AUCTION RECAP
The first ever BIG TIME Auction draft was just completed and I have to say, It was a good time. Auctions are more complex but it just lets you do more with your team and employ a lot more strategies. Snake drafts have their advantages too, but I think I like the Auction better. I love the bidding wars we got into on a couple players and trying to find a steal.
I'll do a quick run through of each team and then my initial impressions of their auction. If reading is hard, you can skip to the final report card at the end.
The Hunk Hoisters (Luke Harden)
Formerly known as the Royals, Harden has been commissioner of the league since 2004 and renamed his team at the beginning of the 2011 season to the championship trophy's namesake. He also has been known to trade anyone with a heartbeat at the drop of a hat.
My strategy in the draft was to spend nearly all my cash on my starters and get the strongest starting 9 I could. I ended up doing that and am digging my team. If I got Vick, my goal was to grab a reliable, $8+ backup QB for when he shatters his next rib. I actually ended up spending too much on my starters and now have to roll the dice with a $2 backup. With my depth problem, the love for my team might diminish if I lose a couple 30 dollar guys to injury, but I've owned my guys for about 4 hours now and so far they're still healthy.
My Team - (Rick Stammer)
Pronounced "My Team minus," we believe Rick's team name came about by some sort of typographical error. Nonetheless, his team is beloved and their owners unorthodox coaching style always gives us something unexpected.
The - auto drafted for this and frankly, it showed. - got some decent talent in Romo, Peyton Manning and Jordy Nelson but lacks real star power. On the other hand, minus should be extremely deep this year and won't have to worry about injuries much at all. My favorite moment of the draft happened to be its lowlight, when Rick got in a bidding war with someone for uber-backup Jeff Demps. He ended up getting him for 5 bucks. I knew he was bad, but come to find out after doing a little research Demps is not only bad but also on the IR for the year with no chance of playing.
Philly's ConVicks (Ben Wiele)
Wiele and the ConVicks stormed onto the scene in 2010 when won a BIG TIME championship in his inaugural coaching season. After a down year in 2011 he looks to return to his winning ways this season.
Ben autodrafted in this one as well, choosing to fight crime and defend our civil liberties over us, but we forgive him. The ConVicks have an impressive foursome and their core with MJD, Lynch Welker and Nicks. For an autodraft, this is one of the best I've seen and he didn't seem to overspend on any one player. QB and TE will be the issue here for the ConVicks, but they are talented and deep in the two most important positions of RB and WR.
BigTime Johnson (Ryan Johnson)
As a now 6 year veteran of the league, Johnson's top finish was 3rd place back in 2009. RJ always fields a competitive team though, and has never had a losing record in 6 seasons.
Johnson appeared to go with the mega-star strategy here, as he grabbed A-Rod and Calvin Johnson very early in the draft for a combined $112. BTJ outbid many owners for the ever popular Darren McFadden shortly after.... I almost went another dollar RJ. Vernon Davis was also a good value pick at $12 dollars. Johnson's 3 big guns should be enough to give him some big weeks. Time will tell if they are enough to boost him into the postseason.
Men of Troy (Troy Anderson)
Troy is back this year and he brought a sweet name with him. Never since the D+ Advantage has his team been so rockin'. T-Roy has also been with us for 6 glorious seasons and his best finish was 4th place in 2007, finishing with a 10-4 season.
M of T seemed to get solid deals across the board and has excellent depth with very little holes. Eli Manning at 28 bucks is an excellent value and the T-men can go 3 deep at both runningback and wide receiver. If Matthews can return by week 2 or 3 and stay healthy all year his $27 salary will look like a steal. Martellius Bennett and Coby Fleener will split the TE duties for the T-men, if he can get solid production there the Men of Troy will be running on all cylinders.
The Biggest Fumblers (Caleb Davis)
The Fumblers are a perennial powerhouse and first even to win the league championship back in 2003. The Fumblers are always seem to be in the title conversation come playoff time and usually has some great smack talk to boot.
