The NFL preseason is finally upon us and that means it is time to fire up the CSR fantasy football leagues. I have one major change to this year’s format that I mentioned at the close of last season. I am no longer offering leagues free to play. I am now requiring a minimum of $10 entry fees to play. The reason is simple: Every year in every league where there is no entry fee at least one team manager will abandon the team at some point, usually early in the season resulting in unfair wins for other teams. When people pay even a small amount to play something they are more likely to engage the entire season. Well that is my theory anyway.
As I already mentioned: $10 entry dues, $75 to first place, $35 to second and $10 to third. If you are new to fantasy football be sure to check the roster and scoring settings. If this first league fills up I will add another one.
If you are a seasoned player, please join as I need some competition. I’ve won 16 trophies since 2016, hit diamond a couple of seasons and I’m usually in the mix in every league. Here’s my profile to provide the evidence.
So what was going on before 2016 you might ask? Well that was before I started using Fantasy Pros Draft Wizard. For $40 it gives live draft advice, presenting the top five players on the composite expert draft board. As a result I have at least broken even (including the FP cost) every season across my pay-in leagues since 2016. In 2021 I was in eight pay-in leagues with total entry dues $230. I won $290.
You might also notice I reversed a downward trend this past season and regained my mojo. Here’s what I learned, No more draft parties! I was screwing up my drafts getting too snockered before the draft started. I would then miss picks, get put on auto-draft, etc... It was ugly. In the regular season I also quit betting on games ATS on Bovado and playing DFS. That just sucks up all the time I could have used picking my lineups every week. Now that I’m focused on nothing but regular fantasy football I expect an even better season in 2022.
Back to business. Here are some of the key settings for those who have played in the past.
Roster settings – Super flex instead of kicker
The starting roster is the traditional QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, FLEX (WR/RB/TE) and Team DST, but no kicker. I used these setting for the CSR Cash League 2. In Cash League 1 I renewed from last season I replaced the kicker with a super flex (QB/WR/RB/TE) which is typically used for a quarterback. That changes your draft strategy significantly, or at least it should. In a superflex league you can’t wait until the fifth round or later to grab a quarterback, you need to get a good one quick.
Scoring settings
I always prefer six points for a passing touchdown versus the default four. In that case I only give one point for every 25 yards passing versus 20. I also put in one bonus point for scoring plays over 40 yards (passing, rushing or receiving). The rest of the settings are the standard default settings.
Playoffs
I’m a traditionalist when it comes to how I set up my divisions and playoff scenarios. My preference is 12 teams divided into four divisions with six teams making the playoffs. That’s four division winners and two wild cards. I also do not re-seed the playoff teams, preferring the four division winners get the top seeds just like the NFL does it. I prefer the three week format starting in Week 15 through Week 17 and giving the top two seeds a bye.
Draft strategy
In leagues with no super flex I always draft a running back in the first round. In a super flex league like the CSR Cash League 1 I instead look at quarterback. Being able to start two quarterbacks, I always start with cheat sheets and run mock drafts from the beginning, middle and end of each draft position. Here’s my favorite mock draft simulator though I agree they are of limited value. Like I mentioned above if you’ve never won at fantasy football maybe it’s time to enlist a little help. How else do you play 10+ fantasy leagues a season and still hold down a full time job?
Good luck to you and as always…keep pounding!
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