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NFL and Covid Issues - Initially Asked in Shark Pool To Keep it 100% NFL (2 Viewers)

Thanks. Please let's keep it on track. 
Yeah my bad coming back around now...

I may have missed it but if it takes 7, 10, 14 days to manifest the symptoms then how is it possible to play the game this week at all and not potentially have a big blow up risk?  Let's say tannehill and Henry have it but don't show symptoms until after they play this week...then half a dozen Steeler defenders and a ref and a coach or two pop up with it?   

Can someone tell me what I'm missing?
Yeah that's my concern as well. But if they keep churning out negative tests then I guess they play. 

 
According to YahooSports (for whatever that is worth), they reported in an article today that it takes 3-7 days from exposure to testing positive. 
Isn’t it amazing how far into this we are and we still don’t really know if this is accurate? It could be, but I’ve read so many different things who knows. Figure they keep testing each day...if it gets much worse the game is toast. 

 
So what would you guys do if a game is moved to Monday night and then moved to a different week? Tell owners not to risk it and play someone on the taxi squad instead? Submit a conditional roster (Start PLAYER X if the PIT / TEN is played but PLAYER Y if not)?
The problem with conditional rosters is that it's a lot of manual labor for the commish - emphasis on "manual" as very few if any sites support it. Not to mention that at some point, especially in this environment, it's going to call for some subjective judgment (this week we heard about the positive tests on Tuesday. What happens if news breaks about one of the teams playing MNF at 5pm Sunday, when all but four teams have already kicked off? Or five minutes after SNF kicks off?) For both reasons I haven't jumped to suggest this option in the league I run.

Balanced against this is that any decision a league makes now will, like it or not, set a precedent for the rest of the season. This week it's potentially one or two games impacted. What if next time it's a half-dozen? Teams could easily wind up with two or three unavoidable zeroes in their lineup. Is that "fair" in any real sense of the term?

 
The problem with conditional rosters is that it's a lot of manual labor for the commish - emphasis on "manual" as very few if any sites support it. Not to mention that at some point, especially in this environment, it's going to call for some subjective judgment (this week we heard about the positive tests on Tuesday. What happens if news breaks about one of the teams playing MNF at 5pm Sunday, when all but four teams have already kicked off? Or five minutes after SNF kicks off?) For both reasons I haven't jumped to suggest this option in the league I run.

Balanced against this is that any decision a league makes now will, like it or not, set a precedent for the rest of the season. This week it's potentially one or two games impacted. What if next time it's a half-dozen? Teams could easily wind up with two or three unavoidable zeroes in their lineup. Is that "fair" in any real sense of the term?
I have always found best ball scoring to be the fairest option available. That would cover essentially any scenario for COVID. Under current NFL rules, teams have to complete all game day roster moves by 90 minutes before game time. That would give everyone fair notice but obviously wouldn’t help for a MNF game. Maybe allow teams an emergency pre-announced fill in at each position emailed to the commish? Most weeks that won’t be used, but for this year that might avoid last minute zeroes. I get that commissioners might have to manually adjust rosters and re-score a couple of games. Other than that, I don’t have many great ideas. Maybe teams just have to bite the bullet otherwise. Hopefully these types of situations won’t be all that common. 

 
Okay folks here we go.  This is a bunch of changes that would allow for MIN vs HOU to be rescheduled from week 4.

Side note - the NFL was stupid not to make their schedule more modular.  With only 2 games really different for each division of teams they could have save a lot of headache if they had built around that.  Make the 1st 2 weeks the oddballs.  Make the rest be like all 4 games AFC North vs NFC East in a given week, etc.

But I digress....

