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Welcome to "Money Talks". The general purpose of this column will be to give you some advice for one of the more popular methods of adding new fantasy players each week – the Free Agency Acquisition Budget, or "FAAB". What this is in a nutshell is a budget of money that every team is given to bid on free agents each week, much like in an auction. Usually this is done via blind bids, meaning that no other owner knows how much you have bid on a given player – unless you announce your bid in some sort of a poker-like bluff move. Some leagues do reveal all bids after the bidding is closed and waivers are processed, while other leagues just show winning bids. It can be fun to see if several teams bid on a given player or if an owner spent a ton of money on a guy no one else even wanted.
Enough of that for now. I will give both general advice and also some weekly assistance for this advanced waiver process in this column. I hope you enjoy and get the player(s) you want every week. Here we go.
ASSUMPTIONS
As with anything in fantasy football, not all leagues are the same. Some are big, some are small. Such is the way with FAAB waivers. Some leagues use a big budget of $1,000 per owner or more, while others use $100 or less. I will assume $1,000 for the purposes of this article and let you, the reader, do the math to adjust to your league. Another difference is that in some leagues the FAAB process is the ONLY way to get new players. Other leagues have the FAAB process first and then allow free transactions for that week on any player not getting a bid (so you can cover your kicker's bye, for example, for free). I will assume that is NOT the case here and think that every transaction will cost you something. If it does not, great – but at least you know why I might say to grab a kicker now for a buck.
Now let's talk about bidding in general. For many more experienced leagues, round numbers are the kiss of death. Even older leagues (and owners) start to see bidding trends over time ("Jeff loves to end in a 7"), which can be dangerous when you are trying to outbid everyone. The natural assumption is to bid in large round numbers – please avoid that temptation. $53 vs. $50 may seem like a trivial difference, but many more people bid $50 instead of adding a few extra bucks that can change who wins.
Another generally accepted rule – do not be stingy early in the year. Sure it is nice to hold on to extra "cash" in case a stud RB goes down for the year, but look around your league and count how many NFL backups are even available on the waiver wire. Not many? Right. Go big early on players who seem to come out of nowhere, like Victor Cruz last year. Most fantasy studs appear on the scene in September instead of weeks later.
There is a "ying" to the "yang" of the last rule – which is to not excessively churn your roster. While it may not seem like much, but if you drop 5-10% of your bankroll each week on bench players that never see the light of day in your lineup, then you are just wasting money. Think about it this way – if you save for a rainy day, you can be prepared to go all out for when you need that money to go "all in" on a player you really want. Of course the trick is figuring out which player is worthy of such a big bid.
Last comment for now – it is far better to bid on a player a week or two early instead of a week late. That can be the difference between a $3 player and a $300 player. If you really want Adrian Peterson’s understudy, get him now before Peterson pulls that hammy and everyone gets in on the action.
Week 3 Comment: Another item to discuss – who to drop. Keep perspective on your team. If you are short on running backs, you probably want to cut a different position player to grab running back depth. To say that another way, if you are strong and deep already at wide receiver, a sixth or seventh wideout is very unlikely to help. Let that steer your cuts.
Week 4 Comment: Bye weeks are starting now, so teams are going to be more active on the waiver wire, especially with New England off in Week 4. Kickers and defenses will be added and dropped, so start looking ahead and you’re your lineups for the weeks where you will be short a starter or two. Depth is going to play a bigger part in the next several weeks, so do not be afraid to add players for a rainy day now instead of later.
Week 5 Comment: Bye weeks are here, so some of the best deals are both players on a bye week or coming off of one. For example, New England and Tennessee were both off last week. With the idea of "out of sight, out of mind", players on both teams could be bargain acquisitions – and this general trend will continue through Week 12.
Week 6 Comment: The fantasy regular season is nearly half over, so if you are sitting on some free agent money, it is probably time to buy some guys you might need – now or later. Even if a player is only startable for 2-3 games, that is a big percentage of the fantasy regular season. Shoot the lock off of that wallet.
Week 7 Comment: Not only is the (fantasy) season half over, injuries are starting to pile up. Once you can start to get past some bye weeks, depth on rosters will matter. Add players and handcuffs accordingly.
Running behind this week, so here are some early entries if you need to bid in the next few hours. Commentary to be added late Tuesday.
