10 Tips For Rookie Fantasy Football Auction Drafters

I remember the first auction fantasy draft I competed in. It was about five years ago and it was for fantasy baseball. The Commissioner wanted to do something different and he heard great things from doing auction drafts. I remember bitching and moaning about switching from a snake draft to an auction. I hated it, and I thought I'd do terribly in the format. But then I drafted.

Immediately I loved doing auction drafts. After doing my first auction draft, I imagine I had the same feeling that meth heads get when they first try Crystal Meth. It was euphoric. Since that draft some five years ago, I can't go back to snake drafts. Once you go auction, you never go... back? I need to work on a new catchy phrase, but the point still stands. I love auction drafts. If for some reason you're unlike me and still don't enjoy or are not good at fantasy football auction drafts, follow my 10 Tips for Rookie Fantasy Football Auction Drafters:

Final Predictions for the 2014 Emmy Winners

DRAMA

OUTSTANDING WRITING: Vince Gilligan for "Felina" (Breaking Bad) 

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION: Cary Joji Fukunaga for "Who Goes There" (True Detective)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR: Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS: Julianna Marguiles (The Good Wife)

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR: Matthew McConaughey (True Detective)

OUTSTANDING SERIES: Breaking Bad (AMC)

2014 Fantasy Football Rankings Update: Late August Edition

Immediately after the NFL draft, I released my initial fantasy football rankings. A few weeks ago, I updated those rankings for my Mid August Update Edition. I am now updating my rankings one more time before the first major draft day weekend. I update my rankings because things change and situations are fluid. My rankings are both a combination of how I personally feel about players as well as how I feel you should be treating these players. For example, I have Marshawn Lynch ranked as my 6th best running back. However, when push comes to shove, I probably won't draft him, but I can't in good conscious move him down in my rankings because he's just that good of a player. These rankings are based upon my post-draft rankings, and any player highlighted in red is a player who has moved down since my mid-August update, and any player highlighted in green is a player who has moved up since my mid-August update. 

QUARTERBACKS

1) Aaron Rodgers (GB)

2) Drew Brees (NO)
3) Peyton Manning (DEN)
4) Cam Newton (CAR)

5) Andrew Luck (IND)
6) Robert Griffin III (WAS)

7) Matthew Stafford (DET)

8) Colin Kaepernick (SF)

9) Russell Wilson (SEA)
10) Tom Brady (NE)
11) Tony Romo (DAL)

12) Nick Foles (PHI)

13) Matt Ryan (ATL)
14) Jay Cutler (CHI)

15) Andy Dalton (CIN)

16) Philip Rivers (SD)

17) Johnny Manziel (CLE)

18) Ben Roethlisberger (PIT)

19) Eli Manning (NYG)

20) Alex Smith (KC)

21) Jake Locker (TEN)

22) Carson Palmer (ARI)

23) Joe Flacco (BAL)

24) Josh McCown (TB)
25) Geno Smith (NYJ)

2014 Fantasy Football Sleepers and Busts

Personally, I am not a big fan of the terms "sleeper" and "bust". I think there's a certain connotation to those terms that the every day fantasy football players misconstrues. I prefer the term "undervalued" and "overvalued". Every football player has value, and good drafting comes down to knowing where that values lies. You may personally have a distrust for Arian Foster or Doug Martin or DeMarco Murray, but if these players are sitting in the 4th round of your 16 team draft, you would pick them up immediately. If, however, you have the 6th pick in your draft, the value may not be there for you for any of those players. But that being said, The Internet loves the terms "sleepers" and "busts" so those are the terms I will be using throughout this post. Here is my personal list of players who I think are undervalued (aka "sleepers") and are overvalued (aka "busts") as well as players I overall love and kind of hate:

QUARTERBACKS

SLEEPERS

Robert Griffin III (WAS)

Truthfully, RG3 is probably appropriately valued. Both ESPN and Yahoo! have the Washington QB ranked as the 7th best QB, and he's 6th on my personal board. However, I just want to go on record to say that I absolutely love Robert Griffin the Third this year. While you may think he's a "mobile" quarterback because he's run before and because he's Black (you racist), but he's actually a really good passer and just a sub-par runner (That's why he's always getting hurt). RG3 now has Jay Gruden has his head coach. Gruden is not only responsible for making Andy Dalton a top 5 fantasy QB in 2013, but he's stated that there will be very few designed runs for his quarterback. A lot of people might be weary of RG3 this year because he's coming off of an atrocious 2013 campaign; however, Griffin was the 5th best fantasy QB in 2012 and all reports say he's fully healthy this year whereas he was obviously hurt last year. Gruden is going to throw, throw, throw and Griffin has one of the best receiving corps in the game with Pierre Garcon, DeSean Jackson, and Jordan Reed. I think RG3 is going to be a beast in 2013.

