Hello Everyone,
I can't think of any way to soften or ease into this, so I'm just going to post what's been on my mind lately.
The lockout sucks.
Obviously, I think everyone agrees. Where things get sticky, is what that means for this league. It has gotten to the point where now some teams are at serious disadvantages to other teams. In terms of the NFL, you have new coaching staffs in Carolina, Tennessee, Denver, Oakland, San Francisco, Minnesota, and Cleveland, and new offensive coordinators in St. Louis and Cincinnati, and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. None of those regimes have been able to get playbooks to their players, sign players, and start implementing their systems. All of those players are now at a disadvantage.
Further, there has not been free agency yet. That means players like, say, Terrell Owens, DeAngelo Williams, or possibly Donovan McNabb, have no idea where they will be when the season starts (if it starts), and will not have the time necessary to learn the playbook well enough to be as effective as a player in a more stable situation such as a Michael Turner.
All of this makes it difficult to imagine having a level playing field in the NFL, let alone in our league this next season. Can the season still be salvaged? For the NFL, sure, but I'm beginning to think some "irreparable harm" has been done in our Fantasy Football League.
It's one thing to point out a problem; anyone can do that. But to recommend a solution? That is much more difficult.
I think we scrap the keeper league for a year. Play Fantasy Football on a one-year term this year, redraft and all, and then maybe start a new keeper league in 2012 (this is all supposing a deal gets done for games to be played this season).
I'm open to other ideas, comments or suggestions, but I think this needs to be seriously discussed, and sooner rather than later.
Yours truly,
John Herrin "Urine Trouble"
P.S. :And before any of you start calling me a whiner just because I lost, I did take 3rd in the league last year, and I'm a VERY close second in points overall. I stand to lost a lot by losing fantasy football this year. I just want to play on a fun, level playing field.
This is a joke, right?
ReplyDeleteA. We're not even to training camp time yet (end of July), so the only thing players have missed is some off season team meetings & workouts, most of which aren't even mandatory, and some study time with the playbooks. (Do you really think anyone besides the QB is snuggled up with the playbook right now instead of chilling on the beach or in da club?) The "serious disadvantage" you mention of having new coaching exists whether there is a lockout or not. Tom Brady is going to know his playbook and offensive system better than a QB going into the season with a new coach, even if they do have the full off-season with said new coach. So should our league always be adjusted to compensate for players who are on teams that fire their head coach at the end of a season?
B. No one is keeping McNabb or TO, so it's irrelevant where they end up playing or when/if the get signed. Their (and other players like them) position in the draft will be adjusted according to thier potential regardless of if/when/where they get signed and no team in this league will be negatively affected. There are maybe a couple keeper level players that are free agents (D. Williams is the only one that comes to mind off the top of my head), and it is an extreme stretch to just assume that the lockout is going to have a negative affect on anyone.
C. Brett Favre sat out most or all of the training camps for both the Jets & viqueens and joined his *new* teams as quarterback (the most important position in football) right before pre-season. Those two years he was a top 10 fantasy QB for the Jets, and a top 5 fantasy QB for the viqueens. Granted, he's one of the best QBs of all time, but still do you really think D. Williams is going to be significantly limited in his ability to run the ball for a new team because he hasn't had the whole off-season with the playbook?
Let's not hit the panic button at least until there is something legitimate to panic about (i.e. week 1 is rolling around and there's still no deal in place). Until then...LET THE BEST FF LEAGUE IN HISTORY ROLL ON AS IS!!!
You're jumping the gun.
ReplyDeleteThere is obviously a chance that the lockout could ruin this league, but I don't think it's reached that point yet. There will always be variables to consider when determining keepers and pre-draft rankings; whether it be a lockout year, new coaching, new offensive schemes, free agency, trades, who a (real) team drafts, if your keeper RB's stud run-blocking OG leaves the team, or anything else that may or may not be typical. Sometimes players holdout for a new contract for all of training camp and hit the ground running without any hiccups. Sometimes they don't. If anything it makes the planning and strategy for this league that much more interesting.
