Managing a Short Roster (1 Viewer)

[RamMan]

Our 10 team league uses a 14 man roster and, therefore, every spot is critical. What's your strategy in this situation? Do you keep your stud RB's handcuffs on the roster, tying up one or two spots, or try to develop depth with starters. I'm already down to one QB (yes, its Peyton) but I'm still forever faced with the risk of dropping the handcuff in favor of grabbing potential upside off the wire. For example, there are several WR #4 and #5's on our wire now with good potential upside (Demetrius, Burleson, Hackett, B. Jones, Battle, Jacoby, even Horn is out there) but I'm leary about dropping my stud RB's handcuffs to pick one of them up.

Do you think that, this early in the season, it makes more sense to play it safe and keep the handcuffs or roll the dice on a potential breakout WR?

 

[madd futher]

I would NEVER handcuff in a 10 teamer with a 14 man roster. Your best strategy is to make your roster as strong and as deep as possible. Then use the free agent list and the waiver wire as your EXTENDED roster. In a ten teamer, you have no need for a QB #2. If Peyton goes down (God forbid), just go and pick up the best QB available. As far as RBs are concerned, I would rather develop a roster of 4 good ones than 2 good ones and two handcuffs.

 

[Bandit]

I know the pain of short rosters, as I was in a 12 team 12 man roster league once, and I couldn't stand it.

I agree that handcuffing is usually a bad idea with small rosters, but there are exceptions of course. For example, if you have Tomlinson, I think Turner is worthy of a roster spot.

 

[Judge Smails]

It's a challenge, especially with bye weeks. We have 14 man rosters in a 12 teamer. Most teams carry 2 QB's, 4-5 RB's, 4 WR's a K and a D. Really have to work the waiver wire and try not to carry dead wood. I only consider handcuffs in very high powered offenses. LJ with Priest, etc. For the most part, as soon as bye weeks start the handcuffs are usually dropped anyway.

 

[Shiggy Shaol]

I feel your pain. I'm in a 10 team league with 14 player rosters and these guys are free agents:

QB - Matt Schaub, David Garrard

RB - Lendale White, Michael Pittman, Adrian Peterson (chi)

WR - Arnaz Battle, Brandon Marshall

TE - Eric Johnson

D - Broncos, Colts

In particular, I'd like to grab both of those WR and Lendale White. But there's really nobody on my bench that I should drop with the closest possibilities being Derrick Ward or Vincent Jackson. Very annoying.

 

[The Jerk]

If you're still considering... I'd go after a high upside WR over a handcuff. Playing it safe often means playing it TOO safely in small roster leagues. There will be talent available on the waiver wire. I'd rather go after being THE best team rather than settling for being one OF the best teams.

In fact, many NFL teams do this, as they are very thin and susceptible to injuries, but they understand that if the injury happens, they're pretty much toast anyway.

 

[Dirty Weasel]

I think handcuffs or sleepers are bad in small roster leagues. Just go for the best starting lineup you can, then concentrate on filling up your bench with best remaining RB's and WR's. Since you have Peyton, there is no need to roster an additional QB. Simply drop your worst player in week 6 and pick up the QB with the best matchup. No backup TE's, K's, or D's are needed either.

 

[RamMan]

Every roster is different and, therefore, it's difficult to generalize about handcuffs. For example, I'm in an auction league and I spent over 80% of my cap on Peyton, Sjax and FWP. Therefore, I was only able to afford Dunn, KJ, and Lendale as my bench RB's (we start 2 RB and 3 WR/TE). If KJ were healthy, I wouldn't be so nervous about a potnetial injury to Sjax or Parker, but since I really don't have dynamic options at RB#3, I've got Davenport hadcuffed to FWP. The rub is that my receivers are marginal (again, spent most of my cap on the BIG 3) and include Evans, Galloway, Curry, Marshall, and Battle. Would love to take a shot at one of the sleeper WR's on our ww, but feel it's a risky move to drop Davenport given my backup RB's. Think I'm gonna sit tight for the time being....

 

[moleculo]

IMO, the trick to small rosters is planning for bye-weeks. Make sure you won't have to cut half of your team to fill a roster.

