Photo: USA Today Sports

On August 18th, seven members of the Footballguys staff, along with five highly regarded writers in the fantasy football community, got together to complete a 12-team, 18-round auction mock draft. Before the auction, each of the participants answered questions regarding strategies, players they coveted and how they planned to attack the auction. To top it off, Footballguys' Dan Hindery provided an evaluation of each team's roster strengths and weaknesses, chronicling the strategies and decisions that were made by each participant.

The goal of this article is to give you a look into the minds of fantasy experts throughout the auction. This includes preparation, decision-making, and execution. What was their plan? How did they follow it? Why did they make the decisions they made? Some drafters had similar strategies and players of interest, but how they executed their plan and built their roster, varied from person to person.

We hope you will uncover or discover a strategy that might work for you in your draft(s) this year. Learn what players the experts are targeting and why. At Footballguys, when you win, we win! If we can help give you the tools and know-how to build a winning team, we've done our job.

LEAGUE PARAMETERS

• 12 teams
• 20 roster spots
• Starting Lineup
• 1 quarterback
• 2 running backs
• 3 wide receivers
• 1 tight end
• 1 flex (either a running back, wide receiver, or tight end)
• 1 team defense
• 1 Kicker

LEAGUE SCORING

• Offensive Players
• 4 points - passing touchdown
• 6 points - rushing/receiving touchdown
• 0.05 points - passing yard
• 0.1 points - rushing/receiving yard
• 1 point - reception
• 3 points - 30-yard field goal, then 0.1 points every 1 yard thereafter
• 1 point - extra point
• Team Defense
• 6 points - touchdown
• 2 points - turnover recovered
• 2 points - safety
• 1 point - sack
• 12 points - Offensive points against: 0-0
• 8 points - Offensive points against: 1-6
• 5 points - Offensive points against: 7-10
• 0 point - Offensive points against: 11-99
• 6 points each - Number of Defensive and Special Teams Touchdowns

AUCTION DETAILS:

• $200 of auction dollars were available to all 12 teams
• Players were nominated in a rotation cycle beginning with team 1 through team 12 and back to team 1 repeating the rotation again until all 12 teams filled their 20-man roster.
• 15-second timer upon nomination was used to determine the winning bid. The timer was also 15 seconds for each subsequent bid
• Teams had 40 seconds to nominate a player when it was their turn in the rotation.

THE ROTATION ORDER

1. Jeff Haseley, Footballguys
2. Drew Davenport, Footballguys
3. John Di Bari, Dynasty League Football
4. Rich Hribar, Sharp Football Analysis
5. Heath Cummings, CBS Fantasy
6. Alex Miglio, Footballguys
7. Howard Bender, Fantasy Alarm
8. Daniel Simpkins, Footballguys
9. Bill Riccette, Panthers Wire / Bengals Wire
10. Devin Knotts, Footballguys
11. Dale Demott, Eat. Sleep. Fantasy
12. Justin Howe, Footballguys

Auction Rosters - By Team, By order of nomination, By Position

Team 1

Jeff Haseley, Footballguys - Bio

Follow @JeffHaseley

PRE-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. What is your strategy heading into this auction? How do you anticipate spending your $200 cap by position?

My strategy is to draft a balanced team by keeping quarterback, tight end, defense, and kicker low and spending about $80-$85 each on wide receivers and running backs.

2. How much are you willing to spend on a running back that would normally be a 1st round pick in regular drafts?

I'd like to keep my top running back under $35, preferably less. My goal is to have a few backs in the $10-$30 range.

3. How much are you willing to spend on a wide receiver that would normally be a 1st round pick in regular drafts?

I'm willing to go as high as $45-$47 on a top wide receiver. My WR2 will likely be in the $20-$27 range.

4. In your opinion, what is the key to having a successful auction?

Have a plan in terms of spending by position and be able to adapt if you have to. Keeping QB, TE, Def, and K low definitely helps. It's difficult to keep your budget and target specific players. If a player is nominated that you covet, it's ok to go after that player, but know your range and don't overpay. You can always make a bid on someone else and not burst your budget.

5. It's easy to make a mistake in an auction. What would you tell people not to do in an auction-style draft?

Several mistakes can be made in an auction, but I'd say - don't spend too much of your money right off the bat. Generally, the winning bid prices come down the longer the auction goes on. It's important not to spend too much too soon or you'll be left with a low budget for several key roster places. It's important to get your top player at either running back, wide receiver, or both before the last of the best are left. Otherwise, you'll find yourself in a bidding war.

