I have a theory that I've never actually tried in drafts, but have been thinking about implementing this year.
I'm generally in favor of streaming QBs, DSTs and kickers (less so TEs, mostly because of the agita from trying to guess TE performance). In the case of Ds and Ks, unless I truly hit the jackpot (Jags D, Zuerlein last year before his injury) it's easy to avoid getting too attached to any one player. If the Rams are doing well for me and then they have a couple bad weeks, I'll just drop them.
With QBs, though, it can be a little harder. Let's say you someone like Rivers, Stafford or Alex Smith as your QB, and they're middling along as a low-end QB1. You might be able to get better performance from streaming (I believe the Living the Stream guys last year said that if you had followed their weekly recs you would have had the QB6), but it's going to be really hard to drop someone like Stafford, knowing he will almost certainly get snapped up right away.
So what I've been thinking about is ignoring the solid low-ceiling guys and rolling the dice on later-round guys who are riskier but could have upside: Mahomes, Mariota, Trubisky. The thought is that if they don't pan out, it will be easy to drop them, and I'll have my antennae more attuned to guys who emerge on the WW the way Watson and Goff did last year.
Like I said, TE is a different animal, but I've found myself targeting Reed and Eifert in later rounds, the feeling being that if they get injured I can just move on (though I suppose there is the risk that they get nagging injuries that limit their effectiveness but don't actually put them on IR). I actually implemented this strategy by accident last year, drafting Eifert and then snagging Engram when he got hurt. If I had been relying on a "safer" option like Delanie Walker, I might not have been looking for Engram on the wire.
Anyway, haven't thought this all the way through, but curious if anyone else has tried this approach.
I'm generally in favor of streaming QBs, DSTs and kickers (less so TEs, mostly because of the agita from trying to guess TE performance). In the case of Ds and Ks, unless I truly hit the jackpot (Jags D, Zuerlein last year before his injury) it's easy to avoid getting too attached to any one player. If the Rams are doing well for me and then they have a couple bad weeks, I'll just drop them.
With QBs, though, it can be a little harder. Let's say you someone like Rivers, Stafford or Alex Smith as your QB, and they're middling along as a low-end QB1. You might be able to get better performance from streaming (I believe the Living the Stream guys last year said that if you had followed their weekly recs you would have had the QB6), but it's going to be really hard to drop someone like Stafford, knowing he will almost certainly get snapped up right away.
So what I've been thinking about is ignoring the solid low-ceiling guys and rolling the dice on later-round guys who are riskier but could have upside: Mahomes, Mariota, Trubisky. The thought is that if they don't pan out, it will be easy to drop them, and I'll have my antennae more attuned to guys who emerge on the WW the way Watson and Goff did last year.
Like I said, TE is a different animal, but I've found myself targeting Reed and Eifert in later rounds, the feeling being that if they get injured I can just move on (though I suppose there is the risk that they get nagging injuries that limit their effectiveness but don't actually put them on IR). I actually implemented this strategy by accident last year, drafting Eifert and then snagging Engram when he got hurt. If I had been relying on a "safer" option like Delanie Walker, I might not have been looking for Engram on the wire.
Anyway, haven't thought this all the way through, but curious if anyone else has tried this approach.