Strategy for a Successful Auction Draft:
The following are things that should be done before you even step into the draft room. The better you are prepared, the better your season will end. While trades are a necessity, the stronger your team is after the draft, the better position you will be in to take advantage of other people's needs. (Not that any of us wouldn't help an opponent out of the goodness in our hearts :-)
1. Research: As with a traditional style draft, the first and most important part of the draft is ranking the players according to your scoring system. Just like everyone else, you know that Terrell, Barry, and Favre are players you want to draft. What separates the winners from the losers is the performance of the second and third tier players that every team needs to draft. I won't spend any more time here, because a lot depends on your individual scoring system, and plenty of other articles exists that deal with this topic.
2. Tier Philosophy: Now that you know you players, within each position you want to break the players down into different tiers. For instance, most people will have Barry and Terrell in the first tier of running backs. The second tier will consist of Dillon, Bettis, Martin, Watters, etc. Now some people will disagree with me on this point, but I do NOT believe that comparing running backs to wide receivers to tight ends is all that helpful in auction draft. Here, you do not necessarily always try to take the best available player. What you are trying to do is get the best value for your money. You can do this by watching what other players in the same tier are going for, and try to get the lowest price for one or more players in that tier. Using the above example, you may think that Watters is a better player than Dillon, but in the same tier. This does not necessarily mean you should draft Watters instead of Dillon. In our draft, Watters sold for $31, Dillon sold for $22. Even if you think Watters is the better back, it could be argued that the person who spent $22 for Dillon got the better deal. The only way to know if you made a good purchase is to compare the prices with other comparable players. For the same reason, it makes cross-position evaluations difficult. You may have Tim Brown ranked the same as Marshall Faulk, but just because Faulk sold for $25 doesn't mean $25 for Tim Brown is a good price. You have to compare him with other top tier receivers. Of course, you won't completely know this until after several players have been drafted. What you can do before the draft, however, is have these tiers well defined. As the draft progresses, you can see when all the players in a tier are drafted, then use those prices as a basis for deciding what to bid for a player in the next tier.
3. Have a Plan: Going into an auction draft, you have to realize that decisions will have to be made quickly. You also have to be prepared to adjust you strategy mid-stream. That does not mean that you can't go into the draft with a plan, however. There are two main strategies that I find to be the most useful. The first I will refer to as the Artillery theory the second I will refer to as the Infantry theory. Like the names imply (at least in my mind), in the Artillery theory your team is based on paying whatever it takes to get two or three top players who are guaranteed studs, then filling out the roster with (much) lower players. You hope your big guns do enough damage for your team to come away with the victory. The Infantry theory is based on setting some price guidelines before the draft, and only taking those players that fit the pricing structure. You hope to get a deep team made up of productive foot soldiers that can overcome the big guns of your opponent. Either plan can work effectively, if you stick to it. The worst thing you can do is start following a plan only to deviate from it just because you really want a particular player. Of course there will be choices that are hard to make, but persistence and patience are the two key words. If you go for the Artillery, be prepared to wait a while until you can afford players that will fill out your roster. Don't bid for a player you can't afford just because you haven't picked a player for the last hour. If you go for the infantry, don't deviate from your plan just because you get scared that you don't see Barry or Terrell on your roster.
Have faith in your preparation.
How to Draft:
Now we get to the meat of the article: how to draft in an auction league. The following should be taken as a general outline, rather than a set of hard and fast rules. There are many ways to successfully draft, and this should not be viewed as an exhaustive list. For the first time auction drafter, or even those who haven't drafted well before, these rules should give you a good start.
1. Be Flexible: This may seem contradictory to having a plan, but when the draft begins you must be flexible and adjust to your drafting. If you planned on purchasing some Artillery, only to be consistently outbid by you opponents, think about switching your plan and picking up the best second tier back and the top tight-end with the money you would have spent your stud players. If you planned on drafting a team of Infantry and find that you can get a good deal on a stud player like Terrell, take that extra step and try to get a Watters or Brunell to go with him, then fill out with lesser players. The difficult part is deciding when you are locked into one way of thinking. The more players you draft, the less chance you have to change your strategy, since your money supply will start disappearing.
