Fantasy football auction values can be one of the toughest fantasy football draft strategy elements for fantasy managers to navigate. These values often vary widely by league as they are dependent on how much individual managers are willing to invest in certain players.
That doesn't make this fantasy football rankings landscape impossible to traverse. Below you will find a variety of ways to assist you in this process. We cover what early auction values reveal, how mock auction data improves accuracy, when auction values tend to stabilize and detail the numerous ways that you can customize auction values for your league settings.
Early Offseason Auction Values: What They Reveal
Initial auction values in the early offseason are rough production estimates based on items such as RotoWire fantasy football projections and expected workloads. These are usually structured on the previous season's work pace, as past performance is usually the best starting point for estimating future performance.
"If you're looking at fantasy football ADP auction values early in the offseason, chances are they'll be based heavily on the previous season and may even overreact to that year's outliers," RotoWire fantasy football expert Jake Letarski said. "Those projected auction values have yet to factor in the upcoming NFL draft, which could put rookies in great situations on the map, or on the contrary, reduce the values of previous commodities who will now see greater competition. Free agency will also have an effect on projected values for the same reasons."
Mock Auction Data Improves
Fantasy football auction values can be one of the toughest fantasy football draft strategy elements for fantasy managers to navigate. These values often vary widely by league as they are dependent on how much individual managers are willing to invest in certain players.
That doesn't make this fantasy football rankings landscape impossible to traverse. Below you will find a variety of ways to assist you in this process. We cover what early auction values reveal, how mock auction data improves accuracy, when auction values tend to stabilize and detail the numerous ways that you can customize auction values for your league settings.
Early Offseason Auction Values: What They Reveal
Initial auction values in the early offseason are rough production estimates based on items such as RotoWire fantasy football projections and expected workloads. These are usually structured on the previous season's work pace, as past performance is usually the best starting point for estimating future performance.
"If you're looking at fantasy football ADP auction values early in the offseason, chances are they'll be based heavily on the previous season and may even overreact to that year's outliers," RotoWire fantasy football expert Jake Letarski said. "Those projected auction values have yet to factor in the upcoming NFL draft, which could put rookies in great situations on the map, or on the contrary, reduce the values of previous commodities who will now see greater competition. Free agency will also have an effect on projected values for the same reasons."
Mock Auction Data Improves Accuracy
The best way to sharpen your understanding of those expected auction values is to fully utilize the RotoWire fantasy football mock draft tool. This software, which is available to those who subscribe to RotoWire, allows you to run as many auction mock drafts as you like and track the results of these drafts.
The huge benefit to running mock drafts in the spring and summer is that you will be up to speed on auction valuations as soon as preseason drafting starts to pick up. You'll have a good idea of auction trends and what your ideal auction budget plan is long before the other league managers. That can be a huge edge if you are in a league that allows for the trading of draft picks.
Late Summer and Preseason: Values Stabilize
The offseason auction value volatility that takes place in the spring and summer starts to diminish in late July and early August. By that time, NFL depth charts are starting to solidify, training camp reports are emerging and the NFL injury report information starts to clarify how physical ailments may impact the upcoming campaign. RotoWire is the industry leader in NFL injury reporting, so you should always be ahead of the curve in this area.
"As we get closer to the start of the regular season, you'll begin to see values more reflective of what you'll see on draft day'" Letarski said. "Prominent rookies now all have a home, and some training camp reports can help us estimate their role. Free agency has settled, so we'll have a better picture of who might gain/lose touches come the regular season."
Why Auction Patterns Matter Before Your Draft
The main reason that fantasy managers should keep track of auction values is to track patterns that impact these values. If you get familiarized with positional supply and demand as well as bidding trends, you will have a better chance of predicting where overall auction values are likely to settle. This works best when you include data from multiple auction drafts. This additional information creates more dependable dollar figures when compared to early projections.
"There are always a few players, often rookies, who get a lot of steam/hype prior to the regular season," Letarski said. "It may be because another player at their position was injured, paving the way for touches, or the coach simply may be talking up their participation/role in training camp. Recognizing these players and determining whether you agree with the reports will help fantasy managers decide on whether they want to buy the hype and purchase that player at peak value, or let another manager drain their budget on a potentially over-hyped player."
Customizing Auction Values for Your League Settings
One of the biggest mistakes that a fantasy manager can make in auction leagues is to use generic information. Going this route gives you the same information used by most of the other managers. The optimal route is to use custom auction values tailored to your specific league rules, league size and scoring format. This allows you to have a fantasy football cheat sheet that truly serves your needs rather than using one that tries to please everyone.
This type of customized cheat sheet is available in the RotoWire fantasy football draft kit. You can also tailor this cheat sheet information according to your personal preferences. For example, if you want to emphasize sleeper picks or have more risk tolerance than most fantasy managers, just adjust those settings in your customized cheat sheet to reflect this. The result will be a fantasy football auction cheat sheet that fits like a glove.
