I’ve noticed a trend in auctions the last few years. My auctions, anyway. As the seasons go by and everyone gets more experienced, they get harder and harder.
Ten years ago when you went into an auction, it tended to be lead-pipe lock strategy to simply hang back early, then pick up a bunch of underpriced gems later. But that technique rarely seems to really hit out of the park anymore. It’s been done too many times before.
This has very much been the case in the Daily Football League the last few years. This was our 29th Player Selection Meeting on Tuesday night, and for the last 15-17 years, we’ve been doing the auction.
The problem is, everybody knows now what players are worth. The days of somebody blowing 45-50 percent of their payroll on the No. 1 running back are gone. Peyton Manning tossed 55 touchdowns last year, and he went for $31 – right what I thought he was worth. To get a player like Manning, Adrian Peterson or Calvin Johnson up to $40, it takes two bidders, and that’s simply not happening.
This, by the way, is a TD-only league, and that will make the prices look off to some. This is a completely different animal than PPR or standard formats.
My draft was mediocre. Definitely well below-average in comparison to my typical work.
Quarterback: I thought Tom Brady was worth $19; I got him for $14. A decent value. Others were stalling to try to get quarterbacks late, so I picked up Carson Palmer for $2 and Ben Roethlisberger for $1 in the later rounds to keep them out of enemy hands. So maybe another $6 in value there, but it’s bench value that won’t reall help my team.
Running back: Eddie Lacy is my go-to guy. I spent $23 and thought he was worth $25, so not a great deal. Lamar Miller is my No. 2 (a $7 player I got for $4). Shonne Green and Bernard Pierce are my backups, at $1 and $3. I thought they were worth about $3 each (I overbid on Pierce because I was pissed that the opposing owner topped my handcuff attempt at James Starks). Purchased Terrance West for $1 but he’ll probably be replaced by a waiver wire addition before October. So only about $4 of “value” at running back.
Wide receiver: Randall Cobb for $16, and that’s exactly what I thought he was worth. I thought Antonio Brown was only worth $14, but I bid $16 because I thought another owner was very decisive in bidding $15 (I thought he’d go up to $17). We start three receivers in this league, so I’ll need to use Markus Wheaton ($2), Mike Evans ($1) or Sammy Watkins ($1). I paid $4 for those guys, and collectively I think they were worth $6. So at wide receiver, I spent $36 to get $36 worth of players, which is just terrible.
Tight end: I thought Kyle Rudolph was “worth” $9.71, but I went to $10 because I think he’s going to be very good. I hope I’m right. But again, not extra value added.
Kicker: In a TD-only format, kickers are really valuable. They account for a higher portion of the production than in the higher-scoring PPR and standard formats. And guys like Stephen Gostkowski, Steven Hauschka, Phil Dawson, Matt Prater and Justin Tucker are better than what you can get for $1. All of those guys went for $3. I like Gostkowski enough that he was the first player I nominated. I knew he’d go for $3-4, so I made an opening bid of $3. Some swear by paying $1 for kickers, but I disagree. These kickers (especially Gostkowski) should score 135-plus points. If you have a $1 kicker, I think you’re more likely to wind up around 123 points. We pay handsomely for an extra 12 points from a running back or wide receiver. Why not at kicker. The best $1 kickers in this auction were Adam Vinatieri, Nick Novak and Mike Nugent. I don’t think those guys are nearly as good as Gostkowski. So maybe a couple of bucks of value here.
Sleeper: With the next-to-last pick, I purchased Josh Gordon for $2. I figure he’s on of the best values of the auction at that price. If he’s suspended for the whole year, then I can just cut him and pick up the player off waivers that I would have bought anyway. If he’s cleared for maybe the final eight games, then I might have picked up a real steal.
Ultimately, though, my team is only $117 according to my own values. That’s a remarkably low total for an auction. And that’s the second or third year in a row in this format that it hasn’t clicked and flowed for me. But as I look back at it in hindsight, I don’t see a bunch of steals. As I look back, I don’t see any opportunities where I could have had Jordy Nelson, Giovani Bernard or Brandon Marshall for way less than they were worth.
Look at the Crawford Dodgers franchise. He’s a smart guy; he had the highest scoring team last year and he always likes to hang back. But look at what he got this time. He held back and didn’t by any stars (nobody over $15) but his best deals were Jay Cutler ($10 player for $5), Shane Vereen ($11 for $6), Michael Floyd ($11 for $6) and Vincent Jackson ($8 for $6). So he picked up $17 in value for those four mid-range players, but he doesn’t have a star (or two) to work with.
