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How do you handle this? Fantasy teams out of playoffs that start players on bye weeks..... (1 Viewer)

eoMMan

Footballguy
How does your league handle this?

Let's say you have teams that are out of the playoffs but they are facing teams where wins and losses will affect the playoffs.  The playoff eliminated team is starting a player on a bye.

Do you just suck it up and move on?

 
It sucks. Happens in work league I’m in and I just suck it up. In my competitive dynasty league we fine people FAAB and it rarely happens

 
This is one of the many reasons I wish best-ball had caught on the way other FFB innovations did (cf. PPR scoring).

 
Illegal lineups are assessed a 25 dollar fine and we submit the previous weeks lineup for scoring.

 
Not sure it’s right but I’m commisioning a league where a dude was 1-9 and totally checked out. Paid in full, obviously won’t be coming back. If I fined him- he would never pay me. Just a bad apple.

I informed the league that if he doesn’t set his lineup, I will set it for him and if a spot is open due to bye/injury, I will plug highest projected bench scorer or if an add is needed, on Sunday at 11am, I will add the highest projected player available per our league settings.

 Last two weeks he’s upset playoff contenders so we’ll see if I catch any flak. I feel it’s the right thing to do.

 
Not sure it’s right but I’m commisioning a league where a dude was 1-9 and totally checked out. Paid in full, obviously won’t be coming back. If I fined him- he would never pay me. Just a bad apple.

I informed the league that if he doesn’t set his lineup, I will set it for him and if a spot is open due to bye/injury, I will plug highest projected bench scorer or if an add is needed, on Sunday at 11am, I will add the highest projected player available per our league settings.

 Last two weeks he’s upset playoff contenders so we’ll see if I catch any flak. I feel it’s the right thing to do.
nice job & it is the right thing to do.  IMO

 
 No invite in 2019
This for starters.

Has to be  a 1-time warning at best. First time it happens, Commish sets line-up according to "agreed rankings" for that week. Second time the Owner is out, period. Same line-up rules stay in effect for remainder of season unless you find another willing to take over.

 
I insert highest projected player into their lineup if they start a player on bye.  If they don't have any options and have a full roster, I don't do anything except call out the owner and replace them if it happens over and over.  If they don't have a full roster and don't have any options on their roster, I will pickup the highest projected points player off the waiver wire and validate their lineup.  This is the only way I will be a commish because league integrity in dynasty leagues is important and you can't have teams affecting either the playoffs or draft by doing this behavior.   If I miss the starting time of the games I do nothing.  I don't retro actively change lineups. 

 
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It’s happening in half my leagues. Commmishes are all over the place.  Many do nothing, another invokes his “commish can do what he wants clause in bylaws”, another adjusts in one league and another league he lets it go. 

I agree there should be exceptions or better yet a 1 warning policy so that you get your warning regardless of “why”. It’s amazing to me the only people ever looking for exceptions or doing this are those that have everything to gain by doing it (I.e. higher draft capital). Then when they get called out the excuses comes flying in and they almost always get away with it.

 
Such a frustrating issue. I had two high dollar leagues where this happened last year in leagues that I don't run and it impacted the playoff berths  (not mine, but still). Neither owner was invited back. I made sure to say something to the Commissioners.

In one league, it just happened with an owner leaving in T Smith Thursday night. When I mentioned it to the Commissioner, he said that he couldn't say anything to that owner because he did the same thing in another league we're in. I told him it was lame and he said that he was helping his wife get dinner ready. I mean, it just takes one minute to check the inactives or hell, just start someone else if you think the guy is going to be out to be safe and put in Smith if he is active. His response was well I only hurt myself because I had a chance to make the playoffs. Hmm. Well what about everyone else impacted? Anyway,  not much can be done other than not to invite these guys back the following year. 

 
Such a frustrating issue. I had two high dollar leagues where this happened last year in leagues that I don't run and it impacted the playoff berths  (not mine, but still). Neither owner was invited back. I made sure to say something to the Commissioners.

