Step 4: Go to Players
Here is
where you'll find the list of all available players.
To see the stats
of an individual player, simply click on his name.
You can sort the list
by Position by using the SHOW drop down box and hitting the Filter button.
Players are listed in order of their salary costs as listed by the APCFB
game. (We don't use those numbers but they are a handy guide).
You can shorten or lengthen
the number of players listed per page by changing the Row per Page option. The Page
Option will take you to another page of available players.
Go ahead and tick
the My Priority List boxes
for a few players (doesn't matter which ones) then scroll down and click on
Update My Priority List
at the bottom of the page. This will put players
into your Priority queue so that the software can choose for you IF you
have Auto Pick turned on. You can update this list at anytime, before or during
the draft.
Step 5: Go to Priority
Read the instructions.
Here is where you sort the list
of players you are interested in drafting through the Auto-Pick option.
Play around with
your priority list so you understand how it works.
Your list will AutoSave once you click on another page in
the top menu.
Once the Draft
Starts:
The SELECTIONS
page:
When you log in each day, you should be
taken first to the Selections page. (If not, just click on SELECTIONS in
the top menu). The Selections page lists each round's draft order, picks
that have already been made, skipped, or declined, and the team on the
clock. You can shorten or lengthen the list of selections
by using the Row per Page option. The Page option will take you to another
screen of draft selections. Note that the PICK column tells you what round
a draft slot is in, the numbered draft slot, and the number of the overall
pick. It is important that you pay attention to the ROUND number because
the round a player is drafted in determines the salary he will be
paid.
Each draft day will begin at 9am ET and
conclude before 10pm ET.
Most draft days will consist of two rounds per day with a 15 minute selection time period assigned to every team
per round. The first three rounds (where few people pick) will be on the
first day with a 10 minute selection period per pick. At the
end of the draft, when most teams have filled their rosters, a couple of
six rounds per day with 5 minute selection periods will be scheduled. Changes to
the regular draft schedule will be posted on the website and announced by
email.
You
have three options when you're on the clock:
1: You can manually make
your draft pick.
2. You can set up a Priority List and let your pick be
made automatically.
3. You can Decline to make a pick so that you PASS
that round.
Additionally,
4. if
you are set to manually make a pick but miss your time slot, your pick will be
SKIPPED, and you'll have a chance to make that pick up at any time later.
5. if you are set to auto pick but don't have any players
remaining in your queue, your pick will be automatically
skipped.
About Time Slots: A schedule of time slots will
be published on the website but it is important to know that these time slots
are only approximate. The software doesn't allow us to specifically state
when you'll be on the clock because some teams will use the full time limit
given to them, while others will pick quickly. (We're working on this for
the next version of the software). For now, realize that you'll likely be
on the clock before your scheduled selection time. The
best way to deal with that is to either use the autopick option OR be able to
monitor the draft a half hour or so ahead of your pick time OR enable email and
SMS (texts to your cell phone) messages when you register to let you know
when you're on the clock (if and when we get them
working
).
Here are the Instructions for each of these options when you're
on the clock:
1. Manual Picks
To make a pick manually
during your time slot, go to GM Options and make sure the Auto Pick option is
unticked (OFF) before you're on the clock and click SAVE at the bottom of the
page. Then go to PLAYERS and find the player you want to draft. If you are on the clock, you will see an option to DRAFT THIS PLAYER. Click on it then visit the SELECTIONS page where you'll see your manually drafted player listed.
2. Auto Picks
Make
sure the Auto Pick option is ticked ON (and that you've clicked SAVE at the
bottom of the page) in GM OPTIONS before you're on the clock. You also
must make sure that your PRIORITY list is sufficiently populated with enough
players to make sure someone is picked when your time slot comes up. If
there are no available players left in your PRIORITY list your pick will be
skipped. (This can be handy if you want the Auto Pick to only choose
a specific player if they are available and no other. For example, you
want to pick up Brown, Jim, RB the next round but skip your pick if he is
no longer available. Simply place Mr. Brown as the only player in your
active queue.) Depending on your draft strategy, it is probably advisable
that you revisit your priority list before each round or turn off the autopick
if you know you want to skip the next round's pick. This can be
done at any time prior to when you are on the clock.
