We’ve gone through the NFL Draft and are currently in our fantasy and mock drafting days. The only thing we have to do is determine who drafts where!
There are a ton of ideas out there, but how do you choose the right one? Don’t worry, I have 15 fun and creative ideas to determine your fantasy football draft order!
15 Fantasy Football Draft Order Ideas (2025)
First Things First: Pick Order or Pick Selection?
The first thing that all league owners have to agree on is how the results of the draft order contest will determine where people pick. Do you want to keep it simple and go based on results, so the winner of the contest gets the first overall pick? Or do you allow the winner to select their draft position, say the fifth slot, and then it goes down the list for each player to select their draft slot? Once that’s figured out, then you can get to the fun part!
The Draft Lottery
This is the classic ol’ method of selecting a ball from a hat or bingo cage. You can’t beat a classic! Plus you never know with these lotteries, maybe a team that traded away their key star player last year and missed the playoffs can have the first pick! That would never happen, right?
If you want a twist, make it a weighted lottery. Let’s say in your 12-team league, the person who finished last will now have 12 balls to choose from, compared to the winner having only one ball to choose.
Spin the Wheel
It’s another classic, with a good deal of randomization to it! Everybody loves a wheel! List all the participants and whoever the wheel picks will have that pick.
Cameo
If you can’t determine the slots, why not have a former or current NFL head coach, player, broadcaster or even an official choose for you? While the more popular ones do cost more money, like Antonio Brown for $250 or Scott Hanson for $266, there are cheaper ones. For example, Dean Blandino, who determined that “Dez Bryant didn’t catch it,” can determine your draft order for $50, or former Philadelphia Eagles kicker David Akers will do it for $65.
The opportunities are endless and it doesn’t need to be limited to someone in the football world. Why not get a cameo from your league’s favorite celebrity?
Draft Delivery
This is a win-win race, because you get both a draft order and some food! You could all choose the same food delivery spot, or you can all choose somewhere different, but the fantasy manager who’s DoorDasher or GrubHubber delivers first wins. This generally works best with everyone in the same spot, but it can also be used from afar, just use the fastest time from when you hit “Order Now” to when it’s delivered. Of course, the food is a big bonus of this method!
Drive-Thru Dilemma
This one flips the previous suggestion, but without the racing because we need to be safe on these streets! This is a riff off the social media trend of getting what the person ahead of you ordered at a drive-thru to determine the draft order, but whoever gets the lowest cost wins.
Now, there are multiple variables to this. Is it the same drive-thru spot? Does everyone go around the same time or any time during the same day? However you do it, your draft fate lands with the person ahead of you!
“Name a Random Player” Quiz
You should have some knowledge going into your fantasy football draft, but do you really know ball? It’s a simple and fun concept! Select a certain number of obscure NFL players, present and past, with them being “random” or someone you haven’t thought of in a while, and then everyone makes their list of players. The lists are then scored like Scattergories, with one point for each name that is not on any leaguemate’s list.
Of course, there are still multiple variables to this that your league needs to determine, like if your league wants to limit it to players not currently in the NFL or other parameters. There will likely have to be a tiebreaker, which could simply be that the fastest time wins.
“Name 100 Players”
This is a twist to the previous suggestion but instead of being going down your list and asking “Who is this?”, they can be players that everyone knows. Everybody lists 100 players and the fastest person gets a bonus, then a point is awarded to every player that is not on anybody else’s list.
I would also suggest a rule that you need to list at least three players from every team, or two if you pick a number under 100. Why? Because we all know that one person who will list the 53-man roster for two teams and “win.” This makes it a little more challenging by ensuring they name someone from all 32 teams.
Scouting Combine
We’re scouting these players with their combine numbers and other statistics. Why don’t y’all participate in a “scouting combine” for draft order? Whoever has the best average of the 40-yard dash, bench press, 3-cone drill and vertical jump. Don’t want to do them all? Just choose a couple of the options. Even if you don’t end up winning the whole league, you can earn big bragging rights by winning the Scouting Combine!
“Tailgate Combine”
What’s the best thing we can do as fans when we go to an NFL game? Tailgating! Well, prove you’re a “Tailgate King” with a custom-made “Tailgate Combine”. For me, there are three things every good tailgate has: shotgunning beers, firing up the grill and cornhole. So, whoever has the best performance from the fastest shotgun, grilled food competition and cornhole performance. If you win, you’re now the 1.01 in tailgating and your draft!
This is more custom-made and you can make up or add your tailgate-themed challenges. Beer Pong could be another addition. Whatever makes the ultimate tailgate for you and your league!
Field Goal Competition
Kickers can be a sensitive subject in fantasy football and many people call to ban kickers. Instead, let’s celebrate kicking with how you determine the draft order!
Find some goalposts and pick a starting line. For every field goal you make, move back 5-10 yards. Just hope you’re not one of the first ones to miss and realize that kicking is harder than you think!
Simulated Video Games
If you can’t choose, just let a video game simulator do it for you and then you get happy or upset at the computer simulation. This can be with any video game, but the more common ones are a Royal Rumble / Battle Royal, a Super Smash Bros. Tournament, or a Madden / College Football 25 Tournament.
If you want to add a wrinkle, you can play the video games for your own spot, but it’s more fun if you let the computer do all the work while watching together and it tends to create memories!
Arcade Games
Whether it’s Pop-A-Shot, Skee-Ball or the NFL Quarterback Challenge, there’s always a certain intensity that happens when challenged to an arcade game competition. Now, add in the intensity of determining your fantasy football order and it’s on!
Why limit it to one game though? Play multiple games and then use either the highest overall score or the highest average. Better yet, create a points system with all the arcade games and have a fun tournament!
Watch a Sporting Event
We all like football and sports. So, why not use a different sporting event to watch and maybe become a fan of during the offseason? Take the top 10-12 betting favorites for the next NASCAR race or golf tournament. That being said, Scottie Scheffler is borderline dominating every course he plays, so it might be fairer to exclude him.
Duck Race / Marble Race
What’s the next best race to cheer on if it’s not NASCAR? A duck race or a marble race! Set up a virtual duck race or buy a dozen rubber ducks and find a river. Create a marble race or find a marble race video online.
This suggestion gets laughed at but I’m telling you, once a duck or marble is selected, you will be cheering it on with your whole life!
Betting Hot Streak
One of the more creative ways to determine a fantasy draft order I’ve seen recently is to test everyone’s betting skills. There are a few ways of doing this! One way is having a $20 starting budget and as the week goes on, whoever has the most money wins and the least money won/lost is last.
Another way to determine would be through multi-leg parlays, where everyone contributes money and a parlay leg of their choice. Whoever can maintain a hot streak with their parlay legs hitting for the most consecutive days win! The earlier you lose means the worst draft pick, and any tiebreakers come down to whoever’s leg was closest to hitting.
That’s all I have for now, but there are many more ways! Remember, the most important thing is to have fun when choosing your order and, of course, during the drafting phase itself.
Thanks for reading “Fantasy Football Draft Order Ideas (2025).” If you’re looking for more fantasy content like this or need help with the last-minute fantasy football start/sit decisions for your roster, you can find me on Facebook at “Fantasy Sports Start or Sit’Em Questions,” Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ or on BlueSky!
