Alrighty then! Looks like a great strategy!
Yahoo should let you pre-value (like pre-ranking) where you set your max bid for any players you care to value, and then it will bid up to that value. That way if you have a few specific players you want to target or avoid you can change their values. I think the default yahoo values are designed around a 12 man league though so if we run at 14 your values across the board may be too high, you may want to lower them for top / high value players you don’t want.
Yes, I’ve been looking at that, and thanks for the info.
We’re drafting in 2 days and the league still says 14/18. I’m not sure if anyone has a pending invite out, but you’ll probably want to set it to 14 teams max and lock the teams in the commish settings, I think that may be required to conduct the draft.
Draft is in a little less than 24 hours guys, don’t forget.
@Munch I’m not 100% sure that you need to finalize teams to draft, but it still says 14/18, and if finalizing the teams is a requirement, the draft will just be cancelled.
Looks good from this end.
If anyone wants to chat during the draft, either voice or text, you can join a discord server I created for this purpose. I think we had 6 or 8 of us on voice chat last year and it’s usually pretty fun and makes the draft more interesting.
If you want to get familiar with yahoo’s interface or make sure your device is going to work for the draft, yahoo runs mock drafts all day, just click “mock salary draft” where the league is currently listed on your fantasy football page.
Just a reminder, draft starts in about an hour
Who up?
Well, damn. I was excited to try my first auction draft and had a work emergency and ended up missing the whole thing.
That was fun! It has been years since I did an auction, so I got to brush off my auction tracking spreadsheet. It definitely helped keep me on track (I ended up only having $1 unspent at the end) and helped me recognize some values I wouldn’t have caught. However, that did mean it threw a wrench into my carefully selected group of targets I wanted to snag.
(Side note: I haven’t done a guillotine league before, but I assumed unspent auction dollars got added to your FAAB budget. That seems like a fun gamble to maybe go cheaper in the draft to get a little extra FAAB power.)
I got the two RBs I wanted (Omarion Hampton and Achane), so I think I’m okay there. Drake London was not someone I had on my list to draft, but when he came in under market value, I jumped. He’s a good player, but I kinda regret it. I really played the entire WR room by ear after that, which led me to grabbing a few players I wasn’t targeting, and that has led to some bye week stacking issues. Hoping to be able to diversify before that becomes a problem.
I waited on QB and TE, and I’m not a fan of how they turned out. I think I have a pretty good roster overall, though. I have the 2nd highest projection for week 1, and I’ll be around the top half of projected scores for the first several weeks. Not that that matters, of course. Just don’t want to go out first.
I appreciate the invite, and I hope everyone has a fun season!
This is something we did manually in the auction leagues, I don’t think yahoo has any league that works like this by default. It’s probably not a good strategy ever to save in this case, because the default FAAB budget (for extra granularity) in guillotine leagues is $1000.
I noticed that it lists me as being in a matchup with another player. Did it do that last year? That’s meaningless, though - the bottom scoring player gets dropped and H2H is doesn’t matter at all. I wonder if yahoo put that in there just because people got confused and angry when they didn’t have a H2H matchup each week.
Wait, no, that was a brain fart. It shows you it’s being in a head-to-head match with whoever has the lowest projected score. Which actually makes perfect sense it’s essentially saying you only have to beat this player to continue.
OK, this forgetful old man needs an explanation on waivers, particularly right now.
AIUI, waivers process tomorrow (9/4). At what time?
Before that time, anybody can bid on a player, and when waivers are processed, the highest bidder wins that player. Correct so far?
After waivers are processed, are all players free agents that can be added at no cost?
Once the season starts, when is the waiver process time?
Thanks!
Last season @Hamlet did a post-draft analysis of everybody’s team. I’m too lazy to look back and see how he predictions turned out, although I was pleased that I made it through seven weeks last year, rather than the 2-3 weeks that he predicted for my team!
If you (or anybody else) want to do that analysis this year, I’d certainly be interested in again reading your learned opinions.
