Stay true to your board. That’s the old adage, right? So in an auction format, you don’t take the players that you’re dying to own. Instead, you settle for whatever the market dictates.
I put that strategy to use in a recent auction in the Fanex Auction League. This is a 12-team league that employs PPR scoring, with 3 wide receivers and a flex (so you typically end up starting 4 WR and just 2 RB). This league plays head-to-head games and includes waiver moves (and lineups) during the season.
Todd Gurley was the top player on my board. I thought he was “worth” about 33 percent of the cap. So when his name came up early, I put in a bid of $52. I figured I’d be happy to get him at that price. Bidding was flat, and I got him at $51 in the eBay-style auction.
I also got Zach Ertz early for $13, which is about half of what I thought it was worth. People weren’t ready to bid at that point, I guess, because Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce later went for $30 and $27.
After a few initial players, bidding got heated. The prices for the next 80-100 players tended to be high, with the auction going $100 over budgets before long. So I had little choice there other than to sit back and wait for the deals to come later. My most notable non-purchase in there was Amari Cooper. I thought he was “worth” $31 and bid $27 or $28, I think, which wouldn’t have been a great deal. He ended up going for $29 – a player I was pretty sure would be on my roster, but it didn’t happen.
It was in the second half of the auction where I did most of my shopping.
Quarterbacks: Roethlisberger, Ryan, A.Smith. I spent 8 percent of my cap on three guys, and I’m sure I’ll get adequate play at the position. Ryan for $6 was a late pick-up (I would have been comfortable carrying any two of those three).
Running backs: Gurley, Alex Collins. I think Collins is for real. I had him as being conservatively worth $28, and was happy to get him for $20. I added two depth players at this position – Marlon Mack, Dion Lewis – and grabbed two high-upside lottery tickets late (Austin Ekeler, James Connor).
Wide receiver: Smith-Schuster, Marvin Jones, Emmanuel Sanders, Garcon, Agholor, Shepard, Lockett.
This is where the value of my team is. I’m planning on using four wide receivers most weeks in this PPR league, so I wanted to get six who can play. I ended up with seven, and the last five of those all came for about $10 less than I thought they were worth. The Lockett purchase occurred before Doug Baldwin starting sitting out practices with a sore knee; he (Lockett) would go for more if he were put back on the block.
Tight end: Ertz is the starter. I wasn’t sure what to do with my 20th roster spot. I tried to sneak John Kelly through for a buck in the first half of the action, and somebody put in a $2 bid. I didn’t want to pay $3 for an insurance policy, so I let him go. For the 20th spot, I considered a backup tight end who’ll play (Ed Dickson, Michael Roberts) but instead went with Dallas Goedert. I saw a story go by suggesting he’s outperforming expectations in practices, and Ertz has had some issues with staying healthy. I expect both Dickson and Roberts will outperform Goedert, but if Ertz gets hurt, I would rather than Goedert to fill in for those games.
Kicker: Stephen Gostkowski.
Defense: Houston Texans. This is a mistake. Houston opens at New England, so I won’t want to use them in that game. I would have been better spending $1 on Green Bay or Detroit, which have superior Week 1 matchups.
Time will tell how this team pans out. But on paper, I think it’s the best team I’ve ever assembled. I spent $200, and I ended up with $325 worth of players. I will be surprised if this team doesn’t finish with a winning record.
| FANEX AUCTION LEAGUE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Value | Pos | Player |
| $4 | $8.45 | QB | Alex Smith |
| $6 | $8.00 | QB | Ben Roethlisberger |
| $6 | $7.75 | QB | Matt Ryan |
| $51 | $66.50 | RB | Todd Gurley |
| $20 | $28.10 | RB | Alex Collins |
| $12 | $17.96 | RB | Dion Lewis |
| $7 | $10.35 | RB | Marlon Mack |
| $1 | $10.27 | RB | Austin Ekeler |
| $1 | $1.00 | RB | James Conner |
| $13 | $25.03 | TE | Zach Ertz |
| $1 | $1.00 | TE | Dallas Goedert |
| $21 | $29.92 | WR | JuJu Smith-Schuster |
| $17 | $21.09 | WR | Marvin Jones |
| $7 | $18.15 | WR | Emmanuel Sanders |
| $6 | $17.76 | WR | Sterling Shepard |
| $8 | $17.43 | WR | Pierre Garcon |
| $8 | $17.05 | WR | Nelson Agholor |
| $5 | $13.12 | WR | Tyler Lockett |
| $4 | $5.50 | PK | Stephen Gostkowski |
| $1 | $1.00 | D | Houston |
—Ian Allan