How to DOMINATE Your Fantasy Football Auction Draft with Drew Davenport
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
35 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 15, 2026
Published
Sat, August 15, 2026
29
Player insights
29
Players mentioned
Topics
A.J. BrownBijan RobinsonBrock BowersChase BrownDak PrescottDrake LondonJa'Marr ChaseJahmyr GibbsJared GoffJavonte WilliamsJaylen WarrenJonathon BrooksJordan AddisonJordan Love
Player analysis
Player insights
A.J. Brown
PositiveValue11:11
Drew Davenport targets A.J. Brown as a value-based wide receiver alternative to more expensive top-tier options, noting that the price gap between him and elite receivers like Ja'Marr Chase is not justified by the potential point differential. He also suggests using high-value players like Brown as a nomination tool to break up group-think or position runs, effectively shifting the room's focus away from specific trends.
Insight pageBijan Robinson
PositiveValue11:41
Drew Davenport encourages managers pursuing a 'stars and scrubs' auction strategy to commit to high-cost players like Bijan Robinson, provided they have pre-planned their budget to account for the $60 investment. He uses Robinson's $60 price point as a benchmark for elite RB value in the auction room.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
PositiveValue11:48
Drew Davenport advises against waiting for a deal on Brock Bowers, noting he will likely go in the first three rounds for $30-$35 and won't be a bargain later. He suggests nominating him early to secure the player and maintain flexibility for future pivots. Ian Hartitz adds that drafters must be mindful of 'draft cliffs' where players like Bowers are taken during sudden runs.
Insight pageChase Brown
PositiveValue20:27
Drew Davenport uses Chase Brown as a practical example of auction budget management; acquiring him for $38 when budgeted at $41 allows for the reallocation of $3 in savings elsewhere. He also suggests Brown as a potential target for a hero RB auction build.
Insight pageDak Prescott
PositiveValue24:06
Drew Davenport notes that the 'late-round quarterback' strategy is more viable in auction drafts than snake drafts, as managers often irrationally draft backup quarterbacks like Dak Prescott in the 9th or 11th round even after securing a starter.
Insight pageDrake London
PositiveValue16:34
Drew Davenport targets Drake London as a value-based wide receiver alternative to more expensive top-tier options in auction drafts, specifically looking to acquire him at second-round price points.
Insight pageJa'Marr Chase
NegativeValue7:31
Drew Davenport notes that while Ja'Marr Chase is an elite asset, his $65 auction price is inefficient compared to the $44 price of A.J. Brown, as the point production gap does not justify the $21 cost difference. Chase is consistently nominated early in auction drafts because managers enjoy calling out top-tier talent.
Insight pageJahmyr Gibbs
PositiveValue5:18
Drew Davenport encourages drafting elite RBs like Jahmyr Gibbs in auction formats, provided managers have a clear, pre-calculated plan for the high-cost acquisition. He notes that beginners often freeze when market prices exceed static sheets (e.g., $65 vs $55), leading to missed opportunities. Conversely, managers can find value in early nominations when participants are hesitant to spend; securing Gibbs for $52 is cited as a bargain compared to benchmarks like Bijan Robinson at $60. Gibbs is consistently identified as a top-tier player frequently nominated early in the auction process.
Insight pageJared Goff
NegativeBust16:07
Drew Davenport advises against drafting or relying on Jared Goff in 10-team auction leagues, preferring to allocate budget toward higher-upside quarterbacks to keep pace with elite production from opponents.
Insight pageJavonte Williams
PositiveValue27:25
Drew Davenport identifies Javonte Williams as a target for an RB2 auction spend, noting that he has the potential to approach high-end RB2 or low-end RB1 production.
Insight pageJaylen Warren
PositiveValue25:09
Drew Davenport identifies Jaylen Warren as a cheap running back value target in auction drafts, noting that managers can acquire multiple such players for a low total cost.
Insight pageJonathon Brooks
PositiveValue25:46
Drew Davenport highlights Jonathan Brooks as a cheap running back option that allows fantasy managers to build depth in their RB2 room for a low total auction investment.
Insight pageJordan Addison
NegativeBust9:38
Drew Davenport warns that nominating mid-tier players like Jordan Addison too early in an auction draft often leads to inflated prices, as managers with full budgets may overpay. He also uses Addison as a cautionary example of a player beginners might overspend on late in a draft after being too conservative early, warning against 'dropping the hammer' on him.
Insight pageJordan Love
NegativeBust16:07
Drew Davenport advises against drafting or relying on Jordan Love in 10-team auction leagues, preferring to spend up for elite quarterback production to remain competitive.
Insight pageJosh Jacobs
NegativeInjury27:12
Drew Davenport notes that Josh Jacobs is a risky auction target due to uncertainty regarding his health and potential missed games. Davenport remains skeptical that the NFL will pursue a suspension if no criminal charges are filed and facts remain in controversy, noting that Adam Schefter's update was largely a non-update regarding the pending legal situation.
Insight pageKenneth Gainwell
PositiveValue25:09
Drew Davenport identifies Kenneth Gainwell as a cheap running back value target in auction drafts, noting that managers can acquire multiple such players for a low total cost.
Insight pageKenneth Walker III
PositiveValue16:52
Drew Davenport identifies Kenneth Walker as a target for his auction strategy, specifically looking to acquire him at second-round price points.
Insight pageKyren Williams
PositiveValue27:12
Drew Davenport identifies Kyren Williams as a target for an RB2 auction spend, noting that he has the potential to approach high-end RB2 or low-end RB1 production.
