“The Godfather Part II” is an incredible film. Every time you watch it, you enjoy the experience, all 3 hours and 20 minutes of it. It is more satisfying than, say, 90 quality minutes in “Stand By Me.” Both are good, one is better, and the better one happens to be much longer.
But you don’t always have three hours to spend watching a quality flick. Sometimes, you have to settle for a shorter, less enjoyable experience just because that is all the time you have to spare that day.
Not unlike auctions vs. snake fantasy draft formats. There is nothing inherently wrong with snake drafts. They are perfectly, um, fine. It still is fantasy football, so the fun factor has a high floor. Like “Stand By Me,” you’ll have a good time. It is a worthwhile exercise.
But it is no “Godfather Part II.” For that, you need an auction. The bidding format has a number of advantages, with the only disadvantage being an auction’s run time.
If you want a specific player, or even two or three, there is no way to guarantee you will be in position to obtain that player in snake drafts. In auctions, if you’re willing to pay the price, you can have any player you want, and often two or three of them.
A snake takes significant elements of strategy: Which players or positions do you target at which spot in the draft? How do you react to the selections of league members? How do you adjust when you plan is scrubbed by others’ picks?
But comparatively, that is checkers to an auction’s chess. In auctions, you need to know how much to spend on specific players and positions, if you want to go stars-and-scrubs or a balanced roster, how to pivot if plans go awry based on auction prices, when to stop bidding, who and when to nominate players you don’t want and when to start nominating those you do, which players to target when draft hits $1 range.
Auctions are the “Inception” to a snake draft’s Marvel superhero movie. Both are enjoyable, but one requires much more attention and eventual payoff for effort than does the other.
So if you have the time, if you appreciate more plot and strategy in your draft, it is worth your while to buy a ticket for an auction. Happy bidding.