Andrew Luck (IND)

A man who is ranked behind RG3 according to some sites (Yahoo!) is a man who I personally have ranked as the 5th best quarterback this year- ahead of the man who went 2nd to him in the 2012 draft. From a real life perspective, I think Luck is a special, special talent. He's probably the 2nd or 3rd best QB prospect of all time behind John Elway and maybe Peyton Manning, and he'll only be 25 coming into the 2014 season. I just think Andrew Luck is going to get better and better as he gets further into his NFL career. ESPN's Numbers Never Lie did a great segment about why Andrew Luck is going to take a huge leap forward this year. From a fantasy perspective, Andrew Luck was the 9th best fantasy QB in 2012 and the 5th best fantasy QB in 2013- and I think he's only going to get better. 

Johnny Manziel (CLE)

I absolutely need to clarify my position on Johnny Football. I currently have Manziel ranked as my 16th best QB behind Jay Cutler, Tony Romo, Philip Rivers, and Andy Dalton. While recent history suggests QBs drafted in the first round like the aforementioned RG3 and Andrew Luck can be great fantasy football players, I don't truly believe Manziel will be in that class- at least not yet. I personally didn't like the pre-draft scouting reports I saw on him, and he is not having a very good training camp so far. However, the reason I have Manziel on the "sleepers" list is because I think he is a must-own if you decide to be the last person to take a QB in a 12 team league or deeper. Personally, I'm going to be one of the first people in my league to draft a quarterback, but if you are not going with this strategy, you need to draft a handful of QBs- one of which needs to be Manziel. The non-zero chance that Manziel becomes a top 10 or even a top 5 fantasy QB means he needs to be one of the players you take a chance on assuming he hits. I think if you draft Manziel, Jay Cutler, and 3rd QB of your choosing in a deep league, at least one of them will be fantasy stud for you.

BUSTS

Initial 2014 Bad Quarterback League Rankings

There are so many versions of fantasy football that you can play. There's the normal fantasy football that everyone knows and loves, there are three team leagues, there are eliminator challenges, and the list goes on and on. However, probably my favorite version of fantasy is doing a Bad Quarterback League. Grantland.com gave this format its inception, and as I far as I know, they are the only website that will give you weekly scoring for free (Grantland also has a format where you can play your BQBL for free, but I wouldn't recommend it. Personally, I find tallying each members score by hand the best method. While it can be a bit time consuming, it's also free, easy, and efficient.) Click here to see the full scoring, and how to specifically set up a league.

I have found that what really wins you this league and what you really want are two things: 1) turnovers and 2) mid-game, non-injury QB changes. However, what you really want to target is just terrible performing quarterbacks. Because Grantland is also half pop culture, there are some "fun" categories like "Penis Picture on Blog" and "Arrested", but I don't think any quarterbacks have gotten these points since the league began. Because of what I call these "scandal points", Cam Newton was drafted during his rookie year. As you know, Cam Newton was a monster on the playing field and was terrible in this format. While it may be fun to take quarterbacks who you think will be a nuisance off of the field, they are essentially useless for your league. I highly recommend just targeting overall bad quarterback play. So with that being said, here is my Bad Quarterback League rankings:

2014 Fantasy Football Rankings Update: Mid August Edition

Immediately after the NFL draft, I released my initial fantasy football rankings. Of course, things change, situations are fluid, and my rankings need to be updated. My rankings are both a combination of how I personally feel about players as well as how I feel you should be treating these players. For example, I have Arian Foster ranked as my 6th best running back. However, when push comes to shove, I probably won't draft him, but I can't in good conscious move him down in my rankings because he's just that good of a player. These rankings are based upon my post-draft rankings, and any player highlighted in red is a player who has moved down since my post-draft rankings, and any player highlighted in green is a player who has moved up since my post-draft rankings. 

