[ad_1]
All summer long we’ve been trying to show you how to play fantasy football the right way, whatever that means. Obviously, this is a nuanced and changing discussion, and obviously everything is contextual. What works best for my home league might not work best for your home league. There is a lot of season to taste in this game.
But sometimes we need to take a step back and focus on how suboptimal thinking weaves its way through our decision trees. It’s our mission for today, to fix some of the leaks that might be holding you back.
Here are four common mistakes fantasy managers, even good ones, often make.
Not knowing the rules and parameters of the league
I know this sounds like a painfully obvious thing to list, but it’s a common mistake. I know, because I do it myself sometimes – and there’s no reason for it.
It’s no fun reading the rules or checking the settings, I understand. In some of the leagues I play in, the rulebook is long and unwieldy, tedious reading. And like so many fantasy managers, I’m in a ton of leagues (too many to count) so sometimes it gets tempting to cut that corner. But if you are not clear about the game you are playing, errors will follow for sure.
So let’s just make sure we work and plug this leak. And I’m not just talking about scoring rules, I’m talking about every league-related parameter. A common mistake related to this is that managers often do not know when free agency begins or when the waiver process begins. Thirty seconds in your online calendar today can cover you for a missed opportunity later.
Buy insurance when it doesn’t make sense
Modern baseball theory holds that sacrificial cavities are rarely a good idea. The game is dominated by pitch angles and home runs, so much so that giving up an out and moving a runner from first to second is rarely the right game. When you hand out donations to the other team, you are limiting your ability. score on the rise.
What does this have to do with fantasy football? Well, when you go to the effort of drafting the NFL saves of your main starters (especially during the flashback) you are basically just racking up the noise. You are limiting your potential. You play for the short round.
At the start of the fantastic year, I want you to play for the big round. I want you to try to build the most dynamic juggernaut possible. Sure, you can draft backup backers, reserve and hopeful scheming runners, but do it when it’s not tied to one of your main starters. Write up backups that profit if your opponents encounter bad luck. Build a list that can improve – not just survive – when chaos strikes.
I don’t want you to draft like your top picks are going to die out. I want you to draft like your top picks are the right ones. Stop playing it safe and hurting your ceiling.
Let’s be clear, the liner can make sense later in the year – just like the bunting can make sense in a baseball game, later in the day. The winning storyline narrows as we get late into a contest, and with that in mind, you act on it. If you smash the league in early November and want Tony Pollard to save your Ezekiel Elliott – because your roster doesn’t have bigger issues to tackle – I can sign. You’ve already put a crooked number on the board.
August is not the right way to think. Your goals should be much higher the day you start building your list.
Anchoring to previous opinions
Fantasy sports are basically a game of opinions, your best guess versus my best guess. The best fantasy managers will have plenty of takes. You compete for a few years, win a trophy or two, you gain confidence and even ego.
But remember, the NFL is a snowball league, the American sport with the greatest variation from year to year. It is also the fantastic sport where the context matters most. A companion running back could turn out to be fantastic royalty if he lands in the right offense. And a Hall of Fame member like Randy Moss can fall off the planet when he’s on a team like the 2006 Raiders.
I have a lot of strong players and strategic strategies today, just like I did a month ago, three months ago or six months ago. But everything is written in pencil. When the facts change, I’m ready to change my mind. And when nuances that I have overlooked are brought to my attention, I’m also ready to change my mind.
The goal is to determine the new season before your opponents. And with that in mind, you must be prepared to be selectively aggressive when opportunities arise. James Robinson wasn’t an undrafted 12 months ago, but he quickly got a Circle of Trust pass. Anyone who didn’t want to stay open-minded in this case paid a price.
Being paralyzed by fear
The paradox of choice is a fascinating concept, the idea that otherwise intelligent people can be overwhelmed by alternatives. It’s not uncommon for a fantasy manager to tell me that he prefers a list of minimal depth to a list of fantastic depth, because he doesn’t have to make tough choices every week. (Obviously, a full roster can often be swapped out for an even more dynamic set of starters, but let’s ignore that for now.)
Some managers are afraid to put a player on the bench because this player was expensive in the draft, or in free agency.
Some managers are afraid of making a trade or FA move because they are obsessed with how badly they will feel if the decision turns out to be wrong. The friendliest loss remains a pox in our decision-making world. Too many fantastic players will settle for the choice that causes them the least pain if it turns out to be wrong, regardless of whether that choice reflects what they see as the most likely winning scenario.
Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, amigas and amigos. Tricky decisions are like bluffs in poker – if you don’t have a blast on you often, you’re playing way too cautiously. Fortune favors the brave. If you insist on keeping both feet on the first base, you will never be able to steal the second.
I’m not suggesting you do goofy or crazy things just for the fun of it. I always want you to make good decisions, good decisions. But focus on the likelihood of your decision working and the potential benefits. Don’t be fooled by the regret you will feel if you make a mistake. This is not how successful people think.
This is the kind of article that could quickly turn into the Iliad. Finally, you have to click on send and click on publish. If you have any other ideas on this topic I’m all ears – catch me @scott_pianowski.
More from Yahoo Fantasy
[ad_2]
Source link