Waiver Wire Pre-Emptive Moves (1 Viewer)

[PhantomJB]

To be more blunt, do you ever use WW funds to c**k bl*ck your opponents or strictly to help your own team?

There are many teams for which the next couple weeks are critical. There's a good chance you will be facing those very teams in the next couple weeks to get into the playoffs or once you're in.

In my particular 2-QB league, some of the fringe contenders have lost Vick, Alex Smith, Big Ben and Cutler. With Kaepernick's great performance, he's going to be a hot commodity and maybe the missing link for one of those teams.

In other cases, maybe the opponents have injured RB's like McCoy, McGahee, Bradshaw, etc. or underperformers like Mathews. Guys like Hillman, Parmele and Bryce Brown could step right in as rentals. But there is risk there.

But if you're on the playoff fence, of course you've got your own needs. And both your roster spots and WW funds are limited.

Do you sacrifice your own modest need to outbid your opponent for the relatively higher value guy he wants even though he will sit on your bench? Focus only on your own team and its needs? What's the proper move here?

 

[mbrasi]

Just a word of caution:

Last year I thought I was being smart by snatching the NYG defense off the WW for the championship game which would then force my opponent to take the next "best" team which was the NO Saints. I thought I was such a "shark" for that move, he didn't have enough bucks to outbid me and I knew he was screwed.

Long story short, I lost the championship because of that move. The NYG got blown out and had negative points and the saints put up respectable numbers.

I still like the strategy but I think Karma can come back and bite you in the ###@#@#

 

[JFS171]

I think you just weigh the options. If there's nothing that seriously helps you on the wire, but there is a move that bolsters your depth, while also blocking another team, then IMO, it's a smart move.

Injuries are completely unpredictable. Depth cannot be overrated. So if you don't have a glaring need to address (your own injuries, bye weeks, upcoming awful matchup, etc), and your depth pick-up also manages to block your opponent, then play ball.

 

[Maven]

c-blocking is a legitimate fantasy strategy and should be used when necessary. Not every thing is cut and dry but if you have the spare roster space and your opponent needs a QB because his are injured and/or on bye, why wouldnt you pickup the qbs with the best matchups?

 

[mjr]

I always pick up guys I don't really need if I think they'll be worth something down the road, but I don't do it with the intent of "c*ck blocking" another owner. I sat on Locker as my #3 QB knowing he'll probably never crack my starting lineup but that someone would likely be interested in him at some point. I was able to turn what would just have been someone elses WW move into a 1st round draft pick by doing that.

But as far as picking guys up week to week just to screw with someone, no. Not really. Not unless it's with an owner who tried doing something like that with me.

 

[Johnny Blood]

Build the best overall team you can, ignore what other teams are doing.

I think your advice is far too strong. Of course you shouldn't reflexively try to block arbitrary teams all season. If we're talking playoff positioning or a playoff game, and I have a choice between making a move that will very likely improve my team vs. making a move that will very likely cripple my opponent, I'll probably do the latter. What your opponent scores is just as important as what you score. If it is late in the season and you can force them to, for example, start backup or timeshare RBs, it's a great strategy.But the original poster said there are *several* borderline teams. What's the purpose of picking up some player if you acknowledge that some borderline team will make the playoffs? I don't see the advantage in this. The advantage is in blocking someone you think is a playoff threat or blocking your opponent. At this time of year blocking becomes very important.

 

[Terpman22]

Yeah I did this last year in a dynasty league. I picked up every avail FA QB before our matchup while he was sleeping at the wheel. No one was left and he wasn't too happy. He ended up having to trade for Jay Cutler at the cost of a 2nd round pick.

 

[PhantomJB]

Build the best overall team you can, ignore what other teams are doing.

I think your advice is far too strong. Of course you shouldn't reflexively try to block arbitrary teams all season. If we're talking playoff positioning or a playoff game, and I have a choice between making a move that will very likely improve my team vs. making a move that will very likely cripple my opponent, I'll probably do the latter. What your opponent scores is just as important as what you score. If it is late in the season and you can force them to, for example, start backup or timeshare RBs, it's a great strategy.

But the original poster said there are *several* borderline teams. What's the purpose of picking up some player if you acknowledge that some borderline team will make the playoffs? I don't see the advantage in this. The advantage is in blocking someone you think is a playoff threat or blocking your opponent.

At this time of year blocking becomes very important.

To clarify this, there are six teams fighting for four (out of six total) remaining playoff spots. It is also these teams which (a) have seen the most recent injuries and (b) would also play each other in the first round of the playoffs.So there is legitimate competitive reason to defensively pick up (i.e. c-block) a high-potential WW guy to sit on your bench since he would likely start and contribute to a team you could play against in the first round.

It seems that competitive success = BOTH how strong your team is combined with the strength of your opponent. So even if the strength of your team stays exactly the same, then if others are relatively weakened by your move then that is a good competitive play.

Admittedly, there is also a guy I'm not on good terms with who would also be hurt by a defensive move for spite's sake but as another poster pointed out that has bad karma written all over it.

 

[TheAssassin]

Build the best overall team you can, ignore what other teams are doing.

I think your advice is far too strong. Of course you shouldn't reflexively try to block arbitrary teams all season. If we're talking playoff positioning or a playoff game, and I have a choice between making a move that will very likely improve my team vs. making a move that will very likely cripple my opponent, I'll probably do the latter. What your opponent scores is just as important as what you score. If it is late in the season and you can force them to, for example, start backup or timeshare RBs, it's a great strategy.

But the original poster said there are *several* borderline teams. What's the purpose of picking up some player if you acknowledge that some borderline team will make the playoffs? I don't see the advantage in this. The advantage is in blocking someone you think is a playoff threat or blocking your opponent.

At this time of year blocking becomes very important.

To clarify this, there are six teams fighting for four (out of six total) remaining playoff spots. It is also these teams which (a) have seen the most recent injuries and (b) would also play each other in the first round of the playoffs.So there is legitimate competitive reason to defensively pick up (i.e. c-block) a high-potential WW guy to sit on your bench since he would likely start and contribute to a team you could play against in the first round.

It seems that competitive success = BOTH how strong your team is combined with the strength of your opponent. So even if the strength of your team stays exactly the same, then if others are relatively weakened by your move then that is a good competitive play.

Admittedly, there is also a guy I'm not on good terms with who would also be hurt by a defensive move for spite's sake but as another poster pointed out that has bad karma written all over it.

Would you have to drop a handcuff or someone like an extra kicker or TE?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

I think this works with defenses. Load up on matchups now and your league grows smaller as teams either fade from the playoff race or are eliminated from it.

I have a rival in one league who has tried to block me out a couple years in a row now. He's been trading players to my opponents (seriously, not paranoid here) and adding players to keep me from adding them first. Last year I think he added and dropped like 9 kickers, maybe more, before our championship tilt, because I had dropped my kicker temporarily. I went with Graham Gano, he scored 17 points and I won by 10 or so.

Be careful out there.