Things I learned from last year’s Guillotine Draft:
Draft Floor, not ceiling. The ceiling can be found on waivers. Draft for early in the year. Waivers, once again, can help make up your deficits. Finally, it’s a fucking crapshoot. One bad injury week, one bad game by a couple players and it’s all over. I’m not sure I enjoy the process, it seems to be much more of luck based rather than skill based, but, then again, so is life sometimes.
But I do love me some auction leagues. It is, by far, my favorite way to draft. And not having keepers makes it even more possible to build the exact team you want. Not that I did that this year. I’m kinda iffy on my draft. But, as I said before, waivers can really help make up differences.
And Kudos to last year’s winner: 65 Toss Power Trap. Well done. Just for fun, I went back and checked and here’s what I said after the draft last year about this team:
“Overall: I really like this team. Despite the huge spending on Gibbs, the team made it up getting great values with the rest of the draft. There are questions, but, by and large, I think this is one of the strongest teams in the league. Congrats.”
Maybe there is more than just blind luck to this fantasy football thing…
Because I have a bit of time over Labor Day weekend, here’s a little draft review of this year’s draft. Take it for what it is worth: next to nothing. It will be short. It will be sweet. It will be wrong. It will be right. It will, at the very least, waste a few minutes of your time. Enjoy!
Senor Beef
Best Pick: Great Value for starting RBs. Quinshon Judkins ($17), Rhamondre Stevenson, ($11), Bill Croskey ($8), and his mancrush JK Dobbins ($5). Four starting RBs, all for less than Jadarian Price. You must trust yourself to pick out which ones to start each week.
Worst Pick: $65 for JSN was too pricey, and I don’t have faith in him to repeat his target share this year. I’m not convinced spending up on a TE is the best way to go either. You drafted 2 rookie WRs on the Browns, which, in the grand scheme of things, won’t matter unless they catch fire early.
Overall: I think getting one stud RB is necessary for this kind of league. And while I love your depth at the position, you’re putting yourself under a lot of pressure to pick the right one each and every week. Making the right choices will certainly make this team competitive for the entire season.
Yours Truly Doctor Zoeller
Before I start, I’d love an explanation of the team name. I’m intrigued by it.
Best Pick: I like a couple of your scrubs: Adonai Mitchell and Dontavyion Wicks are in great positions to have breakout year, and they were dirt cheap. I also think Rome Odunze will have a good year this year.
Worst Pick: I am not a fan of the studs and scrubs approach in guillotine leagues, so spending 64% of your budget for one WR and one QB is quite the gamble. I suppose the hope is that if you can survive the first few weeks, you’ll be able to flush out the rest of the team, but one bad game by Josh Allen or Ja’Marr Chase and it’s Ja’over.
Overall: You have one starting RB, and he’s coming off injury. If Cam doesn’t get off to a fast start, you’ll be punting one of the most important positions in fantasy football. Very high risk. We’ll see if there is a high reward.
Brockback Mountain
Best Pick: I like Jalen Coker to have a better than average year, and getting him for $2 is great. And Christian McCaffrey, if he do something this year almost nobody ever has done after 400+ touches the year before, could be the steal of the draft.
Worst Pick: It’s hard for me to come up with a player with a worst offseason than Rashee Rice. I think he’s going to have a rough year.
Overall: I really don’t like this team. So much has to go right (Puka avoids suspension/injury, McCaffrey is reborn, Rice plays up to his cost) for them to survive very long. When you do studs and scrubs, and your studs all have major question marks, that’s a recipe for disaster. Super high risk.
Railer 13
Best Pick: I absolutely love Chris Olave for $33. I also like Marshawn Lloyd for $10. Great targets.
Worst Pick: $41 for Jeanty is a huge risk. But getting Mike Washington Jr for just $3 as his backup was outstanding. And necessary. I am a little worried about riding solo with Justin Herbert, but he has an outstanding matchup week 1, so you’ll get a chance to find someone to back him up.
Overall: I like this team. Not love. But like. Maybe if this team and I spent a lot of time together and there were copious amounts of liquor involved, it might become something more, but, for now, we’re just friends. I expect a solid run, with a chance at it all with some good waivers.