In one league, it just happened with an owner leaving in T Smith Thursday night. When I mentioned it to the Commissioner, he said that he couldn't say anything to that owner because he did the same thing in another league we're in. I told him it was lame and he said that he was helping his wife get dinner ready. I mean, it just takes one minute to check the inactives or hell, just start someone else if you think the guy is going to be out to be safe and put in Smith if he is active. His response was well I only hurt myself because I had a chance to make the playoffs. Hmm. Well what about everyone else impacted? Anyway,  not much can be done other than not to invite these guys back the following year. 
Thursday was Thanksgiving.  There are more important things to focus on than TreQuan Smith's playing status.

 
I commish for two leagues. 

1) Dynasty league, we require teams to start their best lineup of players currently on their roster but do not require them to pick up a replacement player. 

If you start a lineup with a blank in it, the highest ranked player is put in the lineup instead. 

You can't trade or drop your last points production player at any position without replacing them. 

It's common for someone not to pick up a kicker for their bye week, and the league has agreed that its not fair to force a rebuilding team to drop a good kicker or a prospect just to add a bye week kicker..

It's also common for a team that's rebuilding to sell all of their "starters" at a position, especially rb and te. But they still have to have viable players at the position when they do it. 

If someone only has one qb and that qb gets hurt, there's no rule forcing them to add another, which has been pretty controversial, but it's a long standing league and it's hard to change. 

 
Thursday was Thanksgiving.  There are more important things to focus on than TreQuan Smith's playing status.
There are a million things more important than Fantasy Football if you want to be honest. Still, it only takes a minute to check and adjust. If you can't check for whatever the reason, then play it safe and start someone else imo.

 
There are a million things more important than Fantasy Football if you want to be honest. Still, it only takes a minute to check and adjust. If you can't check for whatever the reason, then play it safe and start someone else imo.
Now it does. In the era of flip phones or phoned in line-ups, not so much. Anyways, just apologizing to my league for winning a championship starting bye guys because of an RB-RB-RB-RB draft. Draft better.  

 
League 2 is a keeper league.  We have a rule that i inherited from the original commish.  It's been a pain in the butt at times, but fair. 

If you start a player that's known to be inactive or on bye, the next highest ranked player is interested in your lineup for your opponent to face.  

However, although those points count against your opponent, you don't get them.  You get the zero you started. 

So it's possible for both teams to lose - team 1 loses because they started a blank, and team 2 loses because they faced a complete lineup (as they should) and lost.

The only hard part is sticking to it.  Like this week - the kerryon owner forgot to take him out of his lineup on time.  Detroit was the first game of the week. He posted during the lions game that he forgot to take him out of the lineup and could be start amari cooper instead. Oops. Too late, too bad. But his opponent faced that monster game from cooper while he didn't get the points. 

It's almost never actually mattered, but it's enough of a deterrent that it doesn't happen in that league. 

We also have a number one pick bowl where the bottom 4 teams play for the top pick. So tanking doesn't even help. 

 
Now it does. In the era of flip phones or phoned in line-ups, not so much. Anyways, just apologizing to my league for winning a championship starting bye guys because of an RB-RB-RB-RB draft. Draft better.  
And that's mad love for NYRAGE anyway. Just have had nothing but positive interactions with him on the board.  

 
In one league, it just happened with an owner leaving in [Tre'Quan] Smith Thursday night. When I mentioned it to the Commissioner, he said that he couldn't say anything to that owner because he did the same thing in another league we're in. I told him it was lame and he said that he was helping his wife get dinner ready. I mean, it just takes one minute to check the inactives or hell, just start someone else if you think the guy is going to be out to be safe and put in Smith if he is active. His response was well I only hurt myself because I had a chance to make the playoffs. Hmm. Well what about everyone else impacted? Anyway,  not much can be done other than not to invite these guys back the following year. 
I think this is a completely different scenario. Missing a game-time-decision flipped to "inactive" will sometimes happen to busy people in real life. And yeah, more often than some think, it's not convenient or quick (or not the right place/time) to check a lineup on a smart phone and make the change.

Again: Best-ball.

 
I started two bye week players this week.  Normally I'd be roasting the guys who do this, but this week just got away from me with travel and family.  I didn't do waivers this week either.  

As punishment I'm going to drop a decent player for a MNF scrub and play them.  I think the earlier you can call someone out on it, the more options owners have to adjust.  

 
I kicked someone out of the league for this. A long time member. I warned him several times and he didn't stop one year. Then he was baffled when I kicked him out. I make sure I tell everyone that's really my only serious rule. Set a legal lineup to the best of your abilities.

