The preseason games are out of the way, the regular season has begun and its time to look at your team after the draft. Maybe you tore it up and have your dream team or panicked and everything fell apart, but no matter which players you drafted they are yours and you are going to have to make the most of them. The draft is only a small part of what determines the seasons out come. Fantasy football isn’t a set and forget game, how you manage your team will determine if you take it all or crash and burn.
Injuries and Byes
Injuries and byes are the simplest part of managing your team but its’ importance can’t be overstated. Injuries happen in the NFL and there is no way to avoid them. Part of what makes fantasy football so challenging is when your best player goes down for the season and you have to find a way to replace him. Luckily there are ways you can prepare for the worst.
When a player is injured for the season you will need to drop them from your roster and fill their position with someone off of your bench, but not all injuries are a season ending affair, you will need to follow player injury reports to know when your hurt players will return or how long they will be out. Most websites and apps will do this automatically for you by placing a probable, questionable or doubtful beside the players name on your roster. Use this as a starting point, but make sure you check in before their game starts for any last minute changes.
For games early in the weekend you can check the injury reports and the pregame news right before kickoff and sub in a player from your bench if needed, but when the player in question is playing a late game on Sunday you might not know until right before game time if he will be on the field. By then most of your bench will be locked from playing in earlier games and you likely will not have anyone to take their place. In this situation it may be better to play one of your benched players during an earlier game to avoid getting stuck with a 0.
While not every player gets injured there is a week each year that you can guarantee that a player won’t put up any points, their bye week. Each NFL team has a week that their players have off so make sure to look ahead and plan your bench accordingly. Make sure you have a backup player to fill your starting positions while your studs are resting.
Injuries and Byes are an easy concept to grasp, but one that will lose your season if you don’t keep an eye on them.