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How I Did Okay In The Steak League Auction

Usually, I title this "How I Botched the Steak League Auction," and then go on to do well, but last year I really did botch it and missed out on buying double steaks by only one point. (Thankfully Josh Ross was in the league.) This year, I did some things well and some things poorly. For some background, it's a 14-team, 1-QB, 2-RB, 3-WR, 1-TE, 1-FLEX, non-PPR league with three IDPs. Here are the results:

No.SchoenkePos$No.MartinezPos$No.Siegrist$
16Davin CookRB$448Todd GurleyRB$383Andrew LuckQB$9
28Odell BeckhamWR$4624Joe MixonRB$4329George KittleTE$27
31David MontgomeryRB$2740Landon CollinsS$345Tyreek HillWR$47
84Lamar JacksonQB$951Luke KuechlyLB$246JuJu Smith-SchusterWR$48
92Jared CookTE$960J.J. WattDE$580James WhiteRB$7
95DJ MooreWR$2567Julian EdelmanWR$2085Tony PollardRB$6
114Tarik CohenRB$578Chris sonRB$30101DeMarcus LawrenceDE$1
121Damon HarrisonDT$189Brandin CooksWR$27105Justin JacksonRB$4
127Latavius MurrayRB$10106Vance McDonaldTE$7119Kenyan DrakeRB$12
132Robby AndersonWR$12148Marvin JonesWR$6123Calvin RidleyWR$24
135Harrison SmithS$1152Larry FitzgeraldWR$2129Demario DavisLB$1
177Darwin ThompsonRB$6155Ben RoethlisbergerQB$4156Geronimo AllisonWR$4
191C.J. MosleyLB$1162Jaylen SamuelsRB$6157Dak PrescottQB$1
205Rashard HigginsWR$1176Robbie GouldK$1161Matt BreidaRB$6
218Quincy EnunwaWR$1204Dion LewisRB$3171Jake ElliottK$1
229Chase EdmondsRB$1209Marquise GoodwinWR$2199Kam ChancellorS$1
234Adam VinatieriK$1228Giovani BernardRB$1213Qadree OllisonRB$1
No.DoriaPos$No.LissPos$No.EricksonPos$
4Stephen GostkowskiK$22Melvin GordonRB$249Darius LeonardLB$5
18Drew BreesQB$317Travis KelceTE$3912Justin TuckerK$3
41James ConnerRB$4619Harrison ButkerK$215Budda BakerS$2
54Lavonte DavidLB$220Deshaun WatsonQB$1826Zach ErtzTE$27
56Davante AdamsWR$4532Ezekiel ElliottRB$5534Le'Veon BellRB$47
65A.J. GreenWR$1468Aaron DonaldDT$352Derrick HenryRB$30
73Bradley ChubbDE$296Kwon AlexanderLB$162Cam NewtonQB$9
76Tom BradyQB$4124Keanu NealS$172Alshon JefferyWR$14
81Tyler LockettWR$22126Darrell HendersonRB$886Chris GodwinWR$27
102Lamar MillerRB$9138Dede WestbrookWR$1197Sony MichelRB$21
113Robert WoodsWR$27140Duke JohnsonRB$11107Cameron JordanDE$2
115Derrius GuiceRB$12141Kyler MurrayQB$7145Emmanuel SandersWR$7
116David NjokuTE$6160John BrownWR$4197Keke CouteeWR$2
130Shawn WilliamsS$1164Dante PettisWR$5211Donte MoncriefWR$1
144Kareem HuntRB$3179Marquez Valdes-ScantlingWR$7224Damien HarrisRB$1
186Greg OlsenTE$1180Deebo SamuelWR$3231DJ CharkWR$1
214Parris CampbellWR$1221Terry McLaurinWR$1236Mohamed SanuWR$1
No.SchulerPos$No.IlkPos$No.ThornburyPos$
11Greg ZuerleinK$327Alvin KamaraRB$607David JohnsonRB$56
14Saquon BarkleyRB$6648Aaron RodgersQB$1137Bobby WagnerLB$5
23Leighton Vander EschLB$350Mike EvansWR$4244Russell WilsonQB$10
42Leonard FournetteRB$4158Blake MartinezLB$247Michael ThomasWR$44
63Myles GarrettDE$370Aaron JonesRB$3666Keenan AllenWR$34
64T.Y. HiltonWR$31104Cooper KuppWR$1383Mark IngramRB$31
71Evan EngramTE$17137Jarvis LandryWR$12122Trey FlowersDE$1
90Carson WentzQB$6142Kevin ByardS$1151DK MetcalfWR$4
128Jordan PoyerS$2165Courtland SuttonWR$5190Adrian PetersonRB$4
134Christian KirkWR$12169Carlos HydeRB$5192Mecole HardmanWR$2
146Len McCoyRB$5170Akiem HicksDT$1198Tre'Quan SmithWR$2
150JacksonWR$5175Jordan HowardRB$6202Andy IsabellaWR$2
174Mitchell TrubiskyQB$1184Trey BurtonTE$1219Ito SmithRB$1
206N'Keal HarryWR$2200Devin FunchessWR$2230Jason MyersK$1
216DeVante ParkerWR$1212Willie SneadWR$1235Antoine BetheaS$1
227Mike DavisRB$1225Jimmy GaroppoloQB$1237Philip RiversQB$1
233T.J. HockensonTE$1232Matt PraterK$1238Kyle RudolphTE$1
No.RossPos$No.HochbergPos$No.JenstadPos$
13Antonio BrownWR$305Sam DarnoldQB$321Nick ChubbRB$52
25Wil LutzK$210Christian McCaffreyRB$5257O.J. HowardTE$17
36Josh JacobsRB$4622Ka'imi FairbairnK$274Devonta FreemanRB$31
39Hunter HenryTE$1533John JohnsonS$282Jaylon SmithLB$2
43Joey BosaDE$559Julio JonesWR$50108DeForest BucknerDT$2
53Roquan SmithLB$261Tremaine EdmundsLB$2111Kenny GolladayWR$28
79Amari CooperWR$3088Khalil MackDE$3118Sterling ShepardWR$17
91Austin EkelerRB$1193Stefon DiggsWR$30120Will Fuller VWR$15
98Tevin ColemanRB$23103Kalen BallageRB$8139Justin ReidS$1
99Matt RyanQB$7117Mark AndrewsTE$6143Jared GoffQB$5
110Jamal AdamsS$3131Sammy WatkinsWR$9153Devin SingletaryRB$11
112Miles SandersRB$14136Allen RobinsonWR$22166Curtis SamuelWR$10
178James WashingtonWR$4159Kirk CousinsQB$1167Jameis WinstonQB$3
193Golden TateWR$3183Jamison CrowderWR$3181Mason CrosbyK$1
207Jerick McKinnonRB$2201Justice HillRB$2188Anthony MillerWR$2
217Nyheim HinesRB$2215David MooreWR$2208C.J. AndersonRB$2
220Adam HumphriesWR$1226Delanie WalkerTE$3222Jamaal WilliamsRB$1
No.BartelPos$No.CritesPos$
1Josh GordonWR$106Patrick MahomesQB$29
30Baker MayfieldQB$1149Marlon MackRB$37
35Kerryon JohnsonRB$4355Damien WilliamsRB$38
38DeAndre HopkinsWR$5469Adam ThielenWR$35
77Danielle HunterDE$275llip LindsayRB$17
87Mike WilliamsWR$2694Calais CampbellDE$2
100Rashaad PennyRB$13109Tyler BoydWR$17
125Royce FreemanRB$11149Corey DavisWR$10
133Deion JonesLB$1154Malcolm BrownRB$1
147Eric EbronTE$3158Austin HooperTE$2
168Michael GallupWR$3163Cory LittletonLB$2
172Tyrell WilliamsWR$7182Tyrann MathieuS$1
173Ronald JonesRB$7194Marquise BrownWR$2
185Derwin JamesS$2195Alexander MattisonRB$3
187Peyton BarberRB$5196Kenny StillsWR$2
189Jordan ReedTE$1210Josh AllenQB$1
203Mike BadgleyK$1223Brett MaherK$1

