A snake draft is a draft in which the pick order reverses every round. Round one runs from the first team to the last. Round two runs back in the opposite direction, so the team that picked last picks again immediately. The order keeps alternating for the rest of the draft, which is where the name comes from: the pick order snakes back and forth.
The alternative is a linear draft, where every round runs in the same order. That hands a large and permanent advantage to whoever holds the first pick, which is why almost every fantasy football, basketball, baseball and hockey league uses a snake instead.
How a snake draft works
Take a twelve team league. Round one goes 1, 2, 3, all the way to 12. Round two starts with team 12 and runs back down to team 1. Round three starts with team 1 again. Here are the first three rounds, as overall pick numbers:
| Draft slot | R1 | R2 | R3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick 1 | 1 | 24 | 25 |
| Pick 2 | 2 | 23 | 26 |
| Pick 3 | 3 | 22 | 27 |
| Pick 4 | 4 | 21 | 28 |
| Pick 5 | 5 | 20 | 29 |
| Pick 6 | 6 | 19 | 30 |
| Pick 7 | 7 | 18 | 31 |
| Pick 8 | 8 | 17 | 32 |
| Pick 9 | 9 | 16 | 33 |
| Pick 10 | 10 | 15 | 34 |
| Pick 11 | 11 | 14 | 35 |
| Pick 12 | 12 | 13 | 36 |
Read across any row to see the picks that team owns. Team 1 holds picks 1, 24 and 25. Team 12 holds 12, 13 and 36.
The turn
Look at team 12 in the table above: picks 12 and 13, back to back, with nobody choosing in between. That pair is called the turn, and it belongs to whichever teams sit at the two ends of the order.
The turn is the whole point of the format. The team drafting last in round one is compensated with two picks in a row, which keeps the back of the order competitive with the front. Teams in the middle never get a genuine turn, which is a real trade off that most people only notice after a season or two.
Why leagues use a snake draft
It balances the first pick. Getting the best player in the league is a real edge. Waiting 22 selections before your next pick is a real cost. A snake makes those two things roughly cancel out.
It needs no budget or bidding. Everyone understands it in about ten seconds, and it runs fast enough to finish in an evening.
Every platform supports it. Sleeper, Yahoo, ESPN and NFL.com all default to snake, so nobody has to learn anything new.
Snake draft vs linear vs auction
| Format | How the order works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Snake | Pick order reverses every round. Ends of the order get the turn. | Almost every redraft league. The default for a reason. |
| Linear | Same order every round. Pick one picks first all draft long. | Dynasty rookie drafts, where the worst team is meant to be rewarded. |
| Third round reversal | Snake through rounds one and two, then round three repeats round two's direction. | Leagues that think the first overall pick is still too strong. |
| Auction | No draft order at all. Everyone gets a budget and bids on players. | Experienced leagues who want anyone to be able to land anyone. |
What is a reverse snake draft?
Reverse snake usually means third round reversal, often shortened to 3RR. Rounds one and two snake as normal. Then, instead of round three flipping back to the original direction, it runs the same way round two did.
The effect is to take some value away from the first overall pick and hand it to the back of the order. Whoever picked twelfth gets the turn at the end of round two and again at the end of round three. Leagues that adopt 3RR usually do it after a season where the first pick felt decisive.
A few leagues use reverse snake to mean something simpler: round one runs in reverse standings order, worst team first. That is just a normal snake with the slots assigned by last season's finish. Worth clarifying which one your commissioner means before the draft starts.
Which snake draft slot is best?
There is no consensus, and that is genuinely because the slots are close in value rather than because nobody has looked. Pick one gets the best available player and the longest waits. The last slot gets no elite first rounder and the most turns. The middle gets neither.
Most analysis lands on the first few and last few slots being roughly comparable, with the middle a small step behind. That is close enough that the fair thing is to draw slots at random rather than let anyone choose.
Snake draft FAQ
What is a snake draft in fantasy football?
A snake draft is one where the pick order reverses every round. Round one runs from the first team to the last, round two runs back the other way, and it alternates from there. It is the default format on Sleeper, Yahoo, ESPN and NFL.com.
What does snake draft mean?
The name describes the shape of the pick order. It runs forward through round one, backward through round two, forward again through round three, snaking back and forth instead of repeating the same order every round.
How does a snake draft work?
Teams are placed in a draft order from first to last. Round one follows that order. Round two runs it backward, so the team that picked last picks again straight away. Every odd round runs forward and every even round runs backward for the rest of the draft.
What is the difference between a snake draft and a linear draft?
A snake draft reverses the order every round. A linear draft uses the same order in every round, so the team with the first pick also picks first in round two, round three and so on. Linear heavily favors the first pick, which is why it is mostly limited to dynasty rookie drafts.
What is a reverse snake draft?
Usually it means third round reversal, or 3RR. Rounds one and two snake normally, then round three runs in the same direction as round two rather than flipping back. It shifts value away from the first overall pick toward the back of the order.
Is a snake draft fair?
The format itself is fair, because the turn compensates the back of the order for waiting. What decides whether a draft feels fair is how the slots were handed out. A random draw everyone can verify settles that, a screenshot from one person does not.
What is the best pick in a snake draft?
There is no clear winner. The first slot gets the best player and the longest waits. The last slot gets the turn but no elite first rounder. The middle slots get neither and are generally considered the weakest. The gaps are small enough that drawing slots at random is the fairest approach.
Need the pick numbers for your own league? The snake draft order chart lists every pick by slot and round for 8, 10, 12 and 14 team leagues, and builds one for any other size.
Now decide who picks first
The format is settled. Handing out the slots is the part that starts arguments. Draw them from one shared link, so every owner sees the same result at the same time instead of a screenshot from the commissioner.
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