Losing my Auction-Draft Virginity

Everyone's first time is a little sloppy. Excitement, nervousness, and anticipation all lead to getting ahead of yourself. Maybe you do a couple things right (hey, you have been preparing for this moment for years), but in the end, all you want is to do it again - and better next time.

That was my experience yesterday with my first auction draft. Leading up to the draft, I had told myself to be patient, only bid on bargains early, then save money for the end when players are sold for pennies on the dollar (for instance, Jonathan Stewart went for $1 in this auction). In the end, I wound up buying a couple WR's early (despite my initial insistence to get a stud WR), paid a fair but high price for a QB (despite telling myself I would go cheap at QB), and got much more depth than I had wanted (despite hoping to get 3-4 studs and fill in the roster with cheap players).

I will list my roster below, but first allow me to impart a word of wisdom: Do not enter an auction without multiple game plans. I mentioned how many things went the opposite of how I expected, and even though I could have done a bit better on my overall roster, I didn't go overboard on any player based on the prices I had assigned beforehand. But when I was able to add Jamaal Charles and Drew Brees, I had to change my thought process about stud WR's, instead taking two of the top 15 WR's and getting some great depth. Had I entered the draft with only one strategy, I would've been up a creek when Andre Johnson was too expensive.

One other piece of advice: Take note of the guy who bids against you in hotly-contested bidding. I wound up with Dez Bryant and Felix Jones because I think they will both prove to be steals, but I never like having two guys on the same team (unless it's QB-WR). So when/if I decide to trade one of those guys, I will look at a specific owner first - the guy who was the second-to-last bidder on both of them.

Now without further ado, here is my roster... God help me:

(10-team league, no PPR, 5pt passing TD's - $100 budget)

QB - Brees $21
RB - Charles $25
RB - F Jones $13
WR - Bryant $11
WR - M Williams (TB) $8
TE - Olsen $1
Flex - Best $6
K - J Brown $1
D - Ravens $1
Bn - Jacobs $4
Bn - Collie $4
Bn - L Moore $1
Bn - Amendola 41
Bn - Spiller $1
Bn - Keller $1
Bn - J Nelson $1