Navigating the Preseason Hype Train (#FantasyFootball)

Ohhhh yesssss…….The NFL training camps have finally begun and the NFL Preseason is in full swing. To the owners who are just now trying to catch up from what some fantasy football owners consider to be a period of fantasy football drought while dynasty fantasy football owners consider it to be a period of fantasy football frenzy, it is definitely time to catch up with what is going on in the NFL.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the Odell Beckham’s in the NFL then now is the time as time may have passed you by already.

If you are still trying to catch up on all of the off-season transactions and happenings in the NFL then you are already behind the ball but the worst thing you can do is rely on the hype coming out of NFL Training Camps because it has seldom proved to be reliable.

Just as every Wide Receiver will make an incredible catch, every defender will make an incredible stop. So how do you filter out what is reality versus what is fantasy? There is no secret formula or method to doing so other than paying attention, watching games/film and developing your own opinion which should be based more on what you see than what you hear and goes with the old saying by Edgar Allen Poe “believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear”. Little did he know that over a century and a half later that his advice would apply to a hobby called fantasy football but it’s true and relevant not only in real life but in fantasy sports!  That doesn’t mean that we stop listening, but it does mean that we need to pay attention and develop our own opinion.

Sometimes it’s more about what you don’t know than what you think you know as too much info can be harmful to a fantasy owner if the information you attain is not accurate which is likely the case more often than not when it comes to training camp and preseason. Many things are overexaggerated by the media as they want the attention and many things are not communicated by the teams because they don’t want the attention or they throw up smoke screens to keep their opponents guessing much like fantasy owners do before their seasonal drafts.

Yes, for every Christine Michael or Blaine Gabbert that shines in the preseason only to let owners down when the games actually count, there is a Terrell Davis or Victor Cruz that comes out of nowhere so it’s up to you to sift through the rocks to find that gem and hope that it doesn’t turn out to be that rock you can get for free at any fantasy trap. Often times, these players are realized during the first quarter of the NFL season and it’s first come first serve so make sure nobody cuts in line to get that last cut of prime rib.

Don’t overthink your roster and feel that you need to make an uneducated move just because you hear that this player or that player had a great day or a bad day. I have learned to listen more to the local beat writers more than the national media as the locals are much more in tune to what’s really going on with the team in the offseason.

Adam Schefter used to be one of those guys in Denver and would consistently make accurate statements when it came to specific players/situation as he had a great relationship with then head coach Mike Shanahan. Schefter has since been rewarded with a bigger role in the media working for the NFL Network and most recently as an “Insider” for ESPN and is one of the few National media personnel whom I trust.

With the preseason just getting underway, there is going to be a lot of attention given to specific players throughout the league and not all of it is going to be deserved with players playing against a different level of competition than they will face when the games count so keep that in mind and develop your own opinion instead of relying on the hype train that comes at this time every year and will run you over if you let it.

Not sure I can say it better than the great Bruce Lee:

“Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own.”
— Bruce Lee,
Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor

With that I say…….Good luck my fellow fantasy football owners and wish nothing but the best for you except for those who are my upcoming opponents in 2019 which is quite a few to say the least!

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