What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

What were your best moves? What did you learn? (1 Viewer)

mjr

mjr

Footballguy
So lets hear it.

Here's mine:

Trading away Charles/Nelson for Adrian Peterson and a 2013 draft pick: Everyone thought I was nuts, and even I started to think I made a bad move shortly after pulling the trigger on this one. I had faith in AP, but didn't think he'd go off like that. I might still lose on this one in a year or two, but it won me a few hundred bucks this year. That's the goal, isn't it?

Picking up Lynch as a FA: Everyone thought he'd lay down like CJ no K after getting his payday. Guess not.

EDIT: For those of you who can't wait to read on and have the urge to be the uber-cool shark by pointing out that if Lynch was a FA then my league must suck, it's a contract/salary league. His contract expired and there was an auction to get him. I didn't just swipe him off of waivers, so spare me the bullsh*t. And if you can't, at least hope you weren't one of the people who said Lynch was done, because I'll find it just to remind everyone how awesome you are.

Letting go of G. Jennings for a 2012 first rounder: Ended up drafting Luck with that pick. Between him and Rodgers, think I'm set at QB for a while.

Grabbing Shorts, DX, G. Olsen and even Walsh off the WW: Not that Olsen was a beast or anything, but considering Vernon was my only other guy...it saved me. Shorts and DX are obvious bonuses. I know most people don't care about kickers, but in a league that gives a few extra points for 40 and 50+ yarders, I disagree. Without Walsh I would have lost at least 2 or 3 games along with my division and the first round bye.

Had I not made any of these moves, I probably would not have won my league this year.

What did I learn?

[*]RBs are relevant again (and Doug Martin is the real deal)

[*]Paying some attention to your kicker and Defense CAN make a difference.

[*]AP isn't human.

[*]Even the 49ers can't stop Lynch.

[*]Jacksonville actually can produce fantasy relevant players.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Picking up Moreno on the morning of his first start when everyone thought Hillman was going to start. He saved my flex spot.

Sticking with Decker when I was trying to trade him away for anything because at one point my receivers were stacked.

Not trading the farm for RG3 when I desperately needed QB help. Kaepernick saved me (yes even last night).

Going RB/RB in the draft. Ended up with Rice/Lynch when the rest of the league struggled all year with RBs.

 
All your points are valid. I definitely figured out that you have to pay some attention to kicker and defence this year. This doesn't mean drafting a DST in the 7th round or a kicker in any round but the last. But it does mean that during the season you have to pay attention to these positions and do your best to play matchups or evaluate trends.

One of my better moves was acquiring the Broncos DST at our trade deadline despite paying a hefty price.

Drafting Randall Cobb in the WR35-40 off the board range during the draft.

I had a situation where I had 5 solid keepers and could only keep 4 in the offseason and was considering dropping Dez Bryant. Keeping Dez came up aces the second half of the year.

As for Adrian Peterson, I doubted him a year after the injury. I will never doubt him again. Dude is a cyborg.

I also second the points on Marshawn Lynch. He really took his career to another notch after getting dealt to Seattle. I was a doubter initially. Not anymore.

Having played this game a long time I already knew this point, but midseason you are more likely to find waiver wire gold at WR than any other position, and it means focus on RB and even elite QB early in drafts. Guys like Shorts and Alexander are the prime examples, but guys like Blackmon also came on in the second half. Even a guy like Crabtree could have been on a waiver wire early in the season.

 
Getting D.Alexander off waivers and keeping him in my lineup

Getting the Seattle D off waivers and keeping them in my lineup

Having faith in Colston

Benching that stiff McFaddon in favor of Reggie Bush when it mattered

I learned McFaddon is a big tease with his "potential" every week.

 
Best moves: As always, I'm very good at picking up emerging talent -- drafting D. Martin, signing players like A. Morris, Danario, Cardinals D, Moreno, Bryce, etc. throughout the year in my various leagues, and doing so at bargain prices.

