Post-Auction Comments

Posted 8/27 by Staff, Exclusive to Footballguys.com

On August 19th, fourteen Footballguys staffers and message board members got together for a Best-Ball Auction. Before the auction started, we asked each of them a series of questions. Hopefully, their answers will help you prepare for your auction.

EastBayFunk

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
Yes, I followed my strategy for the most part. There were no major deviations.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
My team is definitely a mixed bag. On the positive side of things, I'm very happy with my two quarterbacks. Carson Palmer is one of the top passers in the NFL. He should have a top 3-5 year. Matt Leinart is exactly the kind of backup that I wanted. He has good job security and upside. Between these two guys, I should get great scoring from my QB spot each week.

I'm also pleased with my TE group. Chris Cooley is a solid starter who should give me an advantage over most of the teams in the league. Marcedes Lewis and Alex Smith are two underrated backups who should contribute. These three guys combine to give me one of the tougher TE units in the league.

I have mixed feelings about my RBs. The $53 I spent on Reggie Bush is a little steep in comparison to the price tag of some comparable backs. I never intended to overpay for Reggie, but he was the last viable RB1 left on the board when he was nominated, so I did what was necessary to secure his services.

I knew going into the auction that I would probably end up with either Marshawn Lynch or Adrian Peterson, but I didn't expect to end up with both of them. It could definitely cost me. These guys both have the talent to justify the cash I spent on them, but rookies are always a little unpredictable. I think it would've been better to add a boring veteran like Ahman Green, Deuce McAllister, or Thomas Jones in place of one of my rookies. That said, I expect both Lynch and Peterson to play major roles for their teams this year. There's a pretty decent chance that at least one of them will wildly exceed expectations. I don't think Anthony Thomas and Chester Taylor will keep these two off the field.

So I feel relatively decent about my RBs as a whole. Bush should score a lot of points for me and the Peterson/Lynch combo certainly doesn't look like a killer as a RB2/RB3 tandem in a 14 team league.

Where I'm really weak is WR. I knew I wasn't going to emerge from the auction with a daunting group of WRs, but I had hoped to do a little bit better than I did. Unfortunately, the bargain WRs I was targeting went for more money than I expected. I was only able to land two guys that I really feel good about (Kevin Curtis and Santonio Holmes). The remainder of my WR corps consists of journeymen and unproven youngsters. I'm hoping that my strength in numbers will help overcome my lack of elite players. It will certainly be interesting to see if this ragtag group can keep me competitive and prove that my bargain bin best ball WR strategy has merit.

I should be fine at PK and DEF. I probably should've spent the extra $1-2 necessary to get at least one upper tier defense. The Saints and Browns aren't going to scare anyone.

Overall, I think I had a decent draft. I look like one of the better teams in the league at QB, RB, and TE. And while my WR group is very suspect, I just might have enough depth to squeak by there. But if I'm going to make a serious run at winning this thing, I'll probably need either Lynch or Peterson to step up in a big way. Having 1-2 of my WRs break out would also give me a big boost.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

It's always tough to gauge team strength after a draft and there will inevitably be some big surprises that change the balance of power, but right now I like these teams:

Pasquino - This is a nice team because just about every player on the roster has a chance to be a contributor. There are a few minor holes here and there, but I think this squad should manage to be pretty competitive.
Rudnicki - Solid depth here. His starting lineup is good and he has a couple promising bench players. This is definitely a team that can make some noise if it catches a few breaks.
Dodds - The story here is depth. This team doesn't have any scary talent, but virtually every player on the roster has a realistic chance of being a contributor. The lack of a quality RB1 is a little bit frightening, but this team should be pretty solid if one or two of the backs have good seasons.

Realistically, almost all of the teams look like they have a chance if they get a lucky break or two.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
Without question my one idiot pick was paying $1 for Chiefs PK Justin Medlock. I wasn't paying attention to kickers throughout most of the auction, so I didn't realize that all of the good ones were gone until it was too late. I was left to scramble just to find two starters. I admittedly know almost nothing about bottom tier NFL kickers and since I couldn't afford to waste time doing research, I had to make a panic pick and take Medlock. If I had been paying closer attention I would've realized that solid veteran Matt Bryant was available. Instead, I burned a roster spot and a dollar on Medlock and then had to burn another $2 on Bryant once I realized he was still out there. I could've saved myself this headache if I had simply been paying more attention.

The lesson here is that even if you plan to neglect a particular position, don't assume that everyone else in your league will follow suit. You don't want to end up in a desperate position like I did.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

I think Todd Heap was a fantastic value at $12. It's a great price for him when you consider that the upper level WRs were going for $30-35. Drew Brees for $14 and Donovan McNabb for $16 were solid additions. Both guys have a chance to be difference makers. I also like the value of Ahman Green, Amani Toomer, Darrell Jackson, DeShaun Foster, and Deuce McAllister.

I think almost all of the top WRs went for too much money. IMO, that position is somewhat devalued by the best ball scoring system. Other owners didn't seem to agree.

I don't like Ronnie Brown for $34 when you consider that backs with similar prospects went for $10 less. Ronnie Brown has been living off his draft position for two years despite marginal production. I don't think he's all that good.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?

Don't get your heart set on any one player. Be flexible. Get in there and bid on all of the players you like, because you never know when you'll get a great value. Sometimes people just stop bidding for no apparent reason and a team walks away with a big steal. If I had known that I could get Brees for $14 or McNabb for $16, I never would've spent $23 on Palmer. The only way to get steals like that is to be bidding.
Don't be afraid to engage in some heavy bidding. You don't want to spend recklessly just to get your favorite player, but you should be willing to pay a premium in order to avoid suffering a drop-off in player quality. I overpaid for Reggie Bush because if I didn't, I would've had table scraps as my RB1.
Be prepared. You should know your league and its lineup requirements. You should try to prepare a budget for each position so that you know how much you can afford to spend on a given player. Whether or not my team ultimately succeeds, I was able to execute my draft plan because I had realistic expectations of the league and because I avoided reckless spending.

