If you’re not familiar with the Buffer brothers, let me refresh your memory: the elder Michael Buffer has been the main man ring announcer for premier boxing bouts and most famous (and I’m sure trademarked) phrase before the beginning of each main fight or championship fight, “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!!!!”; the younger brother, Bruce Buffer has been the main Octagon announcer for UFC fight cards and his infamous crowd pump-up phrase, “ Iiiiiiiiit’s TIIIIIIIME! For the MAIN EVENT of the Evening!!!”... As rookies, invites and established players reported to camp for the upcoming 2023-2024 NFL Season, may I glean from the Buffer Boys’, the greatest ring announcers of our time, “Are you Ready for Fantasy Football?!!!!” It’s time for God to take the backseat, as NFL Mayhem rises up taking over Sundays! The most popular professional and physical sport in America is revving its engines with the preseason games in the books, final rosters established and the first game on Today!
When getting ready for your fantasy draft, it’s wise to catch up on all the coaching changes, free agency signings and acquired draft prospects joining the sixteen AFC and NFC rosters. Honing in on power rankings, head coaching strengths and weaknesses, offense and defense coordinators’ philosophies and playbooks, all should be taken into consideration. Of course, there are in-depth charts created by analysts and proclaimed ‘experts’ at every fantasy team’s disposal. The outlying questions remain about each of their accuracies of predicting performances, especially as a prime PPR player ages, and the unknown effectiveness of rookies making rosters. You can always follow power rankings by certain fantasy football analysts and do fine; I always like to evaluate the whole team, beginning with the strength of the offensive line, the offense play calling style and the ranking/effectiveness of the quarterback. We must not forget about an established running game to open up passing opportunities. Depending on how the scoring is layed out, there can be gems performing on losing teams, (e,g, Derrick Henry) where they are the go-to clutch player for their squad. There’s also the seasoned fantasy football player’s gut many should not ignore. Many dipping their toes into the fantasy football world may not realize what’s all involved creating consistent winning fantasy teams year-in and year-out. I have yet to see a player in my two top leagues win back-to-back seasons. A main goal for ‘mois’ is to at least win my entry fee back in bonus points (top score weekly bonus; playoff team bonus; top team bonus; winning playoff round bonus), as well as placing in the top three. Last season was brutal! I went the whole regular season undefeated, only to lose in the championship game, coming in second! Ugh! One of the drawbacks of having top point performing players, usually means they end up resting, not playing during the final games leading up to the playoffs; thus, that truly gutted my team in the championship game.
As draft party dates are lined up during the preseason, there’s such a thing as creating a drafting date too early! As I found out, (as many of us around the nation did, oof!) drafting Jonathan Taylor (RB, IND) at an auction draft in late August, risking that he may not be signed, or traded before the mandated 53-man roster cut date! Now he’s either on the bench for the first four games, or possibly the whole season! I am going to be as patient as possible to see if there’s some action in the next two weeks before possibly seeking a trade, or picking up another running back. Luckily I have decent flex options with drafting extra tight ends and the other running backs I have, I believe are slotted RB1 for their teams (Raheem Mostert, D’Andre Swift, Ezekiel Elliott, Pat Freirmuth, Cole Kmet and Chigoziem Okonkwo as flex options). When drafting towards the beginning of training camp, preseason can be risky, as injuries, waivers, trades and signings happen, leaving you in a lurch, scrambling to find players off the waiver wire. There’s a balance one must attain laying out an ideal fantasy roster. Always keep in mind the scoring layout of your league, and invest in the positions that will get you the most points week-in and week-out. Most of all, have fun! Wishing all of my fellow fantasy football colleagues the best of luck! Shock your league and be the babe that conquers their league!!!
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