(Note: We've found one bug that we haven't resolved. If you
try to switch from manual to autopick while you're on the clock (and presumably
vice versa), the software will pick for you randomly. The simple solution
is: DO NOT switch from manual to autopick when you're on the
clock!
)
Zero
Out Priority Of Players with Same Position:
Tick this option when
you are auto-picking for two or more consecutive rounds and don't want
to pick up more than one player at a specific position. For example, you
might want to pick a QB in round 4 so the top players in your priority
list are QBs. Assuming you had enough QBs prioritized to get a QB
auto-picked in that round, all other remaining QBs in your list will
automatically be moved to your inactive list and the remaining non-QBs will move
up in your rankings.
3. Decline a Pick
If you
know that you don't want to make a pick in a round for salary reasons, click on
the Decline A Pick Option on the Selections screen. Once you've declined a
pick, or PASSED, you won't have the opportunity to change your mind for that
round's pick. Note: A skipped pick effectively functions as a pass but
let's you change your mind later.
Here are the Instructions for your options when you're not on the clock:
1. Making up a
Skipped Pick
If you've missed your pick during a round and want
to make it up, simply click "Unskip" on the Selection page next to the round
and time slot of the pick you are making up and proceed to make your
pick manually. Return to the Selections screen to confirm that your
unskipped pick was made. Make sure before making an an Unskipped pick that
the round and salary tier is what you intend. Once processed, the pick is
irrevocable.
2. Submitting a Tender Offer
Tender Offers must be submitted by email to the
Commissioner and the Finance Officer before the conclusion of drafting on the
previous day. The email should include the name of the player tendered, his
position, your team name and the next day's round (salary tier) that your offer
will be applied to. All Tender Offers are provisional because it is possible
that another team will draft your tender offered player at a higher salary.
Successful tenders will be processed after the day's draft concludes and prior
to the next day's rounds and can be found listed under Tender Selections.
Tendered players do not count as draft picks for the round in which they are
tendered (ex. a team tendering a player in round five can still make their round
five pick).
Reporting Problems when the draft
is on:
Problems of any kind, software errors,
user errors, oopsies, should be reported immediately to the
commissioner by email. The faster the notification, the quicker the
resolution.
SALARY COSTS PER ROUND
FREE AGENT
DRAFT
Round 1: $10m
Rounds 2-3: $7.5m
Rounds 4-5: $5m *
Rounds
6-7: $4m *
Rounds 8-9: $3m *
Rounds 10-13: $2m **
Rounds 14-17: $1m
**
Rounds 18-23: $.5m
Rounds 24-28: $.3m
Rounds 29 -
conclusion: $.1m
* The $5m, $4m, and $3m salary tiers used to have three rounds each. Because so few picks were made in the third round of each tier, the league has eliminated those rounds but retained the ability of each team to make an optional third pick added to the end of the concluding round of each tier. To obtain an extra pick, contact the Commissioner by email at least a day in advance and you will be given an extra slot at the end of the second round.
** The $2m and $1m salary tiers used to have five rounds each. Because so few picks were made in the fifth round of each tier, the league has eliminated those rounds but retained the ability of each team to make an optional fifth pick added to the end of the concluding round of each tier. To obtain an extra pick, contact the Commissioner by email at least a day in advance and you will be given an extra slot at the end of the fourth round.
ROOKIE DRAFT
Round 1: Selections 1-4: $1.5m
Round 1: Selections
5-8: $1.25m
Round 1: Selections 9-12: $1m
Round 1: Selections 13-18:
$.8m
Round 1: Selections 19-24: $.7m
Round 2: Selections 25-36:
$.6m
Round 2: Selections 37-48: $.5m
Round 3: $.4m
Round 4:
$.3m
Round 5: $.2m
Rounds 6 and 7: $.1m
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