The draft might be the most fun part of fantasy football. The chance to outwit other owners round after round, the opportunity to get together with friends (if you aren’t drafting live via the Internet, and even then you can still trash-talk online) to talk football and down a few beers, the culmination of all that preparation compressed into a couple hours — it’s a grand kickoff to the season for the average fan.

And then there are autodrafts. Yuck.

Briefly, an autodraft is where you rank your players beforehand online, and whatever Internet site you are using for your league runs the draft and assigns you players. I’ll be in a couple autodrafts this year, but I’m not a fan. Aside from all the reasons given above why I prefer live drafts, you cede a lot of control over what team you end up with with an autodraft. You can’t react to others’ picks, or strategize on who to take in the next round determined by your team’s needs and who you think might be available later on. The draft can be such a chess game, an autodraft reduces it to Chutes and Ladders.

Plus, I find it’s difficult to get quite the connection to autodrafted players than I would to ones I draft out loud (or even selecting in a live Internet draft and hitting the submit button). When you select a player in a live draft, you might be looking his stats up one last time, consulting the Web to see if he got injured that day or is still on the depth chart, etc. On an autodraft, the player is chosen for you. Yes, you have input on who you would prefer on your team, but it’s just not the same.

But autodrafts are sometimes necessary, particularly if you are in a league with people spread out over the country. Make sure you not only rank your players ahead of time, but also amend your rankings as needed — it’s really easy do your rankings and forget about them (and absolutely don’t go with the preset rankings). If there’s a sleeper you really want, move him up a little higher (but don’t overreach) than where you think he would have gone in a live draft as extra insurance to get him. Beware of the preset rankings (which you aren’t going to use anyway, but could be used as a cheat sheet of sorts as you do your rankings) — Yahoo! for example tends to undervalue rookies and include players that might have retired. Go ahead and import your rankings into other leagues, but don’t be afraid to tweak them to fit the parameters of the other league.

One other bit of advice for live online drafts — rank your players anyway. Besides being insurance in case your computer crashes mid-draft (if you are offline, a player will be automatically selected for you), it’s helpful in a mock draft-sort of way to become more familiar with all the players you might select.

Just for fun, I went week by week in the 2007 schedule and made quick predictions on winners for each week. These are very rudimentary, and perhaps I’ll try this again near the start of the season, but here are my predicted standings for 2007:

AFC EAST
Patriots 10-6
Jets 8-8
Bills 7-9
Dolphins 5-11

AFC NORTH
Bengals 13-3
Steelers 12-4
Ravens 11-5
Browns 3-13

AFC SOUTH
Colts 12-4
Jaguars 10-6
Titans 7-9
Texans 3-13

AFC WEST
Chargers 13-3
Broncos 11-5
Chiefs 9-7
Raiders 3-13

NFC EAST
Eagles 10-6
Redskins 9-7
Giants 8-8
Cowboys 8-8

NFC NORTH
Bears 13-3
Packers 6-10
Lions 4-12
Vikings 4-12

NFC SOUTH
Saints 11-5
Panthers 9-7
Falcons 5-11
Buccaneers 3-13

NFC WEST
Seahawks 8-8
49ers 7-9
Cardinals 7-9
Rams 7-9

Looking at the predicted standings, I’m unusually optimistic for the Steelers and Bengals, probably too hard on the Titans, Cowboys, Falcons and Lions. The NFC East looks cannaballistically even, the NFC West appears the be evenly mediocre, and the AFC North looks pretty dominant.

As far as the playoffs go, the Panthers and Redskins are wild cards in the NFC, the Steelers and Broncos or Ravens in the AFC, but I’ll say the Ravens get it via tiebreaker. In the NFC, if I extrapolate further, the Eagles and Seahawks advance out of the first round, the Bears and Eagles advance to the NFC championship, the Bears make the Super Bowl. In the AFC, the Steelers and Colts make it out of the first round, the Chargers and Bengals make the conference championship and the Chargers make the Super Bowl. I’m going to homer a little and say the Bears win Super Bowl XLII.

Of course, this doesn’t take into account some surprise team that will shock everybody (Go Texans!). I’m curious to see how much I amend these before the season starts.

