Iconic rock
band Van Halen said it best with the classic rock track "Everybody Wants
Some" back in 1980. Granted some of you may not have be born yet, so I may
be carbon dating myself for this purpose. If you've ever heard the chorus to
the relatively ancient tune, after the title line is sung it's followed by
David Lee Roth squealing "I want some too!"
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When it
comes to fantasy football auctions, team managers want value. To which Roth
asks, "Baby how 'bout you?"
The song has
become a soundtrack for me every fantasy football draft season, and I would
rather have it turn out my way than the 80's movie in which it's featured,
Better Off Dead. Most consider the auction draft intimidating, and my first
season playing fantasy football I agreed. I was invited to play with some
former high school buddies that were looking to replace a team manager that had
gotten fed up with league politics and quit. Not knowing what I was in for, I
proceeded to overpay for players and barely filled out a competitive roster by
the time auction was finished. My season was tanked by the choice of over
bidding on an oft injured Rashard Mendenhall, then blowing all of my free agent
budget on Isaac Redman and a young Jonathan Dwyer; all of whom got injured at
some point. It stung so much that I forsook auction drafts altogether for
years, also most leagues I was in weren't doing them, until last year.
In this
article I'll cover some auction strategy and a few players that could be value
plays and help you win in your leagues this season. In any draft, you're not
going to enjoy setting your roster every week if you have guys that you don't
enjoy rooting for, so it's important to budget your loot accordingly to allow
you to fill positions with the studs that you want. A way to do this is to tier
your player rankings at each position. Most of you should already be doing this
for your snake drafts, the difference being placing dollar amounts on guys
instead of their average draft position.
I recommend
using an auction value calculator,
then raising
the dollar amounts for the players you really want from there, but try to keep
it within reason. Obviously spending over a quarter of your budget on one guy means
you are going to have to count on some major bargains in the latter part of the
auction. Use the cheat sheet as a guideline, keeping in mind other league mates
may have the same prices on players that you do, and won't stop bidding until
someone gives up. Know when to concede for the greater good of your team, a
true squad goal.
Player nomination
strategies
A
classic auction strategy is to nominate the high ranking players that you don't
like as much as everyone else in your league. You increase your odds for
getting players by ultimately reducing the number of owners that can bid,
because they're either filled at the position or they're low on dough. I've
been in draft rooms where owners don't spend a dollar for the first five or so
player nominations, while I was throwing loot like it was a strip club. None of
that this season. That's what the mocks were for.
Jeremy
Hill went for $1 in one of my leagues last year and was almost the last player
nominated, and I of course had spent $25 on Giovanni Bernard. The tip here is
to keep your eyes peeled for late nominated players with upside. In my
experience these players are handcuff running backs, but can come from any
position, including individual defensive players, IDP. There is also a lot of
value to be had from players who come into the season injured.
Three value picks for 2015
Eli Manning $6 - Absolutely love the
bad comedian with cable this year. McAdoo's offense led to a career high in
completion percentage last year, and has most of his weapons back. Yes, Reuben
Randle included. A favorable schedule make him hard to pass up.
Marvin Jones $1- Back and healthy,
Jones could be a major steal if he continues his current progression throughout
camp and the preseason.
Victor Cruz $3 - How about a comeback
from one of the worst injuries you can possibly have? He could be the first. I
believe in him.
Thanks
for reading and I hope this gives some insight for your fantasy endeavors. Oh
yeah, I didn't get too upset that I missed out on handcuffing Giovanni Bernard
with Jeremy Hill. I already had Antonio Brown and some guy at the end of my
bench I paid $1 for...Odell Beckham Jr.
This article was written by Ben Walker. Find Ben on Twitter @mrpumamc