MIN vs HOU would move from Week 4 to Week 13

JAX vs MIN would move from Week 13 to Week 7

HOU vs IND would move from Week 13 to Week 8

DET vs IND would move from  Week 8 to Week 13

DET vs CHI would move from Week 13 to Week 11

DET vs CAR would move from Week 11 to Week 8

CAR vs ATL would move from Week 8 to Week 13

ATL vs NO would move from Week 13 to Week 8

NO vs CHI woiuld move from Week 8 to Week 13

Jacksonville's Bye would move from Week 7 to Week 13

Carolina's Bye would move from Week 13 to Week 11

Chicago's Bye would move from Week 11 to Week 8

Minnesota's Bye would move from Week 7 to Week 4

Houston's Bye would move from Week 8 to Week 4

----------------------

And for convenience here is the much more simple shift for TEN vs PIT

TEN vs PIT would move to Week 7

PIT vs BAL would move to Week 8

Baltimore bye would move to Week 7

Tennessee bye would move to Week 4

Pittsburgh bye would move to Week 4

--------

So there ya go.  Simple :grad:

-QG

 
I have always found best ball scoring to be the fairest option available. That would cover essentially any scenario for COVID. Under current NFL rules, teams have to complete all game day roster moves by 90 minutes before game time. That would give everyone fair notice but obviously wouldn’t help for a MNF game. Maybe allow teams an emergency pre-announced fill in at each position emailed to the commish? Most weeks that won’t be used, but for this year that might avoid last minute zeroes. I get that commissioners might have to manually adjust rosters and re-score a couple of games. Other than that, I don’t have many great ideas. Maybe teams just have to bite the bullet otherwise. Hopefully these types of situations won’t be all that common. 
While this makes sense, it's not exactly "fair" if one team has Dak, Zeke, AC, Aaron Jones & the Packers D/ST and the Cowboys/Packers game is the one that gets cancelled 20 mins from kickoff on SNF, while the other team has no Packers or Cowboys rostered. 

I guess it depends on your definition of "covering" the scenarios is. I would see a scenario like this as potentially FF season-ending. 

 
Or they take the typical baseball approach and postpone the game and only replay it at the end of the year if there are playoff implications. Or they just don’t play it at all. 

 
While this makes sense, it's not exactly "fair" if one team has Dak, Zeke, AC, Aaron Jones & the Packers D/ST and the Cowboys/Packers game is the one that gets cancelled 20 mins from kickoff on SNF, while the other team has no Packers or Cowboys rostered. 

I guess it depends on your definition of "covering" the scenarios is. I would see a scenario like this as potentially FF season-ending. 
Unfortunately, everyone knew that there was a decent chance that there would be NFL games with potentially scheduling and player availability issues. There is no 100% way to keep everyone happy, either at the NFL or fantasy level. 

Hopefully there won’t be a real life scenario as you described for fantasy purposes. I generally don’t load up on players for one team (usually because if the team has issues or problems then your fantasy team will have big problems). Fingers crossed there are only minor flare ups across the NFL.

 
Unfortunately, everyone knew that there was a decent chance that there would be NFL games with potentially scheduling and player availability issues. There is no 100% way to keep everyone happy, either at the NFL or fantasy level. 
I agree - I’ve seen a few “best ball” suggestions over the last several month as a possible means of mitigating the risk of outages/cancellations/reschedules, and I don’t think it’s a viable option. 

Best ball assumes all players are playing. It doesn’t really help if games get canceled. And it’s not really “best ball” if Zeke’s team sits & you have to roll out Dobbins instead. Zeke is guaranteed a zero. That’s just an “unexpected BYE”. 

Hopefully there won’t be a real life scenario as you described for fantasy purposes. I generally don’t load up on players for one team (usually because if the team has issues or problems then your fantasy team will have big problems). Fingers crossed there are only minor flare ups across the NFL.
Sometimes I take that into consideration but usually try to take BPA at the position(a) I’m hunting for a given pick. I’m not gonna pass on a player I have ranked higher because I already have that team’s QB. I won’t go hunting for the pairings or the DFS “stack” but if that’s how things come to me in a draft I’m ok with it. 