Worst moves (and what I learned from them): This year on one team I emphasized WR over RB and that got me out to a slow start. Also, I went with too many feast/famine guys on that team -- Julio, Nicks, Gates. So I learned -- actually re-learned -- don't load up on too many risky players even if you can get them cheap and don't underestimate the importance of RBs even in today's NFL and FF.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Best:

Drafting Cam and RG3, then resisting the urge to trade one away.

Picking up Denver D and Knowshon off the wire.

I really didn't learn much, since I've been playing for a while now and most lessons have already sunk in, haha.

Basically I don't overreact to a bad/great week (or couple of weeks). Instead I take advantage of those who do (and this forum attests to the fact that there are TONS of clueless over-reactors...no disrespect).

I know that my opinion and personal rankings are just as good as the experts...however I pay attention to the opinions of individuals I respect in the hobby. In the end, trust your gut.

When it comes to the playoffs, start your best, most reliable players and don't try to get overly-cute with matchups. This is something it took me a few years to learn.

You're trying to play the odds.

My opponent in week 15 benched Decker in favor of Josh Gordon. The move cost him a title.

 
Never ever ever have Chris Johnson on my team again.

Don't drop a player until at least four days have passed since original report of injury (Sproles)

Talent wins out (Dez, Cobb)

Don't listen to the audible crew (Lloyd, Hillman)

 
Hit on Spiller, Cobb, Ridley and Alfred Morris. Focus here was on 2nd/3rd year guys when most are thinking rookies.

Carried two defenses; Seattle and Denver. Very strong where usually I'm giving something up...

A carousel at TE; but ended strong with Bennett and Pitta.

 
really went without a RB2 behind jamaal charles all year.

i think the timely additions of...

andre browns big week

bryce browns big weeks (also had the week 14 bye the week he stb)

knowshon moreno to finish the year.

in each of the instances i snagged these guys, they werent even always my first WW choice. marcel reece and michael bush come to mind.

just lucky i guess.

but i'll take it.

-biz-

 
Had a top two team and added Alexander as soon as SD signed him, and Moreno before he was announced the starter. Riding the Denver Defense and drafting CJ Spiller. :thumbup:

 
First year in a few that I didn't go QB early (this is in a local league where we play championship week 17). I went QBBC (Luck/Flacco/Locker); Locker stayed on my roster b/c I got out-bid (no waiver wire, only blind bidding, no $0 bids) for guys like Kaepernick/Russell Wilson/even Henne..and owners hoarde QBs in this league.

I should have bid more on those guys cuz this week, I'm in the championship & Luck/Flacco probably won't play much, and even if they do, I'm guessing both OCs play it close to the vest. So the upshot is, I'm likely stuck starting Locker, unless I want to take a flier on the Cards, Chiefs, Browns or Jets QB. Srsly, those are the ONLY starters available unless Pryor starts for Oakland. Hell, even Ponder is still on a roster (non-playoff team).

 
Foster for cam/Crabtree and smith

(More happy about getting Crabtree so I have a UPCOMING solid #2 WR, with #1 upside now he has a QB he's in sync with.

 
In dynasty, taking heed of good draft classes vs not so good. Traded players and picks in 2011 so I had 1.05, 1.07, 2.02 and 2.07 in 2012 draft and got both Martin and Wilson (and Quick/Sanu). Rode Martin to a championship.

Will try to do same thing with this years picks to get 2014 picks, which I'm hearing will be better class than 2013.

 
Blew over half of my auction budget on 4 players: (Calvin Johnson, Marshawn Lynch, Jimmy Graham, AJ Green) and it worked out wonderfully.

I'm never going to try to save money for deep players again. There's always plenty of talent in the $1-$5 range to fill out a roster. Once you have the 3-4 stars of your team in place, you can interchange most other guys via free agency from week to week as needed.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
One thing I took away was to just go with the players you like at draft day, rather than feeling like you have to fill a position need. A good example is I loved Brandon Marshall before the season, but didn't pick him when available because I already had Julio and Nicks at WR (keeper league). Turns out Marshall was awesome and I didn't end up as deep at receiver as I thought.

