The calendar has flipped and the year now reads 2017 instead of 2016. Everyone complaining and bitching about how bad a year 2016 was clearly did not follow the Roto Street Journal, because if they did they arguably would have won their league as I did. If you read my earlier testimonial, you would have seen that I won three leagues this year while making the finals in four. Easily the best fantasy year of my life, so thanks Roto Street Journal.
As with any new year, that means it’s time for resolutions to be made. Whether it’s real life or fantasy related, it’s always nice to have some goals set for the upcoming year. Here are some of those goals I’ll be working towards in 2017:
- Trust your gut/