Insight pageLamar Jackson
NegativeValue16:13
Drew Davenport uses Lamar Jackson as a benchmark for elite quarterback production that opponents will likely possess in 10-team leagues. In snake draft formats, he notes that even after taking Jackson in the second round, managers may irrationally spend additional capital on a second quarterback like Dak Prescott if they remain available.
Insight pageLaviska Shenault
PositiveValue18:43
Drew Davenport identifies Laviska Shenault as a mid-round wide receiver target that he prefers to acquire in auction drafts to build roster depth.
Insight pageMarShawn Lloyd
PositiveValue14:03
Drew Davenport highlights MarShawn Lloyd as a player worth targeting in every draft, though he notes that paying nine dollars for him might be an overpay. He identifies Lloyd as a target for his auction strategy, specifically looking to acquire him at second-round price points.
Insight pageMecole Hardman
PositiveValue18:43
Drew Davenport identifies Mecole Hardman as a mid-round wide receiver target that he prefers to acquire in auction drafts to build roster depth.
Insight pagePuka Nacua
NegativeInjury28:15
Drew Davenport notes that Adam Schefter's recent comments regarding Puka Nacua were unusually vague, describing his status as "on the table" and "within the realm," which Davenport found odd and indicative of potential uncertainty regarding his availability.
Insight pageRJ Harvey
PositiveValue25:09
Drew Davenport identifies R.J. Harvey as a cheap running back value target in auction drafts, suggesting he is part of a group of players that provide significant bang for the buck.
Insight pageTank Bigsby
NegativeValue8:42
Drew Davenport advises against nominating lower-tier players like Tank Bigsby early in an auction draft, as managers are generally unwilling to spend significant budget on them while funds are still plentiful. Ian Hartitz notes that such early nominations of lower-tier players are often sporadic and unpredictable.
Insight pageTerry McLaurin
NegativeValue24:46
Drew Davenport observes that wide receiver twos like Terry McLaurin are commanding higher auction prices than expected due to a perceived drop-off in talent at the position, which makes them less efficient targets.
Insight pageTucker Kraft
PositiveValue16:01
Drew Davenport identifies Tucker Kraft as a potential tight end target to consider alongside the top-tier options in 10-team auction leagues.
Insight pageTyler Warren
NegativeValue15:56
Drew Davenport identifies Tyler Warren as the floor for acceptable tight end talent in 10-team auction leagues, stating he prefers not to draft anyone ranked below him and aims to secure one of the top four or five options at the position.
Insight pageZay Flowers
PositiveValue18:43
Drew Davenport identifies Zay Flowers as a mid-round wide receiver target that he prefers to acquire in auction drafts to build roster depth.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00What's going on everybody? Today we're breaking down all things about an auction fantasy football draft. That's right. If you are new to the game, well,
0:08welcome because you're about to have your freaking mind blown by one of the best forms of fantasy football. Or if you're just back again ready to enter
0:15your one or many auction leagues, I got one of the best in the business to help get us set up with some strategy, some
0:20do's and don'ts, and just some general goodness along the way. Drew Davenport, Football Guys staff. You can find his very specific auction work over on the
0:28auction brief pod at Drew Davenport FF.
0:30They also might know you, Drew, as being, you know, your favorite lawyer's favorite fantasy football lawyer. You're always blessing us with again some great
0:37breakdowns whenever, you know, not even whenever, on like on a weekly basis that NFL players tend to do something stupid in one way or another. So, auctions,
0:44lawyer, poker, you're pretty cool guy, Drew.
0:48>> Thanks, man. That's quite the introduction. I appreciate that. Yeah, it's it's I love hanging out with you on shows, hanging out with you in real
0:55life, whatever the case may be. Always a good day when I get to talk to Ian Hartitz.
1:00>> I would even argue it's a great day to be great, Drew, but >> I wasn't going to steal the tagline.
1:04>> [laughter] >> I appreciate you. So again, great stuff here, guys. And Drew, I just kind of wanted to start off because, you know,
1:10I've been doing auctions maybe five, six years now. I know you've been there for a long time, but I know that a lot of
1:15times you're probably in an auction where you see the newbies going out there and trying to wrap your mind around things. So, is there a kind of a
1:21common or like a biggest mistake that you see from people who are brand new to auction drafts?
1:26>> Yeah, certainly. And and there's like, believe me, when you ask this question, like I like 15 things, but like the if
1:33if I if I got to pick a couple of the biggest ones, um number one is you're you're going to really have trouble
1:39adjusting to the speed of the auction.
1:42It is hard. And and so don't undersell the fact that part of your um preparation should be not only just preparing more and being more prepared
1:51than you would think you need to be.
1:53But on top of that, you just need to get yourself situated before the draft starts, your software, whatever draft sheet you're working off
2:00of, your tiers, and all that stuff. Just make sure you are ready cuz when they say go, the first couple guys, yeah,
2:05they're going to be expensive, but after that, it goes quick, and you just got to be ready. And uh you know, I was at the
2:11King's Classic, I was having trouble keeping up. Uh the auctioneer was selling people, and then we got somebody entering them on the board, and somebody
2:17else is nominating, and I'm like, that's a lot. I've been doing this 25 years.
2:21So, that's part of part of the equation, but the second thing I'd say is that beginners have a tendency to be one
2:27extreme or the other when the draft starts. And you got to avoid that.
2:31Either they're jumping into the deep end, and they're buying two guys for $65, and they're like, look, that's, you know, hey, I've still got 70 bucks left,
2:39and they don't realize that 14 people uh need to be on their roster still in 70 bucks. So, that's that's number one. Or
2:46the other way, people get too timid.
