I completed a Fanex Auction yesterday. A few weeks back, I completed a Fanex Draft (league uses similar rules). Now I can compare the two, seeing which form of allocation works best. And looking them over, my opinion is that I tend to do better in the auction, where I have more control over who I’m going to get.
First I’ll lay out the two teams. First the Fanex Analysis Draft team. I’m listing the 20 players I selected, and I’m also showing the auction values (what I thought they would have been worth had they been in the auction league).
| IAN'S FANEX DRAFT TEAM | ||
|---|---|---|
| Value | Pos | Player |
| $14 | QB | Philip Rivers |
| $3 | QB | Marcus Mariota |
| $49 | RB | Todd Gurley |
| $41 | RB | Mark Ingram |
| $10 | RB | • Ryan Mathews |
| $1 | RB | Wendell Smallwood |
| $1 | RB | Tim Hightower |
| $0 | RB | Tre Mason |
| $7 | TE | • Dwayne Allen |
| $6 | TE | Will Tye |
| $35 | WR | Brandin Cooks |
| $35 | WR | • Donte Moncrief |
| $20 | WR | • Kevin White |
| $10 | WR | DeVante Parker |
| $3 | WR | Corey Coleman |
| $2 | WR | Phillip Dorsett |
| $2 | PK | • Chandler Catanzaro |
| $1 | PK | Dan Bailey |
| $6 | D | Minnesota |
| $1 | D | Oakland |
Next I’m showing the team in the Fanex Auction league. If a player is on both rosters, I’ve got a black dot next to his name.
| IAN'S FANEX AUCTION TEAM | ||
|---|---|---|
| Value | Pos | Player |
| $10 | QB | Carson Palmer |
| $3 | QB | Matthew Stafford |
| $1 | QB | Blaine Gabbert |
| $30 | RB | LeVeon Bell |
| $24 | RB | Carlos Hyde |
| $20 | RB | Matt Jones |
| $10 | RB | • Ryan Mathews |
| $4 | RB | Tevin Coleman |
| $1 | RB | Terrance West |
| $7 | TE | • Dwayne Allen |
| $1 | TE | Richard Rodgers |
| $35 | WR | • Donte Moncrief |
| $33 | WR | Sammy Watkins |
| $30 | WR | Jeremy Maclin |
| $20 | WR | • Kevin White |
| $16 | WR | Willie Snead |
| $14 | WR | Tavon Austin |
| $7 | WR | Josh Gordon |
| $2 | PK | • Chandler Catanzaro |
| $1 | D | NY Jets |
Both of these leagues use PPR scoring, and both start 3 WRs and a flex (WR-RB-TE). So it’s good to have a strong receiving corps.
There are a couple of slight rules differences. In the FAD, it’s a best-ball league, and there no waiver moves allowed – you’re stuck with whoever you draft. That’s why in the FAD, it was logical to draft two kickers and two defenses. And in the FAD, when my three running backs were Todd Gurley, Mark Ingram and Ryan Mathews, I followed those guys up by trying to draft their backups in the later rounds (including Tre Mason, who now looks unlikely to even be in the league this season).
Anyway, you can see that the Auction team is stronger. There’s more depth at WR and RB. Adding up the values, the Auction team is “worth” $265 -- $36 more than the draft team. And that’s after making the big blunder with LeVeon Bell. (I thought Bell was worth about $59, and I bid $48 on him, just before news broke that he’d likely be hit with a four-game suspension). If Bell were healthy, that would add another $25-$30 of value to that roster.
There’s another Fanex draft starting today. I’ve drawn one of the lesser draft slots (11th), so I’m guessing that team will grade out down in the $240 range. For me, auction is the best way for me to get the players I want.
—Ian Allan