Fantasy football auction leagues require a much different set of draft strategies than those found in a snake draft. Fantasy managers need to master budget planning through a keen understanding of fantasy football auction values, master the concept of player value targeting and determine how to balance out roster selections to provide ample depth.
One of the best ways to master these strategies is via our fantasy football draft kit. This kit provides fantasy managers with a full array of useful tools, including customized fantasy football auction draft values.
To help fantasy managers utilize these tools that serve as the best fantasy football draft assistant has to offer, here are some auction values guidelines you can use during your fantasy drafts.
What Are Auction Values in Fantasy Football?
Let's start with the basics. Auction drafts are leagues where fantasy managers get a set amount of virtual auction dollars (usually $100 to $300) to bid on players. Fantasy managers take turns nominating a player for bidding and the manager who makes the highest bid lands that player on their roster.
The auction bidding process can cause a wide variance in player values, so auction fantasy football rankings will provide fantasy managers with a guideline bid price to help navigate this process.
These rankings can vary depending on the size of the league, the starter composition in that league and the league's scoring type. This is why savvy fantasy auction managers aim to utilize custom fantasy football rankings such as the ones found at RotoWire.
The Role of Auction Values in Draft Preparation
Fantasy managers in auction leagues prepare for these drafts differently than those in snake leagues. The key in this preparation is identifying players on your fantasy football cheat sheet that you want on a roster and then determining the top dollar value that you will bid on those players.
It's also a very good idea to determine which players you don't want and knowing their likely fantasy auction values as well. Doing this can allow you to drive the auction price as high as possible for players you don't want. A great way to practice this is by using the RotoWire 2025 NFL Mock Draft auction draft mode.
How to Use Auction Values to Build a Balanced Roster
The reason fantasy managers place ceilings for bids on top players is that you need to have a reasonable number of auction dollars left in the later rounds to build out a balanced roster.
The best way to maximize auction values in the later rounds is to have a wider range of potential candidates you want to select. There are plenty of quality prospects available late and having a large list will allow you to get those players at a low auction price.
How to Calculate Fantasy Football Auction Values
Having the ability to adjust auction values based on your league settings is one of the most valuable benefits of subscribing to RotoWire. All you need to do to use this tool is login to your RotoWire account and navigate to the Auction Values page.
Once there, just type in your league settings such as auction budget, number of teams/starters and adjust for any special scoring types. Once you do that, just hit the save settings button. That will generate a league specific set of auction values that you can use to win your draft.
Common Mistakes with Auction Draft Values
- Not having a plan. This is a bad idea for any league but is especially damaging in auction leagues.
- Don't get into bidding wars. Stick with your planned pricing strategy even when there is a bidding frenzy.
- Not pushing other managers to get into bidding wars. Many fantasy managers don't follow the latest NFL news, and you can make them pay for this error by getting them to overbid on players.
- Saving too many budget dollars. The dollars don't carry over into the season, so don't play it too safe.
- Sleepwalking through the final rounds. Those are the rounds to build quality roster depth, so save a solid auction budget for that part of the draft.
Final Thoughts: Gaining an Edge with Auction Value Mastery
The best way to win auction leagues is to go into a draft with customized information that you have practiced with via multiple mock drafts. If you combine that with a willingness to adapt as the draft winds shift and stay true to your pre-draft valuation strategy, you should come away with a team that can win your league. You can get that caliber of preparation and more with a RotoWire subscription, so be sure to sign up today!
