This season I have cut down to one fantasy football league. In the past I have taken part in a league run by a member of a rock band listserve in which I participate. I have run an incarnation of the PFL (Pipestonian Football League). And I have also sucked it up in a work league. All of the above are head-to-head leagues.
Those are gone and one remains. A rotisserie auction league that has been around, I believe 15+ years at my workplace. There are nine teams and openings are rare, typically every 4-5 years a spot opens up. I thought hard about dropping this last league, but realized that if I missed it there’d be no opportunity to get back into the league later. I figured I’d stick it out one more year.
So far so good. Draft preparation has been reasonably light and seemingly successful since I don’t have to worry about all those silly head-to-head leagues. If you ever do get into a rotisserie, I guarantee you will understand why I now think head-to-head is for the dogs. The randomness comes down to a much more manageable level. This is the type of fantasy football league that a baseball fan can get behind.
A simple overview. All players on your team count toward the stat categories. There are nine categories: completion percentage, passing yards, rushing average, rushing yards, receiving average, receiving yards, field goal percentage, modified kicker points (similar to average field goal distance), and points. A roster consists of three quarterbacks, five running backs, six wide receivers, three tight ends and three kickers.
During the auction each owner has a $20 salary cap. Owners will have up to eight keepers and rights players. A player can only be kept for the season after the original draft. A rights player is entering his third season after being drafted. “Rights” mean that after bidding is completed on the player, the owner with rights can add ten cents to the bid and retain the player. It’s kind of like restricted free agency. The player’s clock starts over and the owner can theoretically keep him for two more seasons.
For some reference, a super-stud quarterback or running back will probably go for $5, give or take. Studs go for $4. Solid players are anywhere from $2.50 to $3.50. A receiver or two may go for $2+. The better ones are in the $1.50 range. A ton of receivers are under $1. A couple tight ends could go over $1, but most are rather cheap. The top five or six kickers always range from $.80 to $1.10. I always undervalue kickers and get burned by it.
Here is where I’m at entering the draft:
HTML parse error: <pre> QB QB QB RB Steven Jackson $0.40 RB Tatum Bell $0.40 RB Mewelde Moore $0.20 RB RB WR Nate Burleson $0.10 WR Eddie Kennison $0.20 WR WR WR WR TE Jason Witten $0.40 TE Eric Johnson $0.10 TE K K K Rts Lee Suggs (RB) </code>
Not bad, methinks. My baseline is that of a great upside team. I firmly believe Bell and Moore will work themselves into starting roles. I do worry about Moore’s durability, however. I am in position for a great draft. I suspect I will be spending some dough on a sure thing quarterback and running back. I’m also hoping to put some money into the kicker position for the first time. Wide receiver will be a place where I will probably under-spend. It burned me last year, but receivers are always unpredictable beyond the top few slots.
You may be thinking that those players don’t seem to great. Keep in mind that 27 quarterbacks, tight ends, and kickers count toward your placement. 45 running backs count. And a mind-numbing 54 wide receivers count. A backup running back that has a reasonable chance at starting during the season is worth more than you might think.
The last couple years I have brought a laptop to the draft. I tended to over notate, keeping track of all teams’ picks and then also attempting to cross players off paper lists. I would budget a pool of money for each position and find myself just getting lost along the way. I have decided to go back to paper for this draft. I will place the selected player on the appropriate team, calculate the team’s free money toward the cap, and cross the player off my list. It seems simpler. No typing. I have also budgeted money for each open position on my roster. I should probably list multiple budget scenarios in case a certain position becomes overvalued or if target players disappear too quickly.
Wish me luck. I’ll give an update tomorrow or Thursday with the draft results.