Frequently Asked Questions for ESPN Draft Analyzer

1. Why ESPN Draft Analyzer?
2. Key Features of ESPN Draft Analyzer
3. Getting Started
4. General Use Questions
5. Using the Draft Board
6. Questions About Projections
7. Questions About Scoring Rules
8. Questions About Activation
9. What Is?
10. Technical Questions
11. Software Guarantee
12. Getting Help (Email Support, Message Board, etc.)

If you can't find answers to your questions below, look on our message board (coming soon).

Why ESPN Draft Analyzer?

1) Personalized Draft Advice: Personalized draft pick recommendations help you optimize every draft pick for YOUR team based on who you have already drafted, which top players are still available and who your competition is likely to draft before your next draft pick.

2) Expert Player Rankings: ESPN expert player rankings, notes and news updated automatically throughout pre-season; have the latest information at your fingertips throughout the draft regarding player injuries and pre-season roster changes.

3) Easily Track All Draft Activity: Track and manage your draft with the best draft software available...MUCH easier than pencil and paper!  Know exactly what players are still available and what players your competition still needs to draft.

4) Practice Makes Perfect: Practice using the Draft Analyzer and test your draft strategies with ESPN's Mock Draft Lobby (download and test the ESPN Draft Analyzer for two rounds in the Mock Draft Lobby for FREE!)

5) Off-line and On-line Drafts: You can use the ESPN Draft Analyzer for any off-line draft, with live, on-line ESPN league drafts and with the ESPN Mock Draft Lobby.

6) Insiders get access for FREE! If you're not already an ESPN Insider, join today for $39.95 and you will automatically get access to the Draft Analyzer. Click here to get started.

Getting Started:

General Use Questions:

Do you provide player updates during the pre-season?

Yes. Player updates are provided almost daily throughout the pre-season.  See Questions About Projections for more information.

Can I personalize my scoring rules?

Yes.  See section on personalize scoring rules for more information.

Can I use the Draft Analyzer on multiple computers?

Yes.  See section on Activation for more information.

Can I use this software for multiple leagues and/or multiple drafts?

Yes.  You can set-up and save multiple leagues and participate in an unlimited number of drafts (mock drafts or real drafts).  You can save one draft for each league.  You can participate in live drafts at the same time as “extended” drafts that take place over several days/weeks.

Will the Draft Analyzer recommend draft picks for me?

Yes.  See Using the Draft Board for more information.

Can I set-up Keepers?

Yes.  On the main set-up dashboard there is a link to “Enter Keepers” under Enter Draft Settings.  If these players do not take the place of a draft pick, enter them as Keepers.  If these players DO take the place of a draft pick, enter them as pre-populated draft picks in the section called Customize Draft Order and Pre-populate Draft Picks.

Can I use the software for an Auction style league?

Yes. In the Enter Draft Settings step 3, you can select the Auction Style Draft option.  For Auction style leagues, the Draft Analyzer includes an Auction Dashboard that enables you to:

More information at: http://www.draftanalyzer.com/features/auction-style-drafts/

Does your software help me as a commissioner of my league?

Yes.  In fact, our software was initially designed for commissioners.  Simply enter all owners names in draft order in the Draft Settings and you are good to go.  All draft picks will be automatically matched with the owner that is “on the clock”.  You can set-up your draft using a serpentine/snack style draft (order is reversed in odd rounds), straight style draft, auction style draft or custom style draft. You can also easily trade draft positions between owners throughout the draft.

The trick for commissioners is to be able to track everyone’s draft picks very quickly and easily so you still have time to think about your own draft picks.  You also want to be able to make draft day trades between owners or delete picks if a mistake is made.  Our software provides all of this capability and much more right at your fingertips.  The Player Search bar makes it especially easy to find unknown players or you can simply Write-in players that aren't included in the draft board if needed.

Can I add players not included in the program?

Yes.  There is a “Write-in” feature included in the Player Search bar (upper right of draft board) that makes it fast and easy to add players during the draft.  The Draft Analyzer includes over 2,500 players in its database, so it is very rare that a player won’t be included.

Note: The players added using the Write-in feature are not saved for other drafts or leagues (they need to be added for each draft as needed).

Can I complete multiple Mock drafts using the software?

Yes. Our software provides you with an unlimited number of mock drafts using the full functionality of the software. The Draft Analyzer will NOT make draft picks for all the players in the league, but using Average Draft Position results it is easy to make draft picks for your opponents and test out your different draft strategies.

Do I need to bring a computer to the draft?

