Viva Murillo!
Now that your drafts and auctions are over, you can sit back and take stock of your teams. Overall, I'm sure you did a good job and were able to acquire some -- but not all -- of your targeted players. As a matter of fact, after looking at everyone else's team, you might feel even better about your own. They have some good players, but they also made mistakes, and if your gambles pan out you're in very good shape.
Optimism is good, but don't let it go any farther than that. Right now, everyone loves their team. Everyone in your league is undefeated and everyone is tied for first. It's easy to admire your selections (you are the one who selected them, after all) but it can also be dangerous. If you get too cozy with your players, you might be hesitant to improve your team when it needs it the most.
I have no idea how your draft or auction went, but I know one thing: You didn't draft a champion. Somewhere along the way you're going to have to deal with injuries and under-performing players. You'll have lineup questions and roster dilemmas. You'll have to use the waiver wire and consider trades. There are players out there who will end up on your team and in your starting lineup. And those guys often make the difference between winning and losing.
I'm sure you know that, and so does the rest of your league. But right now, in the afterglow of the draft when you finally have a complete team and can manage your lineup, it's easy to look upon your new team as one unit that you'll use for 16 weeks. Many of your fellow owners aren't even looking at the waiver wire and certainly aren't considering any trades just yet. And to a degree, that's smart. You can't abandon your plan before any games have started. You need to give the players a chance to prove you right.
But at the same time, you should sow a few seeds of doubt in your own mind. The roster you have now will definitely change. The guys you have designated as "backups" and "starters" could switch roles or get cut outright. If you have that mindset now -- that changes are definitely coming at some point in the season -- you'll be more prepared to make moves when you need to make them. Other owners will get to that point as well, but it might take them a little longer. And the difference of just a week or a few days could be the difference in landing the next Ryan Grant on the waiver wire, or being stuck with the next Tatum Bell.
A good owner is always looking to improve a team. While they don't make hasty choices, even information before the first week can change your strategy (depending on when you drafted). Guys like Chris Perry, Rudi Johnson and Kevin Smith were all impacted by one player getting cut. Brandon Marshall went from missing almost 19 percent of the season to just a little over six percent thanks to reductions in his suspension. Chad Johnson (I'm not calling him Ocho Cinco. That's not even "eighty-five." It's "eight five." He's embarrassing himself in two languages) went from a sad-sack receiver whose arm could detach from his shoulder any minute to declaring himself 100 percent. Things change quickly, so while it's nice to like your team don't commit just yet. There's still a lot of the season left -- like all of it. Give your guys a chance, but don't get too comfortable with their names on your roster. That attitude alone puts you ahead of those owners who are beaming over their brand new roster.
These commercials are worth remembering as the season kicks off. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QmH4jkqJFQ
You can reach Michael Murillo at vivamurillo@gmail.com.
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