the    sides

Like I said earlier, I dropped one league this year to do two others. This one was painful.

It’s a salary cap/auction draft. Players are put on the blocks and you can bid to have them or not. You only have $120 cap for the draft ($200 total cap room) and 14 roster spots. Choose wisely.

What I Wish I Understood Before The Draft:

1. You have $120 BUT it’s prorated.
You have to be able to put at least $1 for every roster spot you have and you have to draft every spot. There’s no - “I’ll spend my $120 on the best 6 players I can get, then pass on the draft and hit free agency when I get more cap room.” I KNEW this…but didn’t understand how that practically plays out.

It practically plays out this way - you have a maximum bid you can make every pick according to how many roster spots you have left minus the money you have left. So you may have $45 dollars left but you can only use $9 of it one round because you HAVE to pick all 14 of your spots.

2. Be Careful Who You Put On The Block…Because You Just May Get Him.
The thinking went like this - I’m going to wait until the later round to pick my sleeper picks because right now, I don’t have the money to outbid certain owners for them. So I’ll put up a decent player, get the bid going then bail out. Stick another team with a player I didn’t want at a price I’d never pay.

It almost worked. First round backs were going for on average $23 to $27. I had my backs, didn’t really need another one but I didn’t want to get in a bidding war over a WR just yet. So, I through on the board Marion Barber. He’s a top 10 pick in most mock drafts. Bidding is cruising along, there is a Cowbay fan in the room…I bid $20 just knowing that the Cowboy fan - who has a boatload of money - would bid $21 and I’d quit. He didn’t bid $21. I got Barber. My third running back, no WR’s and I’ve spent the money I wanted to spend on a WR on a RB.

Dumb Rookie Mistake #1.

3. Be Careful About Taking Bargains…Because You May Just Get Him.
Selvin Young is sitting there at $11. That’s cheap for a starting running back…but I need a WR…yeah, but $11 for a back that could go nuts and be a keeper??? But I need a WR….he’s been freakin’ awesome in camp….But I need a WR.

I got Selvin Young for $11.

Dumb Rookie Mistake, #2

Next round I still need a WR. Actually, I need 2. Keep this in mind. Here is Marvin Harrison at $9. Cheap. Right? Yes, a great bargain…if you already have a starting WR’s and you only need 1 more. I need 2. Instead of waiting for my sleepers and getting two or three at better prices…I jump on the bargain.

Dumb Rookie Mistake #3.

4. If you can’t bid with the big dogs, let your sleepers stay on the porch.
I’ve always been good at taking some risks with some sleeper picks in the middle rounds. Rookies that nobody is quite sure what to do with and the like. I got Derek Anderson and Marshawn Lynch like this last year.

But…if you’ve drafted 3 straight running backs and only have 1 WR…everybody in the room knows what you need. They also know you can’t pay for them because of rule number one and your maximum bid is like $2. So no matter what name you put on the block - just know you’re never going to get them. Of course I knew this, so you start putting names up there that you normally wouldn’t pick (see rule #2).

This is how Jeremy Shockey got on my team for $2.

Dumb Rookie Mistake, #4 and #5

5. In a Keeper League, make at least one pick that is ridiculous risky.
I actually did this. I picked up Eddie Royal, rookie WR here in Denver in a late round for $1. That night, he started as the number 2 WR across from Brandon Marshall. He had 3 catches, look sharp and in the press conference after the game, Marshall said he’s going to be a great #2 WR for the team.

Who know? Royal was seen as a project and kick returner. Potentially a 4th WR. If he pans out like he did against the Cowboys…I got the steal of the draft. If he doesn’t - I only blew a $1.

I’m not too proud of it but here’s what my team looks like:

Peyton Manning, QB

Marshawn Lynch, RB
Marion Barber, RB
Selvin Young, RB
Pierre Thomas, RB

Michael Clayton, WR
D J Hackett, WR
Marvin Harrison, WR
Derek Mason, WR
Kevin Walter, WR
Eddie Royal, WR

Jeremy Shockey, TE

Matt Stover, K

Tennesse Titans, DST