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Hide ya bid buttons, hide ya auction dollars and hide ya co-managers...
Photo Credit: mattockadam

In the beginning stages of an auction draft I tend to nominate players who I do not want and will cost a pretty penny. Obviously the goal is to reduce the purchasing power of my opponents while filling their roster with suspect players. Sometimes I will nominate a player that I want if I'm one of the very first people to step the podium as most managers tend to hesitate in the very early bidding process. When I show up to the online auction draft I fill my queue with players with those I do not want. After the jump I'll share my predraft queue.

My reaction to being told I’ve just signed up for a snake draft.
Photo Credit: ~!

They’re about as cool as pajama jeans, as outdated as Jnco jeans, and as lame as Bugle Boy jeans. They are snake drafts, and they just won’t die.

The biggest reason everyone hasn’t converted yet to auctions, in my all-knowing and humble opinion, is fear. People are scared of the unknown and the comfort of snake drafts is too strong for some to make the switch. Since we did an auction strategy piece, we’re sort of required to present some sort of snake draft strategy post to help you. Well, let me “help” you understand why snake drafts are awful.

There’s one chief flaw with snake drafts: they’re too random. As if fantasy football wasn’t full of enough bullshit-ass strokes of luck (good and bad) in-season, you have snake drafts randomizing the shit out of things before the games even start. Even if you pre-set a draft order, one thing is for sure: draft position dictates who you end up with. If you take a fantasy owner and give him two drafts with the same group of people in two different draft positions, that owner will create two entirely different teams. Maybe a couple of sleepers will wind up being the same, but that’s about it. In auctions, everyone starts off on even ground and the situations you are in later in the auction are the direct result of the moves you make (not the order in which you select players).

Hopefully, you’ll take these pearls of wisdom and upgrade your league. If not... well, you suck.

No caption necessary. The clothes, mustaches and posters say it all
Photo Credit: Gravitywave

Every auction is unique, no two drafts are alike. That is what makes them so fun. With each manager comes differing opinions and strategy. While snake draft strategies are all the same, auction draft strategies come in all shapes and sizes (like Furbonell's choice in women). Because so many auction draft blueprints are personal expressions, Starbonell and MDS both chimed in here. Starbs will hit the larger ideas and I will highlight a few of the finer details that have helped me make my way to the top of fantasy football's Wall Street. To the jump.

Will MJD be as bad as MGD?
Photo Credit: Jeff Kern

With draft season well underway, I think it’s time your favorite physical therapist chimes in on which guys I’m leery of drafting due to injury risk, and which guys should be fine going into this season. That’s right kids, it’s the official Don’s Do Not Trust List ®: Fantasy Football Draft Edition. I’ve got a number of players to discuss, some of whom I will endorse and some of whom will get a spot on the dreaded list. God has granted me a wonderful combination of medical expertise and fantasy prowess, and if baseball season was any indication you should pay close attention to my words here. There are far too many injuries and players to address everyone, so I’m sticking with players found in the majority of leagues. If there’s a player in particular I didn’t address and you’d like some advice on, or if you just want to thank me profusely for being your fantasy draft guardian angel, please feel free to drop me a line in the comments section or send me an email, I’ll help a brother (or sister) out.

This edition will focus on Running Backs. WR and TE editions will follow in the coming weeks (QB can be found here, WR here, TE here). I’ll preface this piece by saying that ALL RBs are at great risk for injury. These guys take a beating all game long and perform lots of explosive running, cutting and jumping. So while I endorse a couple guys here, don’t blame me when your workhorse runner shreds his ankle after getting horse-collared. It happens. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Let’s get after it.

This is either balance gone wrong or the guy on the left is a star
Photo Credit: theogeo

Auction drafting allows managers freedom to draft teams however they wish. Every player in the pool is available to every manager in the league. Auction drafts are more fun, challenging and fair for all. They're slightly addictive. If you're a snake drafter looking to compete in his or her first auction draft I must warn you: you'll be chasing the high from your first draft for the rest of your fantasy life.

With the ability to choose who you want when you want, two strategies often emerge. You can go Stars and Scrubs by spending the majority of your budget on top-tier talent only to fill out the rest of your roster with cheap commodities. Or you can draft for balance, filling your entire starting roster with mid-tier talent. Both plans of action work, but each strategy works better within specific environments. After the jump we'll figure out when it's best to use each tactic.