QUARTERBACKS

1) Peyton Manning (DEN)
2) Aaron Rodgers (GB)

3) Drew Brees (NO)
4) Cam Newton (CAR)

5) Andrew Luck (IND)
6) Robert Griffin III (WAS)

7) Matthew Stafford (DET)

8) Colin Kaepernick (SF)

9) Russell Wilson (SEA)
10) Tom Brady (NE)

11) Nick Foles (PHI)

12) Matt Ryan (ATL)

13) Andy Dalton (CIN)

14) Philip Rivers (SD)

15) Jay Cutler (CHI)

16) Tony Romo (DAL)
17) Johnny Manziel (CLE)

18) Ben Roethlisberger (PIT)

19) Eli Manning (NYG)

20) Alex Smith (KC)

21) Jake Locker (TEN)

22) Carson Palmer (ARI)

23) Joe Flacco (BAL)

24) Josh McCown (TB)
25) Geno Smith (NYJ)

Predicting the 2014 Emmy Winners: Best Television Show

DRAMA

THE NOMINEES:

* Breaking Bad (AMC)
* Downton Abbey (PBS)
* Game of Thrones (HBO)
* House of Cards (Netflix)
* Mad Men (AMC)
* True Detective (HBO)

SURPRISED IT'S NOT NOMINATED: Masters of Sex (Showtime)

SHOULD BE NOMINATED: The Good Wife (CBS)

MY THOUGHTS ON THE ACTUAL NOMINEES:

Analyzing The MLB Trades At The Deadline

The non-waiver wire trade deadline has come and gone, and there were a litany of players that have switched teams. Let's now analyze those trades and see how well each team did at the deadline. Truthfully, we will never know how well trades have turned out until we look back on this day in 2024 (or even later), but that won't stop us from playing Monday Morning Quarterback anyways!

BOSTON RED SOX
GRADE: A+

Key Additions
- 1B/OF Allen Craig
- OF Yoenis Cespedes
- LHP Edwin Escobar
- RHP Joe Kelly
- RHP Edwardo Rodriguez

Key Loses
- LHP Jon Lester
- RHP Jake Peavy
- LHP Felix Doubront
- RHP John Lackey
- LHP Andrew Miller

ANALYSIS
The Red Sox were extremely busy before the trade deadline blowing up their entire rotation (plus Andrew Miller) and playing for next year. While the AL East is decently wide open, I think the Red Sox smartly realized it wasn't worth it to try and make a push, and decided to play for 2015. Jon Lester is a free agent by the end of the year, so the Oakland A's rented him for the final few months, and in exchange, the Red Sox received All-Star Yoenis Cespedes, who is under contract both this year and next year. I believe that Lester will sign with the Red Sox this offseason, which means Boston gets Lester AND Cespedes in a year which they will compete. The Sox also tighten up their outfield with Allen Craig, whose power is sure to come once he leaves Busch Stadium and calls Fenway home.

Not only do the Red Sox bolster their offense for next year, but also their pitching in the future. John Lackey and Jake Peavy are worthy players, but they're expendable as well. They're worthless to the Red Sox, and Boston can get pitchers who are just as good, if not better, than either Peavy or Lackey this winter. By shipping them away, they receive a great back end of the rotation guy in Joe Kelly, and a top pitching prospect in Edwin Escobar. To add to their pitching depth, they traded away failed starter Andrew Miller to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Edwardo Rodriguez, a player who is surely going to be stable for the Boston rotation in a few years.

The Boston Red Sox solidified their offense and added pitching depth for the future, and is likely to have a strong rotation come Opening Day thanks to moves the team will make in the off season. When you're not playing for this year, it's easy to win the trade deadline.

CHICAGO CUBS
GRADE: A+

Key Additions
- SS Addison Russell
- OF Billy McKinney
- RHP Dan Straily
- LHP Felix Doubront

Key Loses
- RHP Jeff Samardzija
- RHP Jason Hammel

ANALYSIS
When the Jeff Samardzija trade happened, I wrote that it was a huge win for the Cubs. Even though Samardzija is under contract for both this year and next year, the Cubs aren't even remotely going to compete then, so they sold their best two pitching assets in exchange for the Oakland A's first two draft picks from the past two years. Addison Russell is going to be a stud and Billy McKinney could be really good. The Cubs have also had great success turning failed pitchers like Jake Arrieta, Scott Feldman, and Jason Hammel into really good pitchers, and I'm confident either Straily or Doubront (or both) will be the next Jake Arrieta. The Cubs are just stockpiling minor league hitters, can get stud starting pitchers off of the waiver wire and turn them into really good players, and these deadline trades help the North Siders on both accounts.

Predicting The 2014 Emmy Winners: Best Actor

DRAMA

THE NOMINEES:

* Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)

* Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)

* Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom)

* Jon Hamm (Mad Men)

* Matthew McConaughey (True Detective)

* Woody Harrelson (True Detective)

SURPRISED HE'S NOT NOMINATED: Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey)

SHOULD BE NOMINATED: Martin Sheen (Masters of Sex)

MY THOUGHTS ON THE ACTUAL NOMINEES: