Last Place Wisdom: Still not backing down
It's been far too long since I've taken the time to spread some last place wisdom with the rest of the league. Originally I was going to make some jokes about taking a knee in protest of some junk or another, but I made a promise of staying out of contemporary politics in the blog this year and speaking the truth is the most important thing one can do. To be completely honest, I spent maybe an hour at my desk the past 2 weeks and so finding the time to write rather than work has been an impossibility. This is a shame, because it's more clear to me than ever that people are in need of the type of wisdom that gets you last place in the league. I'm here to help everyone sort themselves out, with the understanding that by no means have I sorted myself out when it comes to fantasy this year.
The league is as interesting as ever. 5 weeks in, my preseason assessment has gone fairly well. Clarke, myself and Shayne have been in the position at the top of the league I thought we would be. I had made a good call on Andrew's team, but that will be tough to maintain now that his 2 best players are done for the year. I also made a good call putting John in the lower brackets of the league, although unless his curse holds up I expect him to improve as the season goes along. The one place I very clearly made a bad call was with Travis, I did not respect his team at all but he has clearly proven me wrong. This has had a little to do with some good matchup luck, but Travis' roster is better than I gave it credit for. In any case, it's nice to see that both expansion teams have quickly shown success, which should be uplifting for all of us.
The fact that it's not that difficult to build a team capable of competing in the league has been running through my mind. I love looking at struggling rosters and thinking of ways to improve them and turn them around. Part of this is just back seat driving, a fantasy team rebuild is not something I have had to undertake since we turned into a dynasty league, so I need an outlet to let out my thoughts. This season has been frustrating on the trade front; with the benefit of hindsightoutside of Dawson and Clarke's trade I don't really like any of them when it comes to the return received by both parties. This might have been apparent in the BBM group, my brief thoughts shared there have not been overly positive. Maybe I'm correct in my appraisal of the numerous bad trades that have taken place in the league this year, or maybe it's my subconscious lashing out at the fact that my Studs & Duds lineup makes it incredibly hard for me to come up with any trades that make sense for my roster, despite a strong desire to shake my team up in some form.
So with that long explanation out of the way, I'm going to make it a rest of the season project on the blog to give my thoughts on sorting out your fantasy teams, in the style of Dr. Jordan Peterson (I've been dropping these hints the last few blogs, for those who may have noticed). This is not to say I possess any of the great insight that Dr. Peterson holds, it's just more of an exercise in getting my own thoughts on building a strong fantasy team down in a form that everyone can see. I might be incredibly wrong, I have not been overly impressed by my own fantasy decision making this season, but this way it's out in the public for everyone to judge.
Cleaning Up Your (Fantasy) Room
I first thought I would spend each week doing a write up for a different team, but I decided it would be better to focus on specific topics instead. What better place to start than to look at one of the most commonly cited ideas, and that's the idea of cleaning your room. Just like our physical bedrooms, our fantasy teams get filled with junk that we have an irrational desire to hang on to. Part of building a solid team is knowing when to clean out the junk that accumulates on our teams, and replacing it with the types of players who have a higher upside. This is difficult, because we can get attached to players based on previous accomplishments, or the fact that we drafted them. One also doesn't want to get rid of a player too early, as it's worth hanging on to certain players and not giving up too quickly. You want to give yourself the best chance to find fantasy starters, and holding on to a guy that will never be that blocks you from moving on and finding the right guys.
I'm going to list off a player on every team who I think could be cleaned out in an attempt of picking up a better guy. The fact that there are players on my team who I should probably just drop goes to show I'm not some guru sitting above everyone else on this, and the sorry state of the waiver wire can make it an even more difficult proposition. Teams will likely be a little bit better off by following this however, and making small improvements day after day and week after week can quickly add up.
The following list will also be my attempt at a league power rankings, starting at the bottom:
On the Next Last Place Wisdom
The league is as interesting as ever. 5 weeks in, my preseason assessment has gone fairly well. Clarke, myself and Shayne have been in the position at the top of the league I thought we would be. I had made a good call on Andrew's team, but that will be tough to maintain now that his 2 best players are done for the year. I also made a good call putting John in the lower brackets of the league, although unless his curse holds up I expect him to improve as the season goes along. The one place I very clearly made a bad call was with Travis, I did not respect his team at all but he has clearly proven me wrong. This has had a little to do with some good matchup luck, but Travis' roster is better than I gave it credit for. In any case, it's nice to see that both expansion teams have quickly shown success, which should be uplifting for all of us.
The fact that it's not that difficult to build a team capable of competing in the league has been running through my mind. I love looking at struggling rosters and thinking of ways to improve them and turn them around. Part of this is just back seat driving, a fantasy team rebuild is not something I have had to undertake since we turned into a dynasty league, so I need an outlet to let out my thoughts. This season has been frustrating on the trade front; with the benefit of hindsightoutside of Dawson and Clarke's trade I don't really like any of them when it comes to the return received by both parties. This might have been apparent in the BBM group, my brief thoughts shared there have not been overly positive. Maybe I'm correct in my appraisal of the numerous bad trades that have taken place in the league this year, or maybe it's my subconscious lashing out at the fact that my Studs & Duds lineup makes it incredibly hard for me to come up with any trades that make sense for my roster, despite a strong desire to shake my team up in some form.
