Auction: Nominating Handcuffs (1 Viewer)

[Anonymous Internet User]

We've all thought about doing it.

Being the guy in the back of the room with his feet higher than his head, that jerk who messes up everyone's draft plan by seemingly not being serious about who he nominates ...

Or is he really a diabolical schemester out to get the perfect team on the cheap ...

One of the tactics I always employ in a live auction is to nominate very early on a handcuff before the starter gets voted on. For instance, pretend this is 2005. No starter/handcuff combo is as coveted as Priest Holmes/Larry Johnson.

So, nominate Larry Johnson in round 1 before Priest Holmes.

More than likely, LJ fetches a higher price than expected and the betting strategy of everyone changes with respect to how they bet on Holmes and other top RBs. IE - Players hoping for a top 5 RB last year would have more limited options from the perceived elite, allowing you to push for your targets more strenuously.

This year, there seem to be some more handcuff situations where this might work: Denver RBs (as always), McAllister/Bush, Benson/TJ, DomDavis/Morency, etc.

So, do you approve of this technique? Does it backfire on you? Or are you the guy who hates the jerk that does this?

 

[GregR_2]

I don't think I've ever put a backup up for bid before the starter.

Is that really how it plays out? If I had to guess what would happen, I would think that yes, it might pump up the cost of the backup, but then it would depress the cost of the starter as people would be less inclined to spend as much if they know they won't have his backup.

Which I'm not clear how it is a good thing. If the backup's overspend was more than the underspend on the starter, you come out ahead because they lose money. But I'm not sure that would be the case, I'd think the starter might get discount by more.

And I'm not clear how it helps you in the manner you suggest. If auctioning LJ makes people think there are fewer elite backs left to be had, it does it less effectively than, say, actually auctioning off Priest so there are actually ARE fewer elite backs left.

I suppose it might pay off if you want Priest and don't care about LJ. But without having seen it in action before, I'm not seeing the likely benefit yet.

 

[The Ref]

Put up Chester Taylor last year so I could nab Lewis later on. Turns out Lewis was a crap pick up, but now I have a cheap keeper for this year.

In other words, in a keeper auction nabing the right handcuff can reap huge profits the following year (Jordan and Johnson come to mind).

 

[David Dodds]

This sounds intersesting, but I agree with Greg R in that it stops the aggressive bidding on the main star (so it's counter-productive at trying to squeeze dollars out). I think the better move is to nominate early the backup once someone has already overpaid for the starter. This makes both bad plays and drains cap from your competition.

 

[CalBear]

This sounds intersesting, but I agree with Greg R in that it stops the aggressive bidding on the main star (so it's counter-productive at trying to squeeze dollars out).

The idea would be to get the star+handcuff for less than you would have had to pay for them otherwise. I think it would have been effective with Holmes and LJ last year, but that was something of a special situation; either back was considered a fantasy stud, but the starter was considered an injury risk. So if you got LJ first, you might have been able to steal Priest for less than his real value, because people didn't want Priest without LJ. But what situations would that work with this year? Someone else having Maurice Morris or Michael Turner won't keep people from bidding on Alexander and LT, and who's the backup to LJ anyway?

 

[ConstruxBoy]

In my auction league, you can "franchise" one player to get a $5 discount on him. So if you know that the Priest Holmes franchise owner wanted LJ last year, you could nominate LJ first and see that owner overpay for him. Or if he loses LJ, then watch the LJ winner and Holmes franchise owner get in a bidding war for Holmes when he comes up. If done correctly, you can force someone to overpay for one or both.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

The idea would be to get the star+handcuff for less than you would have had to pay for them otherwise. I think it would have been effective with Holmes and LJ last year, but that was something of a special situation; either back was considered a fantasy stud, but the starter was considered an injury risk. So if you got LJ first, you might have been able to steal Priest for less than his real value, because people didn't want Priest without LJ.

But what situations would that work with this year? Someone else having Maurice Morris or Michael Turner won't keep people from bidding on Alexander and LT, and who's the backup to LJ anyway?

possiblyillon/Maroney

Foster/Williams

TJones/Benson

Rhodes/Addai

Gore/Barlow

Green/Gado

JJones/MBIII

 

[ConstruxBoy]

The idea would be to get the star+handcuff for less than you would have had to pay for them otherwise. I think it would have been effective with Holmes and LJ last year, but that was something of a special situation; either back was considered a fantasy stud, but the starter was considered an injury risk. So if you got LJ first, you might have been able to steal Priest for less than his real value, because people didn't want Priest without LJ.

But what situations would that work with this year? Someone else having Maurice Morris or Michael Turner won't keep people from bidding on Alexander and LT, and who's the backup to LJ anyway?

possiblyillon/Maroney

Foster/Williams

TJones/Benson

Rhodes/Addai

Gore/Barlow

Green/Gado

JJones/MBIII

Depends on your league and roster size, but given their rather lackluster RB performance in the past or predicted for this year, I can't imagine someone wanting both GB or SF RBs.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

The idea would be to get the star+handcuff for less than you would have had to pay for them otherwise. I think it would have been effective with Holmes and LJ last year, but that was something of a special situation; either back was considered a fantasy stud, but the starter was considered an injury risk. So if you got LJ first, you might have been able to steal Priest for less than his real value, because people didn't want Priest without LJ.

But what situations would that work with this year? Someone else having Maurice Morris or Michael Turner won't keep people from bidding on Alexander and LT, and who's the backup to LJ anyway?

possiblyillon/Maroney

Foster/Williams

TJones/Benson

Rhodes/Addai

Gore/Barlow

Green/Gado

JJones/MBIII

Depends on your league and roster size, but given their rather lackluster RB performance in the past or predicted for this year, I can't imagine someone wanting both GB or SF RBs.