David Dodds

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
My approach is generally to stay flexible in an auction. I think I did that. RBs were goiing for a premium (expected in a 14-team league so I waited as long as I could before overpaying for Edge. It just didn't look like it was going to get any better and I wanted at least someone that is a 2nd round player. I still ended up spending a lot of my cap on RBs, but have no stud to bank on. In this format though, I think this appraoch will be fine.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
I think I have a top 3 team. I need Kevin Jones to start the year on the PUP list (which I think he will). I have only two QBs (which was probably a huge mistake). I think Rivers is going to be very good, but an injury to him would kill this team's chances. In hindsight I really wish I would have not taken someone like Anthony Gonzalez and took a third QB. My strengths are depth. I have the deepest core of RBs/WRs/TEs in the league by far. Not a ton of flashy guys, but many producers. I also have Baltimore (and three defenses total) to be solid at that position.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?
Calbear has the best starters. If he avoids injuries, he will likely destroy the field in all non-bye weeks. If even a few of his players come through during the bye weeks, he will be tough to beat. His team is better than everyone's because he saved $12-20 on Larry Johnson. That essentially allowed him to get 1 more quality WR (and in a league with smart owners that could easily be enough). Pasquino, Capt Hook and my team have deep rosters. All could challenge for the title. All said, I don't think any team is real weak.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
I was just bidding up Gonzalez and got stuck with him at $2. I overpaid for Edge, but at the time it seemed right (best back left and had to grab someone).

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?
I think Kellen Winslow at $8, Donte Stallworth at $5 and Brandon Jackson at $10 all seem very cheap to me. Three possible starting WRs (Craig Davis, Roydell Williams and Jacoby Jones) all were huge bargains at $1.

Overpriced starts with LaDainian Tomlinson at $78. No player in this format is worth that much money. Ronnie Brown at $34 seems about $33 too high (OK not quite that bad, but not a fan). Boldin at $27, Fitzgerald at $31, Randy Moss at $22 all seem high to me too.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?
I can't endorse the Draft Dominator enough for auctions. If you are not using this for your auction, you are operating at a HUGE disadvantage. Set the thing up to use Maurile Tremblay's Auction Valuation and you will have a good blueprint to prices. Watch for bargains, target your guys and let the auction come to you. I wanted TJ Houshmandzadeh and Willie Parker to anchor this squad, but felt both were too costly so switched gears during this. Always leave yourself outs in auctions as well. With RBs flying off the board, I overpaid to grab Edge. But by doing so I allowed myself to remain flexible (still had a lot of cap and now did not need to panic on any future backs being introduced). This allowed me to save money the rest of the way.

pizzatyme

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
Yes and no. No because I ended up getting a stud QB and RB, which was not my primary plan going in. And yes, because it was early in the draft and there was obvious value there with both Bulger and Addai that my plan allowed me the flexibility to go get them.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
I consider my team very strong in all areas except WR. My WRs will need to meet my projections. Many of them most stayed away from, so we'll see. If I can get even decent WR play, I feel like my RBs will give me the edge I need to compete for the championship.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

Capt. Hook- I like the overall balance and depth of his team.
Jeff Haseley- Same thing, his team is solid. Teams with better depth will do well in this format.
Pizzatyme- Of course I like my team! Watch as my WRs do just enough to make me dangerous!

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
This one is easy. I would toss back T.J. Duckett. I should have gotten one more WR to make my team complete.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

Steals

Chris Brown for $5
Drew Brees for $14

Overpriced

LT- He went for 39% of LHUCKS salary cap. This will cripple your team.
Also, if you take the overall prices paid and break them out into normal draft rounds. Three top WRs would have gone in the first round based on price paid. To me, this is too high! This left many values later on at the RB position as a lot of salary cap was "squeezed" here.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?

Don't overspend on your top RB.
Be patient and grab players when they represent value. You can follow your rankings and see where it makes sense to jump in.
Keep track of your roster and more importantly, your starting lineup. Fill it in with value and you'll be successful.

LHUCKS

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
Yes and No. I did plan to spend a lot of my cap space on an elite running back and I did that with Tomlinson, but I also didn't expect to land Maroney for 37 which resulted in exceeding my planned running back budget by 25 with just those two players. I deviated from my initial budget because Maroney was a significant value play according to my projections. As a result of my excessive RB budget I knew I needed to grab bargain bin WRs and QBs with the rest of my cap space. Out of 13 combined players at WR and QB the most I spent on any one player was 7 dollars.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?

Strengths: RB potency, WR depth, TE potency
Weaknesses: WR potency, Defensive potency, RB depth

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

David Dodds - Solid depth at all positions, particularly at RB.
CalBears - Nice mix of elite players at RB/WR mixed with some solid depth.
Pasquino - Great depth at WR, solid all around

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
Eric Parker - Although he was only 2 bucks, there were other WRs available that could have bolstered my WR depth. You can never have enough contributing WRs in this format.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

Steals

Larry Johnson for 47
Drew Brees for 14
Jon Kitna for 12
Santonio Holmes for 12
Craig Davis for 1
Tarvaris Jackson for 2
Bobby Wade for 2
Julius Jones for 13
Deion Branch for 13
Joey Galloway for 12
Isaac Bruce for 7
Jacoby Jones for 1
Shaun Alexander for 41

Overpriced

Any WR for over 30
Any backup QB - wasting roster spots on backups(handcuffing) is playing for second place

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?

