Viva Murillo!
After about eight months off, you're finally going to field a lineup. You have a team, you have an opponent, and your record will have something other than zeroes. It's the week you've been waiting for, but it's also the one you're most likely to screw up.
Some owners try to make up for lost time and actually over-manage their teams. Trading is fun, and the waiver wire is fun, so why not get started now? Unfortunately, you end up picking up and dropping guys before you know if they're any good. You trade away players you just drafted, and you pick up guys you passed over several times just a couple of weeks ago.
Managing your team is fun...as long as it actually improves your team. If you're making moves just to feel like an owner again, you can sabotage your franchise before you even play a game. It's easy to rationalize early-season decisions, but ask yourself why you need to do it now. The team you have is the team you thought was best on draft day. It's the result of your strategy in action. Unless you made a glaring error or definitely made a mistake, you should be hesitant to make any changes before week 1.
That includes lineup decisions. This is the one week you should have an easy time choosing your starters. If you're not confident in your early-round picks at this point, you probably did something wrong on draft day. Everyone is supposed to have some confidence in their guys in week 1. If you don't, you probably never will.
Of course, if you have marginal talent at a certain position or an injury concern, you might have a lineup dilemma. But those should be few and far between. If you took a guy in the first round and you want to bench him in week 1, you'd have to have something really special behind him to make that move.
Of course, like I always say: It's your team. If you're the type of owner who plays matchups and likes to make crazy moves, have at it. But I don't think you're helping your team by trying to be too clever at the start of the season. This game doesn't count any more than the others, but it does count. If getting cute with your lineup decisions costs you a win this week, it could come back to haunt you later in the year. It could be the difference between 9-5 and a playoff spot, and 8-6 and disappointment.
Making lineup decisions, dropping and adding players and swinging deals is all part of the game-- But not necessarily before the games start. You'll have plenty of time to tinker with your squad. Unless you're absolutely sure it's the right call, I suggest seeing what you have before you decide if you want it or not. You might be surprised to learn that your strategy was excellent and your draft or auction decisions were on the mark. At least wait through 60 minutes of football before deciding that you backups should be starters, or your bench players should be released and replaced. But whatever you do, enjoy the return of the game that count. Good luck this week.
You can reach Michael Murillo at vivamurillo@hotmail.com.
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