Depends.  If you want to take full advantage of all the powerful features included in the software than you will need to bring a computer to the draft.  However, you don’t need to bring a computer if you simply want to use the Cheat Sheets that ranks players based on your scoring system and the advanced player valuation tools included in Dynamic Player Value (DPV).  If this is the case, you can simply set-up your projections and DPV settings and print out a paper draft kit to take to your draft.

Using the Draft Board:

How do I draft players?

Double-click players anywhere on the draft board to draft them for the Team/Owner that is on the clock.

How do I edit a draft pick after it has been made (fix a mistake?)?

From the “All Draft Picks” list on the right side of the Draft Dashboard tab, double-click the draft pick that was a mistake.  A pop-up menu will appear.  Make the appropriate changes and click OK.

Will the Draft Analyzer recommend draft picks for me?

Yes.  The Draft Analyzer was a finalist for Best Innovation in 2005 for its Draft Pick Recommendation Engine.  It is the most accurate and robust recommendation engine available and is completely configurable to support your draft strategies.  The recommendation engine recommends the best player to draft based on:

1)       Your scoring rules and player rankings

2)       Players you have already drafted

3)       Players still available

4)       Players expected to be drafted before your next draft pick

5)       Roster settings for min/max roster settings

6)       Bye-weeks (helps avoid drafting multiple players with the same bye-week)

7)       Strength of Schedule (for equally valued players, recommends player with easiest opponents during your playoffs)

8)       Player durability (based on last 3 years of data)

9)       Player consistency (based on last 3 years of data)

More information at: http://www.draftanalyzer.com/features/recommended-draft-picks/

How do I trade draft picks during the draft?

The easiest way to make a draft pick trade during an actual draft is to change the Team/Owner that is on the clock using the drop-down list of Teams/Owners available on the Draft Tracker.

More information at: http://www.draftanalyzer.com/features/customize-draft-order/

Can I export the draft results?

Yes.  Use the Export Draft Results feature from the File Menu to export all draft picks into any format, including Excel or csv.  The export feature includes Player ID, Player Name, Position, Team, Point Value, ADP, Owner that drafted him and other fields to enable you to analyze the results of the draft any way you would like.

Questions about Projections:

What projections come with the software?

ESPN expert projections.

Can I edit the player projections and other metrics used in the software?

Yes. All data used in the software is open for you to edit.

Can I use my own set of player projections?

Yes.  You can import data from excel.  Excel templates are provided to help insure that the data you import will work with the software.

Can I print out the player projections or Cheat Sheets?

Yes.  Use the Open Excel Cheat Sheets feature from the Ready to Draft Menu on the main Set-up Dashboard.  This will open an Excel file with all players ranked by your personalized scoring system. You can then print the cheat sheets from excel.

More information at: http://www.draftanalyzer.com/features/excel-cheat-sheets/

Do you provide player updates during the pre-season?

Yes. Player updates are provided almost daily throughout the pre-season.  To get the most up to date projections:

1)       Go to the File drop down menu of your Draft Analyzer and select “Setup”

2)       Click on the link under Analyze Player Projections called "C) Download updates from web to Player Projections and News"

This will update your Draft Analyzer with the latest injuries, contract holdouts, suspensions, legal problems or early retirements.

Questions about Scoring Rules:

More information at: http://www.draftanalyzer.com/features/scoring-rules/

Can I personalize my scoring rules?

Yes.  The Draft Analyzer supports the key components of most popular scoring systems required for draft day.  If you download your ESPN league, you don’t need to personalize your scoring rules as the fantasy point values for all players are downloaded directly from ESPN.com for your league.

How do I personalize my scoring rules for my ESPN league?

If you download your ESPN league, you don’t need to personalize your scoring rules as the fantasy point values for all players are downloaded directly from ESPN.com for your league.  If you are unable to download your ESPN league (you aren’t connected to the Internet or have problems with Firewalls) you should manually personalize your scoring rules in the main set-up.

Can your software support my leagues very unique scoring system?

We are 99% sure that we can!  The Draft Analyzer supports the key components of most popular scoring systems required for draft day.  The scoring system includes all of the standard and advanced performance categories used to project player values for draft day.

Note: Most projections include a fraction of the detail included in actual game stats (who wants to take the time to predict the number of 2 point conversions a TE might get? Or predict the yardage of all 49 of Peyton Manning’s TDs?).  Your league manager HAS to track this type of detail, however, your projections don’t.  For most people, the general yardage and scoring categories are enough to draft players with.  However, the DA still enables the fantasy gurus to plug in the extra stats required to project special categories or bonuses.  You will have to provide your own projections in some situations.

