Early Thoughts

For the year's that this site has been in existence I've kept it about Fargo area sports as close to 100% of the time as I could. Did I mix other things some times and make parallel's that extend beyond the field, court & track? Absolutely but only when the comparisons and inclusions made sense to me. Until now that is.

I'm quite certain that talking Fantasy Football will still be relevant to many of you but I admit that it has little to do with the prime directive.

Every week will have it's own flavor. I aspire to have each post be worth reading but what each will include may vary as much as Antonio Brown's mood. To me, that's exciting while also being unnerving!

I've talked Fantasy ball for almost half my life but being able to talk about something does not as naturally translate to the keyboard as you may think. In an effort to try and shorten the learning curve, I'm going to do a couple preseason posts. So here goes!

The aforementioned all pro receiver is also the first topic that I want to dive into. Because for the life of me, I have no idea what do with him. The simplest fact is that he gets the Derek Carr downgrade but on the flip side, he won't have to split targets with anyone remotely as good as JuJu Smith-Schuster. Which also means that defense's will have even more of a focus on him now then they did in year's prior. That's quick math but 2 bad's to 1 good. Oh, and there's the little fact that he's still not even working with any of his new teammates. And until late this afternoon was threatening to retire over a helmet rule. So 4 to 1 then... Which bring's me back to the original question I'm looking to shed some light on - what do with him?

Since I've already got him on my roster thanks to Dynasty rules, I don't have to worry about when he should be drafted - thankfully. But for a large portion of the FF community, that is not the case. Just one opinion but if I were drafting a full roster I wouldn't consider him before the second round and even that would be a stretch. Even with the talent that he still possesses, I would have him as a third round pick. Some schmuck who barely pays attention would probably draft him well before that but then he is that person's headache. For me, he's a top of the third round type player right now.

What if you're like me and you already have him on your roster? It's an obvious statement but whether you start him in week 1 will depend on who else you have on your roster. The Raiders hook Denver as the final game of the week which adds to the precarious nature of the AB saga. Could he explode for 25 points and push you from a loss to a win? Obviously or he could have a slow first game and sink us. It feels like a crazy thing to say but my advice is to not start him week 1. There's a month in which thing's could happen to sway my opinion away from that, but I just don't see it happening, which really blows!

The best case scenario is to have him ride the imaginary pine, watch him do the sorts of thing's he's did in Pittsburgh for year's while your team wins then reevaluate for the remainder of the season. And hope that he can finally not be a ghost during the playoff weeks!

The other hottest topic in the Fantasy Football world is what to do with a couple running back's that want to get paid. Elliott is a special talent that won't get out of the first round of drafts and won't be available for much of a discounted rate in auctions even though he's sunning himself in Mexico like the tool that he keeps showing himself to be off the field.

Similar to Brown, I wouldn't be the one to jump on him because no one, possibly not even he, know's if he'll play this year. Spending 40% of a budget or a top pick on that is every bit as risky as the Antonio Brown situation. Plus, Elliott could frat boy it up again and get suspended. HARD PASS.

The Melvin Gordon situation is different in some way's but the final conclusion is the same. He's not as good of a talent so maybe he'll slide to the fourth round but you're telling me you can't find a comparable running back who you know is going to play this year for at least 14 games? Really? You can't find that guy? Look again! It's the most replaceable position the league and there are better options out there for you to draft!

What else??

Hmmm

Probably gotta talk about quarterbacks right?

Now that is the group that is the most replaceable in Fantasy! You could swing for the fence's and hope for a repeat performance from MaHOMES. You could go with the plucky, young, upstart in Arizona that a lot of people are starting to salivate over and I do get why. He's got the potential of being a Michael Vick type athlete with a better throwing ability. That's potentially bonkers for Fantasy! The great unknown as I see it is whether he has the uncanny ability of Russell Wilson to avoid big hits. Cause if that little guy gets smacked too often you're pick could get flushed down the toilet mere weeks into the year. A lot of the experts say don't touch qb before the fourth round. Which equates to moderate value in auctions but there may be that one guy who just knows the names and isn't locked in enough to have a good strategy. So a run of signal callers could go earlier than you have planned. The best advice I can give you at that point is to not panic. A lot of people like to bag on Kirk Cousins but the guy has a stacked offense and will not be highly drafted or priced. He's just a quick example of the type of player who will put up comparable stats over the course of the season but at a deep discount. So if a run happens, just pump the brakes, take a sip of whatever your beverage may be, take a breathe, sit back, just relax!

But after I said all that, there's a key fact that I want to end with.

Fantasy Football is supposed to be fun.

If it's not fun, what's the point?

Try to be smart about it, but if there's a player you want in the first round or to spend $$$ on, just do it so that you can have fun this season! In my experience, winning is the best way to have fun but it is not the only way and who know's, maybe you can make a strange decision in the eyes of your league mates and end up being the one to rake in the prize pool.

But that's all for now!