A fantasy football auction draft is a great change of pace for fantasy managers looking for a more challenging type of fantasy football league. It's not just the additional challenge that drives fantasy managers here. It's also that this type of league removes draft slots from the equation and lets managers bid on any player they choose from their fantasy football cheat sheet.
In this review you'll learn how a fantasy football auction draft works, how to manage your budget, and which beginner strategies will help you build a winning roster in 2025. We'll tell you how to properly navigate fantasy football auction values and dive into common auction draft mistakes to avoid.
What Is a Fantasy Football Auction Draft?
A fantasy football auction draft gives each fantasy manager the opportunity to bid on players. Every round offers that manager the ability to nominate a player who everyone can bid on. The team with the highest bid gets that player on their roster. This makes it imperative to have a strong fantasy football auction strategy, which you can develop with the help of the RotoWire fantasy football draft kit.
How to do an Auction Draft in Fantasy Football
When a player hits the auction block, it's up to you to decide if and how much to bid on that player. You will typically have $200 in virtual auction funds. Because the range of auction values can change dramatically based on your league settings, it is very helpful to have a set of custom fantasy football rankings for this type of auction league.
Fantasy Football Auction Strategy: Budgeting 101
One of the best beginner auction draft tips is to never overbid for a player. Auction leagues can tend to drive fantasy managers into a bidding frenzy. It's best to remember that you only have $200 (or whatever your league's auction dollar cap amount is) and that these funds need to be used to build your entire roster. It's OK to splurge on occasion, but you need to make these funds last. You can get plenty of assistance in managing those auction bids with RotoWire, the best draft assistant fantasy football tool that managers can find.
Beginner Strategies for Fantasy Football Auction Drafts
The best beginner strategies for fantasy football auction drafts starts with compiling a list of players you want to acquire. You then want to create a maximum bid you will consider making on each player. It is imperative to stick to this bid ceiling as often as possible. You can practice these bid strategies with the RotoWire Mock Draft Simulator that allows you unlimited practice drafts.
Studs and Scrubs vs Balanced Roster: Which Auction Approach Is Best?
Fantasy managers usually go with one of two approaches. The first is studs and scrubs. In this approach, managers go all out to land star players. They then fill out the rest of their roster with low-cost options. This type of team often has trouble dealing with negative fantasy football news such as injuries.
The flip side of that is to go with a balanced roster. This aims to get as many quality players in the fantasy football rankings as possible. This takes more discipline, but it also usually results in a team that is better suited to navigate bye weeks and injuries.
Common NFL Fantasy Auction Draft Mistakes to Avoid
The most common auction draft mistake is overbidding for a player. Another frequent error is nominating a player you have no interest in drafting. This works well if someone else will bid on that player (which is the idea behind this strategy), but if no one else does, you just wasted draft dollars and a roster spot.
Final Tips to Crush Your First Fantasy Auction Draft
First-time fantasy auction managers often say that once they did an auction draft, they never wanted to go back to the snake draft format. You can make that first auction draft even more successful by subscribing to RotoWire. This subscription will give you access to all of the tools noted earlier and then some, so be sure to subscribe today!