BIG BUCKS
Big Bucks are reserved for immediate starter potential players (QB1, RB1/2, WR1/2/3, Flex, TE1) in most league formats.
- Martavis Bryant, WR, Steelers ($427): I had hoped that Bryant would have a weaker game this week until Roethlisberger got back, but no such luck. Now he is one of the top guys to go get, but he is still worth the big bucks this week.
- James Starks, RB, Packers ($267): Something isn’t right with Eddie Lacy, and James Starks is seizing the opportunity with the Green Bay backfield. Hopefully if you own Lacy you already have Starks, but if not, you will have to pay a pretty penny for him now.
- Gary Barnidge, TE, Browns ($207, $273 in TE-PPR bonus leagues): If this guy is still available, correct that mistake and get him. Barnidge is arguably the best Brown to own today.
MEDIUM MONEY
Medium Money is reserved for players who could be bye week starters or that have upside potential on good matchups in most league formats.
- Brandon LaFell, WR, Patriots ($153): The New England wideout will be back soon, and Tom Brady cannot wait to start blowing up the rest of the league with another weapon.
- Stefon Diggs, WR, Vikings ($143): I mentioned the former Terp a few weeks ago, and I hope you grabbed him, as he just blew up on Sunday. If not, he will cost you – but he is worth it. Get him.
- Julius Thomas, TE, Jaguars ($137, $173 in TE-PPR bonus leagues): Blake Bortles must feel like a kid in a candy store. First Allen Robinson then Allen Hurns step up outside, and now his big tight end is healthy. Game on.
- Michael Floyd, WR, Cardinals ($127): Carson Palmer has a great problem – three great wide receivers and one ball. Aaron Rodgers figured it out, and Palmer will too.
- Ronnie Hillman, RB, Broncos ($126): Put me in the category of giving the Denver backfield to Hillman. Case closed. Go get him and forget about Anderson.
- Marvin Jones, WR, Bengals ($125): Andy Dalton is spreading the ball around and getting a lot of Bengals in the mix, and Jones is becoming a solid WR2 for the Bengals. The targets may not be consistent every week, but he offers WR3/flex value with WR2 upside.
- Joe Flacco, QB, Ravens ($124): Baltimore is a mess on offense and they seem to have forgotten about the running game. That said, Flacco is a solid veteran quarterback and a solid QB2 or bye week starting option.
- Rishard Matthews, WR, Dolphins ($103): Miami’s offense is not flashy, but Rishard Matthews is getting a consistent amount of targets and catches on a weekly basis. He could be a solid WR3/flex option during bye weeks.
- Riley Cooper, WR, Eagles ($88): The Eagles do spread the ball around, and Sam Bradford always seems to find a new way to throw an interception, but it also seems like he finds Riley Cooper in the end zone or deep at least once or twice a game. That makes him worth a pickup.
- Ben Watson, TE, Saints ($87, $103 in TE-PPR bonus leagues): In a surprising win for New Orleans last Thursday, Drew Brees looked consistently at his veteran tight end. Is this a sign of things to come? A Brees’ favorite target is always worth a roster spot, especially if you need a tight end.
CHUMP CHANGE
Chump Change is reserved for players who are relatively considered to be a good flier pick to stash on a fantasy bench in case he blows up over the next few weeks and becomes a potential immediate or spot starter.
- Landry Jones, QB, Steelers ($77): Michael Vick was yanked, and rightly so, and Ben Roethlisberger could be back soon. If Jones starts this week for Pittsburgh, however, he could be a solid Week 7 option against Kansas City, who has given up quite a bit of fantasy production to opposing quarterbacks this year.
- Quinton Patton, WR, 49ers ($67): Patton made some big grabs for Colin Kaepernick last week against Baltimore, and both players built some confidence after the good outing. Patton will not see consistent targets without some injuries for the 49ers.
- Lance Moore, WR, Lions ($55): Moore had a highlight reel catch for Detroit last week and operates the third option for a red hot Matthew Stafford. If Stafford stays hot (and if Eric Ebron remains out) then Moore might see more consistent targets.
- Bryan Walters, WR, Jaguars ($35): Who? This sleeper wide receiver was the third option after Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson at wide receiver, operating out of the slot and filling in when Robinson was out. Good idea to pick him up if you have room and want to back up either Hurns or Robinson.
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to pasquino@footballguys.com.