Tips and Tricks For A First-Time Auction Fantasy Football Player

Auction fantasy football leagues are objectively awesome.

Why? Well, I'm happy you asked. My two favorite things about auction leagues:

1. You can go get your guys. Any guy. Draft slots inherently restrict the potential for you to get players because of ADP, but in auction? Money talks, and accordingly, all you have to do to snag any given player is pay more than anyone else!
2. The drafts are electric. Getting sniped in a normal fantasy draft sucks, but that's nothing compared to losing your target after minutes of dollar-by-dollar battle with another manager. Bonus: Watching someone attempt to drive up the price only to get stuck with a player they didn't really want. That shit is priceless.

Look, to each their own: I'm not saying you need to replace your longtime redraft league or guillotine squad with an auction format, but hey, it's 2025! Why not join another fantasy league?! Why the hell not, man!

Without further ado: Eight tips and tricks from Fantasy Life's Ian Hartitz and Adam Ronis for anyone looking to get into their first-ever auction league this season.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Tips and Tricks For A First-Time Auction Fantasy Football Player

Don't Be A Hero

I'm not trying to go back on my aforementioned favorite part of auction drafts here. If you simply can't imagine life without Ja'Marr Chase on your fantasy team, go get the man.

That said, sticking to reasonable hard outs at a certain price point is advised. It's like going shopping and telling yourself to only spend a maximum of $50—okay fine, fork up the extra $10 if you simply must have that hilarious penis necklace from Spencer's—but be very careful about letting some bad-faith opponent drag an extra $20 out of you when there's still plenty of other roster spots to worry about.

Enter: Fantasy Life's recommended auction prices, which you can use as pricing guidelines for any given draft pick. Or make your own if you have the time, but this seems easier, and I can confidently say the dollar amounts at hand were consistent with what wound up going on in my auction drafts last year (and I was in some sharp rooms!).

Two examples of how to best use Fantasy Life's fully customizable fantasy auction values:

• You're in a standard league (weird but no judgment). You know RB is more important than in PPR formats, and accordingly have rookie RB Ashton Jeanty penciled in as your top target thanks to his "generational talent" and likely workhorse role. You see that the Fantasy Life consensus value is $38, but you are most aligned with Dwain, who has him at $46. Ultimately, after plenty of back-and-forth, you get your guy at a cool $45 after setting a hard rule that you wouldn't spend a penny more than $50.
• Your superflex auction league has accordingly priced up many of the top QBs. You personally believe Bo Nix is poised to go crazy in year two, and accordingly are willing to match Waz's $30 auction value if necessary. However, the bidding gets hot and heavy, and quickly reaches $30. You, a scholar, realize the relatively flat nature of the position tier (13 QBs have an auction value between $16-$26), and decide to bow out of the bidding—something you instantly appreciate after watching Nix wind up going for $40.

Look, any set of fantasy ranks won't be correct 100% of the time. Except mine this year. Just kidding. Maybe. We'll see. Either way, having pre-planned max price points greatly assists in avoiding getting caught up in the heat of the moment and bidding far too much on any one specific player. Cool? Cool.

–Ian Hartitz

Fill Out Your Bench With Cheap Handcuff RBs

This is actually a fairly universal tip regardless of the fantasy format, but it's the especially cheap ones in auction formats that really make the strategy alluring.

Consider some of these RB2s who boast auction values of no more than $10:

