Experimenting with Mock Auctions - Would you take either of these teams?

[BLS 313]

I've been hitting the ESPN mock auctions hard for a couple of weeks.  Last night I tried 2 different concepts and I'd like feedback on if either team is something you would go to 'war' with.

All mock auctions were $200 cap, 16 roster spots.

The first experiment, was to not pay more than $30 for any player, which ultimately means no 'first round' talent.

The 2nd, was to draft the top skill positions from the Chiefs.

I'm interested to hear what you think of each team.
I'm also curious if you've experimented with different auctions and what the results were.

 

Team 1; while there are no 'studs', I found the team to be very well rounded with good depth.

    Devonta Freeman $27 
    George Kittle $27 
    Stefon Diggs $27 
    Damien Williams $30 
    Mike Williams $15 
    Mark Ingram II $23 
    Calvin Ridley $12 
    Sony Michel $14 
    Josh Gordon $10 
    Phillip Lindsay $8 
    Kyler Murray $1 
    Lamar Jackson $1 
    Jamison Crowder $2 
    Darrell Henderson $1 
    Rams D/ST $1 
    Harrison Butker $1 

 

Team 2; All the top players from the Chiefs.
The obvious issue with this team is bye week.  However I did some math last night and discovered that if I had started all the major Chief starters last year, I would have score the most points in the league, which pretty well equates to winning the division and a good chance in the playoffs.

    Tyreek Hill $59 
    Travis Kelce $48 
    Patrick Mahomes $21 
    Damien Williams $22 
    Harrison Butker $1 
    Mark Ingram II $16 
    Mike Williams $16 
    O.J. Howard $8 
    Latavius Murray $2 
    Courtland Sutton $1 
    LeSean McCoy $1 
    Tyrell Williams $1 
    DK Metcalf $1 
    Titans D/ST $1 
    Adam Vinatieri $1 
    Greg Olsen $1 

[Gepetto 985]

I like both teams a lot.  If you do decide team 2 you have to get the RB handcuffs Darwin Thompson Chiefs and Justice Hill Ravens.  DK Metcalf is a wasted puck. 

 

I actually like the first team better but that will cause a lot of difficult start/sit decisions every week which can be good and bad or might not matter but you're  bench might make you wish you started some of them each week but I still think that team wins a lot of games.

[BLS 313]

8 minutes ago, Gepetto said:

I like both teams a lot.  If you do decide team 2 you have to get the RB handcuffs Darwin Thompson Chiefs and Justice Hill Ravens.  DK Metcalf is a wasted puck. 

 

I actually like the first team better but that will cause a lot of difficult start/sit decisions every week which can be good and bad or might not matter but you're  bench might make you wish you started some of them each week but I still think that team wins a lot of games.

Agreed on the RB backups.  I set it to autodraft once I was down to $1/pick.  It would be interesting to see if I would have been able to grab them both.

I also agree on the start/sit issue on the 'No Studs' team.  Clearly a disadvantage.  One advantage though is there's not a lot of risk.
They always say you can't win your league in the first round, but you CAN lose it.
This way of drafting helps insulate against that, and I believe it also gives your more, quality chances to hit a home run with an up and comer.

[Gepetto 985]

For the first team I'd replace Kittle, Mark Ingram, and Calvin Ridley with OJ Howard ( or Evan Engram) & JuJu (or Antonio Brown, or similar WR1).  Then you still have depth but also an elite WR and better WR starters.  Kittle could regress, I had him last year and a couple of his touchdowns and yards were on short passes with a wide open field he just ran to the endzone.

[GreatGray 2]

Stacking so many guys on 1 team limits your upside and is generally going to be a sub-optimal strategy. Go for more of a hybrid approach.

Why? Because otherwise you are effetively capping your upside while simultaneously increasing your risk (AND lowering your weekly floor).

If your WR, TE, or RB are all on the same team-- when any of them have a good week that directly means less yards/TDs for your other guys. There's only so many points to go around on a given team and you don't want your weekly upside capped. Bad matchups (or bad weeks) will be amplified more than good weeks for your team.

Add to that the linked risks that Mahomes (or his primary targets) goes down with injury and you immediately have a vastly less resilient team. Whereas if you have a diversified portfolio of guys from similar tiers you are far better off when injuries strike and will still realize more upside on a weekly basis.

It's far better to spread your risk and have the potential for ALL of your guys to have good weeks.

No way do you want QB, WR, TE, and RB from the same team no matter how good the team is. Your highest probability of success if you like the Chiefs is to pick 1 combo (ie. Mahomes + Hill or Kelce) and then look elsewhere for similar production on other teams. In my opinion (for similar reasons) it is never optimal to stack QB and RB on the same team.