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First-year Player Drafts
First-year player drafts, sometimes called 'amateur' or 'rookie' drafts, are usually annual league events. Players, typically between the ages of 16 and 25, go from high school or college into the draft, where they hope to be signed by teams in your league.
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Note: The above links will not work within the in-game help. However, they all simply link to sections lower in this page, so if you are reading this in-game, just scroll down to find the appropriate section!
Note: It is possible to have multiple leagues, some of which have first-year player drafts and some of which do not.
In addition to enabling and disabling the draft, you can also define the date the draft will be held, the number of rounds in the draft and whether signing bonuses are enabled. Changing the number of rounds will change the number of new players generated for the draft. Even after a league has been created and play has begun, you can still change first-year player draft settings at any time.
If you are playing a historical league, be careful about when you set your first-year player draft, since this could impact when historical players come into your league. See historical rookies options for more information.
Once the date of the draft arrives, you will have to go to the Draft Order and Rulesscreento complete the draft. You can safely navigate through the game and still come back to the draft screens through the First-Year Player Draft link in the League Menu, but you will not be able to advance the date in the game until you deal with the draft.
The Advanced Draftee Signings settings can be found on the Draft Order and Rules page, and the Draft Process will describe in more detail how the draft pick signing plays out.
Thisscreenconsists of the following sections:
- Configuring First-Year Player Drafts
- First-Year Player Draft Overview
- Number of Rounds in a First-Year Player Draft
- Players in a First-Year Player Draft
- Advanced Draftee Signings
- Running the Inaugural Draft
Note: The above links will not work within the in-game help. However, they all simply link to sections lower in this page, so if you are reading this in-game, just scroll down to find the appropriate section!
Configuring First-Year (Amateur) Drafts
At the time of a league's creation, you have an opportunity to enable or disable the first-year (amateur) player draft in the Rules page. After a game has already started, you can change these settings by navigating to: OOTP Menu >> Game Setup >> League Setup >> Rules tab.
Note: It is possible to have multiple leagues, some of which have first-year player drafts and some of which do not.
In addition to enabling and disabling the draft, you can also define the date the draft will be held, the number of rounds in the draft and whether signing bonuses are enabled. Changing the number of rounds will change the number of new players generated for the draft. Even after a league has been created and play has begun, you can still change first-year player draft settings at any time.
If you are playing a historical league, be careful about when you set your first-year player draft, since this could impact when historical players come into your league. See historical rookies options for more information.
First-Year Player Draft Overview
First-year player drafts typically take place part-way through the season. The "draft season" typically begins about 30 days before the draft, when the pool of available players is announced. This is a league event that will be noted on your calendar. Once the draft pool is announced, eligible players will be visible on the Draft Pool page. The Draft Poos screen is available either in the League Menu or in the Transactions area. There will also be a link on the Manager Home page. Over the next 30 days, you can scout players and develop your strategy for the draft.
Once the date of the draft arrives, you will have to go to the Draft Order and Rulesscreento complete the draft. You can safely navigate through the game and still come back to the draft screens through the First-Year Player Draft link in the League Menu, but you will not be able to advance the date in the game until you deal with the draft.
Number of Rounds in a First-Year Player Draft
The number of rounds in a first-year player draft is customizable in the Amateur Draft Rules section of the Rules page. Additionally, you can also customize how many rounds worth of players you would like the game to generate. By default, the game will generate just enough players for all teams to draft in each round, but by using these settings, you could set it up so that 150 draftees are available for only 100 slots, so that some players won't be drafted and will go into the free agent pool.Players in a First-Year Player Draft
OOTP generates amateur draft candidates automatically. Generated players will either be out of high school or college, and they will have appropriate statistics as well as scouted ratings to guide your decision-making process. Alternately, if your league has feeder leagues, it is possible for all of the amateur players to come from those leagues.
Advanced Draftee Signings
When the draft begins, you will have a choice of whether or not to enable Advanced Draftee Signings. When Advanced Draftee Signings are disabled, drafted players automatically sign contracts for their stated demands. The Advanced Draftee Signings feature is more realistic, and requires teams to negotiate with draftees selected in the first five rounds of the draft as well as players drafted later who have a specified signing bonus demand (ie not "slot"). Teams must sign players before a deadline (usually two months after the draft), or risk the player returning to the draft in the following season.The Advanced Draftee Signings settings can be found on the Draft Order and Rules page, and the Draft Process will describe in more detail how the draft pick signing plays out.