 
a. Tier 1,Tier 2, Tier 2M and Tier 3 Individuals who have had
Close Contact with the positive individual in the preceding 
30
48 hours and who remain asymptomatic shall receive a
PCR virus test (or such other test required by the NFL and
NFLPA) as soon as practicable. Within 24 hours of
receiving the results of the PCR virus test, if such test is
negative, the individual will receive a second PCR test.
Such individual must isolate him or herself until the results
of the first test is obtained and is negative. Thereafter, if
this individual remains asymptomatic, he or she will be
permitted to continue to attend the Club facility and
participate in activities, subject to the following:
i. Daily testing post-exposure on Days 1-8 (and
thereafter in accordance with the regular testing
schedule set forth in the Screening and Testing
Protocol);
ii. Daily health questionnaires for COVID-19
symptoms; and
iii. Increased temperature checks (minimum of 3 times
daily).
iv. The individual should consider monitoring HRV,
respiratory rate and slow-wave sleep using wearable
sensor technology (subject to the approvals set forth
below). 

 
Welp, looks like a bunch of Raiders did a really great thing in a really careless way. Supporting your teammate’s charity is great. Having a big group of people indoors all close together and the vast majority not wearing masks? Not so great. Raiders play the Bills in 5 days. Can’t say I’m too happy reading about this as a Bills fan.
In the other topic i’d mentioned potential carelessness & was questioned for it as though the NFL has it all on lock. 

Clearly the NFL does not have it on lock. The cover pic to that story of Carr touching his face just puts it over the top. :doh:  

 
Should it be concerning that Vegas doesn’t have lines up for the 2 games in question? 
It's to be expected.  Especially when you consider that they may not be sure how information about any further positives may be released/leaked....or not.  Pretty standard for key injuries so it makes sense here.

-QG

 
Should it be concerning that Vegas doesn’t have lines up for the 2 games in question? 
Vegas doesn't want to figure out how to handicap one team in each game being able to practice while the other one can't, when the game could be played, and if it will be rescheduled. They also don't know who else might test positive. Not much else they could do except punt.

 
I'm curious, do you guys think the NFL thinks about/cares about about Fantasy implications?  I know everyone's first thought may be no, but fantasy creates far more "new fans"... more tv viewership which turns into more ad revenue... also means more people buying jerseys of players they "own".

I'm not saying it's a huge deal, but I think people playing fantasy does contribute to NFL revenue, and I wonder if they consider it when deciding what to do with the games this week. 

@Joe Bryant what are your thoughts on this? 🤔

 
Anarchy99 said:
According to YahooSports (for whatever that is worth), they reported in an article today that it takes 3-7 days from exposure to testing positive. 
Asymptomatic is three days. 48 hours with treatment n care, 24 which is more test based. I pasted part of the NFl policy earlier

****************

NFL camps were a controlled environment, (not you) people kept wanting to relate it to their daily life.

The NFL season is different but the facilities are still cleaned super well and often and the players are tested more often than lab rats.

Don't forget several NFL teams have the 15min test (Pac 10 articles) the four hour test and the blood drawn 24 hour test. They won't be like us where it's possible some oops happens and we hear false positive. 

For traceability teams are using rfid to track everything.

Docs see players every day

We all gotta pause and think "is this the same as our day to day" because many writers lately have not.

 
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So what would you guys do if a game is moved to Monday night and then moved to a different week? Tell owners not to risk it and play someone on the taxi squad instead? Submit a conditional roster (Start PLAYER X if the PIT / TEN is played but PLAYER Y if not)?
What if there's an Earthquake in the middle of the Sunday Games? I don't know is the answer. 

I see what you wrote towards the end, that's a good idea. 

 
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Deamon said:
I'm curious, do you guys think the NFL thinks about/cares about about Fantasy implications?  I know everyone's first thought may be no, but fantasy creates far more "new fans"... more tv viewership which turns into more ad revenue... also means more people buying jerseys of players they "own".

I'm not saying it's a huge deal, but I think people playing fantasy does contribute to NFL revenue, and I wonder if they consider it when deciding what to do with the games this week. 

