KDS - What is it???

The first big decision of the NFBC season is setting your KDS. For those of you saying to yourself, "What the heck is a KDS?", here is a primer:

KDS stands for Kentucky Derby Style preferences. It is the system used to determine draft positions in the NFBC Main Event, Ultimate League and all NFBC Satellite Leagues. The KDS process allows owners to rank their order of preference for Draft Day, ranking their preferences 1 through 15 before the leagues are randomly selected.

It adds another level of strategy to the season as you get some say in determining where you will pick in the draft. Even before the leagues are formed all owners submit a ranking list to the people running the contest. Once leagues are formed, names are drawn at random. Rather than simply slotting the owner into that position, KDS allows the owner to indicate alternate preferences via your KDS rankings.

As an example, I set my KDS preferences this way for the Main Event:

1, 4, 6, 5, 7, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Now I did this quickly right before the deadline, so I didn't really spend a lot of time debating the merits of my choices - but I made one clear choice - after pick one, I moved the 2nd and 3rd slot down in my preferences. How will this work? Easy. When the names are drawn, the powers that be at the NFBC will look at the corresponding owners KDS and assign the best possible position based on your rankings. If my name gets drawn second say, and the #1 pick is already taken, I would be assigned pick #4 instead of pick #2.

Some owners would rather draft in the middle, if they are selected early in their league; others like to stay near the top and others like to move down to the lower end. Many owners leave their KDS 1-15 and live with the luck of the draw. The good people who run the NFBC say that most NFBC owners will get a more preferred draft spot than the random slot would have given them.

I personally like the KDS system a lot and if you are the commissioner of a league looking to add a little spice to the run-up of your upcoming draft, give KDS a try. I think you will find that your league members will enjoy the added element of draft strategy.