Really understand the mathematics involved of the format you are competing in. A 14 team best ball format is significantly different than a 10 team head to head format.
Formulate more than one strategy if you don't know how the pricing will go headed into the draft.

amphibianbri

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
I had it followed exactly until I allowed my love for Roy Williams to take all of my excess dollars to spend later in the auction. That $30 dropped me all the way down to $5 left and didn't allow me the flexibility to spend $5 or $6 on multiple WR and an extra RB for depth which is necessary to be successful in best ball. I kept getting outbid by a $1 or $2 on sleepers I wanted and it killed my depth.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
I do like my starters. Except for possibly Stovall as my #3 WR, I wouldn't mind going to war with a team like this in a typical 14 team league. Weakness is for sure the total lack of depth after my starters. To compete, I am going to have to get consistently great performances from my starters and get my projections for Brady (30 + TD and 4000 + yards), Westbrook has to stay healthy, and I expect Roy Williams to go off this year. I might be able to hang around the 4-6 position if that happens.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

I like EastBayFunk. Again, WR could be a little shaky, but with 11 on his roster (and I figure Northcutt and Holmes will be decent each week) to go along with a nice 3 headed monster at RB and Carson Palmer, I think he'll excel.
LOVE Pasquino's squad. Best balance of quality of all the teams. I think Kitna will be huge, R. Brown, McAllister, and Dunn will be good enough at RB, and his WR are best quality depth (rock solid 6 deep) to be the best squad here.
Rudnicki is another club with solid balance with 4 good RBs and what I consider to be 5 solid WRs His two QBs are more than serviceable (E. Manning and Roethlisberger).
Honorable mention to Chase with his sick 4 WRs and Chris Smith, whose starters I love.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
Donald Driver for $28. Not because he got hurt, but because I still could have had my #1 WR in Roy Williams and used that $28 to build more depth.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

Steals - Larry Johnson for $47 is about $15 low now that he's signed and in. Drew Brees for $14 gets you a top 5 QB for the cost of a lower #2 WR or #3 RB Ahman Green for $21 in a PPR league is nice knowing he'll still catch some balls out of backfield as Schaub gets killed.

Overpriced - Detroit's D for $3 (I had to LHUCKS:)), Marshawn Lynch for $30 when guys like Adrian Peterson, A Green, B. Jacobs, T Jones and C Benson all went for less. I really didn't find many of the other prices to be way out of line. Most guys stuck to budget on players and built good teams.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?

You have to spend some early. You are not going to want to miss out on the top 15-20 players in an auction just because they are going for a little over budget. You'll end up with a team full of slightly above average players that is deep, but unless you are playing in a best ball league, you need studs in your lineup. BUT....with that in mind.
You have to be patient. Once you have your solid couple of guys locked up, look for bargains and don't blow your whole wad early. You have to save a little bit of cap room as guys start to panic in the middle of the auction as scarcity becomes an issue so you can pick up the bargains once the panic stage has left your opponents crippled.
You have to be flexible. You have to read how the auction is playing out early and let that guide you. If every player at the start is going for 20% over your value, that can't last forever, get your one guy or two that comes near to your value and then wait it out. If guys are afraid at the start of the auction and you are getting everyone at 10-15% below value, spend away. Spend when value is there, no matter when that is. There is no one set way to be successful in an auction. It's like poker and women.....you have to read them. The faster you read the need for aggression or patience, the more likely you are to get "lucky".

Jeff Haseley

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
I did follow my strategy. I was hoping to spend about $25-30 on my QBs. I was able to get Vince Young ($13) and Tony Romo ($11) for a total of $24. Right on target.

I wanted to spend about $95-105 on all of my RBs. I went heavy on RB1 and RB2 and spent little on the others. Willie Parker ($49), Rudi Johnson ($35), Vernand Morency ($8), Tony Hunt ($3), Najeh Davenport ($2), Kenny Watson ($2), Jerome Harrison ($2), Michael Robinson ($1) Total spent: $102, within my budget.

My goal was to spend about $70 on all of my WRs and I wound up spending only $61. My starters went for $52 (Calvin Johnson $21, Braylon Edwards $17 and Darrell Jackson $14) with the remainder of my bench going for only $9. I spent a little more on my RBs which put a dent in my WR spending, because I knew I still had to get the majority of my bench, plus defenses, tight ends and kickers.

I stayed on target with my Tight Ends, spending less than my original budget of $6-7. I only spent $5. Heath Miller ($4) and Donald Lee ($1).

My goal was to spend about $4 on my two defenses, but I was able to get a top tier defense in New England for $5 and then the St. Louis defense for $1. It was $2 over my budget, but I saved face, by not spending as much on my TEs.

Several kickers went for $2 and even some went for $3 dollars, but I was able to get two very serviceable kickers for $1 each.

Overall, I stayed pretty close to my target and budget the whole auction.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
My biggest strength is my starting RBs. I have two very good RBs (Willie Parker and Rudi Johnson) both of which are ranked in the RB top 10 (Rudi is #9 on my list). They both are going to see a lot of carries, which will hopefully result in some good yardage and plenty of TDs. Both don't have much if any competition, and just in case they do, I handcuffed both of them. Not many teams have two top 10 RBs. LHUCKS managed to get Tomlinson and Maroney and Chris Smith has Shaun Alexander and Frank Gore. Other than that, nobody else has that kind of talent as their top 2 RBs.

I also like My QB combo of Vince Young and Tony Romo. I don't have to choose which one I start, I just need one of them to do well consistently each week and I think I've got that. Romo and Young are #8 and #9 respectively in my QB rankings. The only other team with two QBs in the top 10 is Chris Smith with Drew Brees and Matt Hasselbeck

My bench, especially my WRs is loaded with potential. Between Wes Welker, David Boston, Malcolm Floyd, Hank Basket and Jacoby Jones, I have a lot of sleeper candidates that could break out and prove to be very rewarding.

As far as weaknesses go, my flex is weak with Vernand Morency. I suppose Wes Welker could fill in that role, but Morency isn't exactly the best RB3. I don't have any elite WRs, simply because I chose not to spend my money there. I have three very good starting WRs (Calvin Johnson, Braylon Edwards and Darrell Jackson) with several good bench players that could do well on any given week. I am relying on Heath Miller at the TE position to carry the load. I just need consistency and I think Heath Miller can do that for me.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

I like Chris Smith's team. His starters are pretty darn good. Drew Brees, Shaun Alexander, Frank Gore, Larry Fitzgerald, Donte Stallworth, Reggie Williams, Daniel Graham and Ahman Green as his flex. Not too bad at all.
I also like Captain Hook's team. Donovan McNabb, Jones-Drew, Marion Barber, Cotchery, Berrian and Lee Evans plus Vernon Davis is a very good team. His flex is Chester Taylor or Leon Washington.
I like Amphibianbri's team too. He has a weak spot at his WR3 position, but everything else looks very good. Tom Brady, Westbrook, McGahee, Roy Williams, Donald Driver and then... Maurice Stovall. His flex is Brandon Jackson and his TE is Randy McMichael. All three of these teams have good, if not great starters. Some backups are better than others, but the group of starters on these teams are very competitive.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
I don't think I overbid on any one player, with the exception of Vernand Morency ($8). I needed a RB3 and they were quickly flying off the board. I wanted to limit my RB3 to $6, but RBs were going for way more than that. I made a move and opened the wallet for $8 and it wasn't even a RB I really wanted. If I made a mistake in this auction, that was it.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

