This is a practical list of recommendations for getting the best use of TapThatDraft. 

My advice (and opinions) may apply to any VBD draft tool, but there are particular features of TapThatDraft that you should keep in mind.

1. Choose the right settings for your league, and make sure you choose the right type of draft.  In a snake draft, start taking players from top to bottom.  In an auction draft, bid an amount close to the recommended amount.

   • In auction drafts, the only value you need to consider is the auction price Auc$, based on the assumptions in this article. 

     • However, in the dynamic version of the tool, you might consider the Infl$ function, to guess the likely going-price.  If you have underspent, you could take advantage of your excess budget to splurge at the inflated price.  If you have overspent, then you may punt expensive opportunities and instead wait for later bargains.

   • In snake drafts, the only value you need to consider is the Snake Value (not ppg or val).  As explained in this article, Snake Value improves upon ordinary value-over-baseline.  However, you should try to supplement the suggested prioritization by considering the likely draft position as indicated by ADP.

2. For advice on selecting baselines, refer to this article.  In general, I recommend using the BEER+ option.  VOLS will give more priority to starters, and BEER will give more priority to your bench instead of top-ranked starters.

3. Build your starting roster before adding redundant positions to your bench.  You can’t always just take the next guy on the list, if you’ve already filled that position.

4. There is so much uncertainty in fantasy football that you should feel comfortable to “Get your guys”.  Don’t feel bound, and don’t be too afraid to reach a bit.  Remember that the draft tool is a guideline only, and not a deterministic directive.

5. Use the tiers as a quick reference for relative drop-off in value.  Generally prioritize players from higher tiers… but also don’t put too much faith into apparent boundaries.  Tiers are usually tricky to define sharply: there are different ways of defining tiers, the cutoffs are imperfect, and tiers are more arbitrary than the underlying VBD value-over-baseline. 

6. Use the ADP indicator as a best guess for whether the player might get taken earlier or later than the draft tool’s suggestion.  You of course need to guess at your own league’s unique behavior.  If that’s not possible, the ADP column helps you guess when you might wait (or jump), against the output generated by the draft tool.

7. For auctions, the PS% can be used to aim for a more balanced roster.  To repeat: PS% is about balance, not about points.  If you’re struggling to decide between 2 closely-valuated players, then choosing the one with lower PS% might set you up to avoid having a roster that is weak at that specific position.  (It’s not necessary to do this, and you might in fact choose to do the opposite.  It’s up to your personal preference and the way you think your league-mates value positions.)

8. When building your bench, you should feel freer to deviate from the rankings and instead target high-upside players.  Potential breakouts might not get represented by points, if their situation depends on their team situation and the season-start competition they’ll face before getting more chances.

9. Take Kickers and D/STs near the end of the draft.  Especially since Subvertadown specializes in streaming guidance for these positions, these are not important draft targets.  Use the forecast indicators, but expect to start the season by streaming.

10. Other columns: The TM column has a number indicating that the player is the Nth ranked player on his team, at that position; you might use it to prioritize the lower number.  The B column is the bye week, in case you want to avoid (or target) multiple players having the same bye week.

For a description of how TapThatDraft works (and other VBD cheat sheets), read the background here.