Auction Draft Review

As promised, I kicked off a mock auction draft on ESPN.com today. This was my first auction draft of any kind, but reading the directions ahead meant it was easy to play along. The biggest drawback to ESPN's new offering is that no one knows it's there yet. There were at least 10 auction drafts kicking off when I logged in and only one other live draftee. I elected to face off against 9 computer players, rather than having two live owners. Of course, when drafting with computer owners, you face the typical autopick issues. There is no reflection of the bullish, or bearish feelings real draft rooms often feel towards certain players. Those feelings often pushing a player much higher or lower than their average draft pick (ADP) suggests. So it would be instructive to repeat the process with real owners to see how things changed. But here's a brief summary of lessons learned from today's auction draft:
-You CAN get the players you really want. At least a few of them.
The draft format means that nobody can prevent you from bidding to your heart's content for elite players. Bu these players come at premium prices, and you will pay the price when trying to fill out your other key positions. Look at this way: Avoiding a top RB will give you exceptional buying power to pick up one or two high end receivers. Which brings me to my next point...
-Receivers are in short supply.
When you start pricing the typical draft list, it's amazing how expensive receivers can remain, even deep into the draft. But when you consider that receiving talent and production falls off steeper than any other position, it makes sense. But this is a key consideration when drafting. QB's, TE's, D/ST's and K's can be had dirt cheap, but RB's and WR's will cost you.
-The time factor.
The entire draft took about 1 hour, 15 minutes and that included a 5 minute break (that I didn't need and I doubt the computer owners were tired). This was surprising given that the auction draft requires a full 30 seconds for each player. But my initial concern about a ridiculously length draft was unfounded. However, once you've drafted most of your key position players, waiting through the rest of the process can be mind numbing. I tried to think of it as bargain shopping for players I might not have planned to own, and I began using the nominating process specifically for players I wanted to own.

There are plenty of other lessons I picked up, but since I don't intend on doing an auction for any of my real leagues and it's my day off, this post is officially closed.