6. Name a player from each position that you will target in this auction.

• Quarterback - Lamar Jackson or Russell Wilson
• Running Back - Kenyan Drake or Damien Williams / Darwin Thompson
• Wide Receiver: Curtis Samuel, Kenny Stills, Chris Godwin
• Tight End: Evan Engram, Kyle Rudolph, Austin Hooper
• Defense: Denver, Dallas, New Orleans
• Kicker: Michael Badgley (Week 12 bye)

7. What's a good strategy that you can share with others about the bidding process?

Don't start your nomination bid off with a price too high, but don't make it too low either. Have an idea what the winning bids were for similar players and start the bid off with $5-10 less.

8. Name a few cheaper players that you will be targeting, perhaps later in the draft.

Kenny Stills, Marvin Jones, Alshon Jeffery, Justice Hill, Damien Harris

9. What's the maximum amount that you would spend on your QB1?

$21 for Pat Mahomes or $11 for anyone else. I'd prefer to keep it $6 or less.

10. What's the maximum amount that you would spend on your TE1?

No more than $12

jeff Haseley's Auction results

post-draft question

The two highest winning bids on your team were Davante Adams for $45 and Damien Williams for $22. What made you shy away from a higher-priced running back and how did that affect the rest of the auction for you?

I did not want to spend over $30+ on a wide receiver AND a running back. I knew I could get value with Damien Williams, as he was one of my targets. I also wanted to be sure I handcuffed him with Darwin Thompson, who's stock is on the rise. I may have overspent for the combo, but I'm glad I was able to get both. I secured the top Chiefs back for $36 and I'm OK with that. Using that strategy allowed me to accumulate good, decent players in the $12-$20 range.

Dan Hindery's Evaluation

Strengths
Jeff built a team with serious upside and did so while also acquiring strong depth players to fill the holes if some of his gambles don’t work out. For example, Josh Gordon is Jeff’s WR3 and he has big potential in that role. If it doesn’t work out, Jeff still has proven backups like Marvin Jones and Kenny Stills in reserve. At running back, all seven of his players have at least RB2 potential. Not all will pan out but there is some redundancy built in to cover for the misses.

Weaknesses
If Jeff makes the playoffs, he will have to worry about whether his team will be peaking at the right time. The Chargers backs will look like bargains early in the season should Melvin Gordon hold out but if he returns mid-season, Ekeler and Jackson won’t be very useful down the stretch. Similarly, LeSean McCoy (Year 11) and Lamar Miller (Year 8) are aging, smaller backs who may be worn down before Week 14.

How They’ll Win it All
Jeff should be rooting for the Chiefs to cut Carlos Hyde, which seems like a realistic possibility. He will need Kansas City to settle on one primary back and not use a true committee. If that happens, he will have an elite RB1 and an elite WR1 (Davante Adams) along with enough high-upside options to feel good about his odds of filling out the rest of his starting lineup with good players.

TEAM 2

Drew Davenport, Footballguys - Bio

Follow @DrewFBGAuctions

PRE-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. What is your strategy heading into this auction? How do you anticipate spending your $200 cap by position?

My strategy is to not be chasing the top running backs and try to load up on wide receivers. In this kind of draft with good fantasy minds, I expect the quarterback position to be devalued so if I can grab a top quarterback cheaply I will pay a few extra bucks to do so. I plan on securing a solid first running back, and then completely punting on the second spot to load up on pass catchers. I would anticipate spending very little on tight end, and just $1 on kicker and defense. So that leaves about $120 to get 4 good receivers, about $60 or so on running backs, and almost nothing at the other spots. The exception would be if I can snag a top quarterback as I indicated. If I can't get a good fourth receiver I will shift that money into getting stronger at running back.

2. How much are you willing to spend on a running back that would normally be a 1st round pick in regular drafts?

Personally, I'm not willing to spend much on those guys this year. If I had to choose, I think a price I could be on board with would be about $50-$55. I don't anticipate them going nearly that cheap so I likely won't own any of them.

3. How much are you willing to spend on a wide receiver that would normally be a 1st round pick in regular drafts?

Oddly, I would spend less on a wide receiver going in the first round, but think it's much more likely that it could happen. I don't believe they should go for much more than about $50, so anything below that would be a candidate to be on my roster.