Steals - Chris Brown ($5), Warrick Dunn $7, Bernard Berrian ($12), Drew Brees ($14), Michael Pittman ($1). Rudi Johnson ($35) was a good deal, considering Jones-Drew went for $36 and Ronnie Brown went for $34

Overpriced - Randy Moss $22, considering other WRs near his ADP went for much less, like $14, $16. Vernand Morency $8

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?
Watch how players are being nominated. If the elite players are going one after the other and your objective was to not spend money too quickly - abandon that philosophy, because you won't get the player or players you want as a result. Follow the fold and don't be afraid to overbid on a player if you need to fill that position and there are not many players left in that position of much value.

Aaron Rudnicki

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
I did early on, letting everybody overspend on the top players, and building a solid but not too expensive group of RBs. But, I got a little worried in the middle and wound up spending more than I would have liked on my top-2 QBs and top-4 WRs. That left me strapped for cash as I filled out my roster and I missed out on some great values before all the $1 auctions started.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
I think the starters on my team will be good enough to compete in this league. I wound up with 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 4 WRs, and a TE that I feel pretty good about. I also managed to find some decent values to back them up too. I don't have any superstars that some of the other teams have and my team isn't as deep as I would normally like it to be, but I think I wound up with a decent mix. I also spread out my bye weeks pretty well so I should be able to put a strong total up each week. I probably need some big years from two of my top-3 RBs (Cedric Benson, Thomas Jones, and DeAngelo Williams) to win.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

I like the team Dodds put together. He didn't overspend anywhere and wound up with excellent depth throughout his lineup. The third defense will also probably wind up giving him a nice edge over most teams. Pasquino also put together a very strong and balanced team. It is no coincidence that both him and Dodds were the first two teams to finish drafting as they saved their money wisely and were able to scoop up the value that slipped. I think I'd pick my team as the third, but there's not much separation between it and some of the other better teams that I like as we all seem to lack great depth. I'm not a fan of the teams that spent a large chunk of their budget on a few players like Chase Stuart and LHUCKS did, but Tomlinson may be good enough to make it work.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
Tough choice for me between Andre Johnson and D.J. Hackett. I think I probably overspent more on Johnson, but he was my first WR. Hackett was my fourth and I panicked after missing out on Bernard Berrian due to computer problems. After I spent $14 on Hackett, I was pretty much out of the running on any remaining players, although I did manage to save $4 to grab my TE1 in Dallas Clark. I think I could have gotten 2 or 3 good WRs for the same price I paid to land Johnson or Hackett.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

At QB, I think Drew Brees at $14 was probably a steal and Peyton was overpriced at $29. At RB, I think LaMont Jordan at $14 could wind up being a huge steal and even Larry Johnson at $47 could be a great value is he produces like he has the past few seasons. Joseph Addai and Reggie Bush seemed the most overpriced to me. At WR, I think guys like Hines Ward and Braylon Edwards at $17 look like bargains while Reggie Wayne at $38 and Lee Evans at $28 was too much. At TE, Dallas Clark and Heath Miller for $4 look good to me. Gates for $23 is probably too much, even for him.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?

Don't overspend early unless you feel strongly the player is a good value. When you spend a lot of money early, you limit your ability to take advantage of values that present themselves later on.
Don't wait too long to get involved. It's great to save money for the end, but if you have twice as much money as everyone else at the midpoint, you may wind up finishing the auction with money leftover. Make sure you get a couple solid starters at RB before they're all gone, but then you can usually wait until the middle of the draft and take advantage of the owners who went on an early shopping spree.
Early on, put players up for auction that you don't want. Around the middle of the draft when owners realize they are running out of money, start opening up with players you like in hopes of getting them cheap. Also, near the end, if there's any particular players you feel like you really need, starting the auction at $2 is usually enough to sign them.

CalBears

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
I did a pretty good job of following my strategy. One obvious departure was that I gave LJ/Bennett as an example of a handcuff I wouldn't want to have, and, fate having a sense of humor, I wound up with LJ and Bennett. Basically, by the time I nominated Bennett, I was almost cash-locked ($3 max bid), and there wasn't any other RB value on the board. (The remnants were guys like DeDe Dorsey and Musa Smith).

I was a little surprised to wind up with LJ; I had him worth exactly $47, which is what I wound up paying for him. Other than that, I was pretty solid on my expectations for the auction; I valued WRs and TEs higher than the general population, so that's what I wound up with. I got two cheap handcuffs at QB that should give me decent production. ($13 total for the position).

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
I have my team #1 in starter strength, and #4 in overall strength. My starting lineup is quite good now that LJ has signed, with RBs that should be at least average, QB that should be in the middle of the pack, and WRs and TEs that should be among the best in the league. I'm fairly weak on depth, with no backup RB starter and only a couple of fliers at TE and K. So to compete, I'll need my starting lineup to stay healthy, and probably Lamont Jordan to keep the starting job (which I think he'll do).

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

Dodds had an interesting strategy of cornering the market on mediocre players; combined, he managed to put himself in the position of leading the pack in overall team strength. In best-ball format, having a bunch of cheap mediocre players could work better than having a few studs. We'll see.
I think Hicks has a decent balanced team; the mistake of selecting Alex Smith could be mitigated by the cheap KC handcuff. I think he got a bargain on Steven Jackson (I would have bid more, but I'd just gotten LJ and thus couldn't afford to enforce value). He also snarfed two players I was shooting for, Ryan Longwell and Zach Miller.
I like Chase Stuart as a imbalanced stud WR team; he got what should be an above average QB corps for a total of $12, and got great value on four stud WRs. If Cadillac Williams finishes in the top 10, or Michael Turner gets significant playing time, he'll be in the mix.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
David Givens. I was under nomination time pressure, and couldn't find a player I was looking for in the fantasyauctioneer interface. There wasn't much left at that point, anyway (it was pick 24.09), but at least I could have gotten someone who is likely to play this year. Travis Taylor would be one example of someone who went unpurchased.

