The DFF redraft league went sideways for team SteaminBeaman22 from the jump. Looking back, the draft was a disaster. I made questionable pick after questionable pick but it didn’t stop there. I made poor roster moves and start/sit decisions in-season and still made the playoffs. My streak of terrible choices kept going in the fantasy postseason to find myself knocked out in the first round. It wasn’t my finest season, but we can learn something even from a failure. Let’s review some of the tough calls and decisions I had to make from the beginning to the end of the season.
Bad Picks:
Devonta Freeman (RB) 3.11
Freeman has been on the decline since 2016. This season marks another year in which he doesn’t reach 1,000 yards. The signs are there for all fantasy owners. He hadn’t played a full season in two years coming into the draft, and he didn’t play a full season this year either. Freeman missed time this year due to a lower leg injury and only played two games the year prior. He averaged 14.5 fantasy points per game this year and is the RB21 through 15 weeks. He wasn’t worth even a late third-round pick. The moral of the story is to beware of players who have a consistent injury history. The Falcons have also increased the number of pass attempts per game over the last couple of years, and I did not fully consider that. I assumed he would take over the majority of the workload with Tevin Coleman gone. He only has 166 rushing attempts so far this year which is not nearly enough to produce top 10 or even 15 numbers.
Tevin Coleman (RB) 5.11
Speaking of Tevin Coleman, he was another poor choice I made. One of the main reasons, which many warned of, was the timeshare we all knew about. He would have to share snaps with Matt Breida, Jerick McKinnon, and Raheem Mostert. Head coach Kyle Shanahan is known for using multiple running backs. He did this when he worked with Coleman in Atlanta. I thought Coleman would standout amongst the others, but he’s had to share too much of the workload. He also just hasn’t produced consistently enough to warrant who he was chosen over. Patrick Mahomes was the pick after so the should put it in perspective.
Larry Fitzgerald (RB) 7.11
Fitzgerald isn’t the worst pick this year, it’s really who I could’ve taken instead. I didn’t trust in Courtland Sutton, against my better judgment, and it likely cost me a win or two. Fitzgerald is the WR33 through 15 games while Sutton is WR18. My thinking was Kyler Murray would need to lean on the veteran and Sutton wouldn’t overcome poor quarterback play. I was wrong and paid the price.
Bad Luck:
Luck is part of fantasy football, there’s no doubt about it. I’m here to quickly discuss the bad luck I had that, with the help of my poor decisions, derailed my season.
JuJu Smith-Schuster 1.11
I took JuJu as my first-round pick. A questionable pick for sure. I normally choose a player who is almost certain to produce but here I was chasing the unknown. I was hoping Roethlisberger would continue throwing the ball 600+ times, but he ended up being placed on IR for an elbow injury. JuJu’s season was also wrecked by injuries. He’s only played 11 games and scored three touchdowns this season. A ton of factors made this pick a complete disaster.
Brandin Cooks 4.2
Cooks should’ve been a lock here after four straight 1,000 yard seasons. Not only has he dealt with injuries all year, but Jared Goff and the Rams’ offense hasn’t been the same since losing the Super Bowl to the Patriots last year. Cooks normally sees at least 100+ targets in a season but has only received 67 this year. He has 39 catches for 543 yards and two touchdowns in a disappointing 2019 season.
Austin Hooper 9.11
Austin Hooper was amazing this year. He was the TE1 through 10 weeks until he suffered a knee injury. That was bad luck. Hooper missed some of the most crucial games of the fantasy season. He wasn’t there when owners needed him even while producing incredible numbers early in the year. There is no real lesson here; sometimes fantasy football just tears your heart out.
Season
Trades:
Marquise Brown for T.Y. Hilton:
I made this move hoping Hilton would get healthy later in the year around playoff time, but it never came to fruition. Brown was inconsistent, so I didn’t have a problem moving on from him and taking a chance on Hilton. This didn’t make or break my season, but it was a misjudgment on my part in attempting to trust an injury-prone player.
Waivers:
Dropping Noah Fant for Kyle Rudolph:
Noah Fant was a boom or bust player and I dropped him right as he boomed. Fant would have helped my chances of moving on to the second round of the playoffs, but I wasn’t patient enough to reap the rewards.
Playoffs
Start/Sit Decisions:
Ryan Fitzpatrick over Drew Brees Week 14:
There were several questionable choices that sent my season awry, but this is the single start/sit decision that ended my season. I played Ryan Fitzpatrick who scored just 13.30 fantasy points instead of Drew Brees who scored 40.06 in the first round of the playoffs. To be fair, Brees was facing the 49ers who have been one of the top defenses all year. Fitzpatrick was taking on the Jets, but I thought the Dolphins’ need to pass the ball would overcome a decent defense. Playing Brees would have sent me to the second round and who knows from there, but this decision cost me the season. One phrase comes to mind here: “Start your studs.”
We can’t win them all, and when we don’t, we should take a quick look back and review the decisions and moves that put us in this position. Poor choices don’t make you a bad fantasy player, but acknowledging those choices can make you a better one.
Thank you for reading. If you have any thoughts or would like to discuss, you can find me on Twitter @WillieBeamanDFF
