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markcc13

2018 Auction Draft Strategy

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I have no idea what to do this year. The past few weeks I have been preparing for my league's auction draft. This year seems far more difficult than in previous years. We only have a couple of players who are unquestionable work horses like Elliott and Gurley. Afterwards every player has question marks and some are going for crazy values like Barkley (0 NFL snaps), D. Johnson (Coming off an Injury Year), etc. This year their is huge parity. I am in a 10 team league and there is plenty of depth at WR and QB this year.

 

I'm totally lost with what to do? I'm leaning towards splurging on RB but I hate how injury prone they are. What are other people thinking about doing this year?

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I thought this year was clearer than most as far as running backs. I would be in on one of the top guys for sure. If I didn't land one of them I would be going for tier 2 pretty hard.

 

My only experience with auction was one year, and everyone was inexperienced. I used that to my advantage and I honestly practiced my ass off on what to do.

 

The biggest piece of advice that I took away from my experience, figure out the largest difference in your rankings compared to consensus rankings. Those are the guys I targeted. It worked the one year I did it.

 

I wouldn't go into it thinking, welp, I'm going to spend all my dough on running backs, let's hope it works! Find those values. If you think the best running back is worth x amount of maximum dollars, then stay in the bidding until that amount. Eventually you will land one of them in bidding

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1. Don't spend any big money on a QB.

2. Bid up the top QBs

 

Depending on how many roster spots you have, how many players start, and if it's a PPR... it's tough to give any other advice at this time.

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1. Don't spend any big money on a QB.

2. Bid up the top QBs

 

Depending on how many roster spots you have, how many players start, and if it's a PPR... it's tough to give any other advice at this time.

Those two tips can contradict each other. Dont bid up any player youre not willing to have on your team. I do like to nominate QBs early though in hopes they go for more and they use up other teams money early.

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Those two tips can contradict each other. Dont bid up any player youre not willing to have on your team. I do like to nominate QBs early though in hopes they go for more and they use up other teams money early.

I like to toss in throw away bids on players I am not all that interested in. Just to throw people off. Nowhere near where I think the player will go for.

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Those two tips can contradict each other. Dont bid up any player youre not willing to have on your team. I do like to nominate QBs early though in hopes they go for more and they use up other teams money early.

 

 

Sure, you have to be careful. Another thing you can do is once half of the owners get their starting QB, you can toss out a name for a buck. Some owners who have drafted a QB will then spend money on a second QB and bid it up. If they get it, they will be at a disadvantage for other positions. All depends on how well you know the other owners and who they "have to have"

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First half of the draft, ALWAYS nominate players you have no interest in whatsoever.

 

^^^ Nominating QBs in the early rounds is an excellent strategy

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Know your tiers.

 

Taking example of FFT rankings of:

1.Gurley

2.Johnson

3.Bell

4.Elliot

 

If Elliot is last one on the board in that tier the bidding could get high for him as those that waited, but feel they need to get one of these top4.

 

In some cases I've seen the 4 guy go for more than the 1 guy, just b/c the demand/bidding is higher.

 

By knowing your tiers can minimize getting caught up in bidding war for remaining players in that tier.

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My league is auction and keeper style. So, our pool of available players is diminished somewhat at the start. Though, there are always good players available. So, I will usually throw out the player I most want first. I've set a super high budget for him. Then, I lurk and wait and try to pounce of value guys that I covet. Then, when others start to run out of my money, I can still usually scoop up some good players at the end. Also, I'll be keeping a few cheap players RB2, RB3, WR1 and LB1. So, I have a good core to add a stud RB to. Also, I am high on 3 QB, and I am certain at least one of them will be available on the dirt cheap.

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I would spend the money to get one or two guys you really believe in.

 

My preferred strategy is as follows: I like to blow 2/3 to 3/4 of my budget for an elite RB/RB/WR or RB/WR/WR combo and then value shop. If you do this you will be twiddling your thumbs and bidding up other players for the next 30 players or so. It can get boring but you have to stay focused since a nice value target can drop into your lap at anytime. It sounds crazy to fill out the remaining 10-15 spots with only 3/4 of your budget but I have been able to fairly consistently do this over several years of auction drafts. The real value time is late in the draft and having like 20-30 bucks is often enough to get a fairly talented roster once everyone else exhausts their funds.

