Weekly Fantasy Football Advice: Check Injury Reports; A LOT!
by RotoPicks.com Staff
I play in a lot of snake drafts. It never ceases to amaze me how often my competition is misinformed or simply uneducated with regards to the injury status of a player.
Using Week 8 of the 2012 season as an example, Packers WR Jordy Nelson was listed as doubtful as early as mid-week, yet a handful of my opponents spent a draft pick on him. Some even drafted him in the mid rounds!
A status of "doubtful" means that the player probably isn't going to play. Even if he does play, he won't be at 100%, so in my estimation, this is an absolute waste of a pick. Nothing will hurt your chances of winning in weekly fantasy football than "the unknown."
If you're serious about winning at weekly fantasy football, you absolutely have to check NFL injury reports OFTEN. I'm not talking once at the beginning of the week either. I'm talking multiple times per day.
NFL players come down with illnesses, injuries suffered in practice, re-aggravation of previous injuries and other misc. fluke reasons why their game status may change during the week. Some coaches hold back this info as well, in an effort to throw a wrench into the opposing team's plans in order to defense them. Check those injury reports and check'em often! This simple strategy is sure to increase your odds of winning your leagues! There is nothing more frustrating than taking a zero on your stat sheet!
Now let's talk about another way that you can benefit from checking injury reports. Let's say Jordy Nelson was indeed going to sit. This opens up an opportunity for another player. This player may be somebody already in the starting lineup or a bench player who'll be moving into the lineup. You know that Aaron Rodgers is going to hoist it up a bunch, so this is a golden opportunity for you to cash in on a player who is likely going to be overlooked by most of your competition. In this particular case, veteran WR Donald Driver was thrust into the starting lineup. Driver ended up having 2 catches, one which was a touchdown. His salary cap price was only $2000, which was a steal as he scored 8 fantasy points.
This "backup player" variable isn't so much of a snake draft "golden nugget" as much as it is for salary cap leagues. Most weekly fantasy football sites take time (a week or two) to adjust player salaries to what they should be. These are opportunities that you have to pounce on like a freakin' fumble!
Good Luck!
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