A:

You could put Peyton Manning behind any offensive line, in my opinion, and I don’t think he would get sacked often. He just gets rid of the ball quickly – just like Dan Marino.

The year before the Colts selected Manning, they allowed 62 sacks, 2nd-most in the league. In Manning’s first year (with a similar offensive line) they allowed only 22 sacks, 2nd-fewest in the league. Like Marino, Manning simply isn’t a quarterback who’s going to be sacked a lot.

Now, that’s not to say that the retirement of Glenn (if Glenn actually retires) isn’t going to have an impact. They’ll have a lesser player there, and that means pass rushers will get to Manning faster. And if he’s given less time, he won’t play as well. His completion rate probably will go down – a few more throwaways – and he’ll probably throw 1-3 more interceptions and 1-3 fewer TDs. On my board, I’ve changed Manning’s projection, dropping him by 1 TD and increasing him by 1 interception.

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A:

Assume that you were to ignore the quarterback position until the late stages of your auction. Who would you be left with as your starting quarterback? Jake Delhomme or Matt Leinart, perhaps. Those would be the best of the quarterbacks who’ll go for the $1 minimum. We’ll say that we expect those guys to each average about 16 points per game. So that’s what we call a base-level player. That 16 points per game is essentially “free.” It’s production beyond that point that you pay for. So if Peyton Manning is going to average 24 points per game and Marc Bulger is going to average 20 points per game, Manning should be twice as valuable as Bulger. (Manning would be 8 points above the base level, versus only 4 points for Bulger.) That’s the principle at play here, only I’ve also worked in the expected number of games.

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A:

According to my numbers, Gates would be the No. 11 player on the board, behind nine running backs and Peyton Manning. And Tony Gonzalez would be No. 15. But I don’t believe I’d target either of those guys. By my projections, six other tight ends would show up between 26th and 46th on your board, and probably one of those guys – Chris Cooley, perhaps – would represent your best value. If you were to select a wide receiver at No. 13, for example, you’d be able to take Cooley at about No. 50 and come out way ahead versus selecting Gates at No. 13 and a wide receiver at 50.

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A:

You can see the top 50 (top 100 or more, actually) for various scoring systems and league sizes by consulting with the auction prices. Go to that section of the website and select the appropriate parameters (PPR, 3 WR, 12 teams) and you’ll get an exact value for each player.

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A:

I saw a suggestion from a reader a few weeks back that I liked. He said that in his league, the draft order is reversed – permanently – in the second round. That is, if you draft No. 1 in the first round, you draft last in every other round. That’s a step in the right direction in my opinion. Not a huge step, though. The key rounds in a draft are the first four, and you’re actually changing only one of those four rounds. The first two draft spots still project to be the best – just not by as much.

Another option would be to go to true free agency. Auction off that No. 1 draft slot, with the money raised perhaps going to a charity.

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A:

Generating values for a keeper league becomes incredibly complex. If you were going to be a true analyst, I suppose you would project the player’s stats for all of the upcoming seasons and then downgrade future stats by something like 10 percent per year – saddle those down-the-road stats with a reversed interest rate.

Ultimately, though, I think you’ll be best not bringing too many numbers into the thing. There are simply too many variables (including calculating the probability that your league will even exist in four years). Instead, put the guys in the order that you think is right, then decide who’ll be the best player at each position to go for the $1 minimum. From there and working backwards, you should be able to build a decent list. Ask yourself questions along the way. If you’ve got Tomlinson at $40, for example, ask yourself if you actually believe Tomlinson and a $1 back will be more productive than two running backs you have listed at $17. That’s the system I’d use.

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A:

Absolutely, you’ll tend to see wide receivers move up a couple of spots everywhere on the draft board. If you require 50 percent more wide receivers to be used as starters, that’s going to increase the demand, and that will cause the price to rise.

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A:

At 6 points per TD pass, Manning makes sense at No. 11 overall. But in my opinion, you don’t have another player who’s worth giving away the No. 23 pick of the draft. And you don’t have a strong third guy either. I’d keep just the one and take my chances in the draft.

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A:

Sorry, I don’t have the time to run those prices right now. Doubling the prices that I already compiled for you should put you in the right ballpark. The minimum bids, of course, don’t need to be doubled; you should probably leave at least half of those at the $1 minimum and re-allocate the extra money elsewhere.

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A:

Dunno. It would depend on how many points were given to players at other positions. If you are going to use defenses, it makes sense to give them enough credit for their work that they’re worth having around. We used to base our rankings around defenses getting 1 point for every sack or takeaway. Now we’ve changed that to 2 points for each.

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