2:48They think, hey, everybody knows something that I don't know.
2:52Um why are these guys so expensive? And a lot of times, what happens is they're working off of a definite um price list,
3:00and that price list is guiding them, and sometimes that price list is just a little bit conservative. And I will say
3:06this, the Footballguys numbers are a little conservative when it comes to the prices. And so, if you go into a room
3:11with a Footballguys ranking, and you're looking at a price at 55 bucks, and I know that Rotowire has their own stuff,
3:17I'm just pulling a number out of the >> Yeah, yeah.
3:18>> out of the air here, but and you go into a a draft with Jahmyr Gibbs for 55 on your sheet, and he goes for 65, you're going
3:26to sit there and go, well, I'm not paying that. And then you're going to consistently kind of see some prices that are too high, and you just sit
3:32there.
3:34You can't just sit there because the top guys are going to go early. And if you don't do anything, then you're in
3:39trouble. And if you do too much, you're in trouble. So, the beginner mistakes >> from Footballguys or Rotowire or any other place, again, it's a good rule of
3:48thumb to not accidentally bid like $15 more or less on someone, but more so a guy in something that you could similar
3:55to ADP in a regular draft like be ready to adjust to your room.
3:59>> Yeah, 100% and it's it's even the thing is that ADP is so much more predictive in a snake setting because we
4:07have all this data and so many people doing them. We don't have as many people doing the auctions. It's harder to find
4:12the data. And then sometimes so what you have is that you have a list of prices that are very subjective. They're
4:17they're very site-to-site and you're going to find different prices and even the site that you're auctioning on more often than not when we're talking to
4:23people they're doing online auctions, there's going to be a price in your app that you're using. And so then people are going off of that and they're
4:31saying, "Well, this app says he's worth this. Why is he going for this much?" Or why is he not going? And all of a sudden
4:36you've spent money because you thought, "Well, everybody's coming in under the price." But that's just the room you're in. So you nailed it. You got to adjust to the
4:43room.
4:45>> Great stuff, Drew. Again, I'm sure there are 15 to 20, you know, different tips you could have of course, but in general
4:51again guys, just be ready cuz these auction drafts I was telling Drew before we got going here like I would love to
4:56find a way maybe a hybrid form we could knock these things out in closer to 90 minutes or 2 hours. I know a lot of you
5:03if you're doing one auction per year and you're fine waste not not wasting.
5:06Definitely the wrong word. If you're fine enjoying your auction draft for 4 straight hours, that's totally draft you're doing. Freaking love it, man.
5:12Hang out with the buddies and I get it, but it is a 4-hour process sometimes. So make sure you're ready to again adjust
5:17the speed and get going there. Like Drew said, one extreme or the other. Don't be quite so eager to jump into the deep end
5:23or at the same time too timid and then use those auction values as a guide, not necessarily a rule of thumb. I'm happy
5:29you brought up the one extreme or another Drew because again the beginning of an auction I know it's going to be different
5:36depending on the room you're in, but I'm with you where I kind of see both sides of it. Like what do you think is the
5:41best opportunity there? Is it to actually go in while everyone's getting warmed up and trying to go ahead and get some guys or maybe the price is going to
5:48be lower, or is it like, "Hey, auction's here. Everyone's juiced up. Everyone's ready to go. Let them go crazy for 15
5:55minutes, and then we'll go ahead and get our guys."
5:57>> Yeah, so I think there's a little bit of a like a like a bell curve here. You kind of alluded to it because early on,
6:04you want to be looking for deals right away. Nobody wants to be that first person that spends 60 or 65 dollars. And
6:11frankly, one of the fun parts of the auction is, I have 200 dollars. The world is in front of me, and I can do
6:16whatever I want. And so, it sucks to go in there and just like lock yourself into a player right away for 58 bucks,
6:21and then you're like, "Well, now I can't do that again." And then it just kind of takes the wind out of your
6:25sails. So, there's a psychological factor there about wanting to keep your 200 bucks, wanting to have the draft in front of you, wanting to have all your
6:33options open. And so, a lot of times you're going to find a deal in that first two to four players. So, be
6:38looking for that because it does happen. I call it the sitting down bonus. It's just a stupid reference to a friend's
6:44>> Nice.
6:45>> uh thing that I but it's true. People are sitting down, they're getting their stuff out, they're getting situated. They're like, "Yeah,
6:50I'm not I'm not going to spend 60 bucks right now." You get it. All of a sudden, you walk away from Jahmyr Gibbs, you
6:55know, for 52 bucks, and you go, "What just happened here?" And then later, Bijan goes for 60, and you realize you
7:01got a great deal. So, right out of the gate, you're looking for a deal. And but then after that, you just want to be
7:07really careful because you can jump in too quickly, but I would caution you about this.
7:13I went back and looked at the King's Classic. 28 picks in the first two or 28 nominations in the first two rounds.
7:19So, of those 28 nominations, 26 of them were starter level players, and I believe 20 of the 26 were top 24
7:28players.
7:29So, one constant The thing about auctions that's tough is everything changes. Every room's going to be different. But so, what I do is I look
7:36for constants that you can rely on. And one of the constants is that people will nominate the top players early in the
7:43draft. That's just what they're going to do.
7:45People like it. It's fun. You're here to have fun, right? That's what's it's supposed to be fun, not just business.
7:51So, they want to call out Ja'Marr Chase.
