Auction Draft Strategies – Fantasy Football (2024)

Navigating an auction draft in fantasy football can be challenging, but mastering the right strategies can give you a competitive edge in 2024. Unlike traditional snake drafts, auction drafts require careful budget management and strategic bidding to build a balanced team.

In this guide, we’ll explore essential auction draft strategies, from determining player values to managing your bankroll to help you dominate your fantasy league this season. Whether you’re a seasoned fantasy football manager or a newcomer, these tips will ensure you’re prepared to make smart, winning bids.

Key Auction Draft Strategies for 2024 Fantasy Football Success

Imagine you’re doing your standard serpentine or snake mock draft, not knowing where you will pick from. You have done multiple mock drafts and would love to have a top-three pick. With the setup of your team, you’re enjoying starting your draft with the likes of Christian McCaffrey or CeeDee Lamb, just to find out you have the 8th overall pick. You hate it. You didn’t mock enough from this spot and are now panicking.

Don’t want this extra stress? Join an auction league!

No matter where you sit in an auction draft, you have an opportunity to get any player at any time. However, if you’re not careful, you can blow your budget, and your team will be a laughingstock because you spent the majority of your budget on three players.

Personally, I have been doing auction drafts for over 15 years now. As expected, I have tried many different types of strategies. In the end, they all can work if you stick to them and do it right. Let’s get into some of the helpful tips and draft strategies of an auction fantasy football league.

Preparing for Your Auction Fantasy Football Draft

Before looking into strategies, try mock drafts to see what trends are happening. We host mock drafts on Sleeper to help you with your 1QB and Superflex leagues. Don’t live on these values, as they constantly change from draft to draft. Furthermore, check out our AAV (average auction value) from last year, as this year’s will be coming soon!

Next, you could do a draft with 12 people, complete it, and start a fresh draft again with them, and the values will likely change. Even if it’s just slightly. Additionally, with these values changing, players’ values are in a range between $5-$10. It’s amazing how values will go up and down. Why does this happen? It’s all based on nomination and bidding strategies, along with timing.

Using Tiers in Your Auction Draft

When it comes to auction drafts, this is the best method to use. When doing a snake draft, people will scream, “Reach!” if you grab a player a round or two early. However, with your auction fantasy football drafts, things are different.

Currently looking at running back rankings at FantasyPros, have consensus Christian McCaffrey, Breece Hall, and Bijan Robinson as the top-3 running backs based on the mocks you’ve completed. For what it’s worth, you can say that these are your three favorite running backs that you think can finish as the RB1. Congratulations, you just created a tier! You can go down the list and just move players around. It’s your rankings. That’s what makes it fun.

Now, don’t forget to use tiers for all your other fantasy football positions. If you have a hard time knowing all the players, use FantasyPros as a guide and build from there. You don’t have to live by their rankings, but build tiers he

Personally, I like to build mine in levels. From elites, RB1, RB2, WR1, WR2, and so on. However, never, ever, ever, ever spend more than $1 on your kicker AND DST if you have to roster them. They are not worth any more than that. Honestly, if someone really wants that player more than you, just let them have them. The waiver wire can add and drop these two positions.

Utilize a Par Sheet in your Auction Draft

Many of you may have just said “huh?”. And I get it. But if you do mocks with us, you will get a better understanding of how to create these. On our latest episode of Absolute Auction, we went over exactly what a par sheet is in more detail.

So, what is a par sheet? In short, it’s a tool or guide to help you allocate your budget through your draft. If you have a $200 budget, try to budget in the 70-85% range on your starters and the rest on your bench.

Here’s an example:

Now, you don’t have to build your par sheet like this. This is an example. But to be ahead of your league, this sheet is one of the best tools you can use. Hell, Drew Davenport got me onto it, and I’ve been using it ever since.

However, I’ll not only make one but a couple of par sheets now. In my home league, we draft live in person. I’ve known these other managers for years, so I tend to know their trends.

Furthermore, if I have multiple par sheets going, I can see how the draft is unfolding and go to that specific par sheet. I don’t live by this sheet, but I know the range of money I can spend on positions.

Here are two scenarios with how to adjust:

Did I spend too much on one player?

I have and what I do is take money away from another position. I look at the draft board, review my tier sheet, and adjust what position or positions I’m willing to spend less at now.

Did I spend less than I expected on a player?

I am ecstatic if I acquire one of my players for a lower price than anticipated. We’ll just say I got my WR1 for cheaper than I expected. It could be a dollar or two or $10. Now, I have an opportunity to improve another position. It could be my WR2, not to mention I could even upgrade my RB1 or RB2 or split the difference.

How to Bid on Players in Auction Fantasy Drafts

You’ve now done plenty of mocks and made your par sheet and tier sheet. Overall, you are more prepared than most at your draft. Now it’s time to execute what you’ve been grinding for, and it’s time to start bidding and nominating players.

There are many ways to bid. Don’t feel pressured into having to get that player. But put the pressure on those other managers to keep bidding. You want to try and price enforce and bid people up. Don’t let them get that player for cheap. Make them spend it!

However, be careful when doing this because you might get this player, and you didn’t really want them. Furthermore, don’t make a bid you’ll regret as it could affect the rest of your team build. Some people will get deals, but I don’t think you need to bid up on a player like Brandon Aiyuk because he’s a few bucks cheaper than he should be. However, if you have the space to afford him, bid!

Nominating Players in Your Auction Draft

Finally, for nomination strategies, this can be tricky. I tend to like to go down a tier or two on my list and just put names out there. I like to call these “roster cloggers.” Here, I’ll nominate someone I don’t really want or wouldn’t mind losing a bid to, especially if it gets high enough.

For example, we’ll go with tight ends. No one or very few have been nominated, and Dalton Kincaid is available if you want him. Nominate the likes of Travis Kelce or Sam LaPorta. Try to persuade other players to spend money and improve your chances. This isn’t going to hit every time, as there could be another manager who also wants Kincaid.

Now, you’re in a bidding war. Are you budgeting Kincaid correctly in your par sheet, or can you spend more to acquire him if necessary? This is what you need to look at when nominating and bidding on all these players. If the bid gets too high, just let the guy have him. Don’t be afraid to go after another tight end or even try to get two.

Conclusion

As stated in the beginning, I’ve been playing in fantasy football auction leagues for well over 15 years. These are the tactics I like to use every year. It’s what makes auction drafts the best way to draft fantasy football. Always remember that fantasy football managers do not win leagues at the draft but rather through active participation in the waiver wire and making strategic trades.

Now, don’t think that’s all you have to do to make a great team. You have to execute everything stated above, and now I know you can do it!

One final thing, be patient in your draft. If you become too eager with bidding, you will end your draft before it even begins. Patience is virtue!

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