Draft Strategies and Analysis

It's never to early to start prepping for the draft, is it?

Sure, you're a seasoned Fantasy Football player, and you're all ready for your draft, right?  Well, have you ever done an auction-style draft before?  Most people haven't, but even those of you that have are probably playing with new rules, new players, or new tools to conduct the auction.  Why an auction-style draft, you might ask?  Simple: it's more fun, and it's more strategic than a traditional draft.  You don't have to have the first pick to get Chris Johnson or Adrian Peterson -- if you want that guy you can have him...for a price!

This page is here to help you get ready with strategies, past player values, etc.  It is still very much under construction, but it will get you started for now and we'll continue to add to it right up until draft season.



First things first: Do a mock auction

We're going to run each of the drafts on Yahoo, and they have a new mock auction tool this year that will help you get ready.  First, the auction moves fast, so you should have a little practice before the draft.  Don't miss out on a guy you want or accidentally overbid for a guy you don't -- make sure you're familiar with their application.

Note that there are a few differences between the mock auction and our auction, so take you draft results with a grain of salt.  We use a $100 budget rather than a $200 budget that the mock auction uses.  We have a "flex" position (RB/WR/TE) rather than 3WR's like yahoo uses.  We don't use a defense, so you'll have one more roster spot to fill with an offensive player than you will on yahoo.  Finally, the "auto-drafters" will spend ridiculous amounts of money on kickers, which is the primary "skew" vs. how we'll draft.



Familiarize yourself with the rules.  There is a separate page with the basic rules set up.

General Guidelines and Strategies

• Set your cheat sheet: you should have a value in mind for every player.  One way to do this is to make a cheat sheet where you enter values for players based on what you think players will go for.  Using this method, there should be exactly 168 players that you think will be drafted, and exactly $1,200 spent.  Once you've got this set up, you can then set the value for each player that YOU would want that player at.
• This is a RB-heavy scoring format -- values are probably skewed higher for RB's in this league than in some leagues.  QB's tend to be cheaper than most leagues.
• Draft for value: don't OVER-spend on any guy just because you want him.  Set a realistic maximum for each player and don't go over that.  Remember, when somebody else pays more for a player than your maximum, it means that you can go after MORE of the other players that you want.
• Be patient: if you spend all your money early, you are going to be very unhappy when the guys that didn't spend all their money early are stealing great talent left and right at the end of the draft.
• Think about who you want to nominate when it's your turn to throw out a player.  What are your options?  You can target a player you want and bid on him, or you can put out a player that you think is going to be a bust and watch someone waste a bunch of money.  You can just put out the highest-priced player left on the board to get as much money out of the way as possible -- the more money you have relative to everyone else, the more leverage you have.
• DON'T overspend on a kicker -- almost never should you spend more than $1 on a kicker, and nobody should ever spend more than $2.

Prior year values: The rules for this league have been copied directly from my long standing league, and we've been doing an auction style draft since 2004.  There was one rule change in 2005 (we eliminated keepers) but I've published the last 3 years of draft results below for your reference.  Remember, the scoring system used influences the value of each player, so the purpose of posting these values is to give you a sense of how players are valued under the particular rules we're using.  I've included two things: the actual player values as well as a summary of how many players were drafted by position and how much money was spent on each position as a whole.

First, here are the totals for amount spent by position and number of players drafted -- you should use these as a rough guideline for setting your cheat sheets (in other words, the total amount you budget for RB's should be within the range of these values, and so on).

 

3 Year Average	RB	WR	QB	TE	K	Total
Total Spent	698	330	105	45	14	1193
Players Drafted	65	57	21	13	12	168
2009	RB	WR	QB	TE	K	Total
Total Spent	664	358	109	47	12	1190
Players Drafted	70	53	20	13	12	168
2008	RB	WR	QB	TE	K	Total
Total Spent	695	336	106	44	14	1195
Players Drafted	64	59	22	12	11	168
2007	RB	WR	QB	TE	K	Total
Total Spent	735	297	101	45	15	1193
Players Drafted	62	59	21	13	12	167

Now for the player values -- if you want this in spreadsheet form, just drop me a note and I'll send it to you.2009