7:52They want to call out JSN. Like, that's fun. So, count on that. So, in the first two rounds, remember that if you're not
7:59active enough in the first two rounds, most of the first two rounds of like that you would consider in the top two of a snake, the top 24
8:07guys, they're going to be gone. And if you haven't acted yet, then you don't have a first or second round pick.
8:11That's not any way to win a fantasy league. So, you got to get one or two guys, but that's it. No more than that.
8:19>> I have been on that other extreme end of things, Drew, where I've gotten very excited and gotten four guys early, and
8:24then I'm sitting there with, you know, 30 bucks left, and all of a sudden still got to fill >> Those four guys are fun, though.
8:30>> They are fun, man. We look back, and we have some uh rose-colored glasses, for sure. So, great stuff there, and it's a
8:35great point, too, just about the nomination process, because I know, personally, like, I almost just like to break that streak a little bit when I'm
8:42in there and throw out, you know, the Tank Bigsbys [clears throat] of the world, cuz I just I don't know. It's
8:46comical to me when, again, it's just Jamyr Gibbs, Ja'Marr Chase, JSN. Oh, Tank Bigsby got nominated now. And I've wondered if there is something to the
8:53idea of like, do you have a better chance of getting your handcuffs or kind of your late-round dudes early when people maybe aren't trying to finish off
9:01their rosters the same way? Like, how do you personally approach the nominating strategy? Cuz I hear you. Again, more times than not, it's going to be just
9:09the top players kind of going down the list. Do you follow that, or do you try to change things up?
9:13>> Yeah, I try to change things up, for sure. And let me let me answer your question, and then kind of go off a
9:18little bit about nomination strategy, because it's so important. The The answer to your question about going and getting handcuffs, I love the
9:27idea, and and I'm going to say it again, there's a little bit of a bell curve here with how that's going to play out.
9:33So, if you're really early in an auction, and you go down, and you pick, say, um like a Jordan Addison type. And
9:39everybody has their money.
9:40What I would say is that when you dip too far down the tier sheets, the players are going to go for too much
9:47when everyone has their money.
9:48But, I'm not talking about Tank Bigsby.
9:51I'm talking about your Jordan Addison types. Your guys that like late in the draft, you can get them for six bucks.
9:57But, when everybody has their money, he might be 11 or 12. And so, calling a guy like that out like in the middle
10:05like the meat portion of your tiers, I think his price gets inflated. But, if you call guys out way at the bottom,
10:12nobody wants to spend any money at that point. They're like, "I'm not spending two bucks on Tank Bigsby. I can I can
10:17get better guys than that." And then at the end, they really want Tank Bigsby.
10:20But, early on, they're not going to say two. So, if you say one or maybe even started at two, they don't want to say
10:25three cuz like, "I'm wasting money.
10:28We're wasting time. Why we talking about Tank Bigsby?" So, again, I think there's a bell curve there.
10:32Um but, nomination strategy is something I think people uh don't pay enough attention to cuz it's really, really important. And one
10:38of the things I talked about on my show this week was just that uh you can use nominations to kind of turn people's
10:44heads and like break up and that that's what you referenced there. Is breaking up that just single-minded like call out every top player or sometimes you get a
10:54quarterback run. And let's say you're thinking, "I want to get a cheap quarterback." And then all of a sudden, there's two, three quarterbacks
11:01nominated in a row. Then everybody's like, "Oh, yeah, there's just two quarterbacks now." It's just kind of like a group think and it's
11:06subconscious. But, you can kind of snap people's heads out of that and just like when it gets to you, call somebody out
11:11that's going to get go for a little while, like a wide receiver like an A.J.
11:15Brown, and then just let that go. And then people just it it's almost like something changes. It bleeds off. They stop thinking about quarterbacks and
11:24they go back to like, "Okay, what's the business at hand here?" So, um that's important, too. But, I think also early
11:30on, people make the mistake of wasting their nominations on players they don't want cuz they want people to spend money.
11:36And I get the idea in general, but that's a better idea when there's some money out of the room already in the
11:41middle of the draft. At the beginning of the draft, you need to just focus on what you want to do. And so,
11:48hey, I'm thinking about I I might want Brock Bowers. Like, we all know we're not getting a deal on Brock Bowers,
11:52right? So, like, you can't wait till the ninth round and hope that he doesn't get nominated and get him for 19 bucks.
11:58That's not happening. He's going in the first three rounds. He'll be 30 to 35 dollars. Just don't worry about a deal.
12:03Get him out there right away. And the reason for that is even if I lose a dollar or two of equity,
12:09the play is getting him out there so you can pivot because that's the key thing people miss is they think, well, I'll go
12:15get him and then they either have to go for broke and they spend too much or they don't get him and then all the the
12:21tight ends they could have are gone already. You don't you don't leave yourself a pivot. So, early on, just um go for your targets first couple of two,
12:29three rounds. Make sure you're building your cornerstones.
12:32Then sit back and relax. Start throwing out some guys you don't want.
12:36You're not a Jeremiah Love guy? Okay, round four, call out Jeremiah Love. Let somebody spend 20, 32 bucks.
12:42And just sit back and don't worry about it and then you're bleeding money when there's actually already money out of the room. So, if you got a 12-team
12:48league that's $200 cap, $2,400 total in the room, in the first round, if you call somebody out who goes for 50, that's 2% of the
12:57budget. That That's not doing anything. But, if a thousand bucks is already out of the room and somebody goes for 50, now
13:03you're making a difference.
13:04So, you know, early on, chase your cornerstones and then you want to transition to kind of aiming at people that have money and seeing if
13:13you can pull their money. That's a really long answer. Sorry, man.
