Fantasy Football

[Tailgate]

A quick forum search didn't yield any major threads about FF, so here I am...
Neighborhood guys bet a buck or two on just about everything, including dart night...makes it fun. I've joined the FF league having never played the game. I know from observing the people I used to wo*k with that it can be addictive and time consuming.. but we're all retired so who cares?

I got a quick primer from one of the flock, but it is, frankly, a little overwhelming in the level of detail I need to get up to speed on for the upcoming draft.

Are there any FF players here? Any recommendations on where to start? I've been told to start mock drafting to get the hang of it.

Looks like it's going to be fun...it's a big league and 1st place takes home 1k.

 

[SoReady]

I was invited to play for the first time last year. I think the key is to not over analyze it too much. Some of the people (there were guys and gals) were really into it and had been playing for years.

I spent a little bit of time setting my roster once a week, but did need to keep an eye out for players that may end up injured, so adjustments would be needed. Other than that I didn't do a whole lot of work at it.

And the amazing thing is that I won! The pot for the winner was only $150, so I would expect $1k pot would draw an even more serious crowd.

Good luck. (I have played Fanatasy Hocky for about 5 years and love that!)

 

[GrayHare]

You can learn a lot about the players and teams via the fantasy games, enough to see winning consistently, as in the real sport, is not easy. The longer the season or game the less it is about luck. Full-season fantasy baseball, which runs for months and incorporates stats from thousands of games, requires the most skill. Daily fantasy of any sport (one day's worth of stats) involves much more luck than skill. Some people like playing for money, others prefer the free games. Contests with fees, entry and otherwise, IMO emphasize competition over fun.

 

[nuke_diver]

I've been playing FF for years. It depends on the league you are in. Some do live drafting some are auto drafts. Live drafting takes a bit more work IMO but at least you don't necessarily get stuck with someone you don't want. Some leagues are relatively small and therefore if someone gets injured you can easily pick up a replacement. The money league I'm in is 16 players so if you lose your QB you are often in a world of hurt because all of the starters are already on all of the teams...even the bad ones

All of it comes down to luck. Did you start the guy that had the monster game or sit him thinking the matchup was bad? People that do well usually have a start QB, RB and one or 2 wideouts that stay healthy and they don't have to think about starting them or not

 

[timo2]

I used to play in a small office league, but after a few years it got really cutthroat so I quit. People get really crazy in competitive situations.

 

[ownyourfuture]

All of it comes down to luck.

Disagree. I've been playing in 2 leagues consisting of coworkers, (well they're actually ex coworkers now since 2005.

Although they may start slow, every year, the same three or four teams end up on top.

Luck, good/bad certainly does play a part, but nowhere near the amount you claim.

 

[Chris7]

This is my 3rd year. I got 2nd my 1st year and 1st last year. I just used primarily the Yahoo ranking lists. Really didn't go too crazy. No $ is riding on our league. One thing to be aware of is bye weeks. Try to get decent players that don't have the same bye weeks. I messed up with a few of my trades.

Everyone has a different style and what they want to try to use their initial round picks on. I try to go a little against the grain which allows me to pick up higher ranking kickers and TEs, of course my order for picking has been in the middle or at the end, too. They have served me well the last couple of years. Most people go for Wide receivers and running backs.

There is an element of luck after all, I'm a newbie and have come out well in my first two years, really knowing nothing about the individual players, but I picked my team based on ranking lists and would pick as high as I could and then made changes as necessary during the season, again looking for undrafted, good players.

cd :O)

 

[harley]

I started playing about 25 years ago, back when we had to wait for the Monday Washington Post to get the box scores so we could figure out the scoring. Now it's amazing, with real time scoring updates, stat tracking, and game reports being automatically generated. Still loads of fun.

I don't worry too much about the draft. Usually the cheat sheets available on the websites are pretty valuable, and then you just make note of particular players you rank ahead or behind their position on the sheets. It's fun to read the drafting strategy articles, but I pretty much always go with the best player available when it's my turn. Then after the 7th or 8th round I load up on backup running backs and wait for somebody's starter to get hurt. I tend to stream kickers and defenses, picking someone up who has a few weeks of good matchups.

I really love FF, and it has carried me through years of not having a team to root for. At least if I could root for or against particular players it gave me a reason to watch the games. Our league isn't that expensive, ~$120/yr. Over the years I'm probably up a few dollars, but I'm not in it for the money.

 

[nuke_diver]

Luck, good/bad certainly does play a part, but nowhere near the amount you claim.

