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There is a fundamental, undeniable, obvious reason why auction drafts are superior to snake drafts for your fantasy league. Just follow our logic for a moment and you’ll see why this is an ironclad statement.
In the 1996 movie “Swingers,” Vince Vaughn taught us that “money” means cool, or whatever your generation’s hip term for cool is — fab, funky, fresh, groovy, phat, gnarly, the cat’s meow, it slaps, the rizz.
And we know, because of the general American expression, that “time is money.”
Also, everyone who plays fantasy knows, one of the biggest differences in an action draft is the time it takes to do one.
So if an auction draft represents time in the fantasy sports world, and time is money, that makes an auction draft “money.” Using “Swingers” parlance, that means auctions must be the bee’s knees.
See? Infallible logic — even if it is borrowed from math comedian Don McMillan.
Beyond the lack of brevity attached to an auction draft, there are several actual reasons why it is the better format.
First, you are not a prisoner of your draft position.
If you’re picking, say, No. 5 in a snake draft, there is virtually no chance you are getting Christian McCaffrey, no matter how much you might want him.
In an auction, you have the ability to get anyone, as long as you’re willing to pay.
Second, there is more strategy.
You have the additional task of managing you salary cap while building your roster. This makes finding an auction bargain more rewarding than just having a player slip to you in a snake.
Additionally, you want to bait others into spending their money. So when it is your turn to nominate a player for bidding, especially in the early rounds, it is smart to put up players you think are overvalued. That way one of your competitors spends a chunk of their salary allotment, making it harder for them to bid against you on a player you do want later.
It also makes acquiring what we call the “low-impact positions” a bit more entertaining — or as entertaining as selecting a defense/special teams or kicker can be.
If, for example, you did a great job at nabbing value picks, you might have some coin left near the end and be able to throw money at your favorite DST or kicker.
Finally, if your league uses a keeper format with carryover values, an auction value is much easier to pass from season to season (vs., say, a pick in round X of a snake draft), and better in terms of accelerating cost as well (like, increase in keeper value by 20 percent each season).
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Plus, once you hear “Sold” and land a player you bid on, that provides more satisfaction than any snake draft pick can deliver.
If you and your leaguemates can find the time, convert you league to auction. You’ll have more fun. And if you haven’t tried an auction yet, hop to it. You’ll love it. It’s so “money” you don’t even know.