LastName	FirstName	Actual
Peterson	Adrian	39
Jones-Drew	Maurice	34
Forte	Matt	34
Turner	Michael	33
Williams	DeAngelo	31
Tomlinson	LaDainian	29
Slaton	Steve	27
Moss	Randy	26
Johnson	Chris	26
Gore	Frank	25
Fitzgerald	Larry	24
Johnson	Andre	23
Jackson	Steven	22
Brees	Drew	21
Johnson	Calvin	20
Jacobs	Brandon	20
Portis	Clinton	19
Brady	Tom	18
Wayne	Reggie	17
Colston	Marques	17
Westbrook	Brian	17
Smith	Steve	16
Grant	Ryan	16
Barber	Marion	16
Jennings	Greg	15
Boldin	Anquan	15
White	Roddy	15
Thomas	Pierre	14
Brown	Ronnie	14
Addai	Joseph	13
Smith	Kevin	13
Bowe	Dwayne	12
White	LenDale	11
Manning	Peyton	10
Johnson	Larry	10
McFadden	Darren	10
Lynch	Marshawn	10
Witten	Jason	9
Rodgers	Aaron	9
Houshmandzadeh	T.J.	9
Owens	Terrell	9
Gonzalez	Anthony	9
Jones	Thomas	9
Rivers	Philip	9
Moreno	Knowshon	9
Jones	Felix	9
Gates	Antonio	8
Ochocinco	Chad	8
Jackson	DeSean	8
Jackson	Vincent	8
Bush	Reggie	8
Benson	Cedric	8
Clark	Dallas	8
Parker	Willie	8
Bradshaw	Ahmad	8
Gonzalez	Tony	7
Stewart	Jonathan	7
Ward	Derrick	7
Hightower	Tim	7
Rice	Ray	7
Warner	Kurt	6
Marshall	Brandon	6
Royal	Eddie	6
Williams	Roy E.	6
Welker	Wes	6
Berrian	Bernard	6
Romo	Tony	6
Wells	Beanie	6
McCoy	LeSean	6
Washington	Leon	6
Edwards	Braylon	5
Driver	Donald	5
Lewis	Jamal	5
Mendenhall	Rashard	5
Palmer	Carson	4
Evans	Lee	4
Holmes	Santonio	4
Bryant	Antonio	4
Avery	Donnie	4
Moore	Lance	4
Hester	Devin	4
McNabb	Donovan	4
Sproles	Darren	4
Jackson	Fred	4
Ryan	Matt	4
Brown	Donald	4
Jones	Julius	4
Taylor	Chester	4
Davis	James	4
Schaub	Matt	3
Carlson	John	3
Cutler	Jay	3
Hasselbeck	Matt	3
Ward	Hines	3
Henry	Chris	3
Holt	Torry	3
Moss	Santana	3
Ginn Jr.	Ted	3
Cotchery	Jerricho	3
Coffee	Glen	3
Buckhalter	Correll	3
Maroney	Laurence	3
Norwood	Jerious	3
McClain	LeRon	3
Cooley	Chris	2
Daniels	Owen	2
Olsen	Greg	2
Roethlisberger	Ben	2
Harvin	Percy	2
Winslow	Kellen	2
Burleson	Nate	2
Garrard	David	2
Crayton	Patrick	2
Walter	Kevin	2
Graham	Earnest	2
Hixon	Domenik	2
Breaston	Steve	2
Williams	Ricky	2
Mason	Derrick	2
James	Edgerrin	2
Coles	Laveranues	2
Bell	Mike	2
Goodson	Mike	2
Williams	Cadillac	2
Greene	Shonn	2
Kaeding	Nate	1
Bironas	Rob	1
Gostkowski	Stephen	1
Longwell	Ryan	1
Brown	Kris	1
Akers	David	1
Rackers	Neil	1
Elam	Jason	1
Heap	Todd	1
Manning	Eli	1
Crosby	Mason	1
Favre	Brett	1
Shiancoe	Visanthe	1
Miller	Zach	1
Cassel	Matt	1
Flacco	Joe	1
Delhomme	Jake	1
Gould	Robbie	1
Smith	Steve	1
Folk	Nick	1
Vinatieri	Adam	1
Chambers	Chris	1
Taylor	Fred	1
McGahee	Willis	1
Morgan	Josh	1
Williamson	Troy	1
Choice	Tashard	1
Morris	Sammy	1
Bush	Michael	1
Charles	Jamaal	1
Harrison	Jerome	1
Hillis	Peyton	1
Gage	Justin	1
Maclin	Jeremy	1
Faulk	Kevin	1
Fargas	Justin	1
Shockey	Jeremy	1
Branch	Deion	1
Scott	Bernard	1
Nicks	Hakeem	1
Bruce	Isaac	1
Ware	Danny	1
Brown	Chris	1

