Fantasy football often puts us in a precarious situation on a weekly basis. I think it is safe to say that almost all of us fell in love with football first, and then graduated to fantasy football after that. Most, if not all, football fans also have a favorite team. Often it is one we live and die for. Heck, I have always said that if I was going to get a tattoo (of which I have none currently), it would be a 49ers logo. I have been a fan for nearly 35 years, and the team has given me a fair share of absolute happiness, stress, and heartache. Unless you root for the Lions, then it is all heartache. Many like to combine the love of your favorite team with the fun of fantasy football. However, as you go into your fantasy draft if nothing else follow this one piece of advice…….don’t be a homer.
Double Whammy
This part especially comes into play for those of you who are fans of teams that usually miss the playoffs. What is worse than your favorite team losing? What is worse than your fantasy team losing? BOTH your fantasy team AND your favorite team losing. I’m looking at you Lions fans. You have several fantasy worthy players like Kenny Golladay , Matthew Stafford , and the shiny new toy of D’Andre Swift. Now, I am not saying don’t pick anyone from your favorite team, but if you start taking two or more guys from your favorite team and they end up in your starting lineup each week, you are just asking for problems. Sure, if the Lions are getting pasted 34-10 like on a typical week that could be good for the fantasy production of the passing game, but then you are left as usual crying in your beer as your team is 3-9 for the 11th straight seasons.
Don’t Be Predictable
This section is dedicated to Sirius/XM’s Glenn Colton. I have recently been lucky enough to do a number of drafts with both he and his co-host Rick Wolf this offseason, and I learned something very early on about Glenn. He really, really likes the Cowboys. Do you know how I knew that? Because his teams often had any combination of Dak Prescott , Ezekiel Elliott , Amari Cooper , and Michael Gallup on there. There was a couple with CeeDee Lamb as well. We did an auction draft where the entire plan going into the draft for Rick Wolf and I were to bid up Cowboys because we knew that Glenn would continue to bid a few dollars more than he probably should have or needed to just to get his Cowboys. In snake drafts I have watched people reach and select players from their favorite teams a round or so more sooner than they likely had to in order to have their “favorite player”. If your league mates know where your NFL allegiances lie, and they probably do, they are likely to be able to exploit you for that and get you to spend more draft capital or auction dollars than you probably should to have guys from your favorite team.
Be Deeper
We have evolved as fantasy football players over the years, and with the plethora of information now available online, the neverending amount of blogs and podcasts, not to mention Twitter, you can be better than just focusing on your favorite players. I will guarantee that the people in your leagues are doing their research to see what player’s ADP is, trying to find those late round sleepers, and finding who is on the rise and who to avoid. If you are a Texans fan who starts with David Johnson , Deshaun Watson , and Brandin Cooks in the first four or five rounds, you are doing yourself a disservice against other players in similar draft positions that could help your team more. Fantasy football is evolving, and with it, the fantasy football player is evolving. Being in a league where you sit and have four or five guys from your favorite team on your roster and coming out in first place has become a thing of the past. You have to be more engaged, you have to know the whole league, and you have to go outside of your home city if you want to take home the championship.
Bye Weeks
This is a small issue because you obviously have a bench, but if you draft too many players from any one team, your favorite team included, you are likely to have issues on that bye week. Some will say that is good, get all of my important players to have the same bye week and then I don’t have to worry about it through out the bye week season, but you could be in a dogfight for a playoff spot, and that week where you are in trouble could be late in the year, and then you have put yourself in a severe disadvantage. Case in point with the upcoming 2020 season, both the Bucs and the Panthers have their bye in Week 13. If you have a number of players from Tampa (Tom Brady , Ronald Jones , Chris Godwin , Rob Gronkowski ), you could really be in trouble if you are playing your entire bench in a game where you win and you are in the playoffs, or lose and go home.
Trade Issues
While this is the Draft Guide this can also trickle into the regular season. If you show in the draft that you want as many players from your favorite team on your roster, it can also signal to other owners to pick those players. It isn’t that they want the player, but they are like sharks with chum in the water and will try to trade you those players as soon as the draft is over. If you are a Broncos fan and draft Drew Lock , Melvin Gordon , and Noah Fant, it is pretty obvious that you are a homer. Your league mate who took Courtland Sutton to spite you, could then turn around and try to hold him over your head for more than his worth. If you are truly a homer you might end up trading a superior player, or possibly a package of two players to get your guy. Obviously, this would further hurt your team.
Just Stay Balanced
The point of this article is to keep you away from loading up on your favorite team, but it is not to say to avoid players on your favorite team. Basically, every NFL team has a player with some fantasy relevance, and if you draft them at the appropriate time, or even if you maybe reach once for “your guy” there is nothing wrong with that. Some people do try to stay away from players on their favorite team just because of the “Double Whammy” section above. They can’t take the pain of both their favorite team losing and their fantasy team. And to make it worse their fantasy team losing BECAUSE their favorite player had a bad game. However, to avoid all of the players on your team isn’t the right strategy either. As with many of our strategy pieces in the Fantasy Alarm Draft Guide the point we are trying to preach is balance. Sure, a player, or perhaps even two from your favorite team can be fine, but loading up, or drafting well above a player’s ADP because of your fandom will get your team off to the wrong start before the season even begins. Be smart, draft smart, and good luck in your upcoming drafts.