The Ultimate Strategy Guide to Win Second Place
I wasn’t always this good at never winning. It took experience. It took back to back trips to the fantasy championship and losing in epic fashion to help me realize what I am good at…. getting second place. By reading this I will assume you don’t have your name engraved on your fantasy football trophy. You, like me, are probably pretty good at fantasy football. If you have won a championship no need to read any further just know that I don’t envy you.
It takes time to realize your place in your respective league. Are you a multi time championship winner? Maybe you are the person who is constantly in fear of the punishment. Maybe you are neither of these things. Maybe you are like me. A role player.
To truly understand what you are getting yourself into when it comes to being the ultimate number 2, you need to have acceptance. Acceptance that despite your failed efforts you can say ”at least I made it to the championship”. All that matters is that you got there because in the end you have no control of the outcome.
You may be wondering ”when is he going to share his tips?” Maybe I am going to write a full length novel before I get to that, I don’t know. I am just winging it here. The 5 main tips and tricks I am going to share with you today I am going to call my ”Tenets” shoutout Liver King. I don’t know if that term applies to this situation but it sounds cooler.
My First Tenet:
It does not matter who you draft with your first pick.
Many people spend endless hours trying to figure out who to take with their first pick. In the first round you are going to likely be able to take a top player at their prospective position. Does it matter if it is Jonathan Taylor or Christian McCaffrey? Not at all. Six of one half a dozen of the other. Same shit. The first round is about just picking a guy that you like that you know barring injury will be good and they are all fucking good so who cares.
You can also never predict how your draft is going to go. So mock drafting and planning for months ahead, although fun, is a complete waste of time. You can plan your entire draft, round by round, just to have Mike Evans taken with the 5th overall pick and you have a top running back fall in your lap. People are dumb and so are you. Why plan? Just let it happen.
One reason why you cannot plan very well for a draft is because each pick is timed. If I sat you down and told you to fill out this:
You could do it no problem. Now if i gave you a minute to do it and put a gun to your head. It might be a little more difficult. obviously this is a dramatic Illustration but the same idea applies. Most people don’t perform well under pressure.
My Second Tenet:
Always draft rookie wide receivers.
Every single year like clockwork a rookie wide receiver finishes in the top 20. The reason why this matters is because they are so cheap to draft. Jamar Chase last year. Justin Jefferson the year before. OBJ did it. Mike Evans did it. Even Kelvin Benjamin did it. Every year there is a clear path for a rookie WR on a team and you should completely take advantage of that.
My Third Tenet:
The same rule applies for tight ends as it does for rookie wide receivers.
Tight End is not a sexy position that you have on your roster. Usually you fill it with an elite guy or with some player that was previously a basketball player that was later mopping floors at his local high school. If you aren’t getting a Kelce or maybe an Andrews then don’t bother trying to reach on a TE. Find guys who possibly are on new teams filling in a role. Most of the time the guy who hits is a rookie or second year player. For example: Kyle Pitts, Dalton Shultz, Mark Andrews, Evan Engram (5 years ago).
At the TE position there is so much fluff it is better to go with someone who has something to prove then a guy who has had the opportunity and never proved anything. If you are looking for a dart throw I say go with Isaiah Likely. He will get it done this year.
My Fourth Tenet:
Always make trades and work the waiver wire.
There are few truths in this world. Two main ones though are that your players will have bye weeks and your players will get hurt. Last year I lost 4 players for the season before week 5. Did I bitch about it? Absolutely. Was it warranted? 100%. However that is not going to help me win. This year there will be a waiver wire pickup that helps someone win it all. Or it will be a very one sided trade that takes someones team over the edge.
I’m not saying go crazy and pickup 3 guys a week. Or am I saying to constantly make trades. Don’t be that guy blasting shit trades out every week. No one will take you seriously.
My Fifth Tenet:
If you make it to the Super Bowl don’t try and get cute and don’t just put the best guys in an hope that gets it done.
The easiest way to lose a Super Bowl (trust me) is to overthink it. You have a top tier running back who has been killing it all year but now he is playing the Bucs D and your bench RB is playing the Jets. Maybe it’s time to switch it up? No it’s not. If you have elite guys play them. No need to overthink matchups. Now if you’re like me you will take all of that into consideration and move that guy out of your lineup and lose. Deja Vu! Times you should take into consideration swapping a guy out: Snow games. If you wakeup and pop on RedZone on a crisp December morning and Hanson says theres a 90% chance of Snow in Buffalo and you have a WR going that day… it might be time to look at another option.
I know my previous reasoning may sounds contradictory but that is because I have still not figured out the best way to win it all. Hence the point of this article. If you lose in the Super Bowl thats on you.
In case you were wondering how I lost the times I went to the championship games, it was the Le’Veon Bell 50 point game and stat corrections. Fuck stat corrections.
Bake
