I’m just going to say this off the top… if you aren’t using the FAAB system – Free Agent Acquisition Budget – you’re doing it wrong (to quote Howard Bender). In this piece I will explain why that is, how to utilize FAAB in season, and how you should handle/attack waivers in fantasy football.
TRADITIONAL WAIVERS
In this setup you just head to the waiver-wire and add players in one of two ways; (1) First come first serve or (2) by waiver priority which is usually based on record of worst to first. It’s an extremely limited setup that leaves you completely at the mercy of that priority. You have no control since, ultimately, you can only add whatever player is available to you once your number is called. This is how waivers have traditional run forever.
If you’re stuck in such a banal system, here is my advice. First, get out of such a league. Second, if you can’t get out of it, be aggressive with your waiver priority. Getting a guy in Week 3, even if he’s a “B” level performer, is likely better for your team’s outlook than getting an “A” player in Week 12. Remember, you gotta get to the playoffs before you can worry about the playoffs. Passing on a guy who could help you for three months, hoping to get a better player who could help you for half as long, is simply fraught with danger.
FAAB
Unlikely waivers, FAAB allows you to actually employ strategy, and isn’t that really the goal of fantasy – reward those that are the best at their craft? Here’s how FAAB works.
You’re given an allotment of money to spend on players. Most leagues use $100 or $1,000 with my preference being $1,000 (the extra units simply help you to separate yourself from others in the bidding process). You can spend those allotted dollars anyway you like. You can blow 100 percent of it in Week 1. You can save the money until Week 8. You can spend a tenth of it each week through the first 10 weeks. It’s totally up to you. If you need that running back off waivers you can bid whatever you want to add the player. Need a kicker on the bye week – spend away. You like what you’re seeing from that wide out, add him. You’re free to bid for any player, in addition to everyone else in your league, whereas in the traditional setup you could only get that running back if you were the owner of waiver priority.
In the FAAB setup you have the freedom to add any player. Why wouldn’t you want to be in a league like that? I’m still waiting to hear a good explanation as to why traditional waivers are better than a FAAB setup. The best I’ve heard to date is that it allows owners to be lazy. I’m not down for that at all.
How can you conquer FAAB? Some advice from an expert, or at least me, who some consider to be an expert. Don’t know if I’m comfortable with that title, so perhaps we should say from “someone in the know.”
1 – Spending early is alright to do. Just like I mentioned above, getting a player that can fill a need you have, or simply adding a productive player early, is never a bad thing to do.
2 – If you can, try to get a handle on how people are handling waivers. If the league is a keeper, that data should be easy to find. If it’s not a keeper, try your best to take into account the data that your service provider gives in terms of FAAB spending. Also, make sure to follow our work at Fantasy Alarm where we, on a weekly basis, give our thoughts on how much to spend on all players on waivers.
3 – Don’t ever bid round numbers on players. Example. If you want a player and think he’s worth $10 bid $11, $12 or $13. If you think a player is worth $75 why not bid $79 or $81? People often throw out the obvious number. Don’t be obvious. You’ll benefit greatly from it.
4 – The bid amounts should be the largest on running backs that move from being a backup to a starter. Those players are likely the ones that you will add off waivers that make the biggest impact on your squad. Small bids should be used for kickers and defenses. Quarterbacks could be bid on a bit more aggressively, though it’s usually not a good idea to be super forward with those signal caller bids, unless you’re replacing an injured quarterback. Most of the time there isn’t much to gain with adding a non-drafted quarterback. Ditto for tight ends. However, those running backs – you want to be very aggressive there since runners that touch the ball 15-20 a week are extremely hard to come by.
5 – Always take a look at who was released the previous week. Sometimes players get dropped, often due to roster crunches during the bye weeks, that shouldn’t be on waivers.
6 – Speaking of bye weeks – always pay attention there. Ideally you would address a bye week situation the week before it matters. Example. There are six teams on bye’s in Week 8. If you wait until Week 8 to attack waivers you will be in a big battle with tons of teams of teams looking to fill potentially open spots in the starting lineup. It might be best to look forward to Week 8 back in Week 7. If you get a little proactive here, you can afford a stampede as teams scramble to fill those bye week blues.
7 – Finally, I would suggest the following as the best way to set up waivers in your league.
Use the FAAB system.
Use a $1,000 budget.
Run waivers Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
After waivers have run, teams should be then allowed to add anyone left on the waiver-wire for free. Of course, anyone playing Thursday night has to be added before the game takes place, and once the games begin Sunday the waiver-wire should be closed completely. In essence, waivers run with the FAAB process. After that process is run, all remaining players can be added until game time in a traditional first come, first serve manner. The need for this is because players mysteriously end up injured all the time and it’s not really fair for a team to be crushed because a team wasn’t honest with the health of a player. Most leagues don’t employ this final piece, but given all the uncertainty with the health of players, it seems pretty fair to me.
Know your league rules and follow the advice above. That should get you to a point where you should feel very comfortable with your waiver-wire process.