Honorable mention: Anthony Thomas, who I meant to bid $3 for but hit the Bid+1 button too late. $4 for Thomas isn't terrible, but it made my money tight for the rest of the auction.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

There were a lot of WR bargains; notable ones included Holt, Chad Johnson, Steve Smith, and Roy Williams, but I'd say #1 was Housh, who went for $28 (I had him valued at $47).

On the overpriced side, a lot of people thought Shaun Alexander at $51 was pretty expensive, and I agree, but at least he has the potential to be worth that much. Willis McGahee at $34 was pretty bad. But for #1 overall overpricing, I'd have to go with MJD at $36.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?
Find value where ever you can. For me, that was LJ at the very beginning of the auction, and then a number of stud WRs fairly early. For Dodds, it was letting people get their money spent, and then cleaning up in the middle of the auction. Whatever you do, don't panic and you'll be OK if you keep pursuing value.

The other important thing is to stay flexible. I wasn't planning on paying $47 for LJ, but I just adjusted my roster plan to accommodate. I spent more on stud WRs than I planned, and that meant I had to look for cheap QBBC options and fliers at backup RB. By allowing the auction to be dynamic, I was able to build a good team.

I noticed during the auction that all the mid-level RBs were going for $5 or more over my projected price, and all the mid-level WRs were going for $5 or more below my projected price. I didn't chase what I saw as poor value at RB, but I readjusted my cost expectations, and captured value at WR while filling in at RB without breaking the bank (Jordan was $2 over my projected value for him).

Jeff Pasquino

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
Not perfectly. I wasn't surprised to see running backs go for $30-50+ early on, but I was surprised by all the dollars thrown at the quarterback position. That made WRs rather cheap, so I was quick to grab Houshmandzadeh early once the seal was broken off of the WRs.

I didn't panic early and was patient, waiting for good value. I got it (and one of my intended players) with Deuce McAllister as my first player. Once I saw QBs going for $10-25 or more, I knew I'd have to adjust my budget. I was able to snare Kitna for $12, who looks like a relative bargain. I paid a little extra for Harrington at $3, but I wanted three starting QBs and I had Dunn and Crumpler so it made sense.

The one issue I had was I jumped the gun and got one too many $5-7 WRs. I should have passed on one of them and saved my money for a better fourth RB.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
My strengths are my WRs, by far. I have two Top 20 WRs according to Footballguys (Plaxico Burress and Housh) and two more in the Top 30 (Deion Branch and Joey Galloway). I have eight solid WRs who should lead my team.

QBs are solid with Kitna and two solid starters to back him up. I have 3 TEs and Defenses, also part of my plan. Only three other teams had three defenses, and that should be an advantage.

RB is tough - I have good starting talent with Ronnie Brown, Deuce and Dunn, but it gets thin quickly with just Reuben Droughns and Lorenzo Booker behind them. The entire group needs to both produce and stay healthy for me to win this contest.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

The patience that Dodds and I showed early paid off as we have the top two teams, in my opinion. Dodds did a great job of conserving money and grabbing multiple $2-3 WRs late in the auction, a strategy that will really pay off if 1-2 score per week. I'm not a fan of his QB duo, but he should last deep into this challenge. The third best team is not from a staff member but "Captain Hook", who has a great team up and down. He has just two players over $20 (MJD and Lee Evans), but he put together a very solid squad. I expect him to be a Final Four team.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
I like Arnaz Battle, I really do, but there are several reasons why I should have passed on him. First, he's a stable WR with little upside on a weekly basis. I don't expect him to break into my Top 4 WRs very often if at all, and I could easily have waited on another WR for a $1/$2 bargain. That extra money would have gone a long way to improving Reuben Droughns ($6) to Leon Washington ($10), which would have made my team much stronger.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

I'll look for the players under $5 that were bargains. Drew Carter went to Chris Smith for just $1. Owen Daniels was a steal at $1 to "pizzatyme". Patrick Crayton could play a great deal in Dallas and he was $3 (Dodds). Lastly, Jeff Haseley had several bargains that look great - Wes Welker ($3), Malcom Floyd ($1), Jacoby Jones ($1) and Hank Baskett ($1) also should have a few good games and contribute.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?
First, roll with the punches. If the values aren't where you expected them to be, adjust. Values will always emerge in an auction; it just may be in different places each time.

Second, mock your auction. Look at it both from a "Top Down" view, figuring out how much each star player should be, but also do not forget to look from the "Bottom Up" view. Find out who should be available in the $1-3 range and target them. Save $2-3 so you can control the later rounds and grab those players. Count on getting them and use any savings you get on your squad by having several of these, and then go hard after the bigger name players with the extra money.

Third, be wary if the auction is big. This one was both deep (24 players) and wide (14 teams), so the positional scarcity was a big concern. Grabbing two kickers and two defenses earlier than most would think about it mattered a great deal. Teams that overlooked this were scrambling. This also factored in if you wanted three defenses or a third starting quarterback.

Clayton Gray

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
Pretty much. Looking back, I probably should have grabbed another fairly high-priced RB or WR, but I was afraid to spend that much money early. However, I spent $26 on four RBs behind Travis Henry and might have been better off putting $23 of that into one solid guy as my strategy was to get a stud-filled starting lineup.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
As planned, my strength is in my starting lineup. With Peyton Manning, Travis Henry, Chad Johnson, Anquan Boldin, and Jeremy Shockey, I have excellent players starting at five of those seven important spots. I also appear to be very good at PK and defense.

Obviously, the glaring weakness is WR3, WR4, WR5, etc. Except for Johnson and Boldin, I am incredibly weak there. That can happen in a 14-team league, but this is particularly poor.

