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Andy Richardson

There’s a heat wave going on right now, and one of the best ways to beat it is to do as little as possible. That’s a good strategy to take into the fantasy season, which is why I’m a little concerned that I’m already committed to 5 leagues this year, with the season still two months away. I know I’ll get roped into at least 2 or 3 more by September, and that’s probably going to be too much.

If you’re in the same boat -- popularity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be -- consider saying no to some of your annual fantasy commitments. Failing that (you don’t want to leave your fellow owners in the lurch at the last minute), see if you can improve your enjoyment of the season by making an old league new again. Because it’s fun to have several leagues, but it’s a lot more fun if those leagues have variations that make them different. If you’re in a bunch of 12-teamers that all feature essentially the same scoring system and lineup requirements, you’ll probably end up with very similar teams, very similar choices on the waiver wire each week, and very similar results.

How to make things different? Here are a few ideas:

1. Push for expansion. I thought a 14-team league would be pretty lame, until I actually did one, and realized that the sparsity of options on the waiver wire can be a plus, not a minus. Trading, for example, is frequently more prevalent when it’s the only way to dramatically upgrade your team. It’s also fun when you win -- or lose -- a matchup based on some spot start picked up off waivers a few days earlier and thrown into the lineup because there’s no other choice. Wait until you win a matchup based on Vikings’ third-stringer Mewelde Moore catching a garbage-time touchdown. I wouldn’t want ALL of my leagues to be 14-teamers, but one is a nice curve to the traditional 10- or 12-teamers, especially on draft day.

2. Sell your fellow owners on an auction. We’ve been beating this drum elsewhere on the site, so I won’t dwell on it too much. But if I’ve got 5 or more leagues, I absolutely want 1 or 2 of them to offer an alternative to the standard sine-wave draft. And since I seldom luck into a top-2 draft spot, an auction is the only way I can ensure my team will be led by Steven Jackson this season.

3. Suggest some lineup tweaks. Two quarterbacks. An extra flex position, where owners can start anything from a second quarterback to a second defense if they so choose. Individual defensive players. A fullback, or offensive lines. These and other ideas can add new interest to draft day, and the season itself.

4. Shake up the scoring. You might not want to get too crazy, but again, it’s just one league, so how about making every TD scored from 25-plus yards worth 8 points? Or from 50-plus yards, 10 points? Bored already with the “point per reception” format? How about making receptions by tight ends worth 2 points? There’s a way to give players like Tony Gonzalez and Jeremy Shockey the fantasy respect they deserve.

5. Experiment -- respectably, of course. I’m not talking about drafting the entire starting lineup of your favorite NFL team, especially if that team happens to be the Oakland Raiders. However, have you ever wondered what would happen if you drafted a team EXACTLY the way the Fantasy Index Cheat Sheet suggests? And then set your lineup each week in lock step with the rankings? Made trades in direct accordance with the ReDrafter? Even the most loyal of you probably allow your personal biases to affect some choices (which makes some degree of sense, since it’s your team). But if you’ve already got more teams than you want, select one of them to be Fantasy Index’s team, and see how that works out for you. (Note: If at the end of the season you send us an angry missive if it doesn’t work out for you, please also feel free to send a congratulatory note if it does.)

These are just a few ideas, and I’m sure we can all come up with more, including team quarterbacks, TD-only leagues, Rookie-only leagues, and heck even yardage-only -- why make goal-line vultures viable fantasy commodities? And really, you’re missing out if you’ve never tried a dynasty league; more on that in a future column.

The point is that if you’re going to be in half a dozen leagues anyway, why not make sure you can easily tell them all apart? Why not have your friends be able to identify them as “My IDP league,” or “My 2 QB league”?

Sounds pretty cool to me.

Have a fantasy question for Andy? Or just want to praise, criticize, or complain? Send an email to andy@fantasyindex.com.

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