Here’s a quick update on two receivers in their mid-30s. I have a soft spot for the mid-30s, being in the midst of this particular era myself.

First, Broncos receiver Rod Smith, 37, missed the team’s two-day minicamp and hasn’t really run since hip surgery in February. He’s not sure if he’ll be ready when training camp starts later this month, either.

Smith has been a good receiver for Denver for years now, but even if he returns for this season, his fantasy value will be diminished. He became the Broncos’ No. 2 receiver after the arrival of Javon Walker — he caught only 52 passes and three touchdowns last season. Denver has a deep stash of receiver too, particularly if the acquired Brandon Stokley is healthy. With this in mind, if Smith returns, I wouldn’t rely on him as a fantasy player as more as a WR5 — essentially a bench player. But monitor his August, he may have a miracle recovery. My hunch that if he even plays this season (or again, for that matter), it won’t be until October at least.

Next is Troy Brown, 36, who The Boston Herald is reporting will return to the Patriots for a 15th season. Brown, New England’s all-time leading receiver, is coming off knee surgery and returns to a team that strengthened its WR corps, including adding Randy Moss and Donte’ Stallworth. If Brown does make the team, don’t expect any significant fantasy value, he won’t repeat last season’s average numbers (43 receptions, four touchdowns). But if you are a Patriots fan, enjoy his return.

Over the past few years, the inclusion of individual defensive players, or IDPs, has gained popularity in fantasy football leagues. Instead (or in addition to) drafting a team defense, owners select defensive players, who score fantasy points for interceptions, fumbles recovered and/or forced, tackles, sacks and touchdowns. Most leagues that use IDPs only require drafting about 3-5 players, though a league conceivably could use an entire 11-player defense.

IDPs might be the latest rage, but I’m not the biggest fan. Maybe I’m just old-school, but I like keeping fantasy football simpler rather than more complex. Drafting, and researching, individual defensive players rather than just a team defense/special teams, is more complex, on the level of fantasy baseball-complex. Now, I love fantasy baseball, but it is a lot of work, researching hitters and pitchers for many different statistical categories. I find that detailed, multifaceted research fun for baseball, not so much for football. Part of fantasy football’s appeal, for not only me but I venture a lot of people, is that it’s mostly just touchdowns and yards. Yes, field goals and defensive touchdowns come into play, but most people don’t overdo the research on kickers on D/STs as much. We focus on a few positions, throw an abundance of energy into that, and draft away.

That said, I’ll play in a couple leagues with IDPs this fall. I’m not going to compile any of my own rankings, preferring to rely mostly on IDP lists in magazines and off the Web. I’ll draft defensive players later, because they won’t deliver the points offensive players do. Basically, I’m not going to sweat drafting individual defensive players that much.

I’m not sure if I’m in the majority or minority on IDPs (and I’m not criticizing fantasy football owners who like IDPs). There are some strategies for drafting defensive players: linebackers and defensive backs get the most tackles (especially ones from teams with bad defenses), defensive ends get more sacks than defensive tackles, a team’s less-talented cornerback tends to get more tackles (because he’s getting picked on more).

Here’s my advice if you are in a league with IDPs but don’t want to put too much time into it: Find an IDP list or two and peruse it, keep up with injuries and depth charts in August, and remember that sometimes defensive stars aren’t necessarily fantasy defensive stars. Good luck.

A few posts ago I offered advice on picking a fantasy football magazine. Along those lines, I have bought four this summer and will give each a little review. My criteria for what makes a good fantasy magazine might differ from yours, but at least you’ll get an idea of what these four have to offer when you are faced with a rack with a dozen or more fantasy mags.

ATHLON SPORTS/GROGAN’S FANTASY FOOTBALL
$8.95

Athlon/Grogan’s is pretty standard fantasy football magazine. There are a few feature articles, a team-by-team fantasy Q&A (which, in my opinion, doesn’t ask the right questions), and your standard array of mock drafts, player rankings and descriptions. A solid mag, with some nice features, though not too flashy.
Pros: Includes some nice custom stats, including a K factor, measuring how consistent a player was in 2006. Good looks at rookies, sleepers and possible busts.
Cons: Detailed individual player descriptions are adequate but don’t include enough potential draftees — how frustrating is it on draft day to consult your magazine for a possible pick and find no information on him? There are smaller comments, however, for more players on the cheat sheets.

