Fantasy Football - Auction Draft Strategy

[Gonzo]

Getting closer to FF drafts, am curious to learn any other auction drafters' strategies. My main league went to an auction for the first time last year. We had a draft budget of $260. This year we're switching it to the more standard $200. Here's the approach I'm thinking about right now:

QB - 8
RB1 - 65
RB2 - 15
WR1 - 50
WR2 - 10
TE - 35
FL - 5
D - 1
K - 1
B - 2
B - 2
B - 1
B - 1
B - 1
B - 1
B - 1
B - 1

Obviously lots could change, but I definitely want an elite RB1, WR1, and TE. There's lots of low-dollar value at WR this year.

 

[mynameisjonas]

decrease TE increase RB2 and flex.

 

[STATE12]

Auction is the way to go. I'd have to think the percentage of leagues that try auction style and go back to snake is very small.

I actually don't hate the TE budget, last year there was a pretty clear dropoff from the top three to the rest of the field. Great spot to outscore others at when looking position by position advantage.

 

[Gonzo]

decrease TE increase RB2 and flex.

I might have to depending on how it goes. But I want one of those top 3 guys, at $35 it'd likely be either Ertz or Kittle. If someone pushes that number north of $35 my TE budget will fall way down, would target Engram in the $15 range.

 

[Gonzo]

Auction is the way to go. I'd have to think the percentage of leagues that try auction style and go back to snake is very small.

I actually don't hate the TE budget, last year there was a pretty clear dropoff from the top three to the rest of the field. Great spot to outscore others at when looking position by position advantage.

Agree. We have a few who are still ******** about it and want to go back to snake, they just don't want to put in the work. Auction is much more fun though.

 

[cstrunk]

There's only a handful of elite running backs, so try not to get caught up in overspending for a RB that may have injury issues or get caught up in a RB committee situation.

It gets tricky if everyone starts overspending at the beginning, though. Because then if everyone is overbudget, they end up with all the top studs instead of you, and you're stuck with a team full of average players, and that usually doesn't get you a 'ship.

I haven't quite mastered it yet. My only suggestion is to do a bunch of mock drafts to get comfortable with it.

 

[Gonzo]

There's only a handful of elite running backs, so try not to get caught up in overspending for a RB that may have injury issues or get caught up in a RB committee situation.

It gets tricky if everyone starts overspending at the beginning, though. Because then if everyone is overbudget, they end up with all the top studs instead of you, and you're stuck with a team full of average players, and that usually doesn't get you a 'ship.

I haven't quite mastered it yet. My only suggestion is to do a bunch of mock drafts to get comfortable with it.

I put up high-profile guys and positions I know I don't want with all my early picks. I pick #2 and will throw Mahomes out there if he's not put up at #1. Want to get as many guys to burn as many $$$ as possible early.

 

[ForbinsAscynt]

Target 2 or 3 and make sure you get them. There is always great value players at the end.

 

[Gonzo]

Target 2 or 3 and make sure you get them. There is always great value players at the end.

I got Mahomes last year in the last few rounds for $1.

 

[chadly82]

This is very helpful, 2 years ago was my first auction draft and it was brutal. Last year I was 3rd in the league luckily thanks to being forced to start Derrick Henry round 1 playoffs. I like the auction type drafts but even harder to know when to sit tight on a player.

 

[STATE12]

This is very helpful, 2 years ago was my first auction draft and it was brutal. Last year I was 3rd in the league luckily thanks to being forced to start Derrick Henry round 1 playoffs. I like the auction type drafts but even harder to know when to sit tight on a player.

There definitely is a learning curve, especially if others in your league have done an auction type before. Every player put up for bid is fair game, so you don't have the same down time between picks waiting for the draft to snake back to you. It is very helpful to have an approximate budget like the OP shared to try to keep an eye on overall spending (but knowing you can be flexible and shift money around during if needed).

 

[chadly82]

There definitely is a learning curve, especially if others in your league have done an auction type before. Every player put up for bid is fair game, so you don't have the same down time between picks waiting for the draft to snake back to you. It is very helpful to have an approximate budget like the OP shared to try to keep an eye on overall spending (but knowing you can be flexible and shift money around during if needed).

I made the mistake of allowing myself to put 65 bucks on Julio my first year and then the remaining portion of my team was pretty thin. 3 real producers and the rest I was weak in especially when bye weeks rolled around and I wasn't able to produce because I went to high in the Julio bidding war. This year I think I'm finally comfortable with this type of draft.

 

[Gonzo]

I made the mistake of allowing myself to put 65 bucks on Julio my first year and then the remaining portion of my team was pretty thin. 3 real producers and the rest I was weak in especially when bye weeks rolled around and I wasn't able to produce because I went to high in the Julio bidding war. This year I think I'm finally comfortable with this type of draft.