Given the way the auction has evolved over the years, in this league I think my team would probably be better if we used a draft instead.
Here are the team-by-team results. Teams get to spent $100 on up to 16 players (but can carry less than 16 if they wish). Start QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE, K. Scoring is TD-only, with scores from 50-plus doubled.
My team is the Kenmore Dryers.
2014 DAILY FOOTBALL LEAGUE AUCTION RESULTS
| KENMORE DRYERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Stephen Gostkowski | $3 |
| QB | Tom Brady | $14 |
| QB | Carson Palmer | $2 |
| QB | Ben Roethlisberger | $1 |
| RB | Eddie Lacy | $23 |
| RB | Lamar Miller | $4 |
| RB | Bernard Pierce | $3 |
| RB | Shonn Greene | $1 |
| RB | Terrance West | $1 |
| TE | Kyle Rudolph | $10 |
| WR | Antonio Brown | $16 |
| WR | Randall Cobb | $16 |
| WR | Josh Gordon | $2 |
| WR | Markus Wheaton | $2 |
| WR | Mike Evans | $1 |
| WR | Sammy Watkins | $1 |
| BELLEVUE JIVE-MONGERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Phil Dawson | $3 |
| QB | Peyton Manning | $31 |
| RB | Stevan Ridley | $11 |
| RB | Toby Gerhart | $8 |
| RB | Danny Woodhead | $4 |
| RB | Devonta Freeman | $1 |
| RB | Pierre Thomas | $1 |
| TE | Jimmy Graham | $21 |
| WR | Julio Jones | $16 |
| WR | Reuben Randle | $2 |
| WR | Dwayne Bowe | $1 |
| WR | Reggie Wayne | $1 |
| CRAWFORD DODGERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Matt Prater | $3 |
| PK | Robbie Gould | $2 |
| QB | Russell Wilson | $15 |
| QB | Jay Cutler | $5 |
| RB | Alfred Morris | $15 |
| RB | Doug Martin | $12 |
| RB | Shane Vereen | $6 |
| RB | Trent Richardson | $5 |
| RB | Reggie Bush | $2 |
| TE | Dennis Pitta | $4 |
| TE | Jordan Reed | $2 |
| TE | Jason Witten | $1 |
| WR | Roddy White | $11 |
| WR | Michael Floyd | $6 |
| WR | Vincent Jackson | $6 |
| WR | DeAndre Hopkins | $1 |
| DONNER PASS CARNIVORES | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Mike Nugent | $1 |
| PK | Nick Novak | $1 |
| QB | Aaron Rodgers | $27 |
| QB | Alex Smith | $2 |
| RB | Maurice Jones-Drew | $7 |
| RB | Rashad Jennings | $3 |
| RB | Andre Williams | $2 |
| RB | Chris Ivory | $1 |
| RB | Knowshon Moreno | $1 |
| TE | Antonio Gates | $2 |
| TE | Delanie Walker | $1 |
| TE | Eric Ebron | $1 |
| TE | Levine Toilolo | $1 |
| WR | Demaryius Thomas | $25 |
| WR | A.J. Green | $21 |
| WR | Brian Hartline | $2 |
| LAKEVIEW OSKIES | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Mason Crosby | $3 |
| QB | Nick Foles | $14 |
| QB | Jake Locker | $1 |
| RB | LeSean McCoy | $30 |
| RB | Frank Gore | $9 |
| RB | Jonathan Stewart | $3 |
| TE | Heath Miller | $4 |
| TE | Martellus Bennett | $2 |
| TE | Dwayne Allen | $1 |
| WR | Larry Fitzgerald | $13 |
| WR | Brandin Cooks | $8 |
| WR | Golden Tate | $6 |
| WR | Doug Baldwin | $5 |
| WR | Marqise Lee | $1 |
| PULLMAN FLYING MONKEYS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Alex Henery | $1 |
| QB | Matt Ryan | $5 |
| QB | Ryan Tannehill | $1 |
| RB | Matt Forte | $19 |
| RB | DeMarco Murray | $15 |
| RB | Ray Rice | $7 |
| RB | Knile Davis | $2 |
| RB | LeGarrette Blount | $2 |
| TE | Zach Ertz | $8 |