13:17>> Are you good? So, just again, earlier on, first couple rounds, like you were saying, too, don't be a hero. They're
13:23going to more times than not mirror the first few rounds of a fantasy draft and we'll get into kind of stars and scrubs
13:29versus approach or balance, you know, in a minute, but you as as nice as it does feel, Drew, to kind of have all that
13:35money after, you know, an hour of your fantasy draft, there also is a point where you're like laughing at people, and then it's like, wait, I actually
13:42need to get good players on my team to, you know, try to win this league as well. And again, that might sound like
13:46common sense, but there is that idea of being a little bit too conservative early on when all the best players are
13:52being drafted.
13:53>> For sure. And that's a mistake again that beginners make because it feels good. It's like, I got the hammer. I'm
13:59going to do And then you never use it because you're like, I'm afraid I'm going to lose the hammer. But then all
14:03of a sudden you're you're dropping the hammer on Jordan Addison, and you're and and you're scooping up every MarShawn Lloyd in the player pool, but who gives
14:12a crap that that's what you saved your money for. So, it's a tightrope act.
14:16It's a balancing act. Spend, not too fast. Spend, not too fast.
14:21>> Bad example by you because every draft is a great draft to get MarShawn Lloyd, but I think we understood your point
14:27overall. Let's get to that though.
14:29Not for nine bucks. Fair enough. Stars and scrubs versus more of a balanced approach. Like, can it be that simple cuz I hear what you're saying where we
14:39do want to get guys early, but like generally when you're going out there, are you spending the 50 to 60 dollars to
14:46try to get these top-tier dudes, or would you just again, it could be different every draft. I understand it.
14:51More times than not though, stars and scrubs or more of a balanced approach for you?
14:55>> So, for me, it's almost always going to be leaning towards more balanced approach. I'm not one of those guys who
15:01ever chases the top of the position group in typical leagues. And when I say typical, I'm saying 12 to 14 teams because I've never liked my builds
15:10when I go spend at the top of the position group. It's just something that I've forced myself to do sometimes, and I've never liked it. So, um I got
15:19dangerously close this year in King's Classic. I spent 89 bucks on my top two guys, which I don't normally do, but I
15:25thought the prices were too low. That's another story. Point being, I think of it like a little bit like a sliding scale. If you're in a 10 team
15:32auction, two things are in play. Number one is the waiver wire so much more rich. So, you just you just really need to ignore
15:39your bench in eight and 10 team auctions.
15:42And the second thing that happens is you really need to try to differentiate more at the onesie positions. So, whereas in
15:50a 12 or 14 teamer, I'm likely to blow off quarterback and tight end and just go cheap. But, in a 10 teamer,
15:56I'm going to try to get one of those top guys. I I I don't really like a tight end. I don't really want to go below
16:01Tyler Warren. I want to I want to have one of those top four or five guys and maybe Tucker Kraft, but and then same
16:07thing at quarterback. I just really don't want to be rolling out Jared Goff or Jordan Love when my my opponents have
16:15Lamar Jackson and Drake May. That in a 10 teamer, that matters so much more.
16:20And you just you don't need to worry about your bench. So, you slide that money to your starting lineup and just
16:25try to pound your starting lineup in the shallower leagues. But, in the deeper leagues, I'm going to spread it out. I'm
16:29not going to go towards the top of the position group. I still want impact guys, though. So, you can't walk out of
16:34there without your typical like So, what I'll do is I'll drop down to like a Drake London or an A.J. Brown instead of
16:40chasing Jamar Smith or JSN. But, you still got to spend up a little bit, you know, in the 40s to get that type of a
16:46guy.
16:47And more often than not, I'm just going to spend to get one wide receiver and one running back like second round
16:52prices. So, we're talking, like I said, Drake London, Kenneth Walker, Marion Hampton, those kind of guys.
16:58And then I can then spend up more for my two and I feel better about how that spreads out.
17:05>> So, even the balanced approach, you I guess there does seem to be that gap, man, when I look at some of these auction
17:13values where Gibbs, Bijan, Chase, and JSN, Like the difference in auction value between those guys and your even lower-end RB1s and wide receiver ones.
17:24Like it does seem like it's stretched out like more in auctions than it actually is. And redraft land, we look at the difference in picks.
17:31>> Yeah, and you're absolutely right because I guess somebody who has more math smarts on this can tell me, but I mean I feel like the difference
17:40between I'm going to pay 65 for Chase, but then I'm going to pay 44 for AJ Brown. The $21 difference, I feel like
17:48there has to be a a law of diminishing returns there because what if Brown can give you 88%
17:57of Chase or 90% of Chase? That's the gap in the the $21 auction price is far more than that 12% gap in fantasy points. And
18:07I think I have the ability to earn that back in the deals at the wide receiver two, wide receiver three, RB2. Cuz my
18:14favorite thing to do at wide receiver is just to build so deep. And just end up with like um you know, Chris Olave is my wide
18:20receiver three. Like that's just To me that's so fun and and it's easier to do because the top guys are so expensive.
18:28If you just drop down, then you can just slam those three starting spots with kind of second, third round guys.
18:36>> And just more years than ever, man. I just find myself yearning to do more auctions because that receiver range rounds three through six, I like I just
18:43see Laviska Shenault Zay Flowers and Mecole Hardman. I don't want to have to pick between them, you know, on my one
18:49pick. But I have to do that in a traditional snake draft. Auction, that's when you guys are right. We can get them
18:54all. So, as always though, do want to invite you guys, whether you're in redraft or auction, do check out our tools over at rotowire.com. It is
19:01subscription season and I got a code for you guys, Ian20 for 20% off. Whether you're in the auctions, redraft, you want some of live draft assistant,
19:08waiver starts sit or decision, we got you covered all things RotoWire.
