I'm not a Tom Brady fan. It's not that I don't think he's incredible; he is. I've simply never liked Bill Belichick's scowl, didn't appreciate the way they won their first Super Bowl (the "tuck rule" AFC championship game that compromised my sense of fairness), and have grown tired of them being good all the time.
That's one of many biases I try to keep in check every fantasy season--one of many opinions I try not to let seep into my team management decision making.
I suspect some of you also carry biases into each season. Maybe it's a team you root for--or rooted for as a kid. Maybe it's a player you once met who seemed cool, and now you're pulling for him because that's human nature.
Let's hear from some of you: Do you have a bias that impacts your fantasy decisions? Prove to me I'm not alone on this.
Of course, I know some of you exist. Sometimes it comes out in the form of player warnings. Yesterday reader Alan Douglas commented about Coby Fleener, "He burned me so bad last year, just don't know if I can pull the plug on him again." It's a fair point. Alan knows how erratic Fleener can be first-hand. He doesn't want to make the same mistake again. So it's not easy to separate the Fleener of 2017 from the Fleener of 2016.
FF4W commenter Joel Verzosa responded: "I got burned by [Ameer] Abdullah last year and I am grabbing him in most drafts. Stupid value." That attitude is the aspiration--that we not let players (or teams) blind us from their true value. I can't root for Tom Brady. I hope the Patriots go 5-11. But he is what he is (elite), and the team is what it is (a Super Bowl contender). If I let personal opinions inform reality, I'm not really seeing reality.
To the extent past performance influences future performance--where applied talent is transferable from one year to the next--of course factor that into fantasy decisions. But whether a guy helped or burned you last season is, on its own, irrelevant. NFL history is littered with examples of players stinking one season and rebounding the next. Bad play or an ill-timed injury aren't enough to judge one's potential. Where talent and opportunity converge, there's value to be had.
That's one of many biases I try to keep in check every fantasy season--one of many opinions I try not to let seep into my team management decision making.
I suspect some of you also carry biases into each season. Maybe it's a team you root for--or rooted for as a kid. Maybe it's a player you once met who seemed cool, and now you're pulling for him because that's human nature.
Let's hear from some of you: Do you have a bias that impacts your fantasy decisions? Prove to me I'm not alone on this.
Of course, I know some of you exist. Sometimes it comes out in the form of player warnings. Yesterday reader Alan Douglas commented about Coby Fleener, "He burned me so bad last year, just don't know if I can pull the plug on him again." It's a fair point. Alan knows how erratic Fleener can be first-hand. He doesn't want to make the same mistake again. So it's not easy to separate the Fleener of 2017 from the Fleener of 2016.
FF4W commenter Joel Verzosa responded: "I got burned by [Ameer] Abdullah last year and I am grabbing him in most drafts. Stupid value." That attitude is the aspiration--that we not let players (or teams) blind us from their true value. I can't root for Tom Brady. I hope the Patriots go 5-11. But he is what he is (elite), and the team is what it is (a Super Bowl contender). If I let personal opinions inform reality, I'm not really seeing reality.
To the extent past performance influences future performance--where applied talent is transferable from one year to the next--of course factor that into fantasy decisions. But whether a guy helped or burned you last season is, on its own, irrelevant. NFL history is littered with examples of players stinking one season and rebounding the next. Bad play or an ill-timed injury aren't enough to judge one's potential. Where talent and opportunity converge, there's value to be had.