You'll want to avoid one of these guys on draft day (hint: it's the guy on the right)
Photo Credit: Peter Martorano

With draft season underway, it’s time for your favorite physical therapist to chime in on which players we should be leery of drafting due to risk of injury. That’s right kids, it’s the official Don’s Do Not Trust List ®: Fantasy Football Draft Edition. I’ve got a number of players to discuss, some of whom I will endorse and some of whom will be placed on this dreaded list. God has granted me a wonderful combination of medical expertise and fantasy prowess, and if baseball season was any indication you should pay close attention to my words here. There are too many injuries and players for me to address everyone, so I’m sticking with players found in the majority of leagues. If there’s a player in particular I don’t address and you’d like some advice, or if you just want to thank me profusely for being your fantasy draft guardian angel, please feel free to drop me a line in the comments section or send me an email, I’ll help a brother (or sister) out.

This edition will focus on Quarterbacks (RB can be found here, WR here, TE here). I’ll preface this piece by saying that ALL quarterbacks are at great risk for injury, it almost goes without saying, so while I endorse a number of guys here don’t blame me when a 320lb. D-lineman squashes your QB and he misses some time. It happens. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. With that, let’s get it on!

The Jon Gruden quote is money

It's time once again for some very early positional rankings. This time we're lining up a bunch of players who were bitten by the injury bug last season. Four of our top six players were hurt at some point in 2010. The year of the Tight End turned into the year of Jacob Tamme. As you can see in the embedded video above, I love me some Jimmy Graham. You can label this white boy a Graham Cracker. He is officially this year's Jermichael Finley. Next season's Jimmy Graham could be Jared Cook, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Rankings and reasoning after the jump. You know what to do.

It's still far too early to be drafting teams, but the time seems as good as any to start arguing with my fellow armchair Quarterbacks about rankings. When the Brett Favre comeback rumors start up, you know it's time. In the past I've held closed door meetings to discuss my internal rankings, but I thought it would be nice to welcome the public to the ongoing debates between myself, Virgil and Irwin R. Schyster. This list will be subject to much change. I slapped this together in the span of one night's time with minimal effort. Free agency and further preparation will take their toll here, and possibly your input. Feel free to share your thoughts. Please use your outdoor voice, it'll be hard for you to get my attention while I'm soaking up every bit of Brett Favre juiciness the media creates out of thin air.

1. Drew Brees NO 33 or more TD in each of the past three years, 4,300+ yards in each of his five years with New Orleans, missed only two games in the past seven years. Drew Brees is automatic. Too reliable to pass up as the top QB, even though Miami passed on him in favor of Dante Culpepper (remember that? lol).
2. Peyton Manning IND Peyton is Mr. Reliable, he hasn't missed a game yet (208 straight). If the Saints pass less often with the Mark Ingram-Pierre Thomas tandem and the Colts young receivers (Collie and Garcon) step up their game, you could slot Peyton atop your ranks.
3. Aaron Rodgers GB If he stays healthy he could prove to be the best fantasy QB in the game, especially with a full season of Jermichael Finley. However, Rodgers gets hit often and he sustained multiple concussions last season. The number one sign of too many concussions: strapping on the imaginary heavyweight championship belt. Uh oh.
4. Michael Vick PHI Vick is another injury risk. He's getting older and he subjects himself to punishment with his ability to scramble. Plus I'm not willing to pay the full price for all those long TD passes. His 12 completions of 40+ yards were second to only Philip Rivers (14). You can get burnt paying for those big plays.
5. Tom Brady NE I like the passing offense, strong o-line and the blend of old and emerging talent (Welker, Branch with Gronkowski, Hernandez, Tate). Brady was just fine without Randy Moss, he threw 26 TD against 0 INT during the team's last 11 games. I may end up ranking Brady ahead of Rodgers and Vick.
6. Philip Rivers SD Rivers is reason No. 5 to not be the first person to select a QB in a snake draft. He threw for 4,700 yards and 30 TD while Vincent Jackson (and Marcus McNeil) held out, Antonio Gates missed six games and Malcom Floyd nursed himself. Rivers has averaged over 30 TD during the past three years, he's great.

More after the jump

You see the tiny gem, the undersized one that gets little attention... that's Danny
Photo Credit: Roman Köhler

One of the many joys of being a fantasy sports prognosticator is unearthing the “hidden gems” for the upcoming season. There’s nothing more riveting than drafting the breakout players and undervalued commodities while getting jealous draft chat comments from your league mates. As such, each week, in preparation for the upcoming NFL season, we’ll be talking about players who fit the aforementioned criteria. For our first edition, we head to St. Louis where a Wes Welker clone is at work. Of course, I’m talking about Danny Amendola. Find out why he’s due for a monstrous 2011 campaign after the jump.