Fanball NFL Auction Breakdown: Week 9 – Friday, November 2nd

Hey everyone, welcome to the Fanball NFL Auction breakdown. If you haven’t played on this site before, it’s a product unlike anything you’ve ever seen before in DFS. They will be offering an Auction-style format drafting with four players on the board at all times, meaning you have to be on your toes and be aware of what is going on, because split-second mistakes can be costly.

Each team must draft 1 QB, 2 WR, 2 RB, and 1 TE. No player can be left on the board at the end of the draft, so if you are the last player not to draft a TE, then when the last TE goes on the board you will autodraft them for $1.

RG Exclusive Offer: Deposit $20 on Fanball and get a $20 bonus!

There are four players up for auction at all times, so you need to be able to adlib on the fly if someone goes drastically over or under what you are projecting to pay for them. You can find the full scoring system for Fanball NFL here.

Be sure to check out Kevin Cole’s overall look at his projected values before my breakdown below.

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Friday, November 2nd

Quarterback

Jared Goff – $7
Kirk Cousins – $6
Tom Brady – $6
Russell Wilson – $5
Matt Ryan – $3
Case Keenum – $1

The name of the game here is trying not to get stuck with Case Keenum. He is the worst QB in this pool, but it is by no means a killer to your lineup if you do end with him in there. As of right now, I have him projected at around four points less than every other QB in the pool, whereas, at RB and WR, the dropoff is closer to 10-20 points. Bid on every QB on the board, but you better be sure you have a plan in place for every other position if you end up spending double digits on any of these QBs.

Running Back

Todd Gurley – $30
Kareem Hunt – $22
James Conner – $21
Christian McCaffrey – $21
Chris Carson – $10
Nick Chubb – $9
Kerryon Johnson – $8
Jordan Howard – $6
Lamar Miller – $6
Tevin Coleman – $6
Austin Ekeler – $4
Ito Smith – $1

Gurley – Gurley is clearly the top option on the board in this draft and will likely end up going for around $30-$35 in most of your drafts. My plan is just to completely avoid him altogether. There are players at every single position which can completely ruin your lineup and if you end up paying a lot for Gurley then it’s fairly likely you end up getting stuck with one of them at the end of the draft. The only situation where you should pay $30+ for Gurley is if you already have all other positions filled and you have the money for it at the end of the draft.

Conner, Hunt, McCaffrey – Each of these guys are a decent downgrade from Gurley, but with so many terrible players at the bottom of the WR, RB, and TE player pools, it is going to be tough to get many of these great players. My plan is to try to get one of these RBs in my lineup if I can get them under $20 and round the rest of my roster out with above average players. As stated earlier, paying huge money for Gurley can end up ruining your draft, so you’re better off going with one of these backs here at substantially less.

Carson, Chubb, Johnson, Howard, Miller, Coleman, Ekeler – My plan here is to pay up for Carson (assuming the injury report says he should play) or Chubb here, but if need be I will go with any of these other RBs. All of them I view as a decent upgrade over Smith, but Smith isn’t the biggest downgrade over a few of these guys, so don’t go over value for these RBs.

Smith – I don’t want him, but if you can’t snag any of these other RBs for around $2-$3 then you’re better off getting stuck with Smith than one of the horrible WRs or TEs.

Wide Receiver

Adam Thielen – $28
Antonio Brown – $22
DeAndre Hopkins – $22
Davante Adams – $22
Brandin Cooks – $12
Emmanuel Sanders – $12
Calvin Ridley – $7
Tyler Lockett – $5
Devin Funchess – $5
Anthony Miller – $2
Antonio Callaway – $2
Adam Humphries – $1

Thielen, Brown, Hopkins, Adams – WR is where you can really get stuck with some terrible player. Right now, I have Thielen projected for 20 more points than the bottom guy in this tier and I will probably be gunning for him in most my drafts as he will likely go for under value. Brown, Hopkins, and Adams are the next guys I’m going for if Thielen goes into the upper 20s. Each of these WRs offers massive value over the bottom tiers of WR here and if you can get stuck with two of them and a good TE and QB, it might be worth it to completely punt RB.

Sanders, Cooks, Ridley, Lockett, Funchess – All these WRs are decent downgrades from the top tier, but are huge upgrades over the bottom three WRs. I currently have each of these WRs as a 5-10 point upgrade over the bottom three WRs and you should be watching each of them as they come on the board. One of the worst things you can do in this player pool is getting stuck with one of the bottom three WRs, so don’t wait until the end of the draft to fill out your WR spots. Plan on bidding on any of these WRs as they come on the board and see if you can get any of them at decent values.

Miller, Callaway, Humphries – Avoid these players at all costs in your draft. Literally, the only possible worse decision is getting stuck with Herndon or Vannett.

Tight End

Travis Kelce – $19
O.J. Howard – $8
Trey Burton – $7
Austin Hooper – $5
Chris Herndon – $2
Nick Vannett – $1

Kelce, Howard, Burton, Hooper – In all honesty, I’ve underpriced each of these guys and that’s due to the nature of these drafts. In almost all drafts I’ve been in, there have been multiple TEs that have gone for way less than they should have. You in no way want to get stuck with Herndon or Vannett, so the later on in the draft you go, you should make more of a priority of getting one of these TEs in your lineup.

Herndon and Vannett – Do whatever you can to not get stuck with one of these TEs. They can ruin your lineup and are a full 5-15 points lower in projection than the TEs above.

The Stack Spots

As we all know, in football DFS, pairing your QB with a WR or TE can have a drastic effect on your upside in any given competition and auction-style like this is no different. As you can clearly see from the player pool, each QB has WRs and/or TEs which you can pair with them to raise your upside. Below is my favorite stacking spot.

Case Keenum with Emmanuel Sanders – There aren’t many stack spots in this draft and in all likelihood if you go out of your way to try and stack up, you could end up losing the draft by doing so. If on the off chance that you get Sanders early on in the draft, it isn’t the worst idea to try completely punt QB and get Keenum. As stated earlier, there are terrible players at every position but QB and having a well-rounded team is the most important thing in this draft.

Remember guys, keep an eye out for what’s happening in your draft and if guys are going for way less than they are projected for here, you should know that some of these prices may be too low. Likewise, if guys are going for higher than the above price early on you can get a lot of these guys at a huge discount.

About the Author

gneiffer07
Grant Neiffer (gneiffer07)

One of the most vibrant and interesting personalities in all of DFS and sports betting, Grant Neiffer (aka gneiffer07) has Economics and Accounting degrees from Azusa Pacific University. He’s been playing DFS since 2013 and fantasy sports from the ripe old age of 10. In recent years, Grant has turned his attention primarily to sports betting, and in 2021, he finished 3rd in the DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship, taking home $230,000. You can find all of Grant’s sports betting analysis on ScoresAndOdds and the Action Network. Follow Grant on Twitter – @gneiffer07