Wilson
Best Pick: Jeremiah Love for $30 comes with a bit of risk, but if you can survive a few weeks as he ramps up, he could be the steal of the draft. How you got him for $14 less than Jadarian Price is shocking.
Worst Pick: Jadarian Price for $44. Oh, that’s why Love seems like a value…
Overall: A heavy investment in rookies could undo what was a pretty darn good draft. Jordan Love, Jordan Mason, and Alec Pierce could be incredibly valuable later in the season, and they were cheap. If you survive a few weeks, you’ll be in really good shape.
Player 456
Best Pick: I love your RB crew. Damn impressive. They cost you almost 60% of your budget, but I think Robinson, Hall, and Etienne Jr. all have the high floors that will keep you from the chopping block early.
Worst Pick: I think we’ve seen the best that George Pickens and Matthew Stafford will ever be last year, so they were pricier than I would have liked.
Overall: I love the floor of this team. Unless tragedy strikes, they should be good to go for the first few weeks. And with Burden’s upside, there is hope that the drafted core of this team could carry them quite a while. Color me impressed, Mr. Seong Gi-hun.
Barrell of Fun
Best Pick: D’Andre Swift for $20 was remarkable value, I think he’s in for a pretty solid year. Burrow for $13 and Waddle for $24 could be league winners.
Worst Pick: George Kittle worries me a lot this year, so $18 was too much, especially when you already had my beloved Tyler Warren. And Sam LaPorta. You have 3 fucking TEs? No wonder I have to roll out with Dalton Schultz. Your RB crew after Swift is catastrophically bad too.
Overall: I’m intrigued. With Burrow’s health always an issue, getting Dak was fantastic. But 3 TEs, and a big pile of feces at RB2, you’re playing with fire. If Swift can carry your team for a couple weeks, your outlook should dramatically improve.
Frosty Snow Joke
Best Pick: $50 for both the Slim Reaper and Ladd McConkey is fantastic. And I really like some of your lottery tickets to outscore their cost. CRod. Corum. Downs. Marks. They all could be starting for you sooner rather than later.
Worst Pick: Carnell Tate is in a tough position and $8 was too much. And the elephant in the room is Saquon Barkley. He needs to be worth the money you spent. I’m not sure he is. With him and Smith, I’m guessing you’re an Eagles fan?
Overall: As Saquon goes, so goes this team. I really like the rest of the roster, and if Saquon is even close to a top 10 RB, you’re in good shape to make a deep run. But if he’s not, it could go sideways very quickly.
Hail Mary Jules Andre
Best Pick: Your WR crew is not just good, they were all very good value too. London has a high floor and stud potential, as does Garrett Wilson. You may have a problem being sure when to start Jaymo, but his upside is great.
Worst Pick: This is a tough one. Taking 3 TEs? Two will likely be waiver bait, so it’s not a big problem, and they only cost you $5.
Overall: I hate that I like this team. Unless injuries hit harder than usual (because I like their depth too) or something fluky happens, I think this team is going to make a deep run. Great job.
Off with Their Cheeseheads
Best Pick: Javonte for $30 was solid, and Egbuka for $19 could look like the steal of the draft if he’s healthy. And I gotta say I think you’ve got one of the deepest rosters in the league. Good work.
Worst Pick: Homerism. You’ve got a lot of eggs in the Packers basket, and with Tucker Kraft coming back from an injury and Christian Watson constantly threatening to have yet another injury, you’re playing with fire.
Overall: From top to bottom, I think this is the deepest roster coming out of the draft. I’m not familiar enough with guillotine leagues to know, but I sense that depth might not be as important when there is talent available on the waiver wire each week. But if you make the correct decisions on who to start each week, you could make a long run.
Hamlet Antoinette
Best Pick: I like Kyren at $31, and Jonathon Brooks (if healthy, which is a huge effin IF) for $6 made me happy. I also really like my mix of solid floor players with some nice upside. Overall, I like my draft.