I think that's pretty common. And it's one popular strategy out there... load up with 2 or 3 elite guys and try to find value the rest of the way. The guy that won our league went balls out for Kareem Hunt, Todd Gurley and Travis Kelce in the draft and had literally **** everywhere else. He got pretty lucky by acquiring Adrian Peterson at the right time and his top guys avoided injury all season. But I thought he was dead coming out of the draft, and he won the whole thing.

As for bye weeks, if I can get a whole bunch of my top starters with the same bye week, I'm happy. I'll gladly punt that one week if I can avoid having a key producer out every other week.

 

[STATE12]

I think that's pretty common. And it's one popular strategy out there... load up with 2 or 3 elite guys and try to find value the rest of the way. The guy that won our league went balls out for Kareem Hunt, Todd Gurley and Travis Kelce in the draft and had literally **** everywhere else. He got pretty lucky by acquiring Adrian Peterson at the right time and his top guys avoided injury all season. But I thought he was dead coming out of the draft, and he won the whole thing.

As for bye weeks, if I can get a whole bunch of my top starters with the same bye week, I'm happy. I'll gladly punt that one week if I can avoid having a key producer out every other week.

I've been less worried about byes the last few years, and like your approach here. I used to try to finesse the roster so byes didn't overlap, but that does make depth difficult constantly juggling throughout the bye weeks time period.

 

[Gonzo]

I've been less worried about byes the last few years, and like your approach here. I used to try to finesse the roster so byes didn't overlap, but that does make depth difficult constantly juggling throughout the bye weeks time period.

To be clear, I definitely don't make bye weeks a high priority. But I know guys who, when drafting and considering two players who in all other aspects are pretty equal, they'll go with the one who doesn't share a bye week with one of their other top players. I'll do the opposite.

Another thing I started doing years ago is streaming my kicker and if at all possible picking up a kicker from a team that whomever I'm playing that week also has a lot of guys. For example, I was playing a guy who had Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, and Matt Bryant was available that week. So I picked him up and started him, figuring that if Ryan throws for a ton of yards and Julio goes off, I should at least see a lot of FGs and PATs out of it. Not a huge factor, but does provide a little bit of an offset against their offensive production.

 

[tjh1984]

Love auction drafts and have been doing them the last 6 years. I never put a guy up for bidding that I actually want until the very end with I can only afford $1 per player. I always try to put up guys that will go for high money to get people to spend their money. This year I'm spending a lot of my budget on RB's. I have some value guys in mind for TE that I don't think will cost a ton and the WR position is super deep this year so I think I won't need to spend a lot there. I never go over $5 on a QB as there is a ton of value there.

 

[ArgentCy]

I lost because of my QB's last year. bastards. Who knew there were going to be 2 QBs scoring?

 

[BCClone]

Haven’t done auction, but does sound like a bear to learn at first. How many teams do you have? I usually help my youngest in the wife’s family league. Has 14 teams and gets tough at the end. About 3 guys who might check things out 1-2 times a year and just auto draft. Want those guys later when they are playing hurt players.

Had success in picking up backup RBs in week 3 or so. Last year the son got bell and McKinnon as his first two picks and then his fourth rounder got hurt for over half the season and his third rounder (mixon) was out a chunk. Took some magic but he ended up winning the thing.

Learned to know teams tendencies and draft players according to that. Didn’t have a team that would go off for 140 points but would consistently hit the 90 area

 

[Ozclone]

Getting closer to FF drafts, am curious to learn any other auction drafters' strategies. My main league went to an auction for the first time last year. We had a draft budget of $260. This year we're switching it to the more standard $200. Here's the approach I'm thinking about right now:

QB - 8
RB1 - 65
RB2 - 15
WR1 - 50
WR2 - 10
TE - 35
FL - 5
D - 1
K - 1
B - 2
B - 2
B - 1
B - 1
B - 1
B - 1
B - 1
B - 1

Obviously lots could change, but I definitely want an elite RB1, WR1, and TE. There's lots of low-dollar value at WR this year.

I would go more on K and D. Yeah, yeah, never spend more than $1 on K or D, blah, blah, blah. I usually throw out the kicker that I want early for $2 knowing nobody will go $3 (some jerk always goes $2 if I start at $1). $1 extra won't make or break the rest of your team and having the top kicker vs. streaming garbage kickers can be worth a few points a week. Similar for Ds but I usually start at $3 there.

 

[peteypie]

I usually get 1 or 2 studs then like others have said, nominate people I dont want to let others waste money. I usually make hay in the middle with 8 to 15 dollar guys.

For example if you get a stud tight end early, you nominate TEs for the next 7 rounds to make others waste money