FANTASY SPORTS
Krause Publications, $5.99

The venerable magazine (and it is a magazine, publishing four times a year, two baseball and two football issues) is respected for its longetivity and solid reporting and rankings. It doesn’t get quite as detailed as some other mags, and it’s nowhere near as flashy (a lot of gray pages), but Fantasy Sports will be the first place to get information on a player on draft day.
Pros: Thorough player information, going deep into its draft board. Also, because it’s a magazine, another issue will be published by the end of the summer (if you also play fantasy baseball, subscribing to this magazine is a must).
Cons: No IDPs. Very few bells and whistles — definitely the Toyota Corolla of fantasy football magazines.

ESPN FANTASY FOOTBALL 2007
$7.99

Perhaps my favorite magazine I’ve picked up this year. The rankings are solid, the advice good, and the feature stories are not only informative but also fun.
Pros: Unique, almost Sabermetric statistical comparisons. Good story ranking the 32 offensive lines and how that will affect the offenses surrounding them. IDP player descriptions (albeit short) as well as rankings.
Cons: Designed too much like ESPN The Magazine, meaning a gazillion little random items that are sometimes not in-depth enough. Mock draft is hard to follow.

FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEKLY 2007 ANNUAL GUIDE
Fanball.com, $7.99

Possibly the most thorough fantasy football magazine I’ve ever seen. The player descriptions are impressive, and the magazine is loaded with advice. A pleasant surprise, it will take me all summer to get through the whole thing.
Pros: Position rankings for just about every conceivable type of league (auction, points only, points-per-receptions, etc.). IDP rankings, though no descriptions. Nice mock drafts
Cons: The magazine looks nice, too nice — sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish between editorial content and ads. Would have liked to see more combined rankings for all the various league-type cheat sheets.

On Friday, authorities conducted another search of property in Virginia formerly owned by Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, property where 66 dogs and dogfighting equipment were seized back in April. Also, federal court documents (that did not mention Vick) alleged the extent of the dogfighting activities on the property. It’s more negative press for Vick, who has insisted he had no idea what had been going on at the property which he said he rarely visited.

Will the NFL take disciplinary action against Vick? With the league cracking down on bad behavior, Vick might not be escaping from this scandal so easily. Even if he’s not suspended, will his play be affected by the negative press? Reporters’ questions on this whole situation could dog (sorry) Vick all season. Since his exciting style of play has always been intertwined with inconsistent streaks, this scandal can only add to the pressure.

From a fantasy point of view, downgrade Vick on your QB board. He still might be a QB1, but all the other on-field issues that drive Vick owners crazy might be magnified by the off-field trouble. His fantasy numbers, highlighted by 1,039 yards rushing, were good last year, making him worth the risk in 2007. But it’s nevertheless a risk.

This seems to be a make-or-break season for Vick. If he makes, despite everything else going on, he might have a monster season. If he breaks, well, who’s the Falcons backup QB now that Matt Schaub is gone?

How many fantasy football leagues are too many?

I was in four last year, and I vowed I would never be in that many again. It was too easy to lose track of what players I had in which league, and not manage my teams as efficiently as if I just had one team (in fact, I focused more on the league that had the biggest payout more than I did for the other three combined). At some point, you start rooting for half the league, or you have to hope one player does good for one league, knowing it’s going to screw you in another where your opponent has the same player.

So what’s going to happen this year? It looks like I’m going to be in four leagues again, at least. I’m starting draft preparations, and thinking, “four leagues, cool!” It’s the euphoria of getting ready for the season, a euphoria that eventually I fear will be tempered by trying to keep of track of four leagues.

At least I’m recognizing this now so I can plan ahead, to try and make the effort to vigorously keep track of every team for as long as possible. Thinking of multiple leagues? Hey, it is fun, especially the drafts, and managing more than one team can be done. But if it becomes too much as the season goes along, focus more on the team that has the best chance of winning and/or will bring in the biggest payout, and let the others fall away a little. And pray that garbage-time goal from one of your kickers doesn’t sink you in another league.