To win, I need to avoid injuries and have Henry be as good as I think he'll be.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

Mine - Seriously, if you can't love your own team after a draft or auction, then who else will?
Dodds - He is very good at RB, TE, and defense. There is not a star at WR, but there are enough options to provide a few good scores each week. If Rivers and Pennington hold up, this will be a nice consistent squad.
Captain Hook - Lots of very good options at every position. With McNabb, Jones-Drew, and Evans, there is the potential to have a couple of 13-0 weeks. That can be huge.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
Kevin Jones - I panicked a bit and overpaid for a guy that might miss several weeks (or even the whole season). I should have spent money on another WR. I also want to give back Desmond Clark due to a bye week problem that I didn't check for before it was too late.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

Steals

Drew Brees was cheaper than McNabb and Bulger and only a dollar more than Young.
Kellen Winslow was a dollar cheaper than Vernon Davis.
Warrick Dunn was a bargain considering it looks like he'll remain the Falcons' starting RB.

Overpriced

Byron Leftwich was only a dollar less than Jay Cutler and more expensive than several nice QB options - far too pricey for a guy that hasn't been capable of producing for an entire season.
Detroit Lions went for $3. Ugh.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?
The biggest thing is to either correctly anticipate or quickly observe what the rest of the league will do and go in the opposite direction. Of course you may completely whiff, but it's better to shoot for first and finish 11th than to hope for 3rd and finish 5th.

Once you determine your path, stick to it. There is nothing worse than halfway completing an auction plan. If you are going for a stud-laden team, then go get those studs. If you want to build a roster filled with depth, then avoid spending big on a single player.

Chris Smith

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
I was pretty close to following my predraft strategy. I went into the draft wanting to land a few good running backs and did so as well as a decent quarterback and a good starting receiver. I also wanted to make sure I got the pair of defenses I was after Minnesota/Jacksonville and a pair of good kickers. I was able to land those assets.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
Pretty easy to analyze my squad. My quarterback duo is awesome with Drew Brees and Matt Hasselbeck both capable of big weeks. I would have liked a third option but a good fit never really materialized. My starting trio of RBs is strong. Gore, Alexander and Green should averaged 60+ carries, 330+total yards and 3+ touchdowns per week which will carry my team. I am strong at defense, solid at the kicker position and average at TE. The big Achilles heel on this team is receiver. I have a terrific #1 in Larry Fitzgerald and a good #2 in Donte Stallworth if he gets healthy. After that I have seven receivers who all have pretty big question marks. I need a few of my receivers to step up in order to earn consistent points from the WR slot.

I have minimal depth at RB and QB so I'll need to stay healthy to compete. In addition to that, my receiving core has a lot of question marks that need to be answered positively in order to thrive. I wish a couple of receivers would have lasted just a little longer (especially James Jones) but it wasn't meant to be.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?

My squad: Huge hole at WR3 and beyond should be covered effectively with a tremendous trio at RB, strong QB pair, good defensive by committee trio and decent TE/K depth. Gore, Alexander and Green will average a ton of carries each week which leads to fantasy points on a consistent basis.
David Dodds: He doesn't have a lot of top-end talent but he built a team of depth that should score well throughout the season. His big concern is if the stable of players he stockpiled all average 10 points a week with nobody jumping out with big performances but he should be in the hunt at year's end.
LHUCKS: Tomlinson, Maroney, Gates should carry this team and his backup receivers was what I was hoping to finish with when I began this draft. He is potentially weak at QB and RB if injuries hit but he'll be in the running.

It was hard to pick three teams here as a number of them could also have made the grade (Chase, CalBear definitely were 3B and 3C)

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
Easy one. For me it is Larry Fitzgerald. I would have been better off letting somebody else have him for 30 and spend that money on three $10 receivers. I was hopeful to land some hidden talent but LHUCKS, etc at the end scooped them up.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

Ultimately I believe Ahman Green will be considered a steal at $21 by season end and being able to land Drew Brees for only $14 was outstanding.

Jerious Norwood at $19 was a potential steal as he'll see a lot of work this season

I believe Roddy White at $2 may end up a steal.

As far as overpriced goes, I think Marvin Harrison at $37 was a little high as were a number of other receivers including my own pick Larry Fitzgerald.

I guess the owners who scooped up Ron Dayne for $4 thinks he will play some this season. I would have scooped him up to backup Green but $4 for Dayne is too much.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?
Let's keep it as Best Ball advice as my strategy is very different in conventional leagues. It isn't like survivor where you need simply to build a team that isn't the worst each week. Instead you want to build a team that will be top-three on a consistent basis. That takes either a ton of depth that is capable of elevating or some stars that will see a lot of touches.

Don't take a ton of RBs: Focus instead on landing players capable of 25+ touches in a game. For example, my trio of Gore, Alexander and Green should be the focal point of their offenses and will get a ton of work. Touches usually translate into fantasy production.
Don't ignore the fringe positions (DEF, K, TE): This draft saw too many owners ignore the DEF and K spots. In a best ball league you want to build a team that will score on a consistent basis. Having a good defense/kicker paring will leap you ahead of many teams throughout the season.
Load up on WRs. Admittedly I didn't finish with the receiver core I wanted at the start of the draft but it is still a good idea to load up with tons of receivers hoping a few go off on any given week. Receivers tend to score inconsistently anyway and the more you have on the roster, the better potential your team will have.

Chase Stuart

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
No, I didn't. What happened was I saw great value at WR and just jumped on it. I really wanted Steve Smith, and was glad to get him. I thought Harrison and Owens just went for a lot cheaper than they should have. I think there's a certain value in dependable players, and it's hard to get more reliable than Smith/Harrison/Owens. They're 1-2-3 on my boards, and they have been the best fantasy WRs for years. Colston was also going for pretty cheap, but I admit that I'm high on him.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
Obviously I have the best group of WRs in the league. My strengths are that I believe I have the best starters in the league at 5 of the 9 real positions (sorry, Herman). I've got the top WR1 (Steve Smith), easily the top WR2 (Harrison), and the top WR3 (Owens) by a mile. Colston is also the best flex player in the league, and it's not all that close. Finally, the Bears D is the best D to have.

