Draft Day Persona, or The Iceman Cometh
Landon Reed
Oh
baby!
I
feel the need, the need for Reed!
Shakespeare I'm not. So, you will have to forgive my transgression here as I use
a movie classic (as far as the 80's go) to make a draft day strategy point. Roll
cameras, and…..ACTION!
Everybody wants to be Top Gun come week 17. One of the big roads to the summit
is D-day, draft day. The question you need to be asking yourself right now is:
Do I want to be Maverick or Iceman come draft day? Oh I suppose you could be
Goose during your draft -if you've got some fascination with playing wingman to
Maverick, bridesmaid to bride, runner-up to champion, or dead guy to living guy.
I'll assume you aren't playing fantasy football to manage your team to second
place; and as amiable as Goose is we'd all do well to not emulate him when
wearing our managerial persona. With Goose gone that leaves every one of us with
the choice of being either Maverick or Iceman on draft day.
Let's see the tale of the tape.
The Maverick
He's short but he's no slouch. He did study some leading up to the draft and has
a decent knowledge of the top 30 or so defensive players. Come on, how hard is
it to draft guys on defense right? The Maverick knows Pittsburgh and Chicago
have great defenses; ergo they have talented individuals too. He's also an
instinctual draft picker. If there's a run on wide receivers he'll grab the best
sack man on the defensive end. He figures if he can draft 3-4 good names on
defense, the league is his to dominate. He is, however, simply too confident. He
works the chat room banter almost as hard as he works on his second "beverage"
come round 15. When the fog of draft day and his head clears he sees that maybe,
just maybe his ego has written checks his…aw you know the rest.
The Iceman
 The Iceman does not fall prey to emotion on draft day. 
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He's not without confidence and a really nice set of teeth. This is
largely because he's done his homework coming into the draft. He's got a working
knowledge of some 80-100 players on defense, keeping clear of the beverages, and
forgoing the borderline confrontational chit-chat. He'll reply when spoken to,
but otherwise he's marking up his prepared notes and deftly adjusting his draft
plans as needed. It's almost mechanical for him during the draft. The Iceman
does not fall prey to emotion on draft day. He might let the occasional "crud,"
"shoot," or "egad" escape his lips but it's all done with control. The Iceman
ends his draft knowing there's still a lot of available talent out there. His
only regret is that his team bench isn't long enough to accommodate them.
I
believe I've slanted the writing for this article quite enough to this point.
I'm writing from over 10 years of draft day experiences when I state that you
want to be the Iceman at your draft. Everyone may love the Maverick, may
aspire to be the Maverick but he's the guy who indirectly kills Goose remember?
Don't let his persona cook your goose.
Even if you are the emotional type, coming to your draft with the right
paperwork and preparation will make your boasts seem more like prescient moments
than ribald repartee.
Read my other sections for more strategies. Also, you'll want to research IDPBlitz
draft tools. | 
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