2008

LastName	FirstName	Actual
Tomlinson	LaDainian	40
Peterson	Adrian	39
Addai	Joseph	39
Westbrook	Brian	38
Jackson	Steven	36
Barber	Marion	35
Portis	Clinton	33
Moss	Randy	31
Gore	Frank	30
Lynch	Marshawn	29
Owens	Terrell	26
Jones-Drew	Maurice	25
Johnson	Larry	21
Jacobs	Brandon	20
Brady	Tom	20
Graham	Earnest	19
Manning	Peyton	19
Wayne	Reggie	18
Grant	Ryan	18
Edwards	Braylon	17
Colston	Marques	17
Brees	Drew	17
Romo	Tony	17
Lewis	Jamal	16
Fitzgerald	Larry	16
Maroney	Laurence	16
Marshall	Brandon	15
Jones	Thomas	14
Stewart	Jonathan	14
McFadden	Darren	14
Parker	Willie	13
Johnson	Andre	13
Bush	Reggie	13
Holt	Torry	13
McGahee	Willis	12
Turner	Michael	11
Burress	Plaxico	11
Smith	Steve	11
Smith	Kevin	11
Johnson	Calvin	11
Boldin	Anquan	10
Houshmandzadeh	T.J.	9
Williams	DeAngelo	9
Witten	Jason	9
Johnson	Chad	8
Young	Selvin	8
Brown	Ronnie	8
Perry	Chris	8
White	LenDale	7
Williams	Roy	7
Holmes	Santonio	7
Welker	Wes	7
Gates	Antonio	7
Jennings	Greg	7
Forte	Matt	7
Cotchery	Jerricho	7
Johnson	Chris	7
Morris	Maurice	7
James	Edgerrin	6
Roethlisberger	Ben	6
Jones	Julius	6
Mendenhall	Rashard	6
Harrison	Marvin	5
Jones	Felix	5
Winslow	Kellen	5
Gonzalez	Tony	5
Williams	Ricky	5
Bowe	Dwayne	5
Moss	Santana	5
Shockey	Jeremy	5
Taylor	Fred	4
Fargas	Justin	4
Anderson	Derek	4
Coles	Laveranues	4
Burleson	Nate	4
McAllister	Deuce	4
Palmer	Carson	3
Evans	Lee	3
White	Roddy	3
Clark	Dallas	3
Taylor	Chester	3
Cooley	Chris	3
Watson	Kenny	3
Berrian	Bernard	3
Norwood	Jerious	3
Jackson	DeSean	3
Rice	Ray	3
Slaton	Steve	2
Ward	Hines	2
McNabb	Donovan	2
Galloway	Joey	2
Jackson	Brandon	2
Gaffney	Jabar	2
Chambers	Chris	2
Driver	Donald	2
Davis	Vernon	2
Gonzalez	Anthony	2
Kitna	Jon	2
Schaub	Matt	2
Young	Vince	2
Gostkowski	Stephen	2
Folk	Nick	2
Dawson	Phil	2
Crayton	Patrick	2
Stallworth	Donte'	2
Miller	Heath	2
Mason	Derrick	2
Bradshaw	Ahmad	2
Favre	Brett	2
Green	Ahman	2
Brown	Chris	2
Ginn Jr.	Ted	2
Booker	Lorenzo	2
Manning	Eli	1
Cutler	Jay	1
Hasselbeck	Matt	1
Hall	Andre	1
Rivers	Philip	1
Johnson	Rudi	1
Hightower	Tim	1
Bulger	Marc	1
Walker	Javon	1
Rice	Sidney	1
Warner	Kurt	1
Foster	DeShaun	1
Royal	Eddie	1
Rodgers	Aaron	1
Delhomme	Jake	1
Garrard	David	1
Vinatieri	Adam	1
Graham	Shayne	1
Brown	Josh	1
Crosby	Mason	1
Kaeding	Nate	1
Rackers	Neil	1
Scobee	Josh	1
Engram	Bobby	1
Curtis	Kevin	1
Porter	Jerry	1
Hardy	James	1
Johnson	Bryant	1
Daniels	Owen	1
Jackson	Vincent	1
Brown	Reggie	1
Williams	Reggie	1
Toomer	Amani	1
Rhodes	Dominic	1
Hackett	D.J.	1
Smith	Steve	1
Betts	Ladell	1
Henry	Chris	1
Gould	Robbie	1
Bruce	Isaac	1
Bell	Tatum	1
Crumpler	Alge	1
Ward	Derrick	1
Scheffler	Tony	1
Hester	Devin	1
Taylor	Courtney	1
Faulk	Kevin	1
Smith	Kolby	1
Torain	Ryan	1
Jones	Kevin	1
Bennett	Drew	1
Campbell	Jason	1
Meachem	Robert	1
Sproles	Darren	1
Harrison	Jerome	1

