A 12-Team Auction Draft Goes Nuts!

I play multiple fantasy football leagues each year. This year I have two public leagues: one that had an auction draft and one that had a snake draft. I just wanted to do both types of drafts. Honestly, draft preparation research and the draft are my favorite parts of fantasy football. This probably stems from my great love of the NFL Draft. Even though I join several leagues, I never count my public leagues as my "league of record." Even if I win a public league, I can't count myself as a champion unless I can win my workplace league. That one is my "real" team every year.

We held our draft on Wednesday. This draft was a fun, unique one because we had never done an auction before, and for the first time we had the majority of the participants together in a classroom. Once again, I learned that you can mock draft all you want, but when you get real people in there with their own strategies, all of your planning and preparation can go out the window. The draft started and suddenly the money was flying around. Patrick Mahomes, whose average salary in Yahoo drafts was somewhere in the low 40s, went for $65. Christian McCaffrey went for $75. Somebody spent $80 on Lamar Jackson! Apparently, our league held quarterbacks at a premium, which doesn't make sense to me because we don't do any special QB scoring or start 2 QBs. But some guys had drafted 3 QBs before I had one. Our principal joined in with an interesting strategy: draft any guy he could find who came from a local university. 

Overall, though, I think my plan held up. I was targeting Davante Adams for up to $60, Kenyan Drake for up to $52, and Miles Sanders for up to $50. While everybody was spending huge chunks of their salary caps for other players, I was able to snag Adams for a discounted price of $47 and I stole Sanders for a measly $21. I missed out on Drake, but made up for it with Julio Jones for only $43 (compared to his average salary of about $49). The only wrench in my plan was that somebody else had the same idea for a late-round pick. Here was my idea: save a little cash and spend my max bid on a Cam Newton flyer late in the draft. The only problem was one other guy had the exact same idea. And he had a higher max bid. He put an opening bid on Cam that was higher than my max, and Newton disappeared from the board right before my eyes. All in all, though, I think I may have the best team in my league because I didn't go crazy when the bids started skyrocketing.

Here is my official 2020 fantasy team:

QB: Josh Allen, Buffalo

Not my first choice of quarterback, but he has more talent around him this year and I think he can still get me some points with his legs.

 

RB1: Miles Sanders, Philadelphia

One of two running backs that I think will get workhorse touches, but weren't going to cost me half my salary caps. I wanted at least Sanders or Drake (but preferably both) going into the draft. I got Sanders to be my RB1.

Photo from TCBD. I don't have a Taylor card yet.

RB2: Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis

I shied away from rookies this year because they've had no live reps to get them ready. I think many will struggle as the year begins. But then again, Clyde Edwards-Helaire stole the show in KC last night, so maybe I'm completely wrong.

WR1: Davante Adams, Green Bay

This wasn't a homer pick for me. I just don't see too many other players receiving targets in Green Bay, so I think Adams will have a monster year. He was the guy I wanted going in, and I got him.

WR2: Julio Jones, Atlanta

He may be getting older, but he is still The Man in Atlanta. I put in a bid on him when I saw that it was still low, and nobody beat me out. I got two bona fide WR1s for this team without sacrificing too much at the RB position. I'm extremely happy.

TE: Hayden Hurst, Atlanta

Two Falcons pass catchers in a row may be an issue, but I think Hurst will soak up the targets Austin Hooper left behind. For a late, low-risk price, I'm banking on a breakout year for Hurst. If it doesn't work out, I'll just stream the scraps of the TE position. As per usual.

Flex: Robert Woods, WR, Los Angeles Rams

I had Robert Woods last year. I spent half the season trying to get rid of him because he couldn't find the end zone. I think he will this year. My top choice for this spot would have been Juju Smith-Schuster, but I was drafting with a Steelers fan.

 

DEF: Philadelphia

For now. I rarely keep defenses for longer than a few weeks. Of the defenses left available to me, I thought the Eagles had the best Week 1 matchup, so here we are.

K: Jason Myers, Seattle

Ditto above.

I couldn't be happier with my starters. But I think my bench is great, too. We added two extra bench slots this year to accommodate any increase of players sitting out with illness this year. Have you heard about this COVID thing, guys?  It sounds like a situation to keep your eye on.

Bench:

Gardner Minshew, QB, Jacksonville

Jordan Howard, RB, Miami

Boston Scott, RB, Philadelphia

Zack Moss, RB, Buffalo

Chase Edmonds, RB, Arizona

Michael Gallup, WR, Dallas

Marvin Jones, WR, Detroit

Robby Anderson, WR, Carolina

What do you think? Are you as confident in my as I am? Do you view my draft as Fantasy Pros sees it?

 Or do you see it a Yahoo does?

That's a pretty big difference in projections. Yahoo doesn't like my draft, but I do.