Worst Pick: Dalton Schultz. I didn’t just scrape the bottom of the barrel, I scraped under the barrel. My value TEs kept getting snatched, and I decided that TE is a crapshoot from the #5 TE to the #25, so hopefully I can fix it on the fly.
Overall: Not sure what the fuck I was thinking getting just one QB and just one TE. It just worked out that way. I got a lot riding on poor Jayden Daniels. If he goes down with injury or regresses as a passer, it could be game over. GAME OVER MAN!!!
Mundi Morning Bloodletting
Best Pick: Drake Maye for $10, Parker Washington for $10. Great. And (don’t tell anyone I said this, but I think Cyrus Allen could be something later in the season). Shhh.
Worst Pick: Bucky scares me, but for $27, it won’t kill you. You need Justin Jefferson to really rebound this year or else it’s going to be over soon. I’m not a fan of the guys you took.
Overall: I really liked the strategy of the draft. Spend pretty big on 2 WR/2 RB and build around them with value. I just don’t like the players you got. I’ve never been a Zay Flowers fan, I think Kenneth Walker might not get the TDs he’ll need to justify that price, Bucky too will lose red zone carries, and I think Drake Maye will regress some this year. Still, I love how you did the draft, and if you like those guys, you should be in good shape.
65 Toss Power Trap
Best Pick: Could this be the year all the letdowns of the past are forgotten? Marvin Harrison Jr becoming a true #1? Will Xavier Worthy finally live up to his first round draft cost? Will Dalton Kincaid finally become the #2 target for Josh Allen? You got all these guys cheaply, so if you hit on just one or two of them, you’ll have another long run.
Worst Pick: If you don’t hit on those, it could be a very short season too. Johnny Taylor and CeeDee Lamb can only carry your team so far.
Overall: If Kyler Murray is even vaguely competent, this team has a solid chance to make a deep run. There will be some guessing who to start week to week, and you really do need to hit on one of those reclamation guys, but I like your chances. I’m interested to see how it works out.
Justin’s Baileys
Best Pick: Michael Wilson for $3 was great value and DJ Moore could be a top 15 WR, so $17 is pretty good. I do like the Daniel Jones and Jacoby Brisett for a total of $2.
Worst Pick: Nabers is a massive risk, especially at $40. Also, I hate your draft strategy. 90% on 4 guys. I suppose there’s something to be said for “Fuck It, We Ball!!!”
Overall: Someone likes taking chances. One injury, one bad week, one tough defensive outing and the season is over. It will be fascinating to see how that works out for you.
Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed. Now I have to go get ready for tomorrow’s He Hate Me Draft.
Good Luck Everyone!!!
Thanks, @Hamlet! Good analysis.
I figured you would probably say something about my team having just one QB, and then you pointed out the same shortcoming on your roster! Like you, I’ll be looking at waivers…if we both survive!
And if you want to get together and share copious amounts of liquor, I’m in.
Thanks for doing the draft recaps @Hamlet. I love reading them and wish I had time to write one myself. But I feel I owe you at least enough to reciprocate for your team.
I appreciate how you complimented my strategy of spending on a core of 2RB and 2WR. And look - you did the same thing 
Clearly we are two brilliant minds heading for the same guillotine . . . wait, what?
I worry about Henry - but he is immortal and indestructible so you only slightly overpaid for him, and Nico, AJ, and Kyren all came at great prices. I am a big believer that Bucky Irving is being undervalued this year, but if I am wrong then your first four will be better than mine and at $3 cheaper for the lot.
Unfortunately, after that strong start you kind of fell apart. You actually have to start a TE every week, and if Daniels gets hurt or struggles to recapture his rookie form then you will be spending heavy on the QB waiver wire. Golden and Stribling have nice upside potential, and either might supplant Addison to be your reliable flex starter. Other than that you went heavy on the ambulance chasers: Brooks, Spears, Coleman, Johnson. I like Coleman quite a lot and Johnson a little - but those are a lot of tickets to spend on backups and pocketing $4 at the end of the draft.
Still - a solid quartet and a couple of lottery tickets isn’t the worst way to start teh season. Good luck!