Also, most of those teams with new coaches have gotten playbooks to their players. It happened in the short time where the lockout was lifted during the NFL Draft.
A. It's not a joke. Tom Brady knows his playbook from years of being in the system, obviously. But you have guys like, say Alex Smith who Ben might keep, who has a new coaching staff and new playbook he hasn't had a chance to look at yet. And that's even if/when Alex Smith can resign with the 49ers. It's easier for you to dismiss it, because the majority of your players are in stable situations. Look at other teams who have keeps with unsettled spots. Tony Barriere and Brandon Lloyd? Pat O'Keefe has Larry Fitzgerald, but no one knows who the QB will be, so he's not getting his timing down with the QB. Darren McFadden with a new head coach. Kyle Orton with a new offensive coordinator (those three just listing off of Pat's team alone). The NFL recognizes there is disparity between a new head coaching staff and an established one, that's why they get an extra minicamp (which you can forget at this point. Where would they fit it in?) This deal isn't going to get done until mid July-ish, and by the time you sign players (free agency, draft picks, etc), It's end of July, or right at the beginning of training camps.
ReplyDelete2. See the players I listed from Pat's team alone. You think this won't affect Pat's keepers? Kyle Orton? McFadden? Fitzgerald? What about Tony with Carson Palmer? Kyle with Frank Gore? Shall I go on?
3. How can you compare Brett Favre to every other player in the NFL? You just admitted *he's Brett Favre*. So, yeah. I'm willing to say it hurts a DeAngelo Williams and Alex Smith.
I never said it's completely destroyed the league. What I have said is that it is providing a growing unfair advantage, an inequality in the teams that grows by the day.
Well, to be fair, there was already an inequality cause they have crappy keepers. Haha!
ReplyDeleteBut still, I think it's too early to make a decision like this. There's no rush!
ReplyDeleteI do think you're making it sound worse than it is though. DMC had Hue Jackson as his coach for half of last season. I don't think he'd be too affected. Plus I don't even know if Pat would keep Fitzgerald. He has DMC, MJD, Andre Johnson and Orton. And I highly doubt Ben would keep Alex Smith considering his other keeper quality players.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion on this has absolutely nothing to do with my keepers. I couldn't care less if every one of my guys were free agents or on teams with new coaches. You have a WAYYY inflated view of what goes on during the NFL offseason. Take a look at the offseason schedule-
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80f70cd3&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true
"Teams are permitted to conduct up to 14 Organized Team Activity (OTA) sessions as part of their offseason workout programs. In addition, clubs may conduct one mandatory veteran minicamp. Teams that hired a new head coach may hold two additional voluntary minicamps."
So we're going to scrap our league because players have missed 17 days of OTAs and mini-camps? (Some of which isn't even mandatory.)
The bottom line is, like John F said, there are things that happen ALL the time in real football that negatively affect fantasy football teams. We're not going to adjust the rules of the league to make things fair every time something happens that causes someone to be at a disadvantage. That's part of the game.
Fitz didn't know who his QB was going to be from week to week last year, let alone for the whole off-season. 3 coaches were fired mid-season last year. Were those situations fair for the ff teams affected by them? Maybe not, but did we or should we have made adjustments to the league because of that unfairness? No!
I tend toward John F.'s position. While I agree there is the potential to have a very negative impact on the league, I don't think it's come to that yet. We'd be hearing a lot more about it in the fantasy football realm if there were really not enough time for teams to adjust.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem I see with your position (John H.) is that there is no way for us to validate whether there really will be any impact. If the teams you mentioned going through coaching changes have bad seasons, we can blame it on the offseason delay, but those teams are coming off bad seasons anyway. It may just be due to bad players. If they have good seasons, well, that would not be in favor of your position.
I agree that we should monitor the situation, but I think it's better to wait until we're closer to the season and see how things play out. In the end, if there really is a disparity caused by the offseason matters, we'll never be able to verify, and it will be one of the beautiful imperfections of organized sports, similar to baseball, a much more superior sport.
Haha, Pat...
ReplyDelete