Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition: Handing out Mulligans for poor lineup decisions. Replacing Andrew Luck. Cleveland's iffy offensive line. And more.
Question 1
What do you think about the "Mulligan Rule" that we have in our league? Each season every team can make ONE lineup change AFTER the week is completed. So, if one player that you did not start that week has a huge week, you can plug him into your lineup to replace someone who did not have a good week. The strategy here is: WHEN do you take your mulligan? Use it as soon as you can, or wait and hope for a bigger pay off? If you keep putting off your pick, waiting for a bigger pay off and the season starts winding down, you might end up not getting that much from the mulligan. We put this rule in several years ago and the people in our league really like it.
Steven Souza (San Leandro, CA)
Cool rule. I’d like to try it.
Question 2
I had drafted Andrew Luck before he retired. I get to add a QB. I’m leaning towards Brissett or Darnold
STEVE CATES (Cheyenne, WY)
I am a fan of Brissett. He’s not as good as Luck, but I think the system might be more important. Frank Reich, I think, has a good feel for how to attack a defense. The Colts threw 39 touchdowns last year. The previous season, Reich was the OC in Philadelphia, and that offense put up 38 TD passes. While Brissett isn’t an elite quarterback, I think he might finish with top-10 numbers.
Question 3
Long-time subscriber here - I think I’ve subscribed for over 15 years. Best product ever! I’ve won my league a record 6 times (and 4 runner-up) in our 17 year league history using only your product ... so thanks. Question, how does the signing by the Browns of that guard from the Bills change your view on Browns players (especially Chubb) if at all. Is it a meaningful upgrade? Thanks.
Gavin Domm (San Francisco, CA)
I am concerned about Cleveland’s offensive line. They thought they would be able to replace Kevin Zeitler (given up in the Olivier Vernon trade) with Austin Corbett. Now, less than two weeks before the opener, they’re trading for Wyatt Teller, a fifth-round pick last year. They were able to sneak by at left tackle last year with Greg Robinson, but they released him earlier in the week in a roster shuffling move (knowing they’d be able to re-sign him). It’s not a good offensive line, and I’m not confident they’ll be able to get by with smoke and mirrors like they did late last year. We’ll see. I’m thinking Tennessee’s defense could cause some problems for them on Sunday.
Question 4
10-team league and we draft 14 besides K and Def. I like to play RB for flex so plan to draft 7 RB and 5 WR. For my last one or two RBs I would like to gamble on someone with big upside if things fall right for them. I asked this same question last year and James Conner was at the top of your list. I got him late and won the league!
Randy Newland (Villa Hills, KY)
Jaylen Samuels is my favorite. Like Conner, he looks a lot more confident and knowledgeable in his second season. If there’s some kind of injury in Pittsburgh, I think they’ll plug in Samuels and not lose much. Others worth mentioning: Ryquell Armstead, Ty Montgomery, Wayne Gallman (I think), Jamaal Williams, C.J. Anderson, Damien Harris, Royce Freeman, Tony Pollard, Alexander Mattison, Rashaad Penny.
Question 5
Having won the championship last year; I have the last pick in my draft this year. I’m kinda tempted to pick up Gronkowski with that pick. What are you thoughts about Gronk returning sometime this season?
Stephen Burch (Liverpool, NY)
I don’t think it’s going to happen. There are too many other sleeper-type guys that I like more. I am currently mulling whether use my final roster spot in a league on Jake Kumerow, Demarcus Robinson, Preston Williams, Devin Funchess, Phillip Dorsett, Demaryius Thomas or one of about a dozen handcuff running backs who are available. There are a lot of lottery-ticket type players out there.
Question 6
8-team keeper league, PPR (1 for TE, .5 for WR, 0 for RB), standard scoring, keep 8. Keeping Chiefs QB, M Mack, K Allen, O Beckham, TY Hilton, J Smith-Schuster, and Z Ertz. Dilemma: Can't get anyone to trade Texans QB to. Do I stick with keeping 2 team QBs, because I can't get decent trade value, or would Guice, Kirk, or Shepard be a wiser option? I don't see Guice being there at my 8th (one-way) pick, and I'm hurting obviously at RB. We can play 2 RB, 2 WR, or 1 RB and 3 WR each week.
