Auction Draft Plan 2026

• 16 Roster spots (QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, Flex, D/ST, K, 7 bench)

• QB $10 2 (Herbert, Purdy, TLaw, Goff, Shough, Stafford)

• RB $86 4 or 5(Gibbs/CMC, Tuten/Swift/Hendo, Rico/Brooks)

• WR $80 4 or 5(Maybe Puka/ARSB if no elite RB, McConkey, Waddle, Tate, Egbuka, Burden, Watson, Parker, Downs, Golden, Jayden Higgins)

• TE $35 (Bowers/Loveland, Kraft?, Sadiq/Ferguson)

• D/ST $2 (Texans/Rams/Chargers) maybe Titans for week 1 Chargers for weeks 1 and 2

• K $2 1 (Little, Aubrey)

Let’s talk about some auction draft strategy. I’m wanting to put my thoughts down on paper to be able to look back at the end of the season and see how my predictions turned out.

Last year, the auction went exactly how I wanted it to. And I won the league. Thanks to CMC, Colston Loveland, Trevor Lawrence, and Michael Wilson. Lawrence and Wilson were waiver wire pick ups. And Loveland was a draft pick who dropped and picked up several times.

I thought Brian Thomas Jr would be a stud last year, but that turned out to not be the case. Plus I decided to go early QB last year (which I normally don’t do) with Jayden Daniels. So I was scrambling to try to replace all of the draft capital spent on those players via waivers.

Strategy (12 team auction; $200 budget)

Running Back

Plan A is to get an RB (or two) who doesn’t come off the field. It’s so annoying watching the games and seeing the player on your team constantly come off the field. The most egregious example I have of this was Rico Dowdle a couple years ago in his last year on the Cowboys. Mike McCarthy had Rico in a strict drive by drive rotation with Ezekiel Elliott for the majority of the season. It hurt to watch the Cowboys go 3 and out on a Rico drive because I knew it meant he wouldn’t be in for the next drive and it would be at least 5-10 more minutes of game time until he got his next opportunity.

The guys who fit the bill as a workhorse in 2026 are in two tiers.

Tier 1

Gibbs and Bijan (almost a 1A tier)

Christian McCaffrey (CMC) and Jonathan Taylor (JT)

Tier 2

Ashton Jeanty, De’Von Achane, Chase Brown

Some other possible candidates to fit this bill this year are Kenneth Walker III (K9), Saquon Barkley, and Breece Hall. Maybe even James Cook because there’s been reports of him getting more work in the passing game in Bills training camp. K9 has never been a workhorse, but maybe that is what the Chiefs have brought him in to do. For Saquon, reports of Tank Bigsby mixing in with the 1s has me spooked. And Breece Hall, the Jets offense might be (probably will be) awful. And for James Cook, he has always been taken out on 3rd downs. I don’t see the Bills changing that this year

My ideal start at RB would be getting Gibbs for under $70. The top RB or two in my league have historically gone for over $70 though. But Gibbs will be a workhorse and potentially have a historic fantasy season in that Lions offense and a favorable schedule.

My next target will be CMC in the lows $60 range. CMC’s usage last season scares me in terms of repeatability. But on the flip side, what if he can do it again? The 49ers don’t have so many offensive weapons and I expect a large part of the offense to get funneled through CMC once again. If healthy, he’s in the RB1 conversation every week and probably finishes the season in the top 3. It’s so nice having CMC on your team and watching a 49ers game, knowing you’re going to see CMC touch the ball a million times. His efficiency took a dive last year, but with so many injuries on that offense last year, opposing teams were making it tough on CMC. I expect his usage to decline a little bit this year, but efficiency to pick back up. My league was afraid of CMC last year and I got him at a good value. We’ll see what happens this year.

I’m out Bijan at cost because I think the Falcons offense may be really bad with Tua at the helm.

If neither of those things happen, my next target will be Achane plus one of either Chase Brown or Jeanty. I was fading Achane because of Miami’s offense and just not wanting to watch Dolphins games, but I actually think the Dolphins offense may not be that bad. Plus Hafley’s comments about how many times Achane will get the ball has me back in on Achane. Jeanty is a similar bet. I don’t think the Raiders offense will be bad with Bowers back healthy, Cousins and Mendoza at QB, and Kubiak calling the offense. Chase Brown is just a safe bet on volume in a good offense. He’s involved in the pass game and one of the fastest players in the league

Wide Receiver

At WR, I like Puka the most of the top tier. But I don’t know if I’m willing to spend what it will take to get him because I don’t want to fall behind at RB. I like the second tier of WRs more than I do the tier of RBs after you get past Chase Brown.

Ladd McConkey is going to be the player I must get and would be willing to get in a bidding war for. I’m buying into the Mike McDaniel hype train. I think the Chargers offense will be humming and Ladd will be the biggest beneficiary.

Other WRs in this range I am targeting are Luther Burden, Emeka Egbuka, and DJ Moore.

My preference for how to play WR is to get one or two top RBs identified above. If only one of those RBs, then add Bowers at TE. And then add 2 to 3 of those WR names listed above.

And then getting one of the next tier of WR, either Christian Watson or Parker Washington. I’m really high on Watson after he got paid. Plus that division all puts up points and the Packers seem to be gearing up to pass the ball a little more this year.

Tight End

At TE, I really want to get either Brock Bowers or Colston Loveland. If Bowers goes in the low $30s, that would be my preferred choice. It depends on how my league views him and how much they bid him up.

Backup plan is Loveland. I think he could be the focal point of what projects to be a prolific Bears offense.

Quarterback

I’m looking to take QBs late this year and take two of them. My main targets are Justin Herbert, Jared Goff, Matt Stafford, Trevor Lawrence

Goff is the one I’d most like to have. Lions have a favorable schedule and a bad defense. They’ll need to score points.

Of the rest, I think I’d prefer Trevor Lawrence. But maybe Justin Herbert. With Lawrence, the Jags are going to put up points. I’m a Liam Coen believer. Plus TLaw was a big reason why I won the championship last year, so it would be nice to have him again. But also, I like watching Chargers games and would like to be able to cheer for Herbert. I’m undecided. But I’ll feel good having two out of those three

Sleepers

With a top TE like I want to get, I probably don’t need a backup on my bench. Just cross the bye week bridge when I get there. But this year, I’ll be targeting Terrance Ferguson. There’s been a lot of hype for him in the best ball community and it’s a chance to get a cheap piece of the Rams offense. Maybe trade fodder if he ends up being a hit.

WR: Parker Washington, Christian Watson, Cyrus Allen, Josh Downs, Stribling

RB: Jacorey Croskey-Merritt, Jonah Coleman, Chris Rodriguez, Jordan Mason, Tyjae Spears

Ideal draft

2 QB - Goff ($2), Lawrence ($3)

5 RB - Gibbs ($73), Swift ($20), JCM ($3), Coleman ($1) Rodriguez ($1)

5 WR - Ladd ($25), Burden ($15), Parker Washington ($10), Christian Watson ($6), Josh Downs ($5)

2 TE - Loveland ($25) T Ferguson ($1)

1 K - Cam Little ($2)

1 D/ST - Chargers ($2)

Back up plans

2 out of 3 of Chase Brown, Achane, Jeanty

Loveland. Going to come out of draft with either Bowers or Loveland

Puka (if reasonable) and pair with Loveland. Go for Jeanty in that case

Nico Collins if his value is reasonable. Willing to sub Burden-ish value for another lower value WR

Alec Pierce

Tuten