I'm Not a Big College Football Fan (1 Viewer)

[Smizzy]

This is my 12 FF season and I have to admit,I'm not a big college football fan. Sure I watch the highlights but it's not until the draft class has declared do I pay them any attention.

Does this put me at a disadvantage? I would consider myself a pretty good FF player but I'm wondering how much better I or any of us Non-College guys could be if we actually payed some attention to how they play the games instead of just workout numbers and 40 times. and if the other FF players who watch NCAA football have an advantage,How big is it?

Thoughts?

 

[Pictus Cat]

Not much. Especially with the content you can get from here around NFL draft time.

ADP is on many of my teams. I am comfortable with my backround on most NFL Rookies.

I know very little about college, but am confident I will next year due to draftguys.

 

[Koya]

It may be a minor disadvantage but easily overcome, imo. Obviously, the BEST way to judge players includes actually watching them. i.e. if you WATCHED a good amount of A. Peterson during his college years, you would likely have recognized the talent behind the production.

So often in college systems create stats but the NFL talent doesnt exist...

that said, everyone has slight advantages or disadvantages in fantasy football. Some guys read more, or watch more NFL games, have Direct TV, use message boards, etc... not everyone does everything though. Following the college game is one of the lesser factors imo but it can provide some insight and advantage.

 

[Phurfur]

In Dynasty Leagues, Yes

In Redraft Leagues, No

The only rookies worth drafting are RBs and you can check them out after they are drafted into the NFL.

No other position has an impact their rookies season except for a very few exceptions.

 

[coolnerd]

I watch an insane amount of college football (75-100 regular season games depending on the year), and the advantage works best in IDP dynasty leagues than anything else. In regular dynasty leagues, I feel my advantage is only in who NOT to buy the post season hype in than in who to select.

 

[Rovers]

I watch an insane amount of college football (75-100 regular season games depending on the year), and the advantage works best in IDP dynasty leagues than anything else. In regular dynasty leagues, I feel my advantage is only in who NOT to buy the post season hype in than in who to select.

I don't follow college football closely either, like Smizzy. I do pay attention to the Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl, and find that for the most part, I can catch up, and then there are guys like Mayock and Bloom who I pay a lot of attention to. I think for QB's, it's very valuable to watch them play games, and some good sleepers can be found, but these guys that do it for a living stay on top of it better than I ever could. Not watching the collge games can back fire, like my pick of Q Moses, DE, who has already been on 3 different NFL rosters. I thought he was a lock to start this year for Oakland, had I paid more attention, I would have known his rather long list of negatives. Having said that, more and more college "scouting sites" have gone to a paid subscription operation, and info is slowly getting harder to get. I use fewer sources.... there is only so much one can spend in subscriptions before it reaches the point of diminishing returns in terms of FF prize money. Free MB's are still invaluable, and will remain my primary source of player scouting reports.

 

[Jene Bramel]

I don't have the time or the interest to follow college football closely. For future prospects, there's too many teams to follow and I struggle to confidently decide how well a nice college player will translate given the different speed the game is played on Sundays. Bloom says anyone can do it, but that's Bloom. He and a number of others around here have a knack for watching the college game that will be better than many others' best efforts. There are some talents that are clearly visible (i.e. Peterson), but many, many others that are much more difficult to glean from watching a network telecast to a marginally trained eye.

There are a couple of scouting services I trust and more than a few posters on this board that get me coached up quickly from January to March. Pay attention in the right places during the all-star games, post-draft mini-camps and the preseason. Learn which buzzwords in the reports are meaningful and which quotes are fluff and coachspeak and which are truly helpful and you'll still be well ahead of your competition.

 

[Favre 2 Jennings]

In Dynasty Leagues, YesIn Redraft Leagues, NoThe only rookies worth drafting are RBs and you can check them out after they are drafted into the NFL.No other position has an impact their rookies season except for a very few exceptions.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

Phurfur pretty much hit the nail on the head from the pure FF perspective. That being said, getting passionate about the college game just exposes you to more football, and should hopefully enhance your intuitive understanding of how games ebb and flow, and gives you a larger context/backstory for a player - Im not just talking about scouting how they play the game, Im talking about knowing their personality on the field. Peyton-Belicheck was foreshadowed by Peyton-Spurrier. You would know that AD breaks the back of the defense in the 4th quarter and is just as strong at the end of the game as he was at the beginning...

I don't know if this stuff will help you win more FF, but it certainly makes watching the games that much more interesting, and combats the mentality that was talked about in that editorial from the college paper of FF ruining football fans. If you invest yourself in enjoying the college game, it deepens your roots as a passionate fan of the game, and ensures that you will never just see the game as a live-action real-time box score generator.

 

[Calvitron Johnson]

In Dynasty Leagues, Yes

In Redraft Leagues, No

The only rookies worth drafting are RBs and you can check them out after they are drafted into the NFL.

No other position has an impact their rookies season except for a very few exceptions.

This is correct. I like to go here http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/statistics and see who is putting up the #'s, against who and for how long. Then hit NFL Draft Countdown among others to read about who's who. Then weed out the bums. But even better is watching the combine where you get to see every player that is a man (not Dwayne Jarrett) showcase their stuff heads up on the same playing field. You see who can run a route and who can catch a pass including the gauntlet. That is where you separate yourself from the pack in a dynasty league as far as drafting. People took Ginn, Jarrett, Meachem and C. Davis early and I didn't have any of them on my draft board at all.Btw. Kevin Smith put up 320 yards and 4 TD's this past week .....he's a RB, not a QB, against UAB...not that they are any good. Matt Forte put up 171 on them if you need a comparison.