Ask the Experts
Posted Dec. 31 at 06:04 AM
ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them:
Is there anything the NFL can (or should) do to keep teams from resting stars in meaningless games?
PRETZEL MAY
I believe that it is very difficult for the NFL to regulate who to play in the last weeks of the season. There are two things to keep in mind: 1) As much as it pains me to say this, NFL teams are trying to win the actual Super Bowl, and contrary to what we all believe, they do not really care if we win our fantasy leagues.( I know I couldn't believe it either but I guess that is why they do not invite us to the spring meetings.) So they are not going to risk a player that could be the difference between winning the Super Bowl and being bounced in the first round in a game that does not matter. Most true fans of the team will understand and would be more angry if they did put Peyton in the game in week 16 and get his knee tore up or something worse. 2) There would be a very slipper slope if the NFL could mandate which players teams had to play week in and week out. I don't think the coaches would appreciate having their destiny determined by whom the NFL wants to see on the field. When Marty Schottenheimer gets fired because he can't win a Super Bowl, no one blames the NFL, they wouldn't change even if it were true, coaches would not stand for that. It would also give the players more control over the coaches and over the team than they already have and I am sure no NFL coach or owner really wants that. If the NFL could order you to play people, the coaches would have no options for disciplinary action, the NFL would never stand for having a sub-par product on the field because Randy Moss missed curfew.
The May brothers have more than 16 years of combined fantasy football experience and are the co-founders of FantasyDraftMaster.com. The cornerstone of FDM is the UberRank which is a revolutionary approach to the traditional fantasy football cheat sheet. FantasyDraftMaster.com also offers insightful and humorous commentary on football happenings as well as recommendations on waiver wire pickups, line up submissions and weekly pick em' pools. For more info, visit www.fantasydraftmaster.com or email us at info@fantasydraftmaster.com.
MIKE NAZAREK
Nope. It's simply part of the game. Each team deserves to have the right to pull their starters should they have the No. 1 seed clinched before the end of the season for health reasons. You should factor that into your fantasy management as we get close to the end of the regular season. One rule that I find is a MUST... All Fantasy Bowls should be played in week 16, NOT 17 for obvious reasons.
Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers an online rookie draft kit, preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, fantasy auction & regular drafting programs, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its web site. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is the reigning four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a columnist for SI.com. For more info go to www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached at 702-568-7118 or miken@ffmastermind.com.
ANDY RICHARDSON
I'll try to think outside the box here. The league can't and shouldn't force teams to play starters, but maybe they can give incentives to encourage it. It's better not only for fantasy owners, but for fans attending games who don't want to see Curtis Painter unless an injury requires it. So here's an idea: give teams who have clinched a top seed, or a second seed, the chance to, for example, select the timing of their playoff game if they get another win. So the Colts could say, we want to play the early game on Saturday. And the Chargers, locked in as the 2nd seed, would get second choice of start times in the divisional round. These are just ideas; perhaps something else could be considered. And sure, some teams might prefer to rest players anyway. But if you give a team something else to play for once their seeding is set, maybe that would be important enough to keep teams from giving up glorified exhibition games the last Sunday of the year.
Richardson has been a columnist and contributor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and web site for the past eight years. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections, as well as various site features. He has run the magazine's annual draft and auction leagues since their inception. His A DAY OF FOOTBALL wrap-up column appears Mondays during the NFL season.
JEFFREY KAMYS
In one word no. Each organization can handle their players whichever way they choose.
Kamys is president of Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports. His company, via the web, offers player news, injury reports, cheat sheets, projections, weekly matchups, statistics, and a customized team tracker. Dr. Stats Fantasy Sports also e-mails preseason newsletters and reports throughout the season. For more info visit www.docstats.com or send email to webmaster@docstats.com.