The weaknesses? Everything else. I need Cadillac Williams to stay healthy and be productive for me to compete. For me to win, I probably need Michael Turner to have some very solid weeks. I didn't mind shooting for the fences, though, because it's so hard to win a 14-team league. If LT goes down, I'll have the best team in the league. I also need my trio of mediocre tight ends to at least keep me afloat.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?
I like what Pasquino and Gray did a lot. Jeff should be above average at QB, by having a solid starter and two other decent QBs. He should be fine at RB, with three good guys. At WR, he's got a very impressive and deep group, and he managed to handle TE/PK/DT well. No weaknesses there. Clayton Gray has the best QBs in the league, and is in good enough shape at RB to survive. He did great at DT/PK/TE, and grabbed two stud WRs. It's really hard not to like David Dodds' depth. He'll be good at QB, and pretty decent at RB. His TE/PK/DT situation is excellent, and he's got 10 WRs. I'm not sure if he's got enough starpower to survive, but there's no way he finishes in the bottom half.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
Probably Marvin Harrison. I kept bidding him up thinking for sure the other bidder (I forget who it was now) was going to grab him. Wayne had already gone for $38, so bidding $37 on Harrison seemed safe. In a vacuum, I think Harrison is a good pick at $37; but he depleted my money too quickly, since I already had Owens and Smith. I was at a disadvantage the rest of the draft.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?
Larry Johnson for $47 was great. So was Gates for $23. I thought Shaun Alexander ($41) and Maroney ($37) went for too much. Marshawn Lynch and Adrian Peterson went for too much ($30 and $29), while Peyton Manning was a steal at $29. Brees for $14 was highway robbery.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?
Saving your money is easy to do in theory, but not in practice. It's important to remember that just because a guy is going for cheap doesn't mean he's going to be a good addition to your squad. I thought Harrison was a good buy, but it left me with very little cash. Another is to remember your league size - I forgot with 14 teams how crazy the bidding would be for the last few kickers and defenses. They would all go for $1 or $2, but if you are 20 picks away and light on cash you can get really hammered. Same with tight ends. Finally, make sure to try and bid people up. I did it several times and it almost always worked. Money is precious, and making someone spend an extra $2 or $4 helps you out a lot.

Captain Hook

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
For the most part, things went according to plan, although there was on minor shift. I had bought Favre for $7 - bestball is a sensational format for him and again this year he will be throwing a lot to an improved group of receivers. When McNabb stalled in the teens, I made two bids - my $16 bid which landed him would have been my last, but I was not interested in having him go cheap to someone, especially after he looked good in his first game. Since I got MJD at $36 which was six dollars under my budget for RB1, I was easily able to shift a few dollars from RB to QB, so it did not affect the rest of my auction.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
I really like this team and think it will compete for the championship.

Strengths are: depth, Depth and DEPTH. Lots of lineup and bye week flexibility. I also drafted a lot of "home run hitters" - not just a body, but someone who could make major contributions at least in some weeks.

QB - McNabb, Favre and Quinn should be upper third of the league easily, if not higher.
RB - Solid depth and good receivers although none of the expensive RB1s everyone would like to have.
WR - Again solid depth with excellent starters - Evans, Cotchery and Berrian
Kickers - best in the league and adding a third reduced the options of some other teams
DST - I think San Diego will be a Top DST this year and the Chiefs are a very good complement schedule wise.

No weaknesses, although TE is a question mark based on what happens with Vernon Davis and the 49ers. I think he grows more this year, along the lines of the last half of last season, and is easily a Top 10 TE - maybe better. I think Scaife takes a step up this year with UT teammate Vince Young and Matt Schobel could contribute in some weeks,especially if L.J. Smith has more hernia problems.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?
Dodds and Pasquino and I seem to have the best balance and depth and have many players who can put up big numbers throughout their team. Most other teams have big question marks.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
Even though I only paid two dollars for him, Matt Jones, WR, JAX would be the player I would throw back. He was a bad nomination made hurriedly because I had just gotten back into the draft room after being bounced for the second time and was somewhat frustrated.

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

Steals

Winslow for $8 - I think he is one of the top tight ends
DeShaun Foster for $7 - starting RB for a good team
Brees at $14 - with Palmer going for $23
Welker at $3 - solid value in PPR format

Overpriced

Westbrook at $50 - just because of injury and no-show concerns
Palmer at $23 - with Bulger, Brady, Brees and McNabb all going from 14-16
Deuce McAllister at $25 - would have to have a great year opposite the growing use of Reggie Bush
Reggie Wayne at $38 - 2nd most expensive receiver and only one dollar less that Smiff
Fitzgerald at $31 - obviously he doesn't believe Whisenhunt

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?

Don't get auction fever - stick to your budget/value guidelines
Don't be a "Hot bidder" - reacting to the player name. If you have a rankings sheet with or without prices you can see what tier the player is in and whether you are overpaying with similar players still available
WAIT for value and BUILD depth (at least in this format). In a normal league, I would spend more for my starters - 85-90%. Save two dollars for each nonstarter position to fill on your roster and always be able to trump the $1 nominations > if you are not strong on the player you are nominating in the end game, nominate for $1 - if you get him you added a dollar so you can go to $3 on best player left. If you want them nominate for $2 and force anyone with money left to use it.
HAVE FUN

Andy Hicks

Did you follow your auction strategy? If no, what happened that caused you to deviate? How did you approach the rest of the auction?
My strategies to winning were:

Avoid bye week problems -
I avoided bye week messes, with week 6, 7 and 10 the only weeks where I could potentially have more than 1 player off, and even then it shouldn't be greater than 3.
Don't bid for players you don't want.
I got stuck with a player I knew would ruin my strategy in Steven Jackson. I was worried about spending more than 20% on any given player who didn't fit my strategy and ended up spending 1/3 of my budget on Jackson. Don't get me wrong I think he's going to do well for me, but for his price I could have got 2 other quality RB starters and it limited my ability to take advantage of value later on. Jackson was one of the first players nominated, so at the time I thought his price was good value for money, but it made the rest of the night frustrating as value player after value player had to be let go.
Observe what others are doing.
I did a good job of this early, but at nomination spot 14 it was difficult to capitalize on throwing the right players out for nomination. By the 2nd half the draft moves too quickly and you spend most of your time figuring out how to fill the rest of your roster with a limited budget. Battling the software also took valuable time that I needed.