19:11Subscribe now Ian 20. Appreciate you.
19:15All right.
19:17Looking before the draft, you mentioned before the different things you can do to prepare and I did again really take note of just trying to adjust the speed.
19:24So clearly you do want to again be taking steps just to be ready to go.
19:28How much prep do you do though in terms of like your roster building? Like do you have a certain percentage or dollar
19:33amount of money that you kind of earmark for each position or is it more of something you're doing on the fly?
19:39>> I'll tell you what, man.
19:40This is where I differ from a lot of people that do auctions that are that have done them for a long time.
19:45>> Uh-huh.
19:45>> [clears throat] >> I don't like using percentages or ranges. I think that it makes the level of difficulty in the room just too high.
19:53So I use something called a par sheet where I pick exact dollar amounts that I want to spend on each position. Now I
19:58come up with two or three different variations of my par sheet.
20:02But I'm picking an exact dollar amount for every single position on my roster.
20:06>> Also not even quarterback. It's like you have QB1, QB2.
20:10>> Correct. QB1, four bucks. QB2, two bucks.
20:14And I'm not saying that I'm going to go in there and spend exactly that cuz you rarely find the exact price.
20:20>> Mhm.
20:20>> But that's your goal. And if you miss your goal, you know exactly what you have to make up or can put to somewhere
20:27else. So let's say my RB1 is 41 and then I end up getting Chase Brown for 38.
20:33Perfect. Now I save three bucks. Now I know I can slam that three bucks somewhere else. And so it gives you like
20:38a freedom to spend up or down from that number and then know like okay, here's where I can pull it from and it's so
20:45quick while you're in that auction that you don't have to devote a lot of head space.
20:50>> Yeah.
20:52>> I'll tell you people that Here's why I still use it and I think that I probably would have given it up as like a talking point years ago.
21:00I still do it myself. I'm never going to give it up, but I would have probably given it up as is talking point because all the big
21:06industry folks don't use it. You know, Joe Dolan, Scott Pianowski, these guys they don't do it. They don't believe in it because they think they're good
21:13enough. And that's a spoiler alert, they are good enough. But what the reason I haven't given it up is all of my
21:19followers freaking love it, man. It is just an insane like like people connect with it somehow and I think it's turned
21:26into like this tool that's really just like um you know, everyone else's is um is just 10% worse because they don't
21:35have this technique and I think people feel that way. And I just want to stress again, it's not a Auctions are all about flexibility and I
21:43believe that having these exact numbers as as weird as it sounds, it sounds like an oxymoron. I believe these exact numbers give you the flexibility cuz it
21:51allows you the freedom to be like, "Can I spend this? Okay, yes, I can, but if I do, I got to pull it from here." It's a
21:57quick calculation. I mean, think about it like this. Okay, I want to spend 50% of my budget on receivers.
22:02>> Yeah.
22:03>> I already have a guy that's 45 bucks.
22:05Now, the next guy is up and he's 31 and I'm like, "Ah, that's too cheap. Can I spend it? Okay, well, I spent uh 20%
22:11>> percentages.
22:12>> Yeah, like you can the price is going up.
22:14>> Yeah, it's going beep beep beep, you know, and you got to bid or not. Like you don't know what to do. That's not
22:19helping. And some people can do it because they like an instinct and gotten they've been doing it so long and the
22:23Pianowskis and the Dolans of the world, but most people have done 15 or 20 max in their life and this is a a big crutch
22:32for you.
22:33>> And that feels like just again, thinking to myself how I would be mapping it out.
22:38Even if someone does want to go more stars and scrubs, it's Look, it's fantasy football. If you want your Bijan Gibbs, you want to go get your Bijan
22:43Gibbs, like absolutely. Write down then 60 bucks for your RB1 and then look at the rest of your roster and just see how
22:50you have to lay it out.
22:51>> Yep. And that that's what I love about it is you can just plan. Like I know I'm going for Gibbs. And and I'm not telling
22:58people not to do that. Go for it cuz I'm I'm going to do it in my home leagues.
23:01Like I'm going to go have Gibbs or Bijan in in my home leagues or Chase.
23:04So, like, just just plan for it. Just be like, all right, I know I'm spending this. So, where am I taking the money
23:09from? And And I think you'll find, too, that when you're doing that preparation, where am I taking the money from? How am
23:14I pushing it around? It makes you quicker in the room, too. It makes you like more instinctive because you've already done that work ahead of time.
23:22>> Absolutely love it. Drew, I know you're mostly auction, but you do dabble as well in the redraft streets.
23:28Is there like a considerable strategy change for you in terms of player allocation, or is it just kind of what you were talking about before? League
23:36size is more so just a tournament if you want to go how hard you want to go, I would say, in the paint with the ones he
23:41has in other positions.
23:42>> Yeah, there's a little bit of a change.
23:44I'm never going to be a mid-round tight end guy in in a snake draft. I just don't I don't like the opportunity cost when I take one of
23:53those guys. I see all these receivers there, and I'm like, all right, I'm passing on a receiver for this.