SAM HENDRICKS
The simple answer is no. The NFL should not manage a team and coerce them to play players to create meaningful games. If the NFL were to try that, I fear it is a slippery slope that could lead to even bigger problems in the future. Until last week I thought a perfect season was reason enough to try to win a football game. I guess I was wrong. I have listened to many of the arguments for and against what the Colts did on Sunday. I would have kept them in to win the game. If the starters do not play in week 17, then I believe they were serious about injury concerns. But if Peyton (or the other starters pulled) starts week 17, just to keep his streak going, then I do not know what to think of their decision.
Sam Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Almanac 2009, all available at his website, www.ffguidebook.com, at all major bookstores, and at www.amazon.com. He is a 19-year fantasy football veteran who regularly participates in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th overall in the 2008 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC).
BRYCE McRAE
Sure, there might be something the NFL could do to encourage playoff teams to keep healthy players playing in Week 16 and 17, but should they? I don't think so. If they did, and one of those marquee players, such as Tom Brady, were injured in Week 17, it's going to hurt the Pats and the entire NFL in the playoffs - when it's more important to have your players healthy. The games are going to be meaningless regardless of who plays. It'd help fantasy owners having these players - there isn't much doubt about that - but from an NFL point of view, I don't think it's something they should consider.
KFFL.com offers fantasy football, fantasy baseball and fantasy NASCAR content. We have captured well more than a dozen expert league championships. Founded in 1996, KFFL offers award-winning daily news feeds, preseason draft guides, player rankings, sleepers, busts, weekly newsletters and more. KFFL is completely free! For more information, visit www.kffl.com.
LOUIS TRANQUILLI
No. I watched the interview with Colts General Manager Bill Polian, who was in charge of the Steelers in the 70's and the Bills of the 80's teams. He said it perfectly. "We have earned the right to manage our roster for the playoffs" to paraphrase him. I agree, they beat the teams they had to, that's sports and that's their right. The goal is to win the Super Bowl, not the meaningless week 16 or 17 game.
Tranquilli is the founder and the primary "brains" (if you stretch it) of BFDFANTASYfootball.com. BFD is about delivering the information players want, not fluff, just opinions that matter to fantasy football players. Lou has worked with NFL players and gives a unique perspective because of it. We'll be giving MORE teams away in 2009 to BFD subscribers!
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Posted by MARK AISENBREY | Jan. 02 at 10:44 AM
I like Andy's answer the best. If you look at NE's situation for Week 17, they have decent motivation to play as it is, but being able to select their time slot for next week would add to that somewhat. After week 15 ended, the Jets coach publicly gave up on his team's chances for the playoffs and I saw a rather rigorous analysis that suggested their chances to get to the post season were around 1% at that point. Now they are very likely to be handed two victories. They will have effectively gone from the 12th or 13th best AFC team after week 15 to the 5th best (5th seed) as a direct consequence of their schedule and having little to do with their performance. Very unfair to all of those other teams who have tough opponents the last two week. It's often been said that it's not who you play but when you play them. That idea is rooted in how injuries and momentum can affect the performance of a team from month to month and game to game. But this situation is totally artificial and has nothing to with actual football. It's unfortunate there aren't any better solutions out there. I think the argument "They've earned the right and those teams struggling to get on the last week should have won more games earlier" is a lot of hot air. That's like saying Week 17 is more important than Week 1 - who really believes that makes sense? In practice, we know the opposite is true - those performing well in December are the teams most likely to outperform their seeding in the post-season. Maybe the 18th week could be an off-week and Round One could start in week 19. Some obvious disadvantages to extending the season, but it would increase the time to recover from a potential Week 17 injury. It would also increase the amount of rust if the team decided to rest players in Week 17. Also, it would increase the level of anticipation of the first playoff games in much the same way the extra week after the championship games help Superbowl ticket sales and TV ratings. Finally, the fans of teams who made the playoffs but end up losing their first playoff game should be allowed to bask in the glory of actually making it to the dance for a little while. When your team loses their first playoff game, it feels almost like they never made it all. I think every football can relate to this 'cuz it's happened to all of us at least once.