You have your team, you know your opponent and you're prepared for the start of the regular season. Now the only questions involve your starting lineup. And those are often the most dangerous questions you'll have all year.
Remember the old saying "There are no stupid questions?" That's a stupid saying, isn't it? Of course there are stupid questions. If someone at your draft asks "Is Calvin Johnson available?" in the third round, that's a stupid question. In fact, it's so stupid that many leagues will penalize an owner for asking it.
Sometimes the "who do I start" questions can be pretty smart. Other times they're kind of stupid, especially before the season actually starts. Why would you draft someone as your top running back and then consider benching them? Why would you sit your top quarterback in the very first game?
The answer, of course, is "matchups." Okay, but what matchups? A tough defense? How do you know the defense is tough? Every year a waiver wire D cracks the top tier, and an early selection falls on its collective face. How do you know this scary defense has any teeth? Why are you so sure your player can't compete against a good defense, anyway? Isn't that why you took him?
And on the other side, what makes you think your backup has earned a starting spot? What have they done to impress you since you drafted them? Shred a defense in a pretend football game?
The main job of a fantasy owner is to field the best lineup each week. That means evaluating each position, looking at how the players have done and making a judgment call on who should start. But what kind of evaluation are you making before week 1? They haven't done anything yet. So why punish a starter when they haven't even started?
When you start tinkering with your lineup and putting backups ahead of starters before the very first kickoff, you're sabotaging your own strategy. It's hard enough to field a team that resembled what you wanted to accomplish. But if you have valuable players worthy of top picks, why wouldn't you give yourself a chance to be proven right?
To be fair, there are a couple of valid reasons to have starter questions in week 1. The first is injury. Normally you'd start Alshon Jeffery, but we're not exactly clear about his calf injury. Even if he gets in limited practices, I can see finding other options on your bench.
The other is when you created a committee approach on purpose. Maybe you took Gronkowski early, then loaded up on quality backs and wide receivers. That left you with a trio of mediocre quarterbacks who will rotate in and out of your starting lineup all year. You expected to play matchups, so it makes perfect sense to do so.
But if you're simply losing confidence in your players, or wonder if a backup isn't already a better option, something went horribly wrong at your draft. In week 4 that backup might actually be a stronger choice, but you'll have had a few games to evaluate that position. But if you do that before week 1, you either don't have any faith that your strategy was sound or you botched it so badly that you can't even see a clear-cut starter.
Actually, there's one other option: You're putting too much pressure on yourself. You know who your starters are, but there's so much emphasis on week 1 you start to question things. You don't want to make a mistake, so you end up making one. I'm just trying to prevent the kind of lineup shuffling that destroys fantasy teams, costs them wins and bumps them from the playoffs. And yes, that path to failure starts in week 1. It's good to question things. But if you bench starters in week 1, you're questioning your entire draft and your philosophy. And you don't need to do that. Don't be a good owner who stresses out for no reason and makes bad choices. Give your team a chance to prove you were right on draft day.
This week, your only lineup decision should be wings or sliders on Sunday. And even that one is easy. Start wings and flex sliders, but bench both of them if barbecue looks ready to go during warmups. Good luck this week.
Do you make radical roster decisions heading into week 1? Are there other reasons why it might make sense? Share your thoughts below.
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