Prepare Thyself: Week Nine
Okay, it’s the halfway point of the season, so I am definitely taking a break from the standard Prepare Thyself. Instead, I offer you the three biggest in-season fantasy football myths. Usually we talk about draft myths or off-season myths. So, really, this is a totally interesting and enlightening piece of work. In fact, it’s not even work. It’s art. If I knew HTML beyond the basics, I’d put a nifty frame around this whole shebang. Ahem.
Myth No. 1
I’m 0-8, 1-7, or 2-6 so my season is over. – This is really the biggest travesty in fantasy football. Yes, every year, some teams struggle. They get behind because of poor play, injuries, or just plain ol’ bad luck. But instead of puling out all the stops, some owners throw in the towel. My best argument against this comes with a story. Stop rolling your eyes, faithful readers! My stories are entertaining and pertinent!
Anyway, back in 2005, I drafted a shoddy team in my expert league. I had pretty good quarterback depth, with Kurt Warner serving as my backup. Other than that, I had nothing. Come Week Five, I was 1-4. I decided to go for a complete overhaul. I traded away Brett Favre for Larry Fitzgerald because the Fitz owner had great wide out depth, but no quarterback to speak of. I picked up some guy named Samkon Gado from waivers because there was a wisp of a hope he could start for the Packers.
I lost the following week because Fitz was on bye and I didn’t even have enough wide receivers to start anyone. But after that, things started to turn around. I finished the year on a 5-2 run to wind up at 6-7 and just a game out of a playoff spot. I’ve won fantasy titles. I’ve set scoring records. But that was my proudest moment as a fantasy owner. And, as karma would have it, I went ahead and dominated the league the following season behind LaDainian Tomlinson and Frank Gore.
But, the moral of the story: Never give up! Even if your only role is to be a spoiler, well, go for the gusto! Make some risky moves. I command it.
Myth No. 2
Only do a trade if it clearly benefits me and doesn’t help anyone else. – There’s absolutely nothing wrong with trying to get the best possible trade to help your squad. If it ain’t collusion and you pull it off, more power to you. If, however, you play in a league with competent opponents, that opportunity may not present itself all the time. Instead, you might have to (gasp!) part with value to get better value.
For example, let’s say you have Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, but you need to upgrade your running back slot. Trading Rodgers for, say, Thomas Jones or Maurice Jones-Drew might seem weak. But depending on your need, it might be worth it. At the end of the day, you want to put out the best team possible, regardless of what it does for your opponents, (The only time this may not be entirely true is if your have the best team in the league and then it might make sense to take more care to not let others catch up to you).
Myth No. 3
The best team wins the title – Frankly, I’ve found that the best team often doesn’t win the title. In fact, I would say at least half of the time, a weaker team goes on a nice run and gets some lucky post-season wins. Hey, it happens. If you put your team into the playoffs, that’s the best you can do. Anything after that is gravy.
So good luck this week and remember to not be taken in by the holy trinity of fantasy football myths.