I am in a league with only 2 bench spots. My strategy this year was to load up on guys with all the same bye-week, so I can be strong most of the time, while my opponents will be cutting good talent just to fill a roster (in this league, I've actually picked up top 10 WR's off of FA because someone cut someone they shouldn't have). I actually have 8 of 13 players with a week 6 bye.

Outside of that, think several weeks ahead for bye-week planning.

 

[Tau837]

I'm in a 16 team league with 14 man rosters. So not only is the roster short, the waiver wire doesn't have a lot of depth, like it would in a short roster 10 or 12 team league.

When Leftwich got cut, I cut Demetrius Williams to pick up Garrard specifically because I thought it would help me swing a trade at some point, given how thin QBs are in this league (no NFL starters on waiver wire except Derek Anderson, but Quinn is rostered). But this puts even more pressure on my bench, which also includes Losman.

A team cut Bruce this week, which shows how hard it is to deal with short rosters. And I cut Curtis to pick him up, even though I really like Curtis.

And I have a big problem in week 4, with Mare and the Miami defense both on bye. With such a short bench, and especially with 2 QBs on it, I might consider just eating one or two zeros.

One thing about this kind of situation is that a 2 for 1, 3 for 2, or even 3 for 1 trade has a big benefit in addition to upgrading your lineup - it frees up roster spots.

 

[packersfan]

I feel your pain. I'm in a 10 team league with 14 player rosters and these guys are free agents:QB - Matt Schaub, David GarrardRB - Lendale White, Michael Pittman, Adrian Peterson (chi)WR - Arnaz Battle, Brandon MarshallTE - Eric JohnsonD - Broncos, ColtsIn particular, I'd like to grab both of those WR and Lendale White. But there's really nobody on my bench that I should drop with the closest possibilities being Derrick Ward or Vincent Jackson. Very annoying.

I hear ya. Our league voted to shorten the rosters last year and I was the only dissenting vote. It is what it is but it's very frustrating. For example, if I wanted Derrick Ward this week I would've had to drop Leon Washington who I really like this year in a PPR league. I didn't want to do that so I didn't put in a claim for Ward. As it turned out the person above me on the WW list did put in a claim so I wouldn't have gotten him anyway but that's the dilemma people in my league now face. What leagues like this do is punish you for drafting well because if a player does emerge it's very difficult to pursue him because you're dropping another good (or potentially good) player in the process. Like you said, very annoying.As far as managing the roster goes, I think you need to focus on the strength of your starting lineup as others have said and not worry too much about handcuffs with the possible exception of someone like Michael Turner. Make sure your starting lineup is strong, have strong bench players ready for bye weeks and injuries and be as smart as you can when it comes to the sleepers you do want to have. I don't think you can have too many so maybe 1 or 2 upside plays on the bench is the most you can have. If a strong starting option becomes available on the WW those upside guys will have to be the ones you drop. That's the annoying part of a short roster league but if you're in one that's the deal.

 

[Dirty Weasel]

I'm in a 16 team league with 14 man rosters. So not only is the roster short, the waiver wire doesn't have a lot of depth, like it would in a short roster 10 or 12 team league.

When Leftwich got cut, I cut Demetrius Williams to pick up Garrard specifically because I thought it would help me swing a trade at some point, given how thin QBs are in this league (no NFL starters on waiver wire except Derek Anderson, but Quinn is rostered). But this puts even more pressure on my bench, which also includes Losman.

A team cut Bruce this week, which shows how hard it is to deal with short rosters. And I cut Curtis to pick him up, even though I really like Curtis.

And I have a big problem in week 4, with Mare and the Miami defense both on bye. With such a short bench, and especially with 2 QBs on it, I might consider just eating one or two zeros.

One thing about this kind of situation is that a 2 for 1, 3 for 2, or even 3 for 1 trade has a big benefit in addition to upgrading your lineup - it frees up roster spots.

The bolded part is huge in small roster leagues. Make as many uneven numbered trades as you can, making sure you are always giving more players and receiving less. Depth is highly overrated in small roster leagues, as there are many nice waiver options. Try to stack a starting lineup and roll with it.