• Titans RB Tyjae Spears ($10): Spears' explosive pass-catching skill set is exactly what we want in fantasy land—especially when there's potential for it to be deployed in an every-down role. There's potential for standalone FLEX value here with a best-case scenario of Spears perhaps working as this year's version of Chase Brown should Tony Pollard ever be forced out of action.
• Cardinals RB Trey Benson ($9): The clear-cut RB2 behind James Conner doesn't figure to offer much weekly upside, but goodness gracious: This could be a situation where Conner missing time would simply result in crossing his name off the ranks and inserting Benson: This is a special athlete with theoretical three-down ability and enough size (6'0", 216 pounds) to handle a workhorse role if given the opportunity.
• Bills RB Ray Davis ($9): Essentially the Bills' version of Benson: Ty Johnson might see more snaps when James Cook is healthy, but as we saw in Davis' 23-touch, 152-yard performance against the Jets last season with Cook out: This is a good football player!
• Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier ($8): Deserves credit for largely making the most out of his opportunities during his short time in the league. At the risk of jinxing the man, Allgeier has 586 combined carries and targets in his three-year career, with *zero* fumbles or drops. This is also a good football player!
• 49ers RB Isaac Guerendo ($8): Posted PPR RB10, RB2, RB25, and RB11 finishes in his only four games with a snap rate of at least 50% last season. While Guerendo didn't exactly resemble the second coming of Chris Johnson during his time as the team's lead RB, he did flash some serious big-play ability despite dealing with foot and hamstring injuries down the stretch–historically, the next-man-up after Christian McCaffrey has been a solid asset in fantasy land.
• Dolphins RB Jaylen Wright ($8): Landed on my list of underrated veteran winners after the draft thanks to the reality that the only meaningful competition added to this backfield this offseason was Alexander Mattison and sixth-rounder Ollie Gordon. Wright's path to a huge season is certainly dependent on De'Von Achane missing time, but remember: This offense is only one season removed from producing *two* top-five RBs in fantasy land.

Now, most of these guys aren't going to offer you much in the way of a weekly floor when their respective team's starter is healthy, although I'd argue Spears and Wright in particular still have decent paths to standalone value. Either way: the sky-high handcuff upside makes them far more appealing bench stashes when compared to similarly-priced WR5/6 types like Marvin Mims, Rashod Bateman, and Romeo Doubs, who are certainly capable of having a good week here and there, but you will have a MUCH tougher time ever pinpointing when to start them compared to the potential RB1s.

–Ian Hartitz

Recognize The Opportunity Cost Of Spending Big At QB and TE

You don't necessarily need to avoid spending big on any particular player; landing top-tier assets at any position will cost you a pretty penny. This obviously makes devoting 25% of your budget to each of your QB, RB, WR, and TE rooms tricky and honestly ill-advised, considering the reality that most leagues only need one starter at the former and latter positions.

Accordingly, it's realizing this opportunity cost and refraining from going too overboard when looking at the onesie spots. Paying up for the Josh Allens and Brock Bowers of the world is fine—you do you!—still, when devoting such a large percentage of your bankroll to one of these positions, it's important to realize that there's no need to devote any sort of extra significant resources to those positions. Hell, I'm usually plenty content to enter the season with just one QB and TE if they're of the right caliber.

This mindset reminds me of former Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore explaining why Peyton Manning's backups didn't get more practice reps: "Fellas, if 18 goes down we're fucked, and we don't practice f*cked." There are only so many dollars to go around in auction land; don't feel the need to add mediocre backups at positions that will have plenty of fine-enough options available on the waiver wire if you unfortunately have to go down that road eventually.

–Ian Hartitz

Be Prepared

Sounds simple, but jumping into an auction for the first time is a daunting task. The only way to get better at auctions is to do more. Creating a budget for each position and prices for every player will be beneficial. It doesn’t mean you have to stick to what the sheet says because being fluid is important. Narrowing the player pool to your targets can make it easier. Assign a price for each slot on the roster and put a few names that fit the price range.

–Adam Ronis

Pay Attention To Every Pick

In a snake draft, especially picking at the ends, some people make picks and drift off. In an auction, it’s important to focus on every player thrown out. It helps gauge the value of players in a similar tier. This is especially important near the end of the auction. Be cognizant of the max bids left for teams.

–Adam Ronis 

If You Bid On A Player, Make Sure You Actually Want Them

Some people like to price enforce to ensure someone doesn’t get a great bargain. It makes sense, but if you bid on a player, always assume the bidding will stop there and the player is yours. If that isn’t what you want, don’t make the bid.

–Adam Ronis 

Nominate With A Plan

Many people like to throw out players they don’t want to get money off the table. Others nominate players they want. Try not to be predictable so league mates don’t pick up on it. If you just acquired Bijan Robinson, it makes sense to throw out an elite running back since the likelihood is you won’t get another one. If the plan doesn’t involve an elite tight end, throw one out to get money off the table.

–Adam Ronis 

Have Fun!

Yes, your team's success will largely influence your overall happiness and emotional well-being for the next six months, but hey, it's just fantasy football after all! Just a game! Have fun!

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