2. Hide Your True Thoughts: In a serpentine draft, you always want to be the person picking the players you want. In an auction draft, you want to wait as long as possible before nominating the players you want. Here is the reason: In an auction draft, every other person has a chance to outbid you for every player. To make sure you get the players you want, don't nominate those players until later on the draft, when you have more money to bid on those players. Not only does nominating a player you don't necessarily want take money from your opponents, it also takes up a roster, spot that could be used for more valuable players. Also, if you have the reputation as being a good drafter, other people may look at your nominations and bid higher, thinking you know something that they don't. Use this to your advantage. The longer the draft goes, the easier it will be to bid for those "sleeper" picks. In the first few rounds, this won't make much of a difference, since everyone will want a top 10 RB or WR. Where this is put to the best use is for the lower second tier guys such as Emmitt or McCardell, or even some rookies with potential. Wait until you are sure you can get them before nominating them.
3. Keep Track of the Money: If you ignore every other suggestion in this column, do not ignore this one. Knowing how much money your opponents have left is the single greatest piece of knowledge in an auction draft. At the beginning of the draft, everyone will start with the same amount of money and a full payroll. At this point, try to bid up on some players that you don't necessarily want. With a full payroll, people are more likely to overpay for a player, or bid on a player they don't necessarily want, because he plays on their favorite team. An auction draft really allows a person to show what their favorite team is. Expect a New Orleans fan to pay several dollars more for New Orleans players than comparable players at the same position. (Of course the above fan will probably be the only one to bid on a Saint's player at all, but that is another story.) The more you can make you opponents pay for their players, the better it is for you. As the draft progresses to the second half, many teams will find themselves beginning to run low on funds. It is at this point that the real deals are available. If you have spent intelligently for the players on your roster, even if you have followed the Artillery strategy, you should have enough money left at this point to pick up one or two great buys. By looking at the money remaining in combination with the open roster spots, you can usually predict what a person will spend for a player. If they already have their starting RBs, odd are they won't spend a lot of money purchasing a third back until they get their starting receivers, especially if their money is starting to run low.
4. Save Some Money: No matter which strategy you choose (Artillery or Infantry), keep a small percentage of funds ($5 - $10 would be plenty) for the final three players. No matter how astute you or your opponents are, it is a guarantee that one or two players will slip down to the final rounds. This occurs much more frequently in an auction draft than a traditional draft because of rule number 2 above. Many people may not nominate a few players, trying to pick them up cheaply later on. Take advantage of that. This is especially true if your league allows you to save leftover draft money and apply it to your free agent pool. Even if you don't use this money in the draft, it will give you the upper hand in all free agent pickups.
5. Never Bid On a Player You Don't Want: Yes, it is good to try to get other to pay more for their players. Remember, however, that they are trying to do the same thing to you. Never nominate or bid on a player you wouldn't want on your roster. Even if you are reasonably sure someone else will bid, think about whether you really want that player on your roster. Don't waste a roster spot on a player you don't want. Early on in the draft, especially if you follow rule #2 above, you will still have to nominate players, and you will still want to make your opponents spend money. At this point, try nominating some players you wouldn't mind having (such as your top kicker or defense, or a third wide receiver). That way, if nobody else bids, you still received a player you wanted at a reasonable price. If somebody outbids you, so what? They spent more than you were willing to on a non-integral roster spot, and you didn't give any of your sleeper picks away too early.
6. Remember: In an auction league it doesn't matter when you draft a player, as long as the price is right. Your first three spots could be filled with a kicker, defense, and tight end if you could get them for $1 or 2 a piece, while other overspend on other players. Be patient and wait for the right deal.
Obviously, you can't expect the same results every time, but I believe the old adage that luck is a product of preparation. Just make sure you are the one that is prepared