You can see from the "No." field the order in which the players were thrown out. I bought a heavily discounted Melvin Gordon for $24, a slightly cheap Travis Kelce at $39 (caught price-enforcing to be honest) and a kicker on the best offense in the league. So far so good, until for God knows what reason I went $18 on Deshaun Watson. Watson is a great player, especially in fantasy, but QBs are so cheap in this format, $18 was about $6 too much. I just flat-put forgot you could get Carson Wentz for $6 or Dak Prescott for $1.

After that I doubled down on risk with Zeke Elliott at $55. Given Saquon Barkley went for $66, and McCaffrey and Kamara are more PPR dependent, it was a fair enough discount. The problem with going big on two holdouts is the upside of winning this league - about $200 - is less than the downside of finishing last and double-buying steaks at dinner - about $300.

After Elliott, I felt I did a good job saving my money for quality backups with upside like Darrell Henderson and Duke Johnson, and managing to fill in at receiver with players likely to be targeted by their teams - Dede Westbrook, Dante Petttis, John Brown and Terry McLaurin. (I also have Deebo Samuel in case Pettis isn't the guy, and threw $7 at Marquez Valdes-Scantling who could be the No. 2 in Green Bay.

Probably the oddest buy I had was Kyler Murray for $7 when I already had Watson and could have used another WR or backed up Elliott or Gordon with the money instead. He's my No. 8 QB right now, but his 80th percentile season is probably QB2, and his 90th, QB1. No one else in NFL history has 800 yards rushing/600-pass-attempt upside, so I took him for the hell of it. But I can't play both him and Watson, and it's almost impossible to trade a QB in a 1-QB league.

Roster By Position:

QB: Deshaun Watson/Kyler Murray

RB: Ezekiel Elliott/Melvin Gordon/Darrell Henderson/Duke Johnson

WR: Dede Westbrook/John Brown/Dante Pettis/Marquez Valdes-Scantling/Terry McLaurin/Deebo Samuel

TE: Travis Kelce

K: Harrison Butker

DL: Aaron Donald

LB: Kwon Alexander

DB: Keanu Neal