With the annual "32 Teams in 32 Days" rundown now complete, it's time to turn to the mega-gorilla in the room. As I wrote back in June, nobody knows whether there'll be an NFL season--and if there is, whether it will be cut short at a moment's notice. Yesterday's warning from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says it all. If baseball can't figure out how to outrun a pandemic, what chance do other leagues have?
Now I'll get a bit more candid, if only to reinforce how I'm approaching this preseason. Back in February my wife and I knew this was going to be bad. We warned friends and family and co-workers. We bought a large freezer for our garage, a lot of frozen meet, and shelves of canned foods. Of course, we have three little kids, so our survivalist mentality kicked in largely because our parenting mentality kicked in. We told our kids they'd probably be out of daycare/school until 2021--or longer if a viable and affordable vaccine couldn't be developed soon.
All this to say, I'm researching and writing this past month--pouring as much into these columns as ever--despite this whole time feeling about 95% certain that football will be canceled by October, if not sooner. On top of a new and intense job, being an active husband and parent, going to graduate school--and oh yeah, dealing with a pandemic like all of you--it's honestly been tough pouring this much time and effort into something that in a few weeks might not matter. But in the interest of escapism and fierce competition, I'm approaching this one day at a time, hoping I'm wrong about all of it.
So let's take a breather and look at where things stand. The deadline for players to opt out this season is August 3. Except now it might be delayed. Last time I counted (Friday evening), 31 rostered players had opted out. Surely more will follow. Tracking player rankings will be exceedingly difficult during this time, until/unless there are no more opt-outs.
But then there are COVID illnesses. At last count (also Friday evening), 72 rostered players were on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including several notable fantasy names.
So drafting right now is more of a crapshoot than ever before. Yeah, we always have to contend with injuries. But this is obviously different. How many more Chief linemen have to opt out before Patrick Mahomes decides he doesn't want to get sacked 40+ times? At what point does a starting QB decide to take the year off, leaving his team's fate in the hands of a much worse backup? If a wideout on that team is playing for a new contract, wouldn't he also want to sit out instead of jeopardizing his health and a nice long-term payday?
I'll keep writing daily posts, and I want to hear a lot more from all of you on the page. And let's keep enjoying talking football. But let's also keep an eye on what's happening and recognize that things probably will get tougher before they get easier, and that player values could shift wildly from day to day.
Now I'll get a bit more candid, if only to reinforce how I'm approaching this preseason. Back in February my wife and I knew this was going to be bad. We warned friends and family and co-workers. We bought a large freezer for our garage, a lot of frozen meet, and shelves of canned foods. Of course, we have three little kids, so our survivalist mentality kicked in largely because our parenting mentality kicked in. We told our kids they'd probably be out of daycare/school until 2021--or longer if a viable and affordable vaccine couldn't be developed soon.
All this to say, I'm researching and writing this past month--pouring as much into these columns as ever--despite this whole time feeling about 95% certain that football will be canceled by October, if not sooner. On top of a new and intense job, being an active husband and parent, going to graduate school--and oh yeah, dealing with a pandemic like all of you--it's honestly been tough pouring this much time and effort into something that in a few weeks might not matter. But in the interest of escapism and fierce competition, I'm approaching this one day at a time, hoping I'm wrong about all of it.
So let's take a breather and look at where things stand. The deadline for players to opt out this season is August 3. Except now it might be delayed. Last time I counted (Friday evening), 31 rostered players had opted out. Surely more will follow. Tracking player rankings will be exceedingly difficult during this time, until/unless there are no more opt-outs.
But then there are COVID illnesses. At last count (also Friday evening), 72 rostered players were on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including several notable fantasy names.
So drafting right now is more of a crapshoot than ever before. Yeah, we always have to contend with injuries. But this is obviously different. How many more Chief linemen have to opt out before Patrick Mahomes decides he doesn't want to get sacked 40+ times? At what point does a starting QB decide to take the year off, leaving his team's fate in the hands of a much worse backup? If a wideout on that team is playing for a new contract, wouldn't he also want to sit out instead of jeopardizing his health and a nice long-term payday?
I'll keep writing daily posts, and I want to hear a lot more from all of you on the page. And let's keep enjoying talking football. But let's also keep an eye on what's happening and recognize that things probably will get tougher before they get easier, and that player values could shift wildly from day to day.