 
Such a frustrating issue. I had two high dollar leagues where this happened last year in leagues that I don't run and it impacted the playoff berths  (not mine, but still). Neither owner was invited back. I made sure to say something to the Commissioners.

In one league, it just happened with an owner leaving in T Smith Thursday night. When I mentioned it to the Commissioner, he said that he couldn't say anything to that owner because he did the same thing in another league we're in. I told him it was lame and he said that he was helping his wife get dinner ready. I mean, it just takes one minute to check the inactives or hell, just start someone else if you think the guy is going to be out to be safe and put in Smith if he is active. His response was well I only hurt myself because I had a chance to make the playoffs. Hmm. Well what about everyone else impacted? Anyway,  not much can be done other than not to invite these guys back the following year. 
Smith wouldn't bother me. He was a late inactive on Thanksgiving. I think some common sense needs to be applied. I don't expect FF to be someone's life but leaving players on a bye for weeks on end is unacceptable. It takes all of about five minutes to set a lineup.

 
How does your league handle this?

Let's say you have teams that are out of the playoffs but they are facing teams where wins and losses will affect the playoffs.  The playoff eliminated team is starting a player on a bye.
We fine the owner.   Then the following year at the draft, we remove several toenails . .  slowly

 
As Commish, I go in and set the lineup for owners who fail to set their lineup to replace injured and bye-week players (although sometimes, especially with PK and Def, there is no available substitute on the team's roster).  The more difficult problem is when an owner inserts less than his best lineup to tank for draft position.  We have rules in place against tanking, but it can be difficult to prove.  I take the approach that pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered:  if an owner makes small deviations from his potential best lineup, he will likely never be questioned, but obvious lineup omissions or mass substitutions can lead to a team being penalized with a worse lottery position when determining draft order, or worse, banishment.

 
Our 12th place team is about to go to 2-10 and still managing his butt off.

We have a new guy who is probably headed for the Toilet Bowl who was getting sloppy midseason, and I sent him a polite note letting him know we have a pretty strong ethos in our league to stay competitive regardless of record. He didn't reply but he hasn't started any injured or bye week players since.

Once in a a while life gets in the way and you miss a lineup decision. I can understand that, I don't want to be the lineup police. But habitual offenders (if we ever had one) would not be allowed back in the league. I doubt it's ever a problem because we have a league full of owners who feel the same way - you do your best every week. We have at least one thread on the topic on the league board every year (usually just to thank everyone for always actively managing their team.) If you're out of the playoff picture, then ruin someone else's week. Show some pride.

 
As Commish, I go in and set the lineup for owners who fail to set their lineup to replace injured and bye-week players (although sometimes, especially with PK and Def, there is no available substitute on the team's roster).
Wow

Yeah, that wouldn't work for me as Commish, and I'd be pretty bent if anyone started messing with my team.

Again, it's never been an issue in our league, so harder to say, but there's just no way I am going to start managing other teams lineups for them.

 
Now it does. In the era of flip phones or phoned in line-ups, not so much. Anyways, just apologizing to my league for winning a championship starting bye guys because of an RB-RB-RB-RB draft. Draft better.  
In the early days, it was rather simple.  I had an answering machine, and league owners left their lineups as voice messages.  It probably took less time than logging into a league website and setting a lineup, quite honestly.  If you were travelling out of town for the weekend, you set your lineup early to save a long distance call.  The downside was that you were forced to make early decisions on injured players, and sometimes you ended up taking a zero despite your best efforts.  There really are very few excuses for not setting your best lineup these days.  It takes only a couple of minutes each week, and most league websites even provide up-to-date injury news for each player (and projected points).  There are 161,280 minutes in a 16-week span.  If you cannot commit to investing 32 of those minutes (a couple of minutes per week for 16 weeks), perhaps you should not be playing fantasy football. 

 
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I commish for two leagues. 

1) Dynasty league, we require teams to start their best lineup of players currently on their roster but do not require them to pick up a replacement player. 

If you start a lineup with a blank in it, the highest ranked player is put in the lineup instead. 

You can't trade or drop your last points production player at any position without replacing them. 

It's common for someone not to pick up a kicker for their bye week, and the league has agreed that its not fair to force a rebuilding team to drop a good kicker or a prospect just to add a bye week kicker..