I disagree. Luck is a huge part of it since you cannot do anything to control the outcome of a give player (his performance or his ability to avoid injury). Therefore that in my view is just luck not skill. If for example you have Cam Newton and Drew Brees on your team and you start Newton and he has 30 FF pts you might feel pretty smug until Brees goes for 50 that day. Oh you lose by 10 because your opponent had AJ Green and Dalton and they hooked up for 6 TD between the 2 of them. Luck or skill? And if you play you know these kinds of things do happen

 

[nash031]

Luck is part of it, but you can overcome bad luck with good in-season management and scouring the waiver wire (or making a smart trade). My first pick last season was Eddy Lacy, my second pick was Alfred Morris. Neither of those was even in my starting lineup at the midway point through the year, yet I still finished third, made the playoffs, and lost to the eventual champion.

I play every year, probably 12 years or so running, and I've only not made the playoffs in my various leagues once. So, either I've been really lucky, or I've been able to draft well and manage my teams well enough to be successful. So, I think luck factors in to who wins in the playoffs, but I think overall getting to the playoffs involves more skill (work) than luck, though luck has a say as with a lot of things.

I'm happy with my two teams (one live draft "money" league with some friends and one "for fun" list draft league with family) this year. My "money" team is built with strength at RB and WR weaker at QB and TE as I normally do (and have been successful with for a long time). My "family fun" team is strong at QB (Newton) and TE (Gronk) and a bit weak at WR, so I'll have fun managing a different style of team this season.

I think I have more fun with my fantasy teams and my against-the-spread game picking "league" than I do actually watching my favorite teams during football season!

 

[AlbaCrush]

I've been playing FF football for years. I find that playing FF gives you a different perspective on the game. You watch and/or check crappy games to root for a player on your team.

I'm in a keeper PPR 10 team league and we just had our draft Tuesday. Unfortunately, L. Bell is on suspension for 3 weeks and I have to get by with R. Mathews as my second RB.

My starting line-up for week 1:

QB: R. Wilson
RB: D.Martin
RB: R. Mathews
WR: K. Allen
WR: T. Hilton
TE: D. Walker
Flex: M. Floyd
K: Gostkowski
DST: Cardinals

 

[ownyourfuture]

I disagree. Luck is a huge part of it since you cannot do anything to control the outcome of a give player (his performance or his ability to avoid injury). Therefore that in my view is just luck not skill. If for example you have Cam Newton and Drew Brees on your team and you start Newton and he has 30 FF pts you might feel pretty smug until Brees goes for 50 that day. Oh you lose by 10 because your opponent had AJ Green and Dalton and they hooked up for 6 TD between the 2 of them. Luck or skill? And if you play you know these kinds of things do happen

First off, the odds of one team having both Cam Newton & Drew Brees in a league that only plays one quarterback a week, would probably mean there's a bunch of clueless team owners.

Secondly, every team, no matter how stacked they are, is going to run into one of those weeks you mentioned. The one where the team you're playing against, has both AJ Green & Andy Dalton & fate decides that they have the best day of their entire careers.


Anyway, it's been raining all day and there's nothing to do outside, so I'll engage further
Let's bring in another variable to fantasy football.
We'll call it 'effort'

Warning: I'm going to have to get anal here

In 2007, I was playing for the championship in both leagues. In one league, I was completely comfortable with my lineup. In the other league however, I had one position that was just driving me nuts. It was a wr, & the player I had slotted in was named Lee Evans, who played for the Buffalo Bills.

He was one of those players that would drive you nuts. He'd have three dream matchup's & end up with an average stat line of about 3 catches & 31 yards a game. Then, the following week he'd have an incredibly tough matchup, you'd bench him, & he'd finish with 8 catches, 160 yds & 2 touchdowns

I checked my bench....nothing. Then I scoured the waiver wire, nothing. So the next morning (Sunday) I decided to go over pregame articles for all the games. I had done the same thing in the past, & occasionally I'd come across something that I'd missed/overlooked.

I started reading the article for the New York Jets @ the Tennessee Titans
Kellen Clemens, the quarterback who the Jets had drafted the previous year and had taken over the starting role from Chad Pennington earlier in the year, was injured, & Pennington would be getting the start.

The lightbulb flickered ever so lightly.
Then I remembered that Jericho Cotchery, one of the Jets wide receivers, was always Pennington's favorite target. The lightbulb began to glow.

Since I've been an NFL fanatic my I entire life, I also knew that the Tennessee Titans were next to impossible to run on. The lightbulb exploded!

