Recently, FF Today's Matt Waldman took part
in an Expert Auction Draft that will be played out for braggin'
rights, and maybe a little bit of cash too. ;) The League is sponsored
by the good folks at Fantasy
Auctioneer who have created a very nifty platform for conducting
auctions online. Its often hard to find good mock results from auctions,
so take a peak at how some of the "experts" play and check
out Matt's post-draft analysis. First, let's get the rules out of
the way...
The starting lineup will be:
one QB, two RBs, three WRs, one TE, one K, one DEF/ST, and nine
back-ups (of which positions don't matter) for a total of 18.
It is a 12-team auction with a $200 salary cap and a $1 minimum
bid.
The scoring system is as follows:
1 point per 15 rush/rec yards
6 points per TD run or catch
-2 points for lost fumble
1 point per 30 yards passing
4 points per TD pass
-2 points per interception thrown
2 points for any involvement in a 2 point conversion (pass, catch,
or run)
ST/DEF: 6 points per kick, punt, or TO return TD, 2 points
per TO and sack
K: 3 points per FG, 1 point per PAT
| Waldman - FF Today |
| Pos |
Player |
Team |
Bye |
Salary |
| QB |
Donovan McNabb |
PHI |
5 |
$21 |
| RB |
Ahman Green |
GNB |
9 |
$80 |
| RB |
Michael Bennett |
MIN |
4 |
$31 |
| WR |
Rod Smith |
DEN |
10 |
$7 |
| WR |
Jimmy Smith |
JAC |
9 |
$18 |
| WR |
Tyrone Calico |
TEN |
9 |
$1 |
| TE |
Tony Gonzalez |
KAN |
5 |
$25 |
| K |
Joe Nedney |
TEN |
9 |
$1 |
| DEF |
Tennessee Titans |
TEN |
9 |
$1 |
| B-QB |
Jake Plummer |
DEN |
10 |
$5 |
| B-RB |
Onterrio Smith |
MIN |
4 |
$3 |
| B-RB |
Najeh Davenport |
GNB |
9 |
$1 |
| B-RB |
Mike Anderson |
DEN |
10 |
$1 |
| B-WR |
Eddie Kennison |
KAN |
5 |
$1 |
| B-WR |
Deion Branch |
NWE |
3 |
$1 |
| B-WR |
Andre' Davis |
CLE |
8 |
$1 |
| B-WR |
Kevin Johnson |
BAL |
6 |
$1 |
| B-WR |
Reggie Williams |
JAC |
9 |
$1 |
|
1. What was your strategy going into the
auction and how do you think you did?
MW: Going into the auction, my
plan was to land two running backs in my projected top twelve and
wait until I had enough bargaining power to score a variety of undervalued
players at the end. I started off strong (Ahman Green & Michael
Bennett) and this plan would have worked to perfection if I didn’t
pay as much attention to the competition. Instead, I bid on players
that I felt were about to become excellent bargains for owners in
the middle of the draft. I made it a point to do this only with
players I valued highly. Sometimes I succeeded in raising their
price considerably before letting the owner win the bid, but ultimately
this attempt to get cute with the bidding process backfired.
I accidentally won three bids (McNabb-$21, Gonzalez-$25, and Plummer-$5)
that forced me to completely change my strategy. Although I felt
I still got these three for a combined $18 less than what I would
have projected for them total, this cost me the opportunity to control
the final part of the draft. I had to resort to picking the best
upside value I could find to fill my roster. I was excited to handcuff
Bennett and Green—and it’s a bonus that Davenport and
Smith are the subject of trade rumors (Miami) that could come to
fruition if Minor and company don’t appear to be the answer.
Although I was able to land wide receivers with big-play ability
and/or upside in the red zone (Calico, Davis, Williams, and Kennison),
these are bigger risks than I intended. Overall, I still feel my
team has a chance to make some noise.
2. What was your best bargain?
MW: I hoped to commit highway
robbery with Jimmy Smith as my accomplice going into the draft,
but I had to engage in a bidding war to get the Jags’ WR due
to my change in strategy. Nonetheless, I believe a twenty-pound
lighter Smith, a year removed from drug rehab, is going to return
to his elite form. I have him ranked fourth overall among wide receivers
and at $18, that’s still $10 less than receivers most considered
as top tier pass catchers.
3. What was your worst buy?
MW: Winning McNabb was a calculated
risk that I was happy with, but Gonzalez was a different story.
I used the “Bid +1” button on the FantasyAuctioneer
application rather than make my own numerical bid. When the value
of the previous bid jumped, my “+1 bid” ended up higher
than I expected, and I wound up with the Chief’s TE. This
was a good example as to why it’s good to name your bid—otherwise
you could think you are about to make a raise of $1 to a $12 bid
and wind up making it on $24!
4. What are the top 3 teams (excluding yours)?
MW: #1 - Fantasy Asylum: Has a
well-balanced team with a lot of depth. In auctions many theorize
this type of lineup can mean a mediocre result, but I think he got
some underrated players capable of having huge years: Corey Dillon,
Byron Leftwich, Jerry Porter, and Lee Suggs among them. Combine
this upside with proven guys like Harrison and Bulger, and I think
Kirk did an excellent job.
#2 - KFFL: Has the best depth from top to bottom. William has several
quality starters at every position and with the correct line up
choices should compile an excellent record. At this point, winning
Steve McNair for $11 was the steal of the draft. I also liked many
of his choices that I think are undervalued: Westbrook, Fitzgerald,
Bruce, and Keyshawn Johnson.
#3 - Footballguys: Has a great WR corps, depth at key positions,
and probably the best QB in fantasy football. The entire success
of David’s team hinges on how much his RBs overachieve or,
if they don’t, the approach he takes to improve his stable.
This has the makings of a dangerous team.
5. Any other comments?
George and his team at FantasyAuctioneer.com
have created an excellent application and we would like to thank
him for inviting FFToday.com to participate.
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