| WR | Calvin Johnson | $25 |
| WR | Terrance Williams | $5 |
| WR | Torrey Smith | $5 |
| WR | Kelvin Benjamin | $2 |
| WR | Mike Wallace | $2 |
| WR | Kendall Wright | $1 |
| RENTON CURVES | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Nick Folk | $1 |
| QB | Colin Kaepernick | $8 |
| QB | Tony Romo | $4 |
| RB | Adrian Peterson | $25 |
| RB | Montee Ball | $21 |
| RB | Andre Ellington | $8 |
| TE | Rob Gronkowski | $14 |
| TE | Austin Seferian-Jenkins | $1 |
| WR | Michael Crabtree | $7 |
| WR | Marques Colston | $4 |
| WR | Andre Johnson | $3 |
| WR | Eric Decker | $2 |
| WR | Emmanuel Sanders | $1 |
| WR | Steve Smith | $1 |
| SPOKANE PANDAS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Adam Vinatieri | $1 |
| QB | Drew Brees | $30 |
| RB | Marshawn Lynch | $22 |
| RB | Ryan Matthews | $6 |
| RB | Bishop Sankey | $2 |
| RB | Robert Turbin | $1 |
| TE | Vernon Davis | $8 |
| WR | Alshon Jeffery | $15 |
| WR | Kenny Stills | $6 |
| WR | Riley Cooper | $5 |
| WR | Justin Hunter | $4 |
| SPRINGFIELD HOMERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Blair Walsh | $2 |
| QB | Andrew Luck | $12 |
| QB | Sam Bradford | $1 |
| RB | Zac Stacy | $15 |
| RB | Chris Johnson | $6 |
| RB | Mark Ingram | $5 |
| RB | Dexter McCluster | $1 |
| TE | Jordan Cameron | $8 |
| TE | Ladarius Green | $5 |
| TE | Lance Kendricks | $1 |
| WR | Jordy Nelson | $20 |
| WR | Cordarelle Patterson | $14 |
| WR | T.Y. Hilton | $9 |
| WR | Greg Jennings | $1 |
| TRI-CITY TROLLS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Greg Zuerlein | $2 |
| PK | Conner Barth | $1 |
| QB | Robert Griffin III | $7 |
| QB | Andy Dalton | $6 |
| RB | Arian Foster | $12 |
| RB | LeVeon Bell | $10 |
| RB | Ben Tate | $4 |
| RB | C.J. Spiller | $2 |
| TE | Charles Clay | $2 |
| WR | Keenan Allen | $12 |
| WR | Victor Cruz | $10 |
| WR | Wes Welker | $9 |
| WR | Julian Edelman | $8 |
| WR | DeSean Jackson | $7 |
| WR | Pierre Garcon | $6 |
| WR | Anquan Boldin | $2 |
| HUTTON HEADHUNTERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Justin Tucker | $3 |
| PK | Matt Bryant | $1 |
| QB | Matt Stafford | $17 |
| QB | Joe Flacco | $1 |
| RB | Jamaal Charles | $28 |
| RB | Carlos Hyde | $3 |
| RB | James Starks | $3 |
| RB | Steven Jackson | $1 |
| TE | Greg Olsen | $8 |
| TE | Zach Miller | $3 |
| WR | Brandon Marshall | $20 |
| WR | Percy Harvin | $9 |
| WR | Jeremy Maclin | $3 |
| BUTTE HOLES | ||
|---|---|---|
| PK | Steven Hauschka | $4 |
| PK | Ryan Succop | $1 |
| QB | Cam Newton | $6 |
| QB | Philip Rivers | $2 |
| RB | Giovani Bernard | $22 |
| RB | Joique Bell | $8 |
| RB | Fred Jackson | $4 |
| RB | Chris Polk | $2 |
| RB | Khiry Robinson | $1 |
| TE | Julius Thomas | $16 |
| TE | Coby Fleener | $1 |
| WR | Dez Bryant | $24 |
| WR | Jermaine Kearse | $4 |
| WR | Tavon Austin | $3 |
| WR | Cecil Shorts III | $1 |
| WR | Kenbrell Tompkins | $1 |
Previously I have published a list showing how often I have selected guys in the various leagues and mock drafts I’ve participated in. I think this is league No. 8. But I’m not merging these results into that file because the TD-only format is such a radically different game.
—Ian Allan