A few weeks ago, I wrote an article on the reasons you should mock draft. Hopefully that inspired you to stop reading about it and encouraged you to commence practice rounds. If not, that’s fine because I just completed a mock draft that will teach you valuable lessons on draft day.
This year, one of my favorite leagues is braving the direction of the Auction Draft platform, which is a format that is brand new to me. So, naturally, I’ve been drowning in mock drafts just so I can be prepared for draft day.
I’ll do a quick breakdown for those that haven’t had the chance to do an auction draft before. First, you start off with a fixed amount of cash to spend. $200 is the norm. Second, each team gets to nominate a player according to their order in the draft. And lastly, the highest bidder takes the player.
Now, a problem with mock drafting, which I left out in my previous article, are the people who exit after a few picks and leave the computer to manage the rest of their draft. It removes the unpredictability, the human error, and the fun. This was why this particular mock draft was interesting; everyone stuck around for a good amount of time, the chat room was active and aggressive, and teams nominated players randomly instead of sticking to the next best player theory.
Auction Draft Results and Breakdown
*(#)= denotes when player was nominated
(2) Julian Edelman, NE WR: He was the second player nominated to be drafted and an absolute bargain at $2. TWO BUCKS! PPR machine that can stay healthy.
(16) Cordarrelle Patterson, MIN WR: Fourteen players passed by and Cordarrelle Patterson came on as my second player/receiver at $15. Dynamic Vikings receiver that should explode in the Air Coryell system.
(18) Adrian Peterson, MIN RB: The juices started flowing and AP was next up to bid after LeSean McCoy disappeared for $64. I wanted to spend big money on one player, and All Day happened to be the apple of my eye. After many dropped out of the race, I took Purple Jesus for $60.
(20) Rob Gronkowski, NE TE: My every other player plunge continued with the purchase of Gronk at a cheap $16. If I can get him healthy and productive for half of the season at that price, I’ll be in the playoffs contending for another championship.
(28) Vincent Jackson, TB WR: I wasn’t satisfied with Edelman and Patterson being my WR1 and 2, so I wrestled Vincent Jackson onto my roster to bolster my receiving corps with a value of $29.
(43) Giovani Bernard, CIN RB: After taking a brief break, I was befuddled how I let some backfield gems slip by me at reasonable costs. Bernard hit the board and I made an irrational decision to fork over $46. Did I overpay? Probably, but that’s why we mock draft. It forces that foreign feeling of shame so it doesn’t happen on draft day.
(56) Matt Ryan, ATL QB: After establishing a foundation for my WR and RB corps, I sought after my field general. The top three commanded an average of $36 and I vowed to be cheap. So, my eyes were fixed on Matt Ryan and I hired his services for $9. This was a solid buy considering he maintained a successful fantasy campaign without his top two wide receivers (Julio Jones, Roddy White) for most of the season.
(61) Joique Bell, DET RB: Another key mistake made here. In an attempt to bolster the backfield, I saw Joique Bell going for really cheap, $3, and decided to join the fun. Everyone else did too, and by the time I clicked to bid the amount rose to $15 and suddenly I was stuck paying double the going rate (Avg. price $8).
*Author’s Note: Know how the system works so you avoid these costly mistakes.*
(86) Russell Wilson, SEA QB: He was going to slip by for a measly dollar, so I put a bid on him and snatched him at $2.
***After the heavy bids and mistakes my cap shrunk immensely and limited to these dollar buys based solely on nominations made by yours truly.***
(92) Erick Decker, NYJ WR: He was good with Tim Tebow, why not Geno Smith?
(105) Fred Jackson, BUF RB: Because Buffalo believes in bell cows, right?
(114) Delanie Walker, TEN TE: Not bad down the 2013 stretch.
(129) James White, NE RB: I believe Bellicheck is evil. Sayanara Stevan Ridley.
(135) St. Louis DEF: That front four is foaming at the mouth.
(140) Justin Tucker, BAL K: Because I need a kicker.
***********************************************************************
Final Roster:
QB- Matt Ryan $9, Russell Wilson $2
RB- Adrian Peterson $60, Giovani Bernard $46, Joique Bell $15, Fred Jackson $1, James White $1
WR- Julian Edelman $2, Cordarrelle Patterson $15, Vincent Jackson $29, Eric Decker $1
TE- Rob Gronkowski $16, Delanie Walker $1
DEF- St. Louis Rams $1
K- Justin Tucker $1
Totals spent at each position
QB: $11
RB: $123
WR: $47
TE: $17
DEF/K: $2
When the draft was over feelings of remorse, regret, and glory kicked in. As you can tell the funds spent at each position was massively lopsided by the RB position, and I would probably change that before draft day.
Teaching points from this mock draft:
- Don’t spend your money right away. Great players will come and go, but if your cash evaporates too soon, you will be limited on what value lies in guys later on in the draft.
- Nominate players at random. If you’re looking to get value across the board, nominate at random so your league members spend more money on sleepers and eliminate competitors for other high-value players.
- Practice, practice, practice. Mistakes can plague your season. So, mitigate the hiccups by submerging yourself in mock drafts.
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