@Joe Bryant what are your thoughts on this? 🤔
It's an unknowable thing but I'd say "Yes, the NFL cares somewhat about fantasy football. They know it drives interest and viewership. They care about gambling and how the game provides the engine for that as well. Now more than ever as it expands across the country. I think they care, like most businesses, most about the things that directly bring them money like the TV and advertising.

So long way of saying, I don't think the league cares enough about Fantasy Football to do anything regarding Covid they felt would compromise. They also are playing a PR game here. This isn't Dana White and UFC. There are a zillion people on Twitter who'd love to "expose" them doing wrong so they will be careful. 

 
It's an unknowable thing but I'd say "Yes, the NFL cares somewhat about fantasy football. They know it drives interest and viewership. They care about gambling and how the game provides the engine for that as well. Now more than ever as it expands across the country. I think they care, like most businesses, most about the things that directly bring them money like the TV and advertising.

So long way of saying, I don't think the league cares enough about Fantasy Football to do anything regarding Covid they felt would compromise. They also are playing a PR game here. This isn't Dana White and UFC. There are a zillion people on Twitter who'd love to "expose" them doing wrong so they will be careful. 
:yes:

Let's not forget that before they sell a ticket, jersey or cap, they are covered for all the teams payroll and expenses through the TV revenue. It's what sent the NBA from a $50-$60M payroll per team to over $100M when they renewed the TV contracts. TV revenue drives all 4 major sports. 

 
From the article above.

Does that mean the outbreak is contained?

No. General guidance from public health officials suggests it can take up to five to seven days for an infection to register in a test. That's why the Titans' facility is closed through at least Saturday. The NFL/NFLPA protocol calls for increased monitoring for eight days for anyone who had close contact with someone who returned a confirmed positive test.

When can the Vikings and Titans get back to their practice facilities?

We know the Titans won't return before Saturday at the earliest. ...

What about their Week 4 games?

At the moment, both are still scheduled to play Sunday. That could change in the coming hours and days, however. One possibility, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, is to move the Titans' game Sunday in Nashville against the Pittsburgh Steelers from Sunday to Monday. 
It really doesn't seem fair to allow one team an entire week to practice while the other only gets one day.  I mean the game should 'at least' be moved to Monday to give the Titans an extra day.  They will be without a few players and possibly coaches and still won't have a full week but at least it will even the field 'somewhat'.  

Just think if the game goes without any adjustment and the Titans play really sloppy due to not being able to practice and the game sucks?  The NFL will and should be criticized because the 'very-least' they can do is move the game back one-day.  Without fans and concessions/parking etc. it would be 'easier' to re-schedule and the game 'could' be moved to prime time and we could all watch.😃

 
Anarchy99 said:
Yeah, it looked doable on a napkin but isn’t doable when fully fleshed out. Not useless the Texans have a split squad and play both GB and MIN in Week 8.
We might be able to pull off a win if they do that!

Skol Vikes.

 
Game should be Tuesday. 1 day is not enough to prepare physically for a game. No reps with the coaches for a whole week and then just go do it? Not saying Tuesday is much better buts it's closer to a short week scenario most teams have for Thursday games. 

 
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It really doesn't seem fair to allow one team an entire week to practice while the other only gets one day. 
It's not fair that some teams have fans in the stands and others do not - despite Goodell saying there's no such thing as a home field advantage.

I've said it before but some level of "unfairness" or "competitive disadvantages" were cooked into this season. It is what it is.

 
It's not fair that some teams have fans in the stands and others do not - despite Goodell saying there's no such thing as a home field advantage.

I've said it before but some level of "unfairness" or "competitive disadvantages" were cooked into this season. It is what it is.
Big difference to take away practice time and remove players from a game and 'potentially' infect other teams by forcing a game to be played on-time instead of moving it back a day to having a small portion of fans.  Not an apples to oranges comparison, more like apples to cumquats.  The game should be moved back at least one day/night.