Chad Pennington back @ starting quarterback, Jericho Cotchery, his favorite wide receiver in the lineup, & playing on the road against a team that you simply couldn't run on. I went to the waiver wire, dropped Lee & grabbed Jericho.

The rest as they say, is history. The Jets only had 68 total rushing yards. Pennington had an incredible day. (at least completion percentage wise)
26 for 32 264 yds One td & 2 ints
The Jets only scored one touchdown & lost 10-6

Care to guess who had that touchdown ?
Jericho finished with 8 catches 152 yards & the lone Jets touchdown.
21 Fantasy Points
Evans finished with 3 catches 43 yards & a td.
10 Fantasy points

I won the championship by 11 points.
Luck my behind

 

[ownyourfuture]

but I pretty much always go with the best player available when it's my turn

I do the same thing.

 

[ownyourfuture]

My first pick last season was Eddy Lacy, my second pick was Alfred Morris. Neither of those was even in my starting lineup at the midway point through the year, yet I still finished third, made the playoffs, and lost to the eventual champion.

This is as good a post as I've seen proving that it's not all luck. Not even close.
You either had an incredible team/bench, and/or made some very astute waiver wire pick ups later. That's not luck!

 

[ownyourfuture]

You watch and/or check crappy games to root for a player on your team.

And that's exactly why the NFL loves FF

I'm in a keeper PPR 10 team league and we just had our draft Tuesday. Unfortunately, L. Bell is on suspension for 3 weeks and I have to get by with R. Mathews as my second RB.

My starting line-up for week 1:

QB: R. Wilson
RB: D.Martin
RB: R. Mathews
WR: K. Allen
WR: T. Hilton
TE: D. Walker
Flex: M. Floyd
K: Gostkowski
DST: Cardinals

Once Bell serves the suspension, your team is going to go from very good, to great.
Of course you don't show your bench players, but I say the only weakness could be in your wide receivers.
If the Chargers defense isn't improved this year, and they're again playing from behind in lots of games, K. Allen could be a monster.

Which would be great for you. With T Hilton, I suppose it just depends on whether or not Andrew luck can stay healthy.

A very impressive team.
Good Luck

Almost forgot: Do you have a thing for Jessica Alba ?
If that's the case, I say you have very good taste!

 

[nash031]

This is as good a post as I've seen proving that it's not all luck. Not even close.

You either had an incredible team/bench, and/or made some very astute waiver wire pick ups later. That's not luck!

A little of both. I picked Todd Gurley in the fifth round coming off of injury, so then I had RBBC for my RB2 quite a bit with guys like Dion Lewis, Duke Johnson, etc. AJ Green and Delanie Walker gave stability at their positions, and my rent a defense strategy worked well enough.

I had some bad weeks, and led the league in add/drops... I've had some seasons where I make few moves because my draft works out, but definitely not last season!

I think luck can factor in in individual games, but there is a reason some players are consistently good and others aren't, and it's not just luck. Conversely, I've lost leagues when Jamaal Charles or Cam Newton goes for 50 in the semis too...

Poker would be a good comparison in that regard.

 

[harley]

Speaking of free agent picks, I just figured out when I started playing fantasy football. It was 1988, because I remember I picked up a couple of relatively unknown free agent rookies during that year, Michael Irvin and Sterling Sharpe, who helped me win the championship. After the internet came along it got tougher to outmaneuver people that way.

 

[Hamlet]

A little of both. I picked Todd Gurley in the fifth round coming off of injury, so then I had RBBC for my RB2 quite a bit with guys like Dion Lewis, Duke Johnson, etc. AJ Green and Delanie Walker gave stability at their positions, and my rent a defense strategy worked well enough.

I had some bad weeks, and led the league in add/drops... I've had some seasons where I make few moves because my draft works out, but definitely not last season!

I think luck can factor in in individual games, but there is a reason some players are consistently good and others aren't, and it's not just luck. Conversely, I've lost leagues when Jamaal Charles or Cam Newton goes for 50 in the semis too...

Poker would be a good comparison in that regard.

Poker is a good comparison. On any given night, luck rules poker. However, if you play every night for a month, it is reasonably likely that the good players will have won money and the bad players will have lost money. It's not guarrenteed, as cards can run bad or good for much longer than most people would believe, but it is likely.

Likewise, in any one league on any one week, luck dominates. If you play four leagues for 13 weeks, skill will matter in your total results, especially if you avoid getting the same early round picks in multiple leagues. That simply means you have more 3 win weeks than 1 win weeks. At the end of the season, a good player will be in the playoffs in three of the leagues while a bad player only make it in one.