4. In your opinion, what is the key to having a successful auction?

It has been said over and over, but being flexible is the number 1 thing to remember. I always have a plan about how I'm going to attack the draft, but it rarely holds up when things start happening. Have a few alternate paths you can follow based on what you want to do, then go about deliberately trying to define which path you'll be on as things move forward. Inevitably some things will happen that throw you off a bit, but you can't let it fluster you. Shake it off, stay flexible, and get back at it by trying to nab whatever top talent is left.

5. It's easy to make a mistake in an auction. What would you tell people not to do in an auction-style draft?

Boy, that's a big list. There are so many ways you can get tripped up in an auction. The first is to get too excited to buy top guys early. You can easily spend over half your cap on two guys if you get too aggressive early on. At that point, you severely limit your options the rest of the way. Another big one is to sit there and think "I'm not paying that" and end up with no true difference makers when the dust settles on the top 30 players auctioned off. Make sure you get some guys that make your team explosive and not just consistent. You wouldn't want to leave a draft with 6 fifth-round picks instead of your 1st through 3rd round picks so make sure and get some upside by paying a little bit extra at the right times. Balancing these two things is key.

6. Name a player from each position that you will target in this auction.

• Quarterback - DeShaun Watson is my top target. In an industry draft like this, I think he could be had cheaply.
• Running Back - Chris Carson - unfortunately, the buzz on Carson is getting strong. For my strategy, he's a perfect RB1 for my squad. If he is too expensive I'll shift to Leonard Fournette.
• Wide Receiver - Mike Evans is my favorite wide receiver target this year. He can be hand much cheaper than the top guys and his upside extends to the overall WR1 slot.
• Tight End - Austin Hooper - he's unexciting and cheap as a result. He should easily catch 75 balls this year.
• Defense - Dallas Cowboys - They open at the Giants. Enough said.

7. What's a good strategy that you can share with others about the bidding process?

Online auctions make it much harder to get a read on people than live auctions. My best piece of advice is to bid bid bid. That doesn't mean you should get crazy and buy a bunch of players right away. Just be visible on most players. The more you bid the less the other owners know who you are targeting. Stay involved in a large part of the nominated players by putting in some bids as the price climbs before dropping out. You become much harder to read by doing this simple little thing.

8. Name a few cheaper players that you will be targeting, perhaps later in the draft.

I think Quincy Enunwa is being forgotten in New York over the Robby Anderson/Jamison Crowder buzz, but he will play a lot in an ascending offense. He can be had for $1 late in drafts. Tyrell Williams will cost a few bucks, but he's also being disrespected as the #2 option in Oakland. Matt Breida is another guy whose ADP I don't understand right now. He is going to see plenty of touches in San Francisco and Jerrick McKinnon is likely to start the year on the PUP. While Tevin Coleman is the lead guy, it's very possibly Breida sees about 40% of the opportunities in a good offense that is friendly to running backs. Breida will also go for more than $1 but can be had cheap.

9. What's the maximum amount that you would spend on your QB1?

I don't think I would want to spend more than $20 on a quarterback. Ideally, however, I would spend about $12-$15 for a top 5 option, or I want to spend $5 or less.

10. What's the maximum amount that you would spend on your TE1?

I am not after a top 3 tight end this year. However, I'd spend up to $30 on Travis Kelce, and $20-$22 maximum on George Kittle or Zach Ertz.

Drew Davenport's auction results

POST-DRAFT QUESTION

You spent $65 at the running back position and $118 at wide receiver. Why was wide receiver such a big interest for you in this auction? Did the decision to go heavy on wide receiver come at a cost at running back? Explain your strategy there.

I decided that wide receiver was the way to go after seeing the trend to running back really spiking last year. So instead of chasing mediocre running backs to have a full stable of them, my theory was the value would be on the wide receivers. With the starting requirements being what they are I wanted to have 4 wide receivers I could count on. I hadn't planned on spending for Hopkins but when he topped out below $50 I went ahead and took him. Getting Chris Godwin for $21 was a nice surprise, and likewise, I had not planned to own Adam Thielen but $25 for a guy who should easily top 85 catches was too good to pass up. Rounding that out with Robby Anderson as my WR4 has me in the position of possibly having 4 top-24 wide receivers to start each week.

Spending what I did on receivers had an impact on the running backs I could get and it cost me any real shot at having much depth. I was very happy to snag Leonard Fournette and Devonta Freeman, however, as my starters for just $27 apiece. I was able to back up Freeman with Ito Smith (as unexciting as that may be), and also got Kalen Ballage very cheaply to give me some stability. There are a lot of question marks at running back on my bench, but some of them should come through to see enough volume to be relevant. If not I will have some problems and would have to be aggressive in free agency.