 
Big difference to take away practice time and remove players from a game and 'potentially' infect other teams by forcing a game to be played on-time instead of moving it back a day to having a small portion of fans.  Not an apples to oranges comparison, more like apples to cumquats.  The game should be moved back at least one day/night.
Sure - but this is all just your opinion which is likely a bit biased since the Titans play the Steelers.

And players miss games every week. If Henry twisted his ankle and missed this one game it would be "unfair" on some level but it's also life.

and I'm not saying moving it to Monday would be a bad thing - just a general conversation.

 
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Sure - but this is all just your opinion which is likely a bit biased since the Titans play the Steelers.

And players miss games every week. If Henry twisted his ankle and missed this one game it would be "unfair" on some level but it's also life.
Injuries happen all the time and are not a consideration.

World wide pandemics don't and it is stupid to think an NFL schedule should take precedence over safety of players/coaches/officials.  The statement by the NFL is that 'the VERY EARLIEST the Titans could practice is Saturday' meaning even getting one day's worth of practice is still in question and the article also says testing results can only be certain in 'five to seven days' and the fact a new Titan player tested positive today shows the risk to Pittsburgh players/coaches/officials.  

Helping to prevent the spread of a pandemic isn't 'just life' when the NFL has an option and they have options.  Can you imagine if they played on-time just because ya know 'life' and Pittsburgh players contracted the disease because a Tennessee player was confirmed positive till after kickoff since that would be the seventh day when they could have caught it by moving the game back one day? 

 
World wide pandemics don't and it is stupid to think an NFL schedule should take precedence over safety of players/coaches/officials. 
No one thinks that and I didn’t say anything close to that.
I will disengage with you now, since you obviously can’t handle real discussion on the subject matter if you’ll go to extremes like this.

 
No one thinks that and I didn’t say anything close to that.
I will disengage with you now, since you obviously can’t handle real discussion on the subject matter if you’ll go to extremes like this.
Doc, you accused me of bias.  You do that a lot.  I have to agree to your accusation?  Or you'll accuse me of being extreme.  Reasonable discussion would be welcome but you seem to have a blind eye to your bias.

 
Of course it's unfair. And of course this is what everyone signed up for. Nothing to see here regarding complaints of fairness. It is 2020. If you don't get to practice, tough. 

 
Anarchy99 said:
According to YahooSports (for whatever that is worth), they reported in an article today that it takes 3-7 days from exposure to testing positive. 
this is why they should’ve only played games on Sundays this year.  

it would’ve at least given 7 days from possible exposure to the next game.  
 

of course, that assumes everyone is being careful between games...

 
this is why they should’ve only played games on Sundays this year.  

it would’ve at least given 7 days from possible exposure to the next game.  
 

of course, that assumes everyone is being careful between games...
So you think it is 'wise' to play games before they can guarantee test results?  

They would have another round(s) of testing after the game.  If more players were exposed then consider moving games to later or even extending the season.  Canceling games has to be on the table as well but to play games knowing players have been exposed knowing full-well that testing can't be assured till after games are played just to make sure the follow weeks games are on schedule.  

This should be about safety and prevention.  Given the options move the game back a day.

 
If they do go ahead with the TEN/PIT game and TEN doesn't really get to practice this week, would you start Henry?  He's typically a no-brainer starter, but he has a tough matchup and no practice definitely doesn't help.  I want to keep this as a more general question and not a WDIS question so I'm not mentioning other options to replace Henry, but obviously that will play a role in the decision.

This is an NFL question related to COVID due to circumstances surrounding TEN but if this isn't a good place for this I can post it somewhere else.

 
So you think it is 'wise' to play games before they can guarantee test results?  

They would have another round(s) of testing after the game.  If more players were exposed then consider moving games to later or even extending the season.  Canceling games has to be on the table as well but to play games knowing players have been exposed knowing full-well that testing can't be assured till after games are played just to make sure the follow weeks games are on schedule.  

This should be about safety and prevention.  Given the options move the game back a day.
Look I agree very strongly that they should push it back a day. That is very low hanging fruit and I would bet that it actually happens, assuming no more positives pop up.

