Winning Auction Drafts – Make ‘Em Pay

It’s no secret, the teams with the most studs have the best chance to bring home the title which brings me to the most common auction strategy, “studs and duds”. This is exactly how it sounds. Owners use most of their auction budget for top targets and leave just enough money to finish out their roster. Look no further than “studs and duds” for a simple auction strategy.

I prefer to use a variation of the “studs and duds” we’ll call the “make ’em pay” approach. Here I will offer a couple pieces of strategy for use in all types of auction drafts. My goal is to make other owners pay more than they expect so I might win players at the lowest prices.

At the time this article was drafted, the ADP report from My Fantasy League lists the top three ADP players as Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, and Ezekiel Elliott. Expect player nominations to follow a similar ADP footprint. League-mates will spend 10-17% of their auction budget on top targets, depending on roster size. I will touch on examples from two of my current leagues. League A has 14 teams with 20 roster spots on a budget of $264.00. Top players were won, on average, at $45.00. League B has 12 teams averaging 40 roster spots on a budget of $75,000,000.00. Top targets were won, on average, at $8,000,000.00.

Early in the draft bid on every early stud, I mean every stud. What? Wait…I thought you want other owners to pay high prices? Yes I do. In fact, drive up the prices early to prevent other owners from gaining an edge. At the same time your best bargain comes when winning the best players early in the draft. There are always exceptions when the price gets too high but it is worth the risk. Don’t be worried! Stick in a little longer than you want and it will pay off. After a few players are won there will be regrets. Owners will pull out of the Michael Thomas race only to find they paid one dollar less for Odell Beckham. Don’t be that guy! You have been warned!

Next, while there is still plenty of money on the board nominate a polarizing and highly debated player. “Hollywood” Marquise Brown is all over Twitter as a top 30 wide receiver. It does not matter if you agree or disagree, nominate Hollywood early in the draft. We are using Hollywood as bait to evaluate our league-mates. If the bidding spikes quickly assume they are dialed into fantasy Twitter. This gives you great insight on how others are ranking players. Use this knowledge to nominate other polarizing players to start early bidding wars. The goal is to force other owners to spend money earlier than expected while more desirable players are still available. There is a chance that no one takes the bait and you end up winning these players below market price. With a little luck you will steal a player or two using this technique at various times during the draft.

As the draft comes to an end the auction moves into “dollar derby” which begins when most of the owners have just enough money to make minimum bids on players to complete their roster. Save money for this stage of the auction. This is where you can make big strides towards roster construction. Nominate your sleepers when your league-mates can only bid 1$, you can grab them for 2$. In recent years I won Chris Carson, Phillip Lindsay, and Mark Andrews for 2$.

That fact that you are here says you do your homework. Reading and researching those late round diamonds to win for pennies late in the auction. Your exceptional knowledge of breakout and sleepers might cause you to look for too much value early in the auction. This is one of the biggest mistakes I regularly make. Believing I can outsmart my league-mates with superior (nope) player knowledge and my uncanny ability to start all the best players each week (never happens) I change my strategy to a balanced approach. Looking for value all over the board I end up with a middle of the pack team with no real assets to trade. Don’t make my mistake. Get those studs.

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