 
In dynasty leagues, really paying attention to the rookie draft can pay huge dividends. Six round rookie draft this year got me RGIII, Alfred Morris (my sixth round), TY Hilton (4th round) in my starting lineup with nice contracts, and Ronnie Hillman sitting on my taxi squad with Kirk Cousins, Nick Toon (NO WR) and DJ Williams (GB TE). Went from second worst record last season and obvious rebuilding mode to losing the Championship this year when Foster's heart fluttered. And did it largely on the back of my rookie class. For years I used to be more about trading and free agency, but after this year I am mining for gold in the rookie draft.

 
'Mentos said:
'Amused to Death said:
'Gopher State said:
'solorca said:
You play in a league where Marshawn Lynch was a free agent?
Click to expand...
lol where do I sign up for this league
Click to expand...
You obviously have never played in a contract league. You should read the next post as its very common. Salary/Contract leagues rule.
Click to expand...
They do until somebody quits the league and leaves a mess of a team.
Click to expand...
Haven't had that issue. But for someone to say "I want to play in your league" because Lynch was a FA is silly. Lots of FAs hit the market every season - contracts expire and they hit the market.
 
Not sure what I learned other than sometimes you're just lucky. Took Foster/Lynch (1/2) and waited on QB (Romo) till the 5th. Killed me at times but I eeked out enough W's to finish 2nd going into the playoffs in our 10 team league.

Froze up during the draft when Harvin fell but I wanted depth at RB and took BJGE. Was kicking myself all year until Harvin went out.

Got Decker in the 8th but took Stevie Johnson over Demaryius Thomas in the 7th :bag:

rode Seattle D & Tynes all year which helped.

I didnt put much thought into this year and it showed looking back @ my draft recap.. got lucky/hot at right time.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Not listening to preseason hype, a lot of people thought A.J. Green would regress because of how bad Dalton looked in the preseason. Not only did I draft Green in the first round in a start up dynasty (finished second). I also traded for him in a keeper league and got him at the start of the 3rd round in a redraft league that I won.

 
Traded a lot (Ryan Matthews, aj green, Gonzo) for drew brees and Reggie bushin a ten team redraft, figured I'd use the waiver wire. I did and picked up Alfred Morris, Kyle Rudolph and James Jones.

Picked up the bears defense after they were dropped before their bye week.

Traded for Trent Richardson in dynasty before the ff draft. Gave Dez Bryant and a 2013 first, so it wasn't a steal by any means.

 
I started to look at (and avoid) guys who seemingly cannot play with pain - as opposed to those who are truly hurt.

This is the DeAngelo Williams who will miss you multiple games a year because of pain versus the Fred Jackson who has his knee go bad.

Williams always seems to have things that are hurting that prevents him from playing where, again, Fred Jackson had a similar injury last year.

May not be scientific, but I just want guys who appear in the box score every week.

 
Drafted Brees and A.J. Green very very high..

(Palmer made a great backup an byweek filler)

Picked these up off the wire:

Seattle D

Denver D

Moreno

DX (Danario Alexander) for that don't know..

Held my ground with these drafted RB's.

Trent Richardson

DeMarco Murray

Traded for C.J. Spiller early to sure my Rb's.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
What I learned:

1) Philip Rivers sucks.

2) Get ready for next year if you have Philip Rivers.

3) People on these boards still use dumb nicknames for players. Spelling out a players name is too difficult? I have no idea who this "DX" guy is and every time I see the denotation I end up, in my head, yelling "Suck It"!

 
Quite literally none of the moves I made panned out, but what I learned is that in a league setup where 8 of 12 teams make the playoffs don't give up on your drafted team too early because the guys that start slow could very well be the guys that get hot in a 3 game stretch to win you a championship. In my case I gave up on guys early, had them snatched up and watched those same players lead teams into the playoffs (and into a championship) while my team of free agent acquistions wound up with the worst record and out of the playoffs. Trust your instincts.

