FantasyLion.com: All Day

In fantasy football I have a rule that I try not to break. I called it the “don’t get too cute” rule. I think it applies to other aspects of life, but definitely to football. Here’s a football example of getting too cute. The Patriots march the ball down the field with a RB, let’s say Lawrence Maroney for argument’s sake. Now picture yourself as a Maroney owner and the Pats have used Maroney all drive long and now the drive winds up a first and goal from the 8. 1st down, the Pats run a draw with Maroney down to the 2 and Maroney holds his 6 yards per carry on the drive. Time to punch it in and collect the 6 points for your fantasy team, right? Not so fast, the Pats call a fade to Moss on 2nd and 2 from the 2 and it’s incomplete. Hey that’s ok, gotta try one pass to keep the defense on their toes. It’s now 3rd down, just give the rock to Maroney and let him finish off the drive. The Pats line up in the goal line formation and it looks like it’s going to be a power run with Maroney. Brady snaps the ball, fakes the handoff to Maroney and throws a play action pass to Teddy Bruschi, WTF?! Bruschi (who is now retired), a LB doesn’t catch the ball and the pass goes incomplete and the Pats settle for a FG, costing themselves and your fantasy team the TD. I mean it’s a shock that play didn’t work when you consider that the team has 5 WRs, 2 TEs, 3 RBs, and a FB, but no, they put in a defensive player for 1 play and get cute and try to look like geniuses or something (I still don’t know what they hope to look like by calling that kind of play, um cute?). I hate, hate, hate, HATE when teams pull that crap. The back got you down the field, give him the ball. Chances are if the back got you there between the 20s, he can get you those last few yards to finish off the drive. When you get too cute you get screwed! But usually I say the R rated version of screwed, but you get the point. That’s just one of the “too cute” examples I’m talking about in football. Now there are plenty more examples of getting cute, like the TD vultures that had run rampant before this year, but since it hasn’t really been a problem this year, I’ll hold that bitch for another day.

Now that you know what a football “too cute” example looks like, I’ll tell you what a fantasy too cute play looks like. In 2006, I was in the fantasy championships against one of my good buddies and I got too cute and started a #3 WR from the Saints, Devery Henderson over a #1 WR at the time, Roy Williams of the Lions. I figured hey, the Saints O is pretty damn good and the Lions suck, plus the Lions were playing the top rated Bears D while the Saints had a much easier matchup against the Giants. Now I thought I was making a genius move but I was dead wrong. The Saints ended up running for over 200 yards and Brees didn’t have to throw much as they rolled to a 30-7 win and Henderson didn’t catch a single pass. He got me 0 points. How did Williams do? I don’t even need to look it up. I know off the top of my head because I’ve told this story so many times pleading fellow fantasy owners not to make the same mistakes I’ve made. Williams had 6 catches for 79 yards and a TD for 19.9 points. I lost by 12. I got too cute and I got screwed. I would have won if I had stuck with my regular starter Williams. I took second place and a quarter of the cash that would have got had I won it all. That was an awful weekend.

Over the years I’ve tried to avoid that mistake. Most weeks I don’t achieve my optimum lineup but I’m ok with that because I made the best possible decision that I could at the time. Well this week I am facing a tough decision. In one of my leagues I am currently 5-6 and need to win out to make the playoffs. It’s been a very rough year and I’ve had the worst luck I’ve ever had in one league in all of my career (but that bitch is for another blog too) =) Anyways, I’m playing the best team in the league, this guy’s team has been incredibly consistent and he’s cruised to a 9-2 record. He’s got Aaron Rodgers who already got him 28.9 this morning. He also has a pair of studs at RB, Chris Johnson and DeAngelo Williams. This league is a non-mandatory TE league, but you can start them at WR and he has 2 of the best in Tony Gonzalez and Vernon Davis. So needless to say, this week I will have my hands full. I have a pretty decent team too, Rivers, B. Scott, Turner (who might not play this week), Colston, Andre Johnson, and Mike Sims-Walker. Well with Benson possibly returning and negating Scott’s starting value and Turner possibly out, I need to get a little creative. So my main dilemma comes down to this, do I start Pierre Garcon who has been pretty good lately, or do I go with rookie RB Danny Ware who is getting his first real playing time tonight vs the Broncos now that Ahmad Bradshaw has been ruled out? I have been waiting all year long for either Jacobs or Bradshaw go down so I could play Ware. I hope my excitement at starting him isn’t getting the best of me. But before I plug him into my lineup, I had to ask myself the golden question, “by starting Danny Ware tonight, am I getting too cute?”

Garcon has done well the last 3 weeks with 11, 14, and 16.8 points respectively. Now this week he’s playing Hou and he scored 11 points vs Houston at the start of that hot streak. I do like his chances this week, but I also have to remember that the Colts throw the ball plenty to Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and Joseph Addai so getting the ball to Garcon can drop on Peyton’s priority list any given week. Plus, I am already starting Garcon in 2 other must win situations and I don’t know if I want 3 cups of Pierre Garcon Kool-Aid this week. I like to spread my eggs out with spot starters like Garcon. No need to be a hero by using a spot starter in that many leagues. I’ve talked a few times about Ware, once earlier this week and another time last week, so I know he can play. Now another reason to start Ware is if Benson plays rendering Scott useless, I can use Garcon at flex, but I can’t put Ware back in because he plays today. One last thing to look at is Ware’s matchup. I only look at how a team has done over the last 3 weeks when considering how their performing. Well in the last three weeks, this is what Denver’s D has given up to RBs…

• Week 9 vs Pit- 182 total yards, 1 reception = 19.2 points
• Week 10 vs Was- 227 total yards, 5 receptions, and 2 TDs = 39.7 points
• Week 11 vs SD- 211 totaly yards, 5 receptions, and 2 TDs = 38.1 points

That’s quite a lot, so the matchup is good. Plus Ware can catch the ball and will probably be the receiving option out of the backfield for the Giants.

Well my decision has been made, I’m not going to get too cute, I’m going to play to win the game and go with Ware. Hopefully, the Giants don’t get too cute and go with some RB I’ve never heard of for Bradshaw instead of Ware. Keep your fingers crossed everyone, my season is going to depend on it! =)