DAN HINDERY'S EVALUATION

Strengths
The strength of this roster is the wide receiver position. Drew has the top fantasy receiver overall in DeAndre Hopkins, an elite WR2 in Adam Thielen, a top-notch WR3 in Chris Godwin, and a strong WR4/Flex with Robby Anderson. Godwin is key here. If he makes a leap like many (myself included) think he will, this is a loaded position group.

Weaknesses
Drew built a team without any glaring weaknesses. He does have a lot riding on Leon-ard Fournette staying healthy and being productive, however. If Fournette flames out like he did last season, his running back corps goes from solid to below-average pretty quickly. Austin Hooper has a decent floor but there isn’t much upside there. Looking at the prices others paid at the tight end position, he overpaid for Hooper.

How They’ll Win it All
Based upon recent seasons, it is fair to conclude Devonta Freeman and Leonard Fournette are relatively high-risk in terms of staying healthy. If Drew gets 16 games out of both of his top backs, he will be a strong contender because he could easily have the best receivers in the league.

TEAM 3

John Di Bari, Dynasty League Football

John has been playing fantasy sports for over 20 years and writing for nearly five years. He has previously written for Dynasty Nerds and Dynasty Football Factory, and now you can find his written work at Dynasty League Football. If you like mediocre soundbites, you can hear him regularly as one of the hosts of The Fantasy Forty podcast.

Follow @dibari22

PRE-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. What is your strategy heading into this auction? How do you anticipate spending your $200 cap by position?

I’m heading into the draft hoping to only spend between $5 and $8 on two quarterbacks and $3 to $4 on two tight ends, leaving me something in the neighborhood of $188 for running backs and wide receivers. With that, I plan on going with a stars-and-scrubs approach. That’s the plan going in, but, I’ll be taking what the draft gives me and will pivot if things play out differently.

2. How much are you willing to spend on a running back that would normally be a 1st round pick in regular drafts?

I’ll likely be willing to pay $70-something for the top-3 running backs, but I’m hoping to get David Johnson or Todd Gurley at a little bit of a discount in the $50-$60 range. I’m not going to get into the Ezekiel Elliot sweepstakes with his contract uncertainty unless he falls to a laughable value.

3. How much are you willing to spend on a wide receiver that would normally be a 1st round pick in regular drafts?

Receiver is so deep this year, with the top players in the $50-range, I’ll probably be fading them altogether. If any of the 1st round pick caliber guys end up in the high-30s range, that’s about as high as I’m willing to go.

4. In your opinion, what is the key to having a successful auction?

Fantasy football is supposed to be fun, right? The best part of an auction draft is that it enables you to get “your guys”. For me, a successful auction draft is getting the players you targeted coming in at the price you hoped to get them, unlike a snake draft knowing you will have to reach for certain guys or hope they fall below their current ADP.

5. It's easy to make a mistake in an auction. What would you tell people not to do in an auction-style draft?

Auctions can be full of pitfalls. I hate not spending the extra dollar on a player I want, especially early in drafts. On the other hand, overspending early in an auction can cripple you for the remainder of the draft. But the worst thing is nominating a player you don’t want later in drafts, and nobody else bids on them and you’re stuck with a player you didn’t want in the first place.

6. Name a player from each position that you will target in this auction.

I sure do love me some Baker Mayfield, although I fear I’ll get priced out in a bidding war. At running back I would like to get my first Latavius Murray share out of 20+ leagues. Julian Edelman is a receiver I’d like to get even if it costs me a few extra dollars than expected, and at tight end, Mark Andrews will be my top target.

7. What's a good strategy that you can share with others about the bidding process?

Early in drafts, I love nominating popular players that I am not interested in. For example, if you can get two or three other owners into a bidding war and they spend a decent chunk of their budget on players you didn’t even want, that always feels like a big win to me.

8. Name a few cheaper players that you will be targeting, perhaps later in the draft.

I’m anticipating going cheap at quarterback and tight end, so I’ll have my fingers crossed for Andy Dalton and Darren Waller, hopefully at a combined $3 price tag. I like Alfred Blue’s value this year backing up an injury-prone Leonard Fournette. Kareem Hunt may be a league winner, and his upside in the sub-$5 range cannot be matched. Zay Jones can be a safe buy to plug and play during bye weeks. Ideally, I’ll come out of the draft with all five of these guys for only $6.

9. What's the maximum amount that you would spend on your QB1?

I’m going bargain shopping at the position. Being an industry draft, I anticipate quarterback values to plummet, so I might spend $5 for Baker Mayfield, otherwise, I’ll happily roll with whoever I get in the $1-$2 range.