It's also common for a team that's rebuilding to sell all of their "starters" at a position, especially rb and te. But they still have to have viable players at the position when they do it. 

If someone only has one qb and that qb gets hurt, there's no rule forcing them to add another, which has been pretty controversial, but it's a long standing league and it's hard to change. 
You’ve gotta change that last rule

 
Had a guy start Perine & Alex Smith. Sent an email to the league saying I will set lineups based on BPA if this happens & if it continues, owners will not be invited back for 2019

 
The two leagues I am are vastly different.  In one the commish does nothing - this year we had a team start 0-4 and has not set his lineup since despite injuries and bye weeks (oddly he somehow is now 2-10 so two poor souls lost to this abandoned team).

In the other league, the commish selectively enforces roster management.  The best I can tell he switches lineups for teams that did not set their lineup depending on if it impacts his playoff chances.  I cannot prove it, but it sure seems to be the case.

I usually do well in both leagues so I really don't care - I just try to manage my roster and not the rosters of the other 11 teams.

 
In the other league, the commish selectively enforces roster management.  The best I can tell he switches lineups for teams that did not set their lineup depending on if it impacts his playoff chances.  I cannot prove it, but it sure seems to be the case.
I always avoid "selectiveness" and unfortunately sometimes there are short term negative consequences. A "selective intervention" just seems so clearly and uncontroversially the right thing to do sometimes so it's very hard to refrain but I do. If I can fix a problem in the off season without turning our bylaws into a phonebook I will but I will not manage teams that aren't mine.

 
In most of my leagues the commissioner will go in an fill the lineup with the player with the most projected points. 

In general the commissioner will make a mental note of who bailed and likely not ask them back or give them a warning or something. 

 
Not sure it’s right but I’m commisioning a league where a dude was 1-9 and totally checked out. Paid in full, obviously won’t be coming back. If I fined him- he would never pay me. Just a bad apple.

I informed the league that if he doesn’t set his lineup, I will set it for him and if a spot is open due to bye/injury, I will plug highest projected bench scorer or if an add is needed, on Sunday at 11am, I will add the highest projected player available per our league settings.

 Last two weeks he’s upset playoff contenders so we’ll see if I catch any flak. I feel it’s the right thing to do.
I'm also commissioner and have followed the same policy as you.  I don't make waiver/roster moves until Sunday morning, and I do it strictly based on the ESPN projection.  I also only do it to fill a Bye week or to replace an injured player.  Other wise I try to make do with the players on hand.  Also if they are carrying two kickers I don't drop one unless that is the only sensible option.  I basically try to manage the roster the same way as that owner would if he was actually trying.  

 
I didn't set my lineup once because of a move cross-country. There have to be exceptions. E.g., wife dying, etc. There are times...and there are times...
Yes, of course, at least in leagues where everybody's friends.  We've also set the lineup on behalf of somebody in that type of situation on the assumption they had more important things on their mind.

 
I kicked someone out of the league for this. A long time member. I warned him several times and he didn't stop one year. Then he was baffled when I kicked him out. I make sure I tell everyone that's really my only serious rule. Set a legal lineup to the best of your abilities.
That's fine if you want to kick the guy out. Just don't say that he started an illegal lineup. He didn't.

 
Such a frustrating issue. I had two high dollar leagues where this happened last year in leagues that I don't run and it impacted the playoff berths  (not mine, but still). Neither owner was invited back. I made sure to say something to the Commissioners.

In one league, it just happened with an owner leaving in T Smith Thursday night. When I mentioned it to the Commissioner, he said that he couldn't say anything to that owner because he did the same thing in another league we're in. I told him it was lame and he said that he was helping his wife get dinner ready. I mean, it just takes one minute to check the inactives or hell, just start someone else if you think the guy is going to be out to be safe and put in Smith if he is active. His response was well I only hurt myself because I had a chance to make the playoffs. Hmm. Well what about everyone else impacted? Anyway,  not much can be done other than not to invite these guys back the following year. 
Sometimes owners make dumb mistakes, just like NFL players and coaches do.  I think that is just part of fantasy, and as commish I don't try to fix that.  Especially if the guy making the blunder is still in the playoff hunt, the assumption is that he was trying, he's just a bonehead.  

The only time I would intervene is when a team has checked out completely.  But I also don't play in any high stakes leagues.

 

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