Historically, most fantasy draft analysts focus on snake drafts, as most drafts follow this format. But for a few of us, auction-or what they're calling "salary cap"-leagues, are where it's at. Personally, salary cap leagues have always intrigued me. The option to add multiple first round picks, or stack players in the way you want to is the way I like to build a team.
With the right auction draft strategy, you can build the team you've always wanted. I'll be posting several of the teams I built this year using the salary cap league system. Not only can you pick up high value players and still build a team, in some cases you can double up on those first round talents and then go for depth and value later. You have far more control over your final roster using auction drafts than you do in snake drafts. So, let's go over some basic strategy stuff:
Number one-and this is the most important thing about auction drafts-you don't nominate players you want. Every dollar other teams waste before the players you want are nominated, is a step in the direction of you getting the team you want on a budget. I start off nominating injured stars, guys whose contract situations are a question mark, and then guys who I just don't believe in. If I'm hoping to build this team around one certain player, I'll nominate other players at that position. So for many teams this year I wanted Fields or Lawrence in my QB spot. So I'd nominate as many other QB's as I could prior to their nomination, hoping that other teams would fill up their QB spot and not want to spend on a second or third. This often works, especially with a QB or TE, as you really only want to roster 1-2 of them on each team, and you certainly don't want to spend a lot for a backup.
I like to go with a variation of the "two hero" strategy when building a salary cap league team. That is, I spend about half my budget on 2-3 studs, before saving the rest on value pickups later. Now, this team I've posted first isn't the best example of smart spending, as I ended the draft with $46 leftover-enough for one stud. While I clearly played the draft itself too conservatively, I still ended up with a team that I feel really good about, and has a couple of "studs" in Wilson and Mixon, as well as depth throughout.
This next team, is a better example, with Mahomes/Kelce/Barkley all on the same team. This is what spending about half your budget on studs, and then waiting for value later looks like. Getting the Mahomes/Kelce stack (and adding Sky Moore later), as well as a stud running back in Saquon gives me three players I regularly see go in the first round of snake drafts. The rest of the team is rounded out with guys I got at a good value, got late when everyone was broke, or guys I think might have a good opportunity to outplay their draft position (or value, in this case) later on. Again, in an auction draft you're able to not only pick your starters, but the guys deep on your bench that you might have to count on one day.
So instead of calling this the auction "double hero" strategy, what we'll dub it is the "50/50" strategy, where you spend about 50% of your budget on studs, and 50% of your budget on depth.
Now, let's talk about "stacks". Stacks increase the value of your players because they essentially double output for your team. Say you have Trevor Lawrence and Calvin Ridley. Everything Lawrence throws to Ridley is scoring twice for your team: once for the QB, once for the receiver. This obviously works well for QBs and tight ends (like Lawrence and Engram, Mahomes and Kelce, or Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews), or QB's and receiving backs (like Justin Herbert and Austin Ekeler). Stacking can also apply elsewhere however. For instance, defense and running back. If a team is winning a game, the defense is really locking down the offense, what do they tend to do? Run the ball to dominate the clock. So, taking a defense like the Patriots, and pairing it with their starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson, counts as a variation of a "stack".
You have to remember these things are going to work opposite as well. So for instance, you wouldn't pair Lamar Jackson and his running back JK Dobbins. Because chances are, if Lamar is running it a lot that game, Dobbins isn't, and vice versa. They take away from each other's production, and thus shouldn't be in your same lineup. You want to maximize good performances. So while Dobbins and the Baltimore defense would make a good pairing, Dobbins and Lamar, or Dobbins and Andrews wouldn't.
So, going into your draft you're going to make a plan. Who might you want to target to stack together, what stars do you like, these are the questions your plan will answer. But you'll need to be flexible. Sometimes when you go into an auction draft, someone else has a stronger desire than you. There are those years where other owners will spend way more than they should on certain players, and you just have to let go, and let them do that. I've seen players like Justin Jefferson, Christian McCaffrey, or Jamarr Chase go for high 60's or even more (of a $200 budget). That's fine, even if you wanted them. You just move on to the next plan, after letting one of the other owners waste their money.
That said, don't be afraid to spend. Sometimes you'll even need to spend a few dollars more than you plan to on a certain player. You'll make up the savings on the other end, so go for it. There's nothing worse than ending an auction draft with 30, 40, or 50 dollars left in your budget. You want to be conservative as an overall rule, but you don't want to be so conservative that you waste money by not spending it.
An auction draft is a test of patience, an opportunity to build the team you really want, and a true balancing act between conservatism and dropping big bucks to get the players you want. If you're able to target the right players with your money early on, then wait on the value plays later, you'll be able to build the team you want, from the QB spot to the final spot on your bench in a way that you simply can't with a snake draft. Auction drafts take time and skill, but ultimately they give you far more control over your roster than you'll ever have in a snake style draft.
Hopefully, this has given you some assistance in building your auction draft strategy. Good luck!