2007

Last	First	Actual
Tomlinson	LaDainian	51
Jackson	Steven	46
Addai	Joseph	39
Gore	Frank	38
Johnson	Larry	37
Alexander	Shaun	35
Johnson	Rudi	34
Parker	Willie	33
Westbrook	Brian	32
Maroney	Laurence	31
Bush	Reggie	30
Henry	Travis	28
McGahee	Willis	26
Manning	Peyton	24
Benson	Cedric	21
Smith	Steve	20
James	Edgerrin	19
Jones-Drew	Maurice	19
Johnson	Chad	19
Owens	Terrell	19
McAllister	Deuce	19
Harrison	Marvin	18
Jacobs	Brandon	16
Brown	Ronnie	16
Wayne	Reggie	15
Jones	Thomas	14
Holt	Torry	14
Palmer	Carson	14
Houshmandzadeh	T.J.	14
Portis	Clinton	12
Fitzgerald	Larry	12
Gates	Antonio	12
Williams	Roy	11
Peterson	Adrian	11
Lynch	Marshawn	10
Williams	Cadillac	10
Boldin	Anquan	9
Walker	Javon	9
Johnson	Andre	9
Bulger	Marc	9
Moss	Randy	9
Evans	Lee	8
Driver	Donald	7
Jackson	Vincent	7
Romo	Tony	7
Lewis	Jamal	6
Jones	Julius	6
Brady	Tom	6
Colston	Marques	6
Jordan	LaMont	6
Brees	Drew	6
Burress	Plaxico	6
Gonzalez	Tony	6
Rivers	Philip	6
Green	Ahman	6
Betts	Ladell	6
Barber	Marion	5
Jackson	Brandon	5
Ward	Hines	5
Williams	DeAngelo	5
Taylor	Chester	5
Brown	Reggie	5
Moss	Santana	5
Young	Vince	5
Leinart	Matt	5
Bell	Tatum	4
McNabb	Donovan	4
Taylor	Fred	4
Foster	DeShaun	4
Johnson	Calvin	4
Dunn	Warrick	4
Heap	Todd	4
Coles	Laveranues	4
Shockey	Jeremy	4
Witten	Jason	4
Branch	Deion	4
Davis	Vernon	4
White	LenDale	4
Jackson	Darrell	3
Edwards	Braylon	3
Norwood	Jerious	3
Hasselbeck	Matt	3
Galloway	Joey	3
Washington	Leon	3
Crumpler	Alge	3
Glenn	Terry	3
Cotchery	Jerricho	3
Clayton	Mark	3
Holmes	Santonio	3
Morency	Vernand	3
Turner	Michael	3
Davenport	Najeh	3
Winslow	Kellen	2
Cooley	Chris	2
Kitna	Jon	2
Brown	Chris	2
Cutler	Jay	2
Berrian	Bernard	2
Chambers	Chris	2
Kaeding	Nate	2
Wilkins	Jeff	2
Vinatieri	Adam	2
Stallworth	Donte'	2
Porter	Jerry	2
Horn	Joe	2
Hackett	D.J.	2
Gonzalez	Anthony	2
Marshall	Brandon	2
Droughns	Reuben	2
Jones	Kevin	2
Thomas	Anthony	2
Welker	Wes	2
Roethlisberger	Ben	1
Manning	Eli	1
Clark	Dallas	1
Smith	Alex	1
Delhomme	Jake	1
Schaub	Matt	1
Elam	Jason	1
Gould	Robbie	1
Akers	David	1
Rackers	Neil	1
Gostkowski	Stephen	1
Stover	Matt	1
Mare	Olindo	1
Hanson	Jason	1
Brown	Josh	1
Bruce	Isaac	1
Jennings	Greg	1
Smith	L.J.	1
McMichael	Randy	1
Watson	Benjamin	1
Muhammad	Muhsin	1
Crayton	Patrick	1
Curry	Ronald	1
Kennison	Eddie	1
Henderson	Devery	1
Furrey	Mike	1
Rhodes	Dominic	1
Curtis	Kevin	1
Duckett	T.J.	1
Bennett	Drew	1
Meachem	Robert	1
Jones	Matt	1
Bell	Mike	1
Hunt	Tony	1
Bennett	Michael	1
Peterson	Adrian	1
Morris	Maurice	1
Holmes	Priest	1
Losman	J.P.	1
Williamson	Troy	1
Randle El	Antwaan	1
Toomer	Amani	1
Henry	Chris	1
Morris	Sammy	1
Pittman	Michael	1
Dorsey	DeDe	1
Garrard	David	1
Jones	James	1
Watson	Kenny	1
Culpepper	Daunte	1
Jones	Brandon	1
Jones	Jacoby	1
Dayne	Ron	1
Leonard	Brian	1
Sapp	Cecil	1