I believe Caleb auto-drafted for this auction and one can tell. Davis' stars and scrubs strategy got him Ray Rice, Fitzgerald, Gronk and Adrian Peterson. Thats the good news, the bad news is Roy Helu and twelve $1 players round out the rest of his roster.
Super Natural (Rick Keeney)
Keeney starts his third year in the league this season and after getting crushed in his first year, came back to a 2nd place finish in 2011. A message board favorite as well, Super Natural is getting more and more dangerous with every year of experience.
Natural had some semi serious computer issues while drafting and its unknown how much of this team he actually wanted. With that in mind, he grabbed Brady and CJ2K right off the bat, then added Trent Richardson for $26. The rest of his team is an interesting bunch, with no one over 7 dollars and a large group of respectable bench players. Super Natural needs to figure out who Tom Brady is going to throw to and he'll have a shot.
FormerlyKnownAsFavre (Dave McConnell)
A Charter member and a natural on the message board. Dave is well known for drafting Brett Favre every year for 38 consecutive years. He is currently working full time in Alabama scouting next years fantasy studs... and teaching.
Favre also went for the stars and scrubs strategy drafting ten $1 players. With 3 great wide receivers and the best runningback in the game, Favre lineup starts out wonderfully. Shonn Green was a great buy at just $10 but is still overmatched as his #2 runningback. The main roster problem, however, is $4 Robert Griffin III set with the task of starting quarterback. This team is above average and if RG3 can pull of a Cam Newton impersonation they are a no doubt playoff team.
Montreal Canadairs (Ross Kelderman)
Charter member and lovable fan favorite Oceans 11 returns as the Montreal Canadairs after a short sabbatical. He's been known for great draft picks such as kickers in round 2 and Seneca Wallace as his starting quarterback. Has Kelderman ever won anything? Not really, but with a few years off to reflect and his mystery advisor at his side, he may be a new man.
The Canadairs kept it surprisingly kosher for a Kelderman-led team, and grabbed McCoy and Stafford early. After getting Fred Jackson for $26, they grabbed solid middle-round talent and some interesting sleepers. McCoy and Stafford need to repeat last years performances, but if that takes place the team from up north will be in the conversation.
Jumbo Gumbo (Paul Hovey)
All around good guy and future brother in law of mine, Paul joins us for his inaugural season. Though he doesn't actually care for the gumbo, he seems to know his football and my theory is he's done this FF thing before.
Jumbo G. bided his time for the first part of the draft before taking three $30 guys in Cam Newton, Jimmy Graham and Michael Turner. With these three as the foundation, Darren Sproles, Matt Ryan and other quality role players follow. Gumbo is set at QB and TE, if the RB & WR positions produce for him lookout.
Team Wright (Casey Wright)
Casey has also been in the league since 2007 and had an impressive run in 2010 where he won the regular season with an 11-2 record and a 2nd overall finish. Like a few others in the league, He's been known to own the occasional chicago player.
Team Wright looks fairly well balanced at first glance. There were plenty of bargain buys and sensible picks but perhaps just one big gun in Roddy White. Depth won't be an issue at many of the positions, however Green-Ellis and Donald Brown could be the starting tailbacks. He'll have plenty of guys worth owning, but as of draft day, its not a lineup that scares you.
Team Ott (Justin Ott)
Justin jumped in last year to help out and proceeded to grab 3rd place. This year he's back and looking to improve on bronze. Last year he was Donkey Power. Who will power the machine in 2012?
Ott started out with the 2011 phenom Drew Brees and then waited patiently for Frank Gore at $21 and four more backs and receivers all valued in teens. He got a couple good buys along the way and had just one $1 player. Reggie Bush will need to have a good year for Ott as his #2 back. Schaub was a great buy at 8 dollars.
I'm interested to hear what your guys strategies were for the auction or what buys you liked/regretted.
