BTD’s First EVER Fantasy Football League

If you’re like the staff at Building the Dam, you’re a huge Oregon State football fan and you also have an unhealthy obsession with Fantasy Football. Which means we decided to combine two of our favorite things and start the first ever BTD fantasy football league!

Now I get it, nothing is more annoying than that guy who won’t stop talking about how great his fantasy football team is and how he scored over 200 points last week (even though the scoring in his league gives him 20 points if one of his players puts on his left shoe correctly). So this (probably) weekly column won’t be Building the Dam attempting to shove their league details down your throat, but instead it’ll give us an excuse to share fantasy football tips, strategies, hot waiver wire pick-ups, injury news etc. Because if you’ve read this far you’re playing fantasy football this season and you want free tips.

This means not only can you come to BTD to get all of your Oregon State athletics news and analysis; you can also get free fantasy football advice! Because guess what, the NFL IS BACK! Starting tonight (ATL vs. PHI) you’ll already need to make decisions about who you’re going to start and who you’re going to sit. Fire those questions our way, read this column each week and BTD can personally guarantee you’ll be hoisting that imaginary championship trophy over your head once the NFL season is over.

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SEASON LONG STRATEGIES

The face of fantasy football has become ESPN’s Matthew Berry and his biggest advice every season is “At a fundamental level, fantasy football is entirely about minimizing risk and giving yourself the best odds to win on a weekly basis... Every draft pick, every waiver move, potential trade, start/sit decision...” That’s pretty good advice, but what exactly does that mean?

It means that every week you’ll be competing against another team and the only thing that matters is your teams performance THAT WEEK. In other words, I want to start the players that are going to have the best fantasy performance that particular week.

Take week one for example, I would rather start Nick Foles (filling in for the injured Carson Wentz) against the Falcons than start Jimmy Garoppolo against a tough Vikings defense. I don’t want Foles on my team all season and I would not draft Foles over Jimmy G, but in a one week vacuum I think Foles would give me the best chance to win.

DRAFT STRATEGY

Each week you can start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 1 D/ST, 1 Kicker and 1 Flex spot (standard fantasy leagues). You can start either a RB/WR/TE in your flex spot. You should always start a third wide receiver or running back in the flex spot though. Just looking at your starting spots, running backs and wide receivers are way more important than any other players because you have to start more of them.

Assuming you’re doing a snake draft (a majority of leagues do). It’s tempting to place increased value on quarterbacks, because they do score a lot of fantasy points and they are exciting! But there are so many good NFL QBs and you can only start one of them. I would not draft a quarterback until after the 10th round and I would not roster more than one QB if you can help it. You’ll still get a very good quarterback each week.

The numbers bear this out, but kickers and defense/special teams are not very valuable for fantasy football purposes and can be interchanged weekly via the waiver wire. I would almost always use your last two picks on a defense and kicker, in that order.

The best and easiest way to be successful in fantasy football is to actively manage your team. Each week take a few minutes to set your starting lineup and also be on top of injury news. Picking up studs who slipped through the cracks on draft day, while dropping under-performing players is another surefire way to dominate your fantasy football league. Speaking of waiver-wire additions...

MUST ADD WAIVER PICK-UP

The biggest news in fantasy football is obviously the status of Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell. The No. 1 pick in thousands of leagues, including BTD’s (sorry Joe), has decided to remain away from the team until he is satisfied with his contract. The Steelers have been praising his back up, James Conner, and he has become a must add/start player in all leagues until Bell returns to the team.

If you’re looking for a defense to grab from the waiver wire and start week one go get the Tennessee Titans or Washington Redskins. They aren’t great defenses, but they are going up against some bad offenses.

Most importantly fantasy football is fun, so have some fun! Draft exciting players you like and want to root. Name your team something crazy. The best names from BTD’s fantasy football league?

1. Mannion of the Spring
2. Jacquizzed in my Pants
3. Every Dam Day
4. Gimme Nall the Points

Below is how the BTD’s draft went down.

TEAMS 1-3

TEAMS 4-6

TEAMS 7-10

Come back next week for more tips and analysis after week 1 is in the books.