Tonight I completed an auction draft for a 12-team 1/2 ppr league. It’s a money league, so the stakes are higher than some of the other more casual drafts I have already been involved in this season. This is the first auction draft league for me this fantasy football season, as all my previous drafts were snake drafts. This league included roster spots for 1 QB, 3 WR, 2 RB, 1 TE, 1 FLEX, 1 K, 1 DEF, and six bench spots.

Here is an overview of my draft picks:

Budget			$200
1.	(3)	Adrian Peterson (Min – RB)	$49
2.	(8)	Dez Bryant (Dal – WR)	$39
3.	(13)	Lamar Miller (Hou – RB)	$52
4.	(18)	Sammy Watkins (Buf – WR)	$28
5.	(115)	Ameer Abdullah (Det – RB)	$7
6.	(119)	Matthew Stafford (Det – QB)	$5
7.	(128)	Martellus Bennett (NE – TE)	$2
8.	(144)	Steven Hauschka (Sea – K)	$4
9.	(151)	Cincinnati (Cin – DEF)	$1
10.	(153)	Derek Carr (Oak – QB)	$5
11.	(168)	Dorial Green-Beckham (Phi – WR)	$1
12.	(174)	Eric Ebron (Det – TE)	$1
13.	(175)	Alfred Morris (Dal – RB)	$3
14.	(185)	Karlos Williams (Buf – RB)	$1
15.	(189)	Sam Bradford (Min – QB)	$1
16.	(191)	Kenny Stills (Mia – WR)	$1
Unused			$0

The stars

This was a bit of a strange draft and it did not go the way I wanted it to go, but it turned out fairly well so far. Because certain players were not being bid high enough, I decided to strike. I was surprised and delighted to land Adrian Peterson for $49, particularly since the top two running backs went for $68 (David Johnson) and $61 (Todd Gurley) a few rounds later.

Later on, I decided to bid on Dez Bryant and landed him at $39. Although I am not huge on Bryant this season, particularly with Tony Romo out of the picture for the first nine weeks of the season, I think Bryant retains upside and value at that price. About 20 picks later, closely ranked receivers went for $39 (Allen Robinson) and $40 (Brandon Marshall). Honestly, I would have preferred either of those receivers to Bryant, but Bryant is still a satisfactory pick.

I grabbed my third pick, Lamar Miller, for $52. I was very pleased with this, particularly after the prices of the aforementioned running backs. My fourth pick was Sammy Watkins for $28. I was not planning on taking Watkins but took advantage of the opportunity when others stopped bidding. As the #15 wide receiver, I landed him for less than the #14 receiver (Keenan Allen, $33) and #16 receiver (T.Y. Hilton, $32). If Tyrod Taylor improves upon his rookie performance in Buffalo, Watkins could climb to the top of the receiver chart.

The scrubs

Because I originally did not want to target Watkins but a more expensive receiver, I ended up paying less for him and had more money left over after four picks than I was planning. My intent was to use the rest of my budget to draft Jarvis Landry, but another team exceeded my budget. Because it took a long time for Landry to come off the board, I was left searching the draft board for leftovers. Some of these guys aren’t “scrubs” per se, but they all went for under $10.

I drafted Ameer Abdullah, knowing that he faked people out last year (myself included) who thought that his upside was promising coming out of training camp. From what I hear, Abdullah is again poised to make some noise this season, so he could end up providing nice value as my flex option.

I drafted two quarterbacks of similar status – Matthew Stafford and Derek Carr. Both are on mediocre teams that have the potential to be terrific passing offenses. This presents me with two prime opportunities in fantasy football (high scoring, aerial games). From the beginning I had planned on targeting Stafford since I saw he was very low on Yahoo QB rankings, and I later drafted Carr just for insurance. I may end up playing the match-ups early in the season.

I should also point out that I drafted Alfred Morris for $3. I have been targeting him in different leagues this year because I am not convinced by the Ezekiel Elliot hype just yet. Although he has a great situation in Dallas, I suspect that if he starts to falter as a rookie, either through failure to produce yards or fumbling or off-field shenanigans, he may be watching as Morris gets in the driver’s seat. I don’t know how much patience Jerry Jones has with his players, even if they are top draft picks.

Weakness

My biggest weakness is in my third wide receiver, followed by tight end. I was trying to target Tyler Boyd at the end of the draft, but was unable to acquire him. I ended up getting Dorial Green-Beckham as more of a placeholder than anything else, so I will be looking for a replacement rather soon. I drafted two tight ends – Martellus Bennett and Eric Ebron – but I am not overly thrilled with either pick. I will probably drop one of them as new talent emerges on waivers.

My strategy going forward

I have solid players occupying six of my roster spots which includes two of the top five running backs and two of the top fifteen wide receivers in the league. I will definitely have to address at least one of the roster spots on my team, and probably more as the season progresses.

Despite what I consider a fairly strong draft, Yahoo has projected my team to score the second-fewest points in the league. I take those post-draft projections with a grain of salt for reasons I will explain some other time, but suffice it to say that I am fairly sure that my team will not rank near the bottom in points scored.

Overall this was a pretty good draft. It would have gone so much better had I landed Landry, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. On to Week 1!