Fantasy Football Auction Draft: Strategy advice, tips for finding values

So, your fantasy football league finally decided to step it up a notch by switching from a relatively dull snake draft to an action-packed, hectic auction draft. It separates the men from the boys --the hardcore fantasy players from the casual fans -- and it involves it's own set of strategies, tips, and advice.

Auction drafts add spice and flavor to an otherwise bland meal. They allow you to get a combination of players that a snake draft could never allow. Are you a die-hard Steelers fan? Then drop a stack of bills on Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. An Alabama homer? Spend a hundo on Julio Jones and Amari Cooper. I wouldn’t recommend it, but the possibility is there. In a way, that's part of what makes auctions more fair than snake drafts, where inevitably some lucky owners have too-good players fall into their laps.

Auction drafts are hard to control because literally anything can happen. A kicker can be nominated first overall; Jordy Nelson might go for $55 dollars or he might be $40 dollars. You have to be ready for anything. No auction is the same, and they’re about as wildly unpredictable as the Chicago Bears actual 2017 draft. To succeed, one needs patience, awareness and quick decision-making skills.

DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2017 fantasy football cheat sheet

Whether you're an auction veteran or getting ready for your first go at one, we've compiled all the rules, tips, and tricks you should know for a successful draft and come out with all your money spent and all the players you want.

Fantasy Football Auction Draft Tips

Practice

If you’ve never been in an auction draft before, the best way to prepare is to do a mock auction. You don't have to stick around for the full thing, but you'll at least want to get a feel of how the bidding works, how some players go for more than others, how others might drop in price based on when they're nominated, etc.

Because every player is there for the picking, a great starting point is to create an ideal fantasy team for yourself -- similar to creating a daily fantasy lineup. Most auction drafts use a $200 salary cap, so that should be your baseline based on estimated prices from an auction cheat sheet. The top players can end up going for $5-10 more than estimated, but some guys will drop $5, too. It really comes down to when they're nominated and how much people in your league want them.

Plan a budget, be ready to pivot

If your ideal (realistic) team ends up being around $180 bucks, you can plan on targeting those players. If it adds to $190-plus, you will have a tougher time and should consider looking further down the rankings for a player or two. Of course, in auctions things rarely work out according to plan, so it doesn't hurt to create tiers among each position and use them to find a similar player at a similar price. Have this readily available at all points during the auction.

For example, if you’ve settled on Travis Kelce as your TE and Kelce goes way above what you budgeted, you can always opt for Jordan Reed or Greg Olsen. Or, if Kelce was the only guy in that tier you want, then be ready to target a sleeper TE for much less and have a plan to use that excess money at a different position for a player in a higher tier.

If you can’t imagine your fantasy team without a top QB, then prepare three plans with Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady. Draft according to your tiers to create a well-balanced team without having to suffer if you don’t get someone you highlighted.

2017 FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker | Top 200

Fantasy Football Auction Draft Strategy

Stars and Scrubs

The name basically gives away this strategy. You spend 75 percent of your budget on three stars and then sit back until the end and draft a bunch of "scrubs" and hope at least one turns out to be a star. From there, you'll be working the waiver wire the entire season for your other positions.

On paper, it seems great to draft LeSean McCoy, A.J. Green and Rob Gronkowski for $150 and have them carry you to victory each week. If you hit the jackpot with someone like LeGarrette Blount last year, you’ve got yourself a strong fantasy team. However, one injury to these guys can really derail your team, and if your scrubs stay scrubs, it might be a long season for you.

If you have a small league, like eight teams or less, this approach is a lot more appetizing than a league of 10 or 12 or more.

Balanced Attack

The most popular strategy, the balanced attack is quite simple: Spread out your money as evenly as you can between your RBs and WRs and be moderate on your TEs and QBs to keep your options open. With this approach, you have the chance to pick any player of your choosing, unlike the stars-and-scrubs strategy.

If you notice that other teams are using the stars-and-scrubs approach, a balanced attack can allow you to clean up on mid-tier players. You can create a team that will be stacked with depth and not have to worry as much about waiver-wire battles. Injuries won’t hurt you as much, and bye weeks won’t force you to piece together a team of rags. The options are limitless with the balanced attack.

SLEEPERS: 5 QBs | 14 RBs | 8 TEs | 11 WRs | 5 D/STs | One from each team

Fantasy Football Auction Draft Advice

Get your man

In a snake draft, you go into a draft knowing you won’t get some players just because of where you pick, but in an auction draft, you have just as much of a chance as anyone at any given player. And because of that, game plans can easily get messed up.

If you have one or two guys you can’t live without, then get them. If you have to overspend a little bit, so be it. You don’t want to go into an auction draft where all of your plans involve Aaron Rodgers...and then not get Aaron Rodgers.

More than likely, you’ll end up with some money left over and start buying sleepers for more than you should just because you have the excess money. That wasted money is the difference between you having Rodgers and you not having Rodgers, who was your No. 1 target all along.

Sometimes nominate the player you want, most of the time don’t

Let’s say you want Odell Beckham Jr. Nominate him right away, right? Not so fast. Instead, nominate Mike Evans, Jordy Nelson, or another Tier-1 WR. Whoever pays top dollar for Evans or Nelson is likely one less owner who will be willing to pay for OBJ. The longer the player you want is available, the more likely other teams won’t consider going after him because of budgetary reasons. He may even come cheaper than you expected.