 

Some Tips:

1. The first guy in the draft and in most tiers is often a slight steal. Everyone is usually seeing what the price will be set at for #1WR or #1RB.

2. Tiers are massively important. You need to have a list and no how much you will spend for each tier of elite players. The last guys at a particular tier can often go for more than a higher ranked player simply due to supply and demand.

3. I tend not to nominate guys I want but wait for them to pop up. This can be a bit nerve wracking.

4. If you have team managers not present the autodraft can drive you bonkers but you can load these teams up with overpriced injury prone players. It feels a bit dirty but they are screwing up a real fun way to draft by not being there.

 

Good luck and embrace the auction its hellafun!

 

 

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I have no idea what to do this year. The past few weeks I have been preparing for my league's auction draft. This year seems far more difficult than in previous years.

 

Since only Frozenbeernuts really attempted to answer your question... (the OP isn't asking for general auction strategy... he's done auction for years and is asking about THIS year...)

 

I'll say try using fantasypro's projections inside their auction calculator as a starting point: https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/auction-values/calculator.php

It says its based on starting 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE. Adjust prices if needed based on your league's lineup requirements and your own personal rankings. Or find some other calculators out there since they'll have to have current year projections built into them somehow.

 

If the auction starts and players are going for prices waaaaaay different than your values... start gobbling up all your best value differentials.

If players are going for the prices you projected... then obviously you need to pick the guys you just really like/want.

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Since only Frozenbeernuts really attempted to answer your question... (the OP isn't asking for general auction strategy... he's done auction for years and is asking about THIS year...)

 

I'll say try using fantasypro's projections inside their auction calculator as a starting point: https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/auction-values/calculator.php

It says its based on starting 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE. Adjust prices if needed based on your league's lineup requirements and your own personal rankings. Or find some other calculators out there since they'll have to have current year projections built into them somehow.

 

If the auction starts and players are going for prices waaaaaay different than your values... start gobbling up all your best value differentials.

If players are going for the prices you projected... then obviously you need to pick the guys you just really like/want.

 

Thank you for clarifying. I've been doing auction for several years. Previously I have always felt very confident but not this year. Where did you see it say that it is based on starting 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE. My league uses a flex (WR, RB, and TE) rather than a third WR so I would place an even greater value on the RB position.

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Since only Frozenbeernuts really attempted to answer your question... (the OP isn't asking for general auction strategy... he's done auction for years and is asking about THIS year...)

 

Sigh...the initial question was unfocused and vague.

 

The entire purpose of going with an auction draft is so everyone has an equal chance at every player in the draft. So when you post about auction strategy and ask for advice we are naturally going to assume you mean tips and tricks for how to draft within that style and get the players you want.

 

So if your asking what players to draft then you can go with either a ranking site (I recommend this one) or pick the players you want to root for. Personally I am always a sucker for the physical freaks of the NFL, when I hear people start talking about size/speed ratio and freaks of nature those are the guys I want on my team.

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Just posted Doug's annual Art of the Auction article. Given Doug's track record in this expert league, I'd highly suggest anybody doing an auction this year to read this piece.

This article was why I won my one and only auction. Not just won but dominated

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Thank you for clarifying. I've been doing auction for several years. Previously I have always felt very confident but not this year. Where did you see it say that it is based on starting 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE. My league uses a flex (WR, RB, and TE) rather than a third WR so I would place an even greater value on the RB position.

 

Had to hover over where it says "based on standard lineup" to see it.

Most sites will have the top RB at up to 35% of cap and top WR up to 22-24%-ish. In non-PPR, that is. So you could use that and scale down from there.

 

If non-PPR, I think you want to get the best 2 top RBs possible and then one top tier WR as Noob suggested.

Then all those 3rd/4th tier RBs/WRs are abundant at lower relative costs because the top tier players take up everyone's cap space.

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I usually announce bids on QBs early and occasionally throw in early sleepers that I like... you can usually either steal them for nothing, or someone will grossly overbid. You'll find a lot of people prep for there main targets but get thrown off when things go out of order...

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We do our auction a bit differently than most who throw out players just to get $$ off the board. If an owner brings a player out and gets him, he gets $1 taken off his winning bid ($100 budget). No messing around, go put up the guy you want.

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