Ready for Week 1
We’ve been drafting for weeks and getting players on our roster that we wanted for the new season. Researching best matchups, trades and free agent signings. Practicing for the draft with best ball drafts, which led us up to our “big draft.” We’ve taken into account every scenario that we could think of surrounding the players we’ve picked.
So much goes into the preparation for a new fantasy football season, but how do you prepare for Week 1 once your done drafting?
If you are just finishing up your draft, you only have days or hours until the start of the 2018 NFL season. With only a short amount of time, it’s important to consider the up and coming matchups for the week. You did draft that WR as your 3rd WR for the roster, but does he have the best matchup for Week 1?
It’s ok to set that lineup right after the draft. Just don’t forget to go back and readjust any changes that are needed. Any trades or cuts can affect your roster, especially if it’s your player and you forgot to check prior to Week 1.
Why not start now?
Prior to Week 1 is also a great time to get into a weekly routine. Making it comfortable for you to get used to managing your roster every week, though hopefully, the fantasy playoffs. Once you schedule a weekly routine for your roster, the season runs so much smoother. Here are some helpful tips to get you through Week 1 and onto each week during the season.
—First thing you should do is set up a spreadsheet or use a notebook for your fantasy team this season. It’s to easy to forget important notes or players from the previous week. You’ll be thankful later that you wrote down the notes, so you can refer to them in later weeks. I like to put my initial roster on the first page. Then start to jot down notes for each week moving forward. Write who gets dropped, or which players have had good consecutive weeks.
—Now you are ready to check your roster from the week ending. (Not that you’re not already checking it constantly throughout Sunday and Monday night). Are you winning that week? Why are you winning, or not winning? Did the opposing team have a weaker team than yours that given week?
All of these questions are important when determining the stability of your roster. You may decide that you look weak at WR that given week and by reviewing, you can make necessary changes, or be more confident in your team moving forward.
—Know exactly who each positional player on your roster is playing that week. I usually like to take a glance at the upcoming matchups either on Monday night or Tuesday morning. It’s important to do this at those times because you can then use the waivers to assist your roster for the upcoming week.
—Depending on when your waivers are run (usually Tuesday night or Wednesday night). Be sure to look through the waivers for any players that you didn’t notice before. Is there a hidden gem somewhere in there? Did another team drop an extra RB because they needed a TE or Defense for the week? This is usually when you can find other teams errors or even just a player that had a couple of good weeks. Either way, make sure you always have an idea who is on the waivers before they are run for the week.
—Did you end up putting in a waiver selection for the week? I always have an expendable player ready to drop from my roster. You never know when an elite positional player might be uncovered in the waivers. It’s a lot easier to willingly have someone to drop, then to spend hours trying to decide if it’s worth the risk because most likely you’ll get caught up with work or life in general, and forget to put in the waiver.
—Once waivers are processed for the week, go back to your notebook and write down any valuable player that was dropped by another team. This is important when you are looking to process waivers for the next week, or if your league allows First Come First Serve (FCFS) after waivers are processed. You may even be able to set up the next batch of waivers with a player you like that just went on waivers. If you do this, make sure you write a note to double check that waiver selection before they’re processed the next week.
—Now you should be ready to prepare your roster for the upcoming matchups! As a reminder, be sure to know who is playing on Thursday night. If you’re trying to decide between a WR or QB on Thursday or Sunday, I generally go with the Sunday matchup. This might not be the most ideal spot to do that, but if the players are coming off of a shortened week, you could be dealing with a tired or worn out player. I’d rather take the chance with the player on Sunday than take the chance of a low score on the roster till Sunday.
—If you do decide to start a Thursday player, make sure you list them under their key position, and not in the flex spot. Leaving the flex spot open with the latest starting game will make your life that much easier. This is because if one of your Sunday starters does not start that week, you still have the flexibility to insert another positional player into your roster.
—After you get past the Thursday games and the Saturday walkthrough for NFL teams, you should have a very good idea if a player isn’t starting on Sunday. There are times when a player may wait to warm up on the field Sunday morning before the teams decide not to start him for the week. You should have a general idea for the week by Saturday early evening. I may move my roster around several times during the week and days leading up to game day. Just monitor your roster throughout the week, to have an idea if a player on your roster is in jeopardy of missing the game.
—When setting your lineup to be sure to use good research as to if the player is matching up against weak coverage, or if the opposing defense stacks up tight to your player. Either way, some of the players on your rosters are usually must starts. It’s hard to avoid sitting your top RB or WR on the bench for the week. Sure you may be forced to if they have a terrible matchup and history against the opposing team. Most of the time you should be starting the studs on your roster.
—Once your roster is set, just make sure to check it again on Sunday morning. You want to make sure there are no last-minute player scratches or even game cancellations. There is nothing worse than realizing your starting RB’s team isn’t even starting because of a weather concern that week.
—Now you should be able to sit back and enjoy the games on Sunday. I’d have your phone or computer handy, just in case you notice any changes for the later games that day. Otherwise, you should be good to go for the week!
Fantasy football is generally one of the easier sports to play. There aren’t too many stats or math calculations into setting your roster or waivers, and teams generally follow a script. So, make it even easier for yourself, and set up your own script similar to what I suggested or feel free to come up with your own weekly script.
Source – FanSportsVisor
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