There are fundamental, undeniable and obvious reasons why an Auction Draft is better than a Snake Draft in fantasy leagues. Follow our logic for a moment and you’ll see why this is an absolute statement.
In the 1996 film Swingers, Vince Vaughn taught us that “money” means cool, or in your generation’s trendy words for cool, fab, funky, fresh, groovy, fat, gnarly, The Cat Meow, It Slaps, The Ritz.
And as a common American saying goes, “time is money.”
And as anyone who plays fantasy knows, one of the biggest differences with an auction draft is the amount of time it takes to run.
So, if the Auction Draft represents time in the fantasy sports world, and time is money, then the Auction Draft is the “money.” To use “Swingers” terminology, auctions are the best.
See? It’s absolute logic, even if we borrow it from math comedian Don McMillan.
Although auction drafts have the drawback of being less concise, there are actually several reasons why they are the better format.
First, you’re not tied to draft position. For example, if you pick 5th in a snake draft, you’re unlikely to get Christian McCaffrey no matter how badly you want him. In an auction, you can get anyone you want as long as you’re willing to pay.
Secondly, it adds strategy – you have the added task of managing the salary cap while building your roster, which makes finding a bargain at auction more rewarding than just snagging a player.
Fantasy Football DVQ Commentary
Hop out the pool, open your vacation suitcase, fire up your laptop and get ready: fantasy football season is back.
Fantasy Madman is back with the latest instalment of DVQ.
The Draft Value Index is a player rating system that assigns one universal number to every player that predicts the point in the draft when a player’s projected production will match up with his estimated draft pick value.
Because the disparity between the top production levels is large, the disparity between the top ranked DVQ values is also large.
A player’s projections take into account playing time, expected usage/touches, coaching tendencies, part performance, and injury history. DVQ measures these projections against the player’s schedule and takes into account position depth and replacement value.
These ratings are updated regularly.
Plus, you want to encourage others to spend money, so when it’s your turn to nominate players for a bid, especially in the early rounds, it’s wise to nominate players you think are overvalued, so that one of your competitors spends a large portion of their salary allocation and makes it difficult for them to bid against the player you want later.
It also makes acquiring so-called “low impact positions” just as interesting as selecting defense/special teams or a kicker. For example, if you manage to get a high value pick, you might have some money left at the end to spend on your favorite DST or kicker.
Do you bet on the NFL?
Finally, if your league uses a keeper format with carryover value, the auction value is much easier to pass from season to season (compared to, say, a pick in Round X of a snake draft), and it also has a better cost acceleration (for example, keeper value increases by 20 percent each season).
Plus, hearing the news “Sold” and landing the player you bid on will give you a bigger sense of satisfaction than any snake draft pick.
If you and your league mates have the time, try turning your league into an auction. It’s a lot more fun. If you haven’t tried an auction yet, give it a try. You’ll love it. You’ll save money without even realizing it.
