Fantasy football drafts represent the biggest hurdle between owners and a league championship.
Owners have other options available to them when it comes to improving rosters. Trades remain a viable avenue and the waiver wire is a good way to dig up production, provided an owner plays his or her cards right and can land, say, a Jordan Howard like many did a year ago.
But here is the catch: neither option's door swings open wide without a solid draft. No owner will want to trade with a team lacking assets, and the waiver wire can patch a hole in a boat, not build the thing from scratch.