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Having recently crossed the threshold of double-digit decades as a Fantasy Football participant I have finally admitted out loud to my obsession – I am an addict. Whereas some folks play Fantasy Football as a pastime or hobby or maybe even a “fun event just to get friends and family together” my obsession is none of the above – it is a way of life. In ways it defines who I am.
I am a Fantasy Football nerd to the core. It’s no longer something I can deny or hide. To the outside observer, you may even say I need help – that is, if help was something I wanted. Some see the draft as a night of fellowship; I see it as a ritual. Some grab the cheapest Fantasy Football magazines from their local supermarkets or print off the first cheat sheets they see on the Internet – I have formulas and equations that I use for every player to determine my personal rankings. Oh yeah, it’s that bad.
Okay, maybe I laid that on a little thick. However to understand the curve ball I am about to throw you and more importantly the oddity of it – you have to know my anal retentive well planned and carefully researched approach to each season.
Despite this belief in my own well-balanced, thorough approach I find myself annually falling back into certain patterns that have neither rhyme nor reason and are certainly not backed by data. They just seem to work and they are a tradition, a comfort zone you may say. Traditional to the core and an old dog at heart there are some things that simply… are. I can’t defend them, but I certainly won’t argue them – because they work.
For instance, as members of our league fight over the first round pick each year – I want the last. And it doesn’t matter if it’s an eight, ten or twelve team league, I want the last pick. There is no statistical backing to this strategy it is simply based on preference and gut instinct. I feel there is a strategic advantage to back-to-back picks and it is a cure for the phobia I have of top tier running backs and their recent run of bust probability.
The quarterback and wide receiver combination is technically a draft strategy that has no solid data backing its validity, however, it is a must for every team I draft (within the realm of common sense of course).
From teams I’ve drafted with Warren Moon and Haywood Jeffries or Steve Young and Jerry Rice to more recent examples of Matt Ryan and Roddy White or Andrew Luck and Reggie Wayne to me there is nothing more crushing to an opponent than to see a single touchdown account for two – plus the reception, attempt and yardage – in a Fantasy Football match up.
I have never drafted a kicker and my defense is my last pick in the last round every year. Because I play the matchups with both positions throughout the season I prefer to use roster spots at draft time to grab position players whose value may increase during the preseason.
Finally, I stay away from players that make up the roster of my favorite NFL team. Let’s be honest; if you’re a serious Fantasy Football competitor there is nothing fun or relaxing about Sunday afternoons, right? This tradition allows for the preservation of some of the good ole days nostalgia of watching professional football.
Old habits die hard they say, and I find that I am a clinical study in that line of thinking. My son recently pointed out that I eat all fries before ever touching my cheeseburger when we eat fast food. To which I responded, “Oh yeah, and I still won’t draft a kicker in our family fantasy football league this year, either.”
Oh yeah, I need help.
Jim Heath is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @jim_heath, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