23:58Um and then So, the other thing, too, is I think late-round quarterback in an auction is just so much easier to pull off because
24:06people like, especially in home leagues, you think you're waiting around you're getting Dak Prescott as your starter in the 11th. Like, they ain't going to let
24:13that happen in home leagues. They're going to be there in the ninth and see him and be like, well, I mean, I know
24:17that I took a Lamar Jackson in the second, but I Dak Prescott's still there. I'm taking him. So, it's a much
24:23more viable strategy in auctions. And the other thing I've noticed this year, too, is, you know, we've had the big pendulum swing from uh wide receiver to
24:31running back in the early couple rounds, the auction community does not seem to have caught up yet because I'm still seeing more money going to the wide
24:39receiver spot than the running back spot. And I don't necessarily mean at the top. I mean, spread through the middle.
24:46The wide receiver twos, your your Terry McLaurins, your Terrace Marshall McLaurins, those guys are commanding more money than I thought they would this year just
24:54because of the drop-off in the at the position. But, I think what's happening is people are recognizing the guys lower down the ranks aren't aren't getting you
25:03what they used to. And so, there's they're shoving more money at the wide receivers. But, what it's doing is it's creating a value opportunity at running
25:09back. All these guys like your Jaylen Warrens and your um you know, your R.J.
25:14Harveys and Kenneth Gainwell, they're just so cheap now because everybody's slamming the receivers. They're scared, and there's all these running backs.
25:22Like, you can just get one running back, and then you can have three guys that you know are going to touch the ball,
25:27catch passes, and they're so cheap you can get like three of them for like 25 bucks. And then, you don't have to worry
25:32about your running backs. You've got three. You've got one good guy and three, you know, guys down here for 25.
25:38It's just To me, it's you're paying 25 bucks for Terry McLaurin, you're getting one guy. You're spending 25 bucks on R.J. Harvey, Jaylen
25:46Warren, and and whoever, you know, Jonathan Brooks. And you're getting all three of them. Like, I just think the bang for your buck is still in the
25:52running back tiers in the middle, the middle portion of it.
25:56And again, you can't do that in a snake cuz all those guys are gone, or you want to be I'm going for a tight end or a
26:03quarterback at that point. So, it does change, for sure.
26:06>> It does seem like a auction really set sets us up sets itself up better for that hero RB build where, you know,
26:12you're spending up big on maybe a Chase Brown. And previously, you know, in a snake, you can't draft maybe Jaylen Warren and Jonathan Brooks and R.J.
26:20Harvey all together because of where they're being placed in the draft. But like, in that ideal world, like Yeah, you want all those guys to kind of fill
26:26your RB2 room, do the money ball thing, you know, kind of form it as an aggregate. Hopefully, one of them busts
26:31I mean, booms eventually, but in the meantime, you have dudes who can at least give you some flex worthy value.
26:36Is that typically Again, I'm not asking you to give away the full parsheet.
26:39People can find your work on uh football guys and everything. They go get that.
26:42But typically, again, it's kind of like one big spend at running back, and then we're going a little bit cheaper for the
26:48rest.
26:49>> Yeah, that's that's how I've been building it. And I really came into this year thinking to myself that I was going
26:54to change this year and I was going to chase running back a little bit harder.
26:57And I I I tell you, I do build my par sheets a little differently this summer.
27:02So, I'm spending that I'm building one where I'm spending 25 to 28 bucks on on my RB2, which I normally just bail out
27:09completely and spend like $12 on my RB2.
27:12But, I'm building some this year that are 25 28 because I feel like I can get a Kyren Williams or a um
27:19even Josh Jacobs, which I know is it's risky right now, but those kind of guys are kind of falling right in there.
27:25Javonte Williams, and I feel like they have the ability to approach the high-end RB2 area or even low-end uh RB1.
27:33And if I can get that for my RB2, I'm taking notice and that's just piggybacking off of what we were just
27:38talking about that I think that those RB2 prices are too cheap compared to what we're getting at wide receiver these days.
27:45Um and and and it's we're not seeing the same thing in the auctions that we're seeing in snake drafts. Auctions haven't
27:51caught up, so I'm leaving that open.
27:53But, for the most part, you are correct.
27:55My most of my builds continue to be heavy at that RB1, spend 35 to 40 bucks, and then I'm dropping way down to 12 to
28:04$15 for my RB2, and I'm trying to get three guys for less than 30 bucks.
28:09>> You mentioned it, Drew. Can you take your auction hat off for a sec and talk a lawyer here? What do we think with
28:14Josh Jacobs? A little update on that.
28:16>> Yeah.
28:17Josh is is kind of weird because Schefter does this thing, and I will say this, um I think that he gets information that
28:23he's not allowed to talk about it. So, then he just says stuff that's kind of like him like bumping into walls. Like,
28:29if everybody kind of gets the point here, I'll run into the point at some point. But But like he's like he just
28:35offered so many qualifiers. And and especially the Puka one was struck me as odd. He just said like, "It's on the
28:42table. It's quite possible. It's in the within the realm." And I'm like, "What are these comments?" And he kind of did
28:48the same thing for Jacobs, although he talked a little bit stronger. So, it sounds to me like uh it is truly in doubt whether or not
28:55Jacobs misses a few games. But, what I've been saying is that Schefter's update was really a non-update because he said, "This is a pending situation
29:03with the NFL." I'm like, well well no what it you know No explosives on your YouTube channel. I No [ __ ] man. We like we already knew
29:11this it was pending. And it wasn't like it went away just because charges weren't filed. But, I keep coming back to the same thing about Jacobs, which is
29:18that when the state has a great case, they usually are going to file it. And why haven't they filed it by now if it's
29:25if it's a good case? So, I I'm not sure that I'm seeing charges coming from it, which doesn't mean he can't be
29:31suspended. But, I keep coming back to what his team said about like, "We have some information that I think everybody will find pretty interesting." So, there
29:39has to be some sort of like text message or something that that is giving them confidence to say that stuff out loud in
29:45public. Otherwise, they're slandering a victim. So, I think that I think there's something there and if that's truly the case and there's no
29:53charges, I'm not sure the NFL's going to step out on that ledge and say I'll suspend you anyway when there's facts in controversy.