So with that long explanation out of the way, I'm going to make it a rest of the season project on the blog to give my thoughts on sorting out your fantasy teams, in the style of Dr. Jordan Peterson (I've been dropping these hints the last few blogs, for those who may have noticed). This is not to say I possess any of the great insight that Dr. Peterson holds, it's just more of an exercise in getting my own thoughts on building a strong fantasy team down in a form that everyone can see. I might be incredibly wrong, I have not been overly impressed by my own fantasy decision making this season, but this way it's out in the public for everyone to judge.
Cleaning Up Your (Fantasy) Room
I first thought I would spend each week doing a write up for a different team, but I decided it would be better to focus on specific topics instead. What better place to start than to look at one of the most commonly cited ideas, and that's the idea of cleaning your room. Just like our physical bedrooms, our fantasy teams get filled with junk that we have an irrational desire to hang on to. Part of building a solid team is knowing when to clean out the junk that accumulates on our teams, and replacing it with the types of players who have a higher upside. This is difficult, because we can get attached to players based on previous accomplishments, or the fact that we drafted them. One also doesn't want to get rid of a player too early, as it's worth hanging on to certain players and not giving up too quickly. You want to give yourself the best chance to find fantasy starters, and holding on to a guy that will never be that blocks you from moving on and finding the right guys.
I'm going to list off a player on every team who I think could be cleaned out in an attempt of picking up a better guy. The fact that there are players on my team who I should probably just drop goes to show I'm not some guru sitting above everyone else on this, and the sorry state of the waiver wire can make it an even more difficult proposition. Teams will likely be a little bit better off by following this however, and making small improvements day after day and week after week can quickly add up.
The following list will also be my attempt at a league power rankings, starting at the bottom:
- Aaron- the one thing I like about your rebuild is that you don't have a lot of dead weight on your roster. You've cleaned out your bad players, now you just need to start putting things together. Future weeks will touch on that.
- Stan - holding 2 tight ends the quality of Cook and Bennett are not doing your team any favours. You could drop either guy and probably get him back whenever you wanted.
- Brett - I know you're a Vikings fan, but Sam Bradford is not worth holding on to given your QB situation. Take a chance on holding a rookie RB or WR who might pan out.
- Dawson - Terrance Williams was your most recent pickup, but there is no #2 receiver in Dallas you want right now. He's not the type of player who has a high enough upside or a high enough floor.
- John - there's no one I'd drop off John's roster, but between Connor and Williams and Burkhead and Henry, there's too many players you can't trust week to week. This is ok when you're winning, but is tougher to justify when you can't find the wins. Maybe a trade would have been in order.
- Andrew - He'd be higher up my power rankings if he wasn't so injured. I probably would have said AP before yesterday, and I would have been wrong since he deserves another chance. Now it has to be Kenny Britt, a Browns WR hasn't been worth owning since Josh Gordon.
- Steve - Theo Riddick has more points than a lot of RBs I think should be on rosters, but I don't see him ever being a player worth rostering this year.
- Travis - another team where I can't find any garbage on it. I don't know if he's as good as his record, but he's at the position where he can build something solid.
- Shayne - Tedd Ginn doesn't have the role in New Orleans to succeed. Now that Snead is hopefully coming back, Ginn is probably droppable for a higher upside player.
- Keith - It could have been Marshall before breaking his ankle. It could be Lacy, but he still has a chance at a big role. It could be Hurns, he's a fine player but you'll never feel great starting him.
- Mike - 3 TEs is too many. It's ok to take a shot on one of the high upside guys in Reed or Eifert, but they're both too injury prone to hold and hope you get anything out of them.
- Clarke - Even Clarke has some mess on his team he could clean up. Tyrod Taylor has no receivers and it's not worth holding on to a backup QB of his calibre. Corey Davis probably doesn't help Clarke this year and probably isn't a keeper for him; he's a more likely trade target than a drop target however.
Mr. Manager of the Week Award
Part of the reason my assessment of Travis' team may have been so off is that Travis has been probably the most active on the waiver wire and trade market. His trades might have started off a little shaky, trading away Gurley and Julio for mediocre returns, but he made up for it by absolutely stealing Bryant for Sterling Shepard. Pickups of Shepard, Funchess, Brate, Gallman, etc have all been valuable pieces, and it has gone to show the value that smart in season moves can make.
The Papa John's Pizza Tom Petty Memorial Section
John kind of beat me to the punch with commemorating the life and music of Tom Petty, but I wasn't going to let it get past this blog without some comments. It was discussed a couple of weeks ago on the podcast, and it made me realize that there's never really been a celebrity death that I can say has had an impact on me. Maybe that's due to my my cold, cold heart, or maybe just a result of my own views and experiences on death, but I won't lie and say hearing of his passing had some profound impact.
It's only been the last 6 or 7 years I've really come to appreciate his music, in all it's blue-sy, laid back west coast glory (Tom is actually from Florida, and Bob Dylan also lives in California). Like Aaron, Won't Back Down is my favourite track, one that also speaks to me on the emotional level that all good music should. So without further ado, Mr. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
On the Next Last Place Wisdom
- I have a couple of new trades to rail against
- We try to avoid any other blog legends dying (Watch out 50 Cent)
- I recap the 3 weeks I miss between now and the next installment
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