Don't overreact in fantasy football.
That means when a guy you drafted in the first round has racked up 80 yards and no scores in the first three games--combined--it's not necessarily time to throw in the towel.
Similarly, when your ninth rounder has yielded third round value to start the season, it's not necessarily time to sit back and relax.
The key is understanding whether past performance is an indicator of future performance. In one of my leagues, I have a miserable underperformer (Eddie Lacy) and a guy playing above his pay grade (Mohamed Sanu). The overreacting side of me--the part who wakes up sweating and nauseated at 3:00 a.m.--wants to unload Lacy to whoever wants him; hell, I'll take the Browns DST and a free-sandwich-with-purchase-of-chips-and-drink Subway coupon. Meanwhile, I can't wait for Sanu to toss his next 50-yard TD pass while racking up 70+ yards and the occasional score.
But we're better than this. Lacy was a universal first round pick. His yards-per-carry is an abysmal 3.14, and Green Bay's coach has called him out publicly. Is he really this bad? Or is this an aberration? I'm in the latter camp. I won't entertain any trade offers for my prized RB, because his value can't get much lower. And I won't bench him, because the Packers have little choice but to continue feeding him the ball and hope he breaks out of this mini-slump.
As for Sanu, a seemingly healthy A.J. Green and the impending return of Marvin Jones could move the productive third-year WR back to the slot. With Gio Bernard and Jeremy Hill racking up five if the team's eight offensive TDs, Sanu's TD potential already was limited. After the Week 4 bye, he might be no better than a WR5 with a little upside.
Many of you might be facing similar dilemmas. By taking a step back to assess true potential--rather than merely past statistics--we can view players more objectively and make wiser long-term decisions.
That means when a guy you drafted in the first round has racked up 80 yards and no scores in the first three games--combined--it's not necessarily time to throw in the towel.
Similarly, when your ninth rounder has yielded third round value to start the season, it's not necessarily time to sit back and relax.
The key is understanding whether past performance is an indicator of future performance. In one of my leagues, I have a miserable underperformer (Eddie Lacy) and a guy playing above his pay grade (Mohamed Sanu). The overreacting side of me--the part who wakes up sweating and nauseated at 3:00 a.m.--wants to unload Lacy to whoever wants him; hell, I'll take the Browns DST and a free-sandwich-with-purchase-of-chips-and-drink Subway coupon. Meanwhile, I can't wait for Sanu to toss his next 50-yard TD pass while racking up 70+ yards and the occasional score.
But we're better than this. Lacy was a universal first round pick. His yards-per-carry is an abysmal 3.14, and Green Bay's coach has called him out publicly. Is he really this bad? Or is this an aberration? I'm in the latter camp. I won't entertain any trade offers for my prized RB, because his value can't get much lower. And I won't bench him, because the Packers have little choice but to continue feeding him the ball and hope he breaks out of this mini-slump.
As for Sanu, a seemingly healthy A.J. Green and the impending return of Marvin Jones could move the productive third-year WR back to the slot. With Gio Bernard and Jeremy Hill racking up five if the team's eight offensive TDs, Sanu's TD potential already was limited. After the Week 4 bye, he might be no better than a WR5 with a little upside.
Many of you might be facing similar dilemmas. By taking a step back to assess true potential--rather than merely past statistics--we can view players more objectively and make wiser long-term decisions.