30:01Uh-oh.
30:02>> Does seem like they're perennially a little bit slower moving out there. So, good to hear there again. Appreciate when Schefter is willing to share some
30:10of his secrets with us. But, I'm with you, man. It does seem like a very peculiar at time what is and what isn't
30:16actually made public knowledge.
30:18Fantastic stuff, Drew. Last thing, you might have already answered it, which is fine, but let's say someone there's rolling up in their auction draft.
30:25They're not doing the student 65 days a year like you and me because they actually have a life and they have
30:29friends and family.
30:30>> I'm sorry to interrupt. Are you getting a black screen or you seeing me?
30:34>> I see you, but you did freeze. That's okay.
30:36>> Okay. All right, cool. Just make sure you can still see me cuz I'm not seeing myself, but that's cool.
30:41>> 30 30. All good. Hold on.
30:44Restart this.
30:47>> I wonder if I could Let me just >> Yeah, you're good. That's I I wrote down the time. Do you want to refresh or
30:52something?
30:53>> Yeah, I was thinking maybe I just uh I just turn the camera on and off to to get that to refresh.
30:59>> There we go. We're there.
31:00>> And then you can uh edit this.
31:03>> Cool. No worries.
31:05>> I'm not really sure what happened here.
31:08>> It went green for a second, and then I think it froze up.
31:11>> There you go. Back.
31:13Okay.
31:14>> Okay, wave the hands. We are back.
31:18In 3 2 1.
31:21Great stuff there, Drew. Whole show has been fantastic, but I did want to try to say that for just someone out there.
31:27They're not in the weeds like we are 365 days a year. They're not going to take time to go crazy before their draft, but
31:33they have 10 minutes. Is it as simple as just kind of building the par sheet like you were saying, organizing your
31:38thoughts there? Do you have another bit of advice for someone trying to cram last second for their auction draft?
31:43>> Yeah, if you're trying to clear cram last second, I think doing RotoWire, check out their tiers. And just just look at the different
31:51uh drop-offs there are, okay? And then try to go and get guys in each tier, and just say, "All right, which guys am I
31:56going to chase in the tier?"
31:58And then spend 10 minutes thinking about what you want to spend on those particular guys.
32:03And if your spending is too out of control, you know, trim it a little bit and figure it out before you walk in there.
32:10So, it's not as simple as just building a par sheet, but it's as simple as doing some thought exercises beforehand. And
32:17don't just say, "I want a top guy."
32:18Like, pick the guy. And And you don't That doesn't mean go in there and draft that guy. It just means, "This is my
32:24target, or these are a group of guys I would be happy with any one of this group." And then go execute that idea.
32:31Like, I want this something from this group, go call out that guy and do it.
32:35So, the thought exercises are what matters. And that is you make the par sheet and you look at the tiers and you
32:42say, "Okay, um I believe that in this tier I can get this guy and he'll be the lowest price." That thought exercise
32:48gets you dialed in and ready to go. And then so you have some numbers written down and you have some tiers. You can do
32:55that all in 10 minutes. Like, "Okay, which guy am I going after? If that doesn't work, who am I going to pivot
33:00to?" Those thought exercises are the best thing you can do to warm your brain up to what exercise you're about to do
33:06when you walk in.
33:07>> And that tier point really is great. In general, in redraft or auction, whatever you're trying to do, like, yeah, we
33:12should be more so tier-based drafters.
33:13But to your point with how fast auctions move and then just how kind of sporadic they can be. You got idiots like me
33:19throwing out Tank Bigsby early, then there's a quarterback run, then Brock Bowers is going like, you need to be mindful of when you just have this cliff
33:26coming, man, because again, there's no going back and you don't want to be that dude. God, Drew, there there there should be some name for it, but the dude
33:33at the end of their draft who has $21 left and then they just like, no one else there is even going for $5. That
33:39got to be the most embarrassing thing to ever happen in fantasy football.
33:43>> I I don't I hate it. I hate the feeling.
33:46I have left so many auctions in the last couple years with five, six, seven dollars. It drives me nuts. You can
33:51throw that $7 on your RB2 and just get a much better guy. I get I get annoyed.
33:56I'm already annoyed with myself. I didn't even do it.
33:59>> [laughter] >> Can't even look myself in the mirror with it. But Drew, thank you so much again, man. Again, find all your
34:04wonderful work over at Football Guys.
34:06And if you guys do want to really get in the weeds with auction, check out Drew's podcast, The Auction Brief Pod. Again,
34:12@DrewDavenportFF, one of the best follows out there. Not just for auction, but you got a mean gift game yourself, bro. And also again, we always do love
34:19your legal updates. So, appreciate you, my brother. Hope we'll be playing cards again here soon. And appreciate you guys listening. Again, if you guys like the
34:26show, please like the show. Also, hit that subscribe button as well. And if you are trying to subscribe and get a
34:31little bit of a leg up on your competition. Like you said, we got tiers, rankings, and so much more over at rotowire.com. So, code Ian20, get you
34:3820% off in this economy, no less. But for now, guys, we're out. For Drew, I'm Ian. Thanks again for tuning in, and
34:44until next time, take care, everybody.