John Macho (Elko New Mrkt, MN)
I would keep the quarterbacks for both franchises. Kansas City has an unusually tough opener, so I would plug in Deshaun Watson for the opener. Let him put up big numbers in that season-opening game, and that should loosen up some trade offers for you.
Question 7
I messed up in my draft and ended up in my 12-team PPR with D.Cook, Ito Smith, J.Samuels, Frank Gore and Jamaal Williams as my RBs. Should I drop Williams for Dion Lewis, Chris Thompson or Carlos Hyde? Thanks.
Brian Boyd (Williston, VT)
Lewis and Thompson might both catch 50-plus passes. If you’re looking for a body you can plug in for some nominal production, those guys should be able to handle that kind of role. They’ll be better on a week-to-week basis than Samuels and Williams (but don’t have the upside to potentially turn into very good starters at some point).
Question 8
Dynasty league cheat sheet is for standard scoring. Any chance for a PPR Dynasty cheat sheet?
Donald Martin (Seattle, WA)
We publish revised dynasty rankings every Thursday. In the final print, it says that they’re for standard scoring, but that is in error. They’re PPR rankings. They’ve been standard in previous years, but we made the change while putting together the on-paper magazine in May.
Question 9
Ok, I can keep 2 of the following 3 RBs, non-ppr, 10 team league: J. Conner, D. Johnson, or L. Bell? Any advice beyond your cheat sheet?
Raymond Wolniewicz (Bend, OR)
You’ve got some good choices. I would go with Conner for sure, and I’d make Bell my second choice – I think the Jets will be better than the Cardinals.
Question 10
12 team PPR. We start 2 RB's and can only roster 4. I have J White, D Henry, C Carson and Justice Hill. Hill is my sleeper, but I really like Breida to emerge as the go to in SF. Would you drop Hill and pic up Breida? or hold tight and wait to see how Hill performs?
John Casani (Bluebell, PA)
I’ve got Breida higher than Hill – a lot higher.
Question 11
I am in a yardage heavy league. We recently lost 2 owners and our league is down to 8. We added a 2nd starting qb and additional flex because of the 8 owners. How do I adjust my customized rankings on the site for the additional qb? I usually have a draft strategy of picking undervalued qb in mid to late rounds and loading up on rb and wr early. I do not think I can get away with that strategy as long as we start 2 qb.
Kenny Micheletti (Kansas City, MO)
It’s about deciding on where to set the baselines. With eight teams starting two quarterbacks, teams probably will select three each. That’s 24 quarterbacks chosen, so there are some serviceable guys who won’t even be on rosters – perhaps Carr, Dalton, Foles and Mariota. The last third of the quarterbacks, can’t be considered too valuable, because they’ll be available in the late rounds. If this was an auction, guys like L.Jackson, Garoppolo, Trubisky, J.Allen, Winston, Stafford and Darnold would be worth $1.00 Some no doubt will hit, but others will be popped onto the waiver wire when some of those free agents exceed expectations. In league set-up area of the website, click on the “auction” area of the page (even if you’re drafting rather than auctioning). There’s some questions in there. Plug in that there will be 24 quarterbacks drafted, and that you want 16 of them to be worth more than the $1.00 minimum bid. That will tie into the overall, and you should be good. (Also check the supply-demand numbers for the other positions.)
Question 12
These 3 rbs will be there for me...Mixon, Chubb, D. Williams...1 pt for every 2 catches, 1 pt for every 8 carries, 1 pt for every 20 yds rec, and of course 6 pts for TD......Basic question, who do you prefer?
Jeffrey Haseley (Sanborn, NY)
I’ll go slight edge for Mixon. He’s on a lesser team, but he’s a good pass catcher. With LeSean McCoy having now signed with Kansas City, I don’t Damien Williams is part of this discussion anymore.