Avoid nominating your top sleeper targets, too. The longer you wait for your sleeper pick to be auctioned, the less likely people will bid. If you love Jack Doyle, nominate him after most already have their starting tight ends. The less people and money involved, the better your chances of getting a good deal.

There are times when you should nominate the player you want. If you have a certain player you know you're going to get no matter the cost, then nominate him early. If you want him to be the foundation of your team, then get that cost off your books right away so you know how much you have to play around with the rest of the auction.

Also, if there's a sleeper you like but don't love (and is fairly under the radar), it doesn't hurt to throw him out relatively early and see if you can snag him cheap while other owners are still hording money for when the studs are nominated.

DRAFT STRATEGY AND TIERS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST

Dictate the market, don’t let the market dictate you

Sometimes, market price says one thing but the investors are buying higher than you expected. If one WR goes $15 over his value, a second WR goes $13 over and a third WR goes $15 over, it may seem that a WR being $10 over market price is a steal. It’s not.

Like the stock market, the prices will go up and down like a roller coaster, and just because the current market is inflated doesn't mean you should let that affect your spending. Prices will eventually drop, and that’s when you come in for the steal. Those who bought high will feel it later in the draft.

If you play with the devil, accept the consequences

There’s always that guy (me) who loves to drive up the price to make other owners pay more than they want to. It’s a popular tactic, and it’s inevitable that you’ll be on one side -- or even both sides -- of this.

If you are the one driving up the price, you need to be sure of two things: How bad the other person really wants that player, and if that player is someone you wouldn’t mind having on your team. If you know someone is crazy into Jay Ajayi and you’re driving up the price, make sure you're willing to pay a decent amount for Ajayi, as well.

You might also find yourself bumping up the price of someone who, in your mind, is going for too cheap. You may feel like Ajayi at $16 bucks is a steal, so you try to drive up the price to help you in the long run. Again, you better be fine with rostering Ajayi when your opponent stops bidding. Drafting someone you actually don’t want can ruin your entire game plan.

Be aware of other teams

This is by far the trickiest and hardest bit of advice to follow, but if you can keep track of your competitors’' needs, it can be beneficial to you. More so in the later rounds, it’s helpful to know who can outbid you and who can’t. Sometimes, it may seem like you and other owners are about to wage a bidding war for a $15 RB, but if you know that they only have $40 bucks and an entire bench left to fill, you could be only a couple dollars away from winning.

If you do an online auction draft, you should be able to easily keep track of your competitors’ money situation and roster. View their team and figure out what they need at each position. Being aware of your opponents will make your team better.

Save for handcuffs

Toward the end of the draft, the money and players will be dwindling. If you’ve played your cards right, you should use the leftover money to grab your handcuffs. Got Mike Gillislee? Pick up James White or Dion Lewis. Drafted Carlos Hyde? Grab Joe Williams. Unlike snake drafts, it’s easier to get the handcuffs you need. Take advantage of it.

Don’t splurge too much at the Dollar Store

Kickers and D/STs should only be bought at the dollar store. Sure, there are a couple of defenses with a listed price of $2, and if someone else nominates the Broncos or Chiefs D/ST, then yeah, whatever -- if you really really have to have them, then bid that extra dollar. If it goes to $3 dollars, then don’t even bother anymore. If you do buy a kicker for more than a dollar, go ahead and smack yourself across your face.

Unlike the snake draft, there's really no specific time to get your kicker or D/ST. First round, last round, 15th round -- it's whenever you want. Just be sure you don't overspend.

Stop the bidding war

Auction drafts have their own tiny psychological nuances and subtle maneuvers that can help you get the player you want, deplete someone’s budget, and throw off your opponents. For the top players, a bidding war won’t stop until someone finally just gives up. There’s just no way to stop it. But when the winning bids are at $10 or less, you can stop a bidding war before it even begins.

Instead of upping the bid just one dollar, add an extra dollar. Everyone is willing to go one more dollar up, but two dollars? You’ll be amazed how people will freeze up and reconsider how much they really want that player.

For example, some websites have Corey Coleman (a sleeper WR for us) valued at $5. You open the bidding at $2, someone bids $3, you bid $4, that person bids $5. You have to ask yourself: Are you really going to enter a bidding war for a Browns player? No way. Bump it an extra dollar and bid $7. More often than not, that other owner call it quits.

Keep your players secret

Your sleepers, your favorite players -- any guys you actually want should be kept secret from everyone else. If you talk up Coby Fleener and say you read somewhere that Drew Brees is trying to incorporate him into the Saints system more, two things will happen: One, you’ll convince someone else to draft him, adding another competitor to the bid war; two, people like me will drive up the price cause I know how badly you want him. Draft first, talk later.

Nominate an odd-ball

MORE:
2017 Fantasy Football Sleepers: 32 teams, 32 sleepers

Things are getting tense in your draft, people are throwing money left and right, and you nominate the Broncos D/ST in the second round. Huh?

This might be one of my favorite tricks. With so much money available early on, people will end up shelling out way more than they should for the best defense. Their game plans get messed up, concentration slips, and before you know it, the Broncos D/ST is being bought for six bucks. Nominate Justin Tucker, and he gets bought for more than any kicker ever should. Worst-case scenario, you end up getting a top D/ST and kicker for a dollar. No harm, no foul. And also, you shouldn’t really nominate a player you actually want anyway, remember?