Advantage or Disadvantage?

Now that I've completed the last of my 6 FFOC drafts, I keep thinking...is it better to draft early or as late as possible? There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to both. Some people like to wait until after the final pre-season game when depth charts are pretty well set, injuries have occurred and can be accounted for, and hold outs are signed.

I prefer to draft early. I think by drafting early, you can get some great draft bargains which you can't get if you wait until the last week to draft. Last year, I greatly benefited by getting Kurt Warner in round 17 or 18 because I do not feel Matt Leinart will ever be a viable QB in the NFL and Warner was productive in 2007 when he played. If I would have waited to draft until after he was named the starter, he would have gone in the first 5 or 6 rounds.

This year, I waited for the late rounds to get Trent Edwards or Kyle Orton as my #3 QB. I feel both will have very good seasons. After just one pre-season game, Edwards stock has risen and Orton is dropping. My other two late picks which I feel can turn out to be high scoring players this season are Fred Jackson and Jerome Harrison. Jackson isn't as big of a sleeper because everyone knows he'll be starting the first 3 games this season while Lynch serves his suspension. He averaged 4.4 ypc last season and 5.2 the year before. I feel he will excel in the Bills offense, and Lynch will be slowly worked back into the rotation when he returns. Three weeks without full contact does not bode well for Lynch to be successful at all this season. My last late round sleeper who probably isn't being drafted in most leagues is Jermichael Finley. The Packers have been waiting for a pass catching tight end ever since Chmura was arrested. He has the skills to be as good as Tony Gonzalez. He just needs to learn the play book and dedicate himself to football.

The main advantage of waiting as long as possible to draft is that you'll have less dead weight on your roster. You probably won't have a high pick "wasted" on someone who was injured in the 2nd pre-season game. Nor will you have drafted a QB who got beat out in camp. However, you're less like to have late round finds. To win the million, you need more than just 2 or 3 studs to carry you. You need late round steals to become top 10 players at their position to go along with the studs you drafted early.

How about you? Do you prefer to draft early or later?