Our championship team won with only two good players (ADP and Calvin Johnson), but two guys I drafted and gave up on too early were picked up by this team and were major parts in his championship run. The idot moves I made? Traded that guy Randall Cobb and Marshawn Lynch early in the season for Darren McFadden and Miles Austin. At the time I bought into the DMC hype and boy did I pay for it. Never recovered from that move and wound up making 61 moves (with only a 24 man roster ) due to injuries and poor play - but it seemed everytime I made a move the guy I dropped went off and the guy I picked up tanked.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
'Mentos said:
'Amused to Death said:
'Gopher State said:
'solorca said:
You play in a league where Marshawn Lynch was a free agent?
Click to expand...
lol where do I sign up for this league
Click to expand...
You obviously have never played in a contract league. You should read the next post as its very common. Salary/Contract leagues rule.
Click to expand...
They do until somebody quits the league and leaves a mess of a team.
Click to expand...
It's been the same group of guys from work for the last 6 years. Only one guy left the league 2 years ago, and the new guy took that "mess of a team" all the way to the championship game last year.
 
'Warrior said:
Oooooohhhh...all I have to do to win my league is pick up Marshawn Lynch from waivers? Genius!
Click to expand...
Not waivers. Auction. I went into a bidding war with half the league. Lynch's contract expired last off-season and the previous owner didn't think he was worth 10% of his cap to extend the contract. At that time most people thought Lynch's last season was a fluke and he would lay down after getting a fat payday. You were probably one of those people.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
'Mario Kart said:
I have no idea who this "DX" guy is and every time I see the denotation I end up, in my head, yelling "Suck It"!
Click to expand...
It didn't come from the forums. The nickname comes from Danario Alexander's days in St. Louis. He would make an "X" with his arms after a TD and he was first called DX on a radio show. It just stuck and he said he actually likes it.
 
Best move is deciding to keep Dez even though I was really tempted to move him.

Second best move was selling Mike Wallace this offseason for two first round picks and then using both of those plus my original to get AJ Green.

Worst move was starting Jared Cook at TE in week 9 instead of starting myself. I'd have score 0 points. Cook netted me -1.6. I lost the game by 1.4 points. That loss wound up being the deciding factor between me being the 1 seed or the 4 seed.

 
Things I learned:

1) Never pick a WR who might blow up aka Torrey Smith over a guy who has been playing consistently at the same level for years.. Reggie Wayne... Torrey Smith was one of my biggest mistakes all season, consistency is so much more important than end of the year numbers.. which in this case were still far better for Wayne

2) Trust your gut, and pick guys based on your own opinions... it is better to be wrong, than to have listened to someone else's choice about a good player... just for the record I was right about Adrian Peterson and two leagues and it led me to a championship

3) Always handcuff a guy like Fred Jackson with his young potentially starting back-up.. C.J. Spiller

4) TE is a very important position

5) Always try to get two strong defenses throughout the year... because if this year told me anything it's that in this day and age in the NFL even a stud defense won't do as well with a tough match up.. and it's better to always give yourself options... and paying attention to defenses that find their stride mid-season... like Denver and Cincinnatti, saved my seasons

6) Never ever ever doubt the "Eye Test" when you see a talent like Alfred Morris... worst move I made all season

 
Next year I hope to have the following roster after the draft (start 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 WR/RB, 1 QB):

7 RB

4 WR

2 QB

1 TE

1 k

1 def

 
I learned that drafting RB early is no longer the rule. Ignoring the risks, and drafting a RB in round 1 with the sole justification of there being a small RB pool was not enough to justify the risk. QBs, WRs, and TEs are all part of the first round discussion going forward. This year there were only 3 first round RBs I was confident in at the draft, and even out of them, one was a bust. The rest were pretty much terrible and I was shocked at how many so called sharks still clung to the "have to draft a RB" rule. I dont think this is a 20/20 hindsight thing either, because the huge question marks were there for almost all of these guys back in August/September.

Going forward, my first round strategy will be to lean towards RB first, but not hesitate to go BPA if the question marks are too many.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ignatiusjreilly
What did we learn about ambiguous RB/WR situations in Week 1?
Replies
8
Views
755
Chaka
Chaka
Joe Bryant
Big Idea And A Brand New Tool At Footballguys - The Assistant Coach
Replies
23
Views
1K
Joe Bryant
Joe Bryant
Hot Sauce Guy
Sean Payton Hates You & Your Stupid FF Team
Replies
15
Views
700
Desert_Power
Desert_Power

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top