 
If they do go ahead with the TEN/PIT game and TEN doesn't really get to practice this week, would you start Henry?  He's typically a no-brainer starter, but he has a tough matchup and no practice definitely doesn't help.  I want to keep this as a more general question and not a WDIS question so I'm not mentioning other options to replace Henry, but obviously that will play a role in the decision.

This is an NFL question related to COVID due to circumstances surrounding TEN but if this isn't a good place for this I can post it somewhere else.
If they can't practice I would imagine they would have a conservative game plan and run even more. :shrug:

 
Deamon said:
I'm curious, do you guys think the NFL thinks about/cares about about Fantasy implications?  I know everyone's first thought may be no, but fantasy creates far more "new fans"... more tv viewership which turns into more ad revenue... also means more people buying jerseys of players they "own".

I'm not saying it's a huge deal, but I think people playing fantasy does contribute to NFL revenue, and I wonder if they consider it when deciding what to do with the games this week. 

@Joe Bryant what are your thoughts on this? 🤔
Fantasy and gambling drives a lot of viewership, and viewership has taken a steep dive this year.

 
of course, that assumes everyone is being careful between games...
It's been relatively simple so far, with every team playing each week, and thus on a fairly regimented schedule.  But still you have the Raiders' situation:

And this is the last week for that.  Players on bye, particularly those who decide to visit their alma maters, are going to complicate matters.  Similarly, when teams fall hopelessly out of it, players will be more likely to stray.

 
Charles Robinson is usually pretty well plugged in:

@CharlesRobinson

on

@1025TheGame

says he'd be "stunned" and "floored" if Titans-Steelers happens Sunday. Monday is guess. "The union's upset. They don't like the idea of players going through virtual reps and then suddenly, 'Hey you have a walk through, then play a game."

 
If they do go ahead with the TEN/PIT game and TEN doesn't really get to practice this week, would you start Henry?  He's typically a no-brainer starter, but he has a tough matchup and no practice definitely doesn't help.  I want to keep this as a more general question and not a WDIS question so I'm not mentioning other options to replace Henry, but obviously that will play a role in the decision.

This is an NFL question related to COVID due to circumstances surrounding TEN but if this isn't a good place for this I can post it somewhere else.
I think in this kind of situation, you're definitely starting any blue chip guys you have. If you happen to be loaded, maybe you bench a Ten/Pit guy in favor of someone playing earlier (if they bump to Monday). But it is pretty tough to be loaded right now with all the injuries and byes just around the corner. Most owners don't necessarily have the luxury of even considering such questions. Do you start a borderline Thursday guy instead, knowing they are going to play, but not necessarily knowing whether Henry et al are going to? I'd like to say maybe but Jets/Broncos is thin. IDK but these are tough decisions and if/when it affects more than these teams it will really snowball. I hope I'm wrong.

What if the consensus come Th/Fri is that a game is going to get bumped to Monday and played, but then Sunday afternoon comes and we find a bunch of positives from those involved and they cancel late? Oops. Zeroes all around for lots of happy owners.

 
of course, that assumes everyone is being careful between games...
Being careful helps but  think you can be pretty careful and still exposure yourself especially if you don't live alone. Like as an example your kid carries it home from school. 

 
Got a Sleeper notification that the NFL is "postponing" the Titans - Steelers game. No further details yet.

This seems to be the current source:

 

https://twitter.com/diannaESPN/status/1311321551665586176

Dianna Russini

@diannaESPN

Sunday’s game between the Steelers and Titans is being postponed per multiple sources. They are considering all options to reschedule, Monday night as one of them. This will all be based on test results.

 
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If Crowder plays I almost have to bump him into my lineup tomorrow. Am thinking about Patrick as well. I don't know if I have enough room with Sunday guys to make up for everything if Ten/Pit gets cancelled. Right now I think they play and it will be fine, minus maybe a handful more positive cases that get IR'd. Patrick is an underrated journeyman that got me some good points last week, and Crowder is certainly capable. Normally I would avoid this horrible Th game altogether.

 

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