10 Things

Howdy Fantasy Lovers, Fantasy Novices, and Fantasy Creatures! Welcome to Fantasy Football 101, where I, Kyle Bazin, will be sharing my opinions, experiences, and advice on Fantasy Football to you all.

Alright, so I'm going to be trying out an idea that I randomly got while writing my last blog. I thought to do an idea that I see Matthew Berry do, just in a much smaller context. Matthew Berry at the beginning of each fantasy football season posts his annual "100 Facts" blog. In it, he writes about some really quirky facts that can sway or change your opinion on certain players/teams. In my '10 Things' blog, I will be doing the same thing except this version will be specifically on Fantasy Football as a whole and guidelines/rules to playing. I may have stated some of these indirectly or directly in previous blogs so bear with me on a few. Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed this idea and you want me to do this idea more often.

1. If you are playing fantasy football in a league, play fantasy football in that league. Do not stop playing because your team sucks or you are getting unlucky. In the words of the great Hannah Montana, "Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days." Also, be active in the league. Whether it be just picking up people on waivers/making trade offers/declining trade offers. If someone is trying to get ahold of you for a trade, don't be that guy that doesn't respond.

2. As important as it is to hit on the guys you draft in your middle to late rounds, if you miss on your number 1 pick you're in trouble. If you picked C.J. Anderson in your draft this year, you know what I'm talking about. Those sleepers that you hit on in the middle rounds like Ryan Mathews are not going to get the production you needed out of a number 1 guy.

3. Trash talking is not bad, in fact, it is healthy for the soul. I actually think it is healthy for your colon as well, but that's just what some high USF Medical grad student was talking to me about. Regardless, you are in a fantasy league not at the youth group for your local church. Have a little fun with some banter. At the end of the day, it is just a game and there should be no hard feelings.

4. Running backs/Tight Ends are more valuable in Fantasy than any other position. If you have a couple of top RB's on your team (example: You had the 1st pick, so you drafted Leveon and then you got lucky on a flier with Devonta Freeman), then you probably are in the top 3 of your league right now. Same goes for Tight Ends, I know a few friends that have Gary Barnidge and Tyler Eifert right now. Both of them were most likely not drafted and yet they are both top 5 TE's and they should continue to be. Once you get past the top 15 RB's you start to get a sour taste in your mouth and it's the same thing with TE's but it hits around #7. Make sure you hit on these positions, they just might win you your league.

5. If you draft a kicker before the 14th round, I don't like you. That is all.

6. Seriously, don't draft a kicker before the 14th round. Don't draft a kicker till the last round should really be the rule, but I know some people just gotta have some Stephen Gostkowski. Stephen was the number 1 kicker all of last year and was drafted first last year from ADP standpoints for kickers. He scored just 0.7 more than the next best kicker. The next best kicker was less than 10 points away from the 5th kicker. BE SMART PEOPLE!

7. Don't be the guy that monopolizes a certain position to bait people into making unfair trades. You have two defenses in the first 12 rounds, I promise you don't need another. And yes, I see you have Gronk and Greg Olsen and Jimmy Graham but do you also need Antonio Gates? Just stop.

8. Don't be afraid to make a splash move or make an iffy pick! Sometimes those trades where you give up your best QB can get you a lot better everywhere else on your roster. Two weeks ago, I traded Justin Forsett, Keenan Allen, Chris Ivory, and Big Ben to get Andrew Luck and Jeremy Hill. Are all of those players I gave up really good and have tremendous upside? 100%. Did I really need a QB? Do I think that Luck is going to get out of this funk and be the best QB down the stretch? You bet your momma's gold tooth I do!

9. Don't be that guy who, after they lost, says "Yea well if I would've just put in..." No. You lost fair and square. Eat your loser sandwich like a man and get back to the grind next week. There are a million different things that could've happened, but they didn't. This is the world we live in. Not some alternate universe that if you would've done X, Y, and Z that you would be married to Kate Upton and would have regular threesomes with her and Melanie Iglesias. We don't live there... unfortunately... *while writing this, gets sad and tears up*

10. This is a game. HAVE FUN!

As always, thanks for reading everyone. Again these are all MY OPINIONS! Do not take them as a Bible scripture and do not use my word as the only word. It is OK to make opinions for yourself! I promise! My next blog will be my Week 8 Reflections! I've actually been really enjoying my recent posts on my reflections, so be sure to check it out!