[tindleroot]

One little problem (in my mind, at least) with the "rotation" cycle for drafts: team order stays consistent. Not all FF teams are created equal; take this situation into consideration.

FF teams A - G, team A is the "best" team, meaning they make the best picks, and B is the next best, then C, and so on.

The team order for the first cycle might end up like this:

F
G
E
A
B
D
C

In this situation, team D and E (who are roughly equal in picking ability) will have drastically skewed outcomes. Team D will be getting worse picks on average since D comes directly after B (who makes the best pick much of the time) 6 out of 7 drafts, and after A in 5 out of 7 drafts, while E always comes after F and G, who may leave better picks more often.

The only difference in a real situation is that we don't usually know who the best FF teams are (or can only guess at best), but that doesn't change the irregularity that goes on here. Especially in districts, where we'll only have one cycle, this irregularity needs to be addressed. Luckily, it is as simple as changing the rotation cycle. Rather than moving 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 and so on, it can be more like 1 to 5 and 5 to 9 and 9 to 3 and 3 to 2, or some "random" cycle like this, which not only puts FF teams in the same draft spot on average, but also immediately behind and ahead of different teams throughout the cycle.

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but maybe this would be an easy change that makes drafting even more fair than adding a simple cycle.