I would happily take either combo if I could land both for about 5% of the cap.

 

[Warpig]

If you tried this tactic in my auction league you wouldn't hear anything but crickets and you'd be stuck with a guy that more than likely won't start, taking up a roster spot on your roster. Pretty much the same effect if you were to throw out a kicker at the beginning of the draft.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

The idea would be to get the star+handcuff for less than you would have had to pay for them otherwise. I think it would have been effective with Holmes and LJ last year, but that was something of a special situation; either back was considered a fantasy stud, but the starter was considered an injury risk. So if you got LJ first, you might have been able to steal Priest for less than his real value, because people didn't want Priest without LJ.

But what situations would that work with this year? Someone else having Maurice Morris or Michael Turner won't keep people from bidding on Alexander and LT, and who's the backup to LJ anyway?

possiblyillon/Maroney

Foster/Williams

TJones/Benson

Rhodes/Addai

Gore/Barlow

Green/Gado

JJones/MBIII

Depends on your league and roster size, but given their rather lackluster RB performance in the past or predicted for this year, I can't imagine someone wanting both GB or SF RBs.

I would happily take either combo if I could land both for about 5% of the cap.

Well, I guess the point here is getting them cheap whether in auction or draft. But isn't there a chance you would have to overspend or reach for one of them? If so, I don't think they would be worth it.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

The idea would be to get the star+handcuff for less than you would have had to pay for them otherwise. I think it would have been effective with Holmes and LJ last year, but that was something of a special situation; either back was considered a fantasy stud, but the starter was considered an injury risk. So if you got LJ first, you might have been able to steal Priest for less than his real value, because people didn't want Priest without LJ.

But what situations would that work with this year? Someone else having Maurice Morris or Michael Turner won't keep people from bidding on Alexander and LT, and who's the backup to LJ anyway?

possiblyillon/Maroney

Foster/Williams

TJones/Benson

Rhodes/Addai

Gore/Barlow

Green/Gado

JJones/MBIII

Depends on your league and roster size, but given their rather lackluster RB performance in the past or predicted for this year, I can't imagine someone wanting both GB or SF RBs.

I would happily take either combo if I could land both for about 5% of the cap.

Well, I guess the point here is getting them cheap whether in auction or draft. But isn't there a chance you would have to overspend or reach for one of them? If so, I don't think they would be worth it.

Well this is all assuming that people wouldnt want the starter if the handcuff was already gone, and that the handcuff would go under market value because he was thrown out first. I was mainly responding to your question about what combos may fit into this strategy.

 

[Warhogs]

A lot depends on roster size too as well as knowing owner tendencies. Many owners do not worry about handcuffing players.

I still like to spend my early nominations on guys I have very little interest in that I know will go for high money. In my league Randy Moss was a guy that fit this. I do not like spending a ton of maney on WR and this is a MN based league so I knew Moss would go higher than what I was willing to pay. Someone dropped 21% of their cap on him.

I also try to wait until the very end of the draft to nominate guys I really want. I really wanted Steve Smith last year but nobody nominated him. I waited and waited until he was thrown out and many teams were low on money. I got him for 5% of cap space.

Randy Moss 21%

Steve Smith 5%

It worked pretty well last year.

Note: I do not feel that more than about half the league is very shark-like. But it is a league amoung friends.

 

[ConstruxBoy]

The idea would be to get the star+handcuff for less than you would have had to pay for them otherwise. I think it would have been effective with Holmes and LJ last year, but that was something of a special situation; either back was considered a fantasy stud, but the starter was considered an injury risk. So if you got LJ first, you might have been able to steal Priest for less than his real value, because people didn't want Priest without LJ.

But what situations would that work with this year? Someone else having Maurice Morris or Michael Turner won't keep people from bidding on Alexander and LT, and who's the backup to LJ anyway?

possiblyillon/Maroney

Foster/Williams

TJones/Benson

Rhodes/Addai

Gore/Barlow

Green/Gado

JJones/MBIII

Depends on your league and roster size, but given their rather lackluster RB performance in the past or predicted for this year, I can't imagine someone wanting both GB or SF RBs.

I would happily take either combo if I could land both for about 5% of the cap.

Well, I guess the point here is getting them cheap whether in auction or draft. But isn't there a chance you would have to overspend or reach for one of them? If so, I don't think they would be worth it.

Well this is all assuming that people wouldnt want the starter if the handcuff was already gone, and that the handcuff would go under market value because he was thrown out first. I was mainly responding to your question about what combos may fit into this strategy.

True, although I do think that some of those combos, like SF, GB and maybe CHI, are close enough that some owners may feel that one guy will end up being the man while other owners feel like it will be the other guy. Those situations are tough because both guys may get bid up. Good list of combos though.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

True, although I do think that some of those combos, like SF, GB and maybe CHI, are close enough that some owners may feel that one guy will end up being the man while other owners feel like it will be the other guy. Those situations are tough because both guys may get bid up. Good list of combos though.

definitely the danger of this strategy if you want both - that someone will only want the second half of the combo, and youll be stuck with the less desirable half when they overpay. Because of this, i would only try this strategy by throwing out the RB you want more first.

 

[BigRed]

I'd be too worried about this backfiring and ending up paying more than I wanted for a player I might not esp want either, esp if I see good RB values falling through the cracks but my RB roster is already filled/nearly filled. Can be very effective, just a dicey call.....plus my league is unpredictable, which doesn't help.