10. What's the maximum amount that you would spend on your TE1?

I’m fading the tops guys and their price tags, and I’m not a huge fan of most of the second-tier of tight ends. I typically stream the position in redraft leagues, so I may spend upwards of $3. If I go any higher than that, I doubt I’ll even draft a second tight end.

john di bari's auction results

POST-DRAFT QUESTION

You spent $66 on Saquon Barkley, the highest winning bid of any player in the auction. How did that big spend affect your strategy and approach the rest of the way?"

If you look back at my pre-draft strategy, I went into the auction planning on spending around $70 on one of Barkley, McCaffery, or Kamara. I was willing to go up to $72 for Barkley in particular, so landing him for $66 actually gave me another $6 in my budget for the remainder of the draft. With that being my plan coming in, it had no impact on my draft strategy or approach, things worked out as close as to my plan as I could've hoped for. If I had a few extra dollars, the two players I really wanted but was priced out of were Latavius Murray and Darwin Thompson. Aside from that, I thought wide receiver prices were a bit inflated, so I wasn't willing to spend up for the top tier guys there. I ended up spending another $66 total for my top-3 wideouts; Keenan Allen, Kenny Golladay, and Tyler Lockett, and I'm more disturbed by those $66 than the $66 I spend on Barkley.

DAN HINDERY'S EVALUATION

Strengths
The starting lineup looks strong on paper. John got a great deal on Baker Mayfield. He was still able to add three quality wide receivers and a strong RB2 despite paying up for Saquon Barkley.

Weaknesses
Mark Andrews has plenty of upside and could emerge as the top target in the Ravens offense. He could also end up sharing time with two other tight ends and not even approach TE1 fantasy production. Andrews is worth targeting but he is a boom-bust pick and it would have been wise to have a Plan B in place should this gamble not pay off.

How They’ll Win it All
John needs a monster season from Saquon Barkley and for all of his projected starters to stay healthy. His lack of quality depth could put him in a bind should one of his top five or six players miss time. With injury luck on his side, John will have a top team.

TEAM 4

Rich Hribar, Sharp Football Analysis

Rich Hribar is an experienced fantasy football meteorologist with over 500 articles and videos published across sites such as Sharp Football Analysis, Rotoworld, RotoViz, Numberfire, Fantasy Insiders, RotoGrinders, The Fake Football, and XN Sports.

Follow @LordReebs

PRE-DRAFT QUESTIONS

1. What is your strategy heading into this auction? How do you anticipate spending your $200 cap by position?

My initial plan will be to try to land as many bellcow backs as I possibly can. Maybe that ends up being one $70 back, two at $50-plus or so, the plan is to attack Tiers 1-2 of the RB position.

2. How much are you willing to spend on a running back that would normally be a 1st round pick in regular drafts?

Upwards of $65-70.

3. How much are you willing to spend on a wide receiver that would normally be a 1st round pick in regular drafts?

It’s not part of my initial plan, but $50-55 is the area for those alpha WRs.

4. In your opinion, what is the key to having a successful auction?

Mix in a bit of everything and remain nuanced. You have to be aggressive with targets, but also keep enough cash in your pocket to soak up a few of the values that always inevitably leak through. Pick your spots in when to play aggressively and passively.

5. It's easy to make a mistake in an auction. What would you tell people not to do in an auction-style draft?

Just sit back and wait. If you do, you’ll end up with some perceived values, but also the equivalent of a bunch of Round 3-7 draft picks. You have to go get a few blue-chippers and be willing to spend.

6. Name a player from each position that you will target in this auction.

• One of the top-four RBs (Saquon, CMC, Zeke, Kamara)
• Cam Newton
• Jared Cook
• Marquez Valdes-Scantling

7. What's a good strategy that you can share with others about the bidding process?

Don’t get caught bidding on the back-end of player tiers. Think of each tier as the shape of the letter “U”. The front of that tier is going to be the highest-priced players within the tier and the price will linearly drop from there, but if you wait until there are only 1-2 players left from that tier, the price will then spike back up towards where the tier opened up as owners won’t want to miss out on the tier completely.

8. Name a few cheaper players that you will be targeting, perhaps later in the draft.

Justice Hill, Malcolm Brown, Mecole Hardman.

9. What's the maximum amount that you would spend on your QB1?

$5.

10. What's the maximum amount that you would spend on your TE1?

$15.

Rich Hribar's auction results