By taking Jackson my pre auction strategy went out the window quick, by then jumping on 4 good to very good wide receivers I feel I have the nucleus of a successful side. If any of my top 5 gets injured however, I'm toast. I did not have the funds to adequately get depth. Depth can be overrated in Survivor leagues, but you need at least 1 depth player at each position to ensure success.

Give a self-analysis of your team. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? What will need to happen for this team to compete?
I'm not happy with my quarterbacks. I was having difficulty with the software and ended up paying more for Jay Cutler than I would have normally. If I had a do over I would have grabbed Kitna, one other QB and then stuck with Brodie Croyle

At Running Back I'm totally relying on Steven Jackson to live up to his price. My only other back of consequence is DeShaun Foster. After him there is nothing but flyers, although I should have grabbed J.J Arrington to complement Marcel Shipp instead of Michael Clayton, Chris Baker or Mike Walker. After paying $66 for Jackson it was frustrating seeing other top backs go for the $30-40 price area.

I feel very confident in my top 4 wide receivers. I perhaps got 1 more than was strictly necessary and it limited my QB2, TE2 positions, but feel they all are solid quality receiving options. The backups are nothing but hit and hopes to fill out the roster

I like Jason Witten as my tight end, but would have liked another one of my top 13. Some of them went for really nice prices as well, I missed out on Chris Cooley thanks to the problems I had with the software. I couldn't afford to spend more than a couple of dollars on backups eventually, but I hope to get good production from Zach Miller and Chris Baker. Overall I am only satisfied rather than confident in this area.

At PK & D, the demand was heavy. With 14 participating a lot wanted 3 options, including me, but every time I nominated a PK or D someone would bid him up. I'm not paying $3 for a D or K if I can avoid it. Not really happy with my combos, but not much I could do.

For this team to succeed, I need my wide receivers and Steven Jackson to stay healthy and live up to or exceed their draft slots. I can't afford a weak link here as my depth is minimal at best.

Including your own team, what are the three teams to beat? Why do you think these teams will do well in this contest?
The squads I like best are in order:

Capt Hook - Even though I feel he overpaid for McNabb, he has 2 strong QBs. His RBs are serviceable rather than sexy, but he has the backup option for 3 good situations and only really needs 1 to hit to be successful. I like his starting WRs, not so much his depth. He has TE, PK & D squads that I envy. All up I think his starting squad is better than others. He even has depth in a position or 2 that others lack.
Jeff Haseley - I'm not a fan of Young or Romo, but together they should be a potent duo. Jeff has done really well at RB, with 2 top 12 backs and key backups in Hunt, Watson & Morency. His WRs will do the job and for the value buys he's got players with significant upside in Boston, Welker, Jones and Floyd. Not overawed by his tight ends, but they'll do and is good at PK & D. Overall Jeff has a good squad that shouldn't go near the elimination zone for awhile.
Jeff Pasquino - Has Kitna, which I'm jealous of, also has 2 other starters which should chip in with a big game or 2. At RB he'll have solid point scorers and I think he'll get more out of Droughns than he bargained for. At WR he has strong starters in T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Galloway and Burress with Deion Branch in support. At least 2 of his bench WRs (Henderson & Williams) will contribute significantly with key games. Crumpler should keep the TE spot warm and has serviceable PK & D squads. Overall he doesn't have a weak spot and again while some of the weaker squads fall by the wayside, Jeff will be in it up to his eyeballs.

If you could have one mulligan, what player would you throw back in the pool (for the price you paid)?
Without hesitation Steven Jackson, I could have got 3 or 4 other starter quality players to improve my squad and give key depth at each of the major positions. Blowing 1/3 of my cash early was something I regret. If I threw Jackson back I could have got the following squad assuming $1 more on players not in my squad would have sufficed, with some of my own players sprinkled in.

QB - Kitna 13, A Smith 6, B Croyle 1 = Total 20
RB - Maroney 38, M Lynch 31, Norwood 20, Dunn 9, Snelling 1 = 99
WR -R Moss 22, Coles 19, G Jennings 13, Hagan 1, Clayton 1, M Walker 1, M Jones 3 = 60
TE - Witten 8, McMichael 3, Baker 1 = 12
PK - Longwell 1, Bironas 1, Feely 2 = 4
D - Washington 1, San Fran 2, Any Other D 2 = 5

League-wide, what players were the steal of the auction? What players were overpriced the most?

There were quite a few steals, but the ones that caught my eye were:

The Portis/Betts combo for less than $45. I know there will be other productive combinations, but this one is the star attraction.
Larry Johnson for $47 was an absolute steal. 6 RBs went for a higher price.
Jon Kitna for $12 was a steal. 7 QBs went for a higher price and a lot of other QBs went in the same price area.
I like my Javon Walker selection as well. For $26 I got a WR1 while most went for over $30.

As for Overpriced players the ones that stood out were:

Steven Jackson for $66. Considering that Larry Johnson and most other top 10 backs went for $20 less, I really overpaid.
At quarterback I think Vince Young and Donovan McNabb went for a few more dollars than they should have.
At wide receiver, T.J Houshmandzadeh and Marvin Harrison's price was way more than I thought they were worth. $21 for Calvin Johnson was excessive, considering he went for more than proven commodities such as Coles, Burress, Ward, Santana Moss, Galloway, Darrell Jackson etc. He went for $1 less than Randy Moss.

Post-auction, what three tips can you give regarding creating a great team via an auction?

If you are going to spend big on Tomlinson, Steven Jackson or anyone else over $50, make sure you pre plan the move and figure out how you are going to spend the rest of your money wisely. If a player gets past $50 and you haven't planned it, don't jump in. If you plan to take a big name ensure that you have numerous game plan options available as a lot of players will exceed your available funds. Be realistic.
Give up if a player exceeds your budget. There are very few must have players in an auction that are worth overspending on. You almost need to keep your budget to $180 if it's a $200 league and have a contingency fund available to get the best bang for your buck.
Save your money and put players you don't want up for nomination early. You'll be surprised at the quality of player available in the middle to late rounds and with prudent spending, the less dominant positions such as TE, PK, D and even QB are ripe for the picking. While others have limited budget room, you can easily outbid and frustrate others easily.