How do I take advantage of the Bonus Settings available in the Personalize Scoring System section to reflect my league's scoring system: Part I?

The following example illustrates how to award QBs an extra 10 points for 300yd passing games (in addition to the basic points awarded for yards, TDs, etc.):

1) Enter 10 into the "Rush Bonus 1" field under Bonus Points for Rushing in the Personalize Scoring System tab

2) Enter the number of 300yd passing games each player will have (we apologize but we don't provide projections with this level of granularity) in the "Rush Bonus 1" field of the Edit RBs tab (i.e. 5)

Result: In this example the QB would earn 50 points in addition to whatever other points he earned in the basic or advanced settings categories.

The same set-up can be used for rushing or receiving bonuses.  Simply define the point value for these bonuses and then enter your projections for each player.

How do I take advantage of the Advanced Settings available in the Personalize Scoring System section to reflect my league's scoring system: Part II?

The following example illustrates how to award TEs an extra 1 point per reception and 1 point per 10yards receiving (in addition to the basic points awarded for yards, TDs, etc.):

1) Enter 1 into the "Pts per Reception" field under Special Points for TEs in the Personalize Scoring System tab

2) Enter 10 into the "Receiving" field under Special Points for TEs in the Personalize Scoring System tab

Result: In this example the QB would earn 50 points in addition to whatever other points he earned in the basic or advanced settings categories.

The same set-up can be used for rushing or receiving bonuses.  Simply define the point value for these bonuses and then enter your projections for each player.

Questions about Activation:

Can I use the Draft Analyzer on multiple computers (such as my work computer and home computer)?

Yes.  You can use the DA on as many computers as you need to; however, your license is only allowed to be active on one computer at a time.

How do I change the Draft Analyzer to another computer?

1. De-activate software on the first computer
   1. Use the Change Computers Feature (lower left hand corner of main set-up dashboard)
      1. If using the Manual Option, enter the 8 Digit Change Key in the “Enter in Web” link to reset your activation code on our servers
2. Download and install the Draft Analyzer on your 2nd computer
3. Activate the Draft Analyzer
4. Use your email address or the Manual Option if the computer can’t access the internet

My computer can’t access the internet (it is behind a firewall or not hooked up to the Internet).  How can I activate my Draft Analyzer software?

If the computer your software is on can't connect to the Internet or is behind a firewall, you can activate your software with a User Key that is unique to your Draft Analyzer software and your computer.  Follow the instructions under the Manual Option to activate your software.

What Is?

Dynamic Player Value (DPV): A user-configurable advanced player ranking system.  DPV builds on existing player rankings and includes metrics that make those rankings more relevant to a users’ specific league settings and season schedule.  DPV enables users to personalize and improve their player rankings based on their leagues season schedule, the historical durability of players and the historical consistency of players.

More information at: http://www.draftanalyzer.com/features/advanced-analytics/

Dynamic Draft Value (DDV): An advanced player ranking system that adjusts players values throughout the draft.  DDV builds on DPV and includes metrics that automatically track changes in the value of a player for YOUR team as a draft progresses.

More information at: http://www.draftanalyzer.com/features/advanced-analytics/

Average Draft Position (ADP): Average Draft Positions are accumulated from hundreds or thousands of completed live drafts and help predict when each player is typically drafted.

More information at: http://www.draftanalyzer.com/features/average-draft-position/

Technical Questions:

I can’t seem to open the program (I click the football icon, but nothing happens)?

This problem is caused because the program doesn’t recognize Java on your computer for either of the following reasons:

Solution:

1. Uninstall Draft Analyzer
2. Use Add/Remove Programs from your Control Panel to remove all versions of Java (you can always download the latest version of Java free from the internet)
3. Download installation file from: www.downloaddraftanalyzer.com/espn-draft-analyzer-java.exe
4. Run/Open program called draftanalyzerjava.exe that you just saved to your computer
   1. If Java is required, this program will automatically install it for you
   2. The Draft Analyzer program will be installed
5. Once installation is complete and you press Finish, the Draft Analyzer will launch (unless you uncheck the option to Launch Draft Analyzer)

More information at: http://www.draftanalyzer.com/support/install/

Can I use the Draft Analyzer on my Mac?

No.  PC’s only.

How do I update my software to a newer version?

From File menu, select Help and then select Check for Software Updates.  This will check our servers to see if there is an updated version of the software.  You will also be notified automatically when you open the software if an updated version is available (if you are connected to the internet).

Getting Help:

Email: ms_support@ESPN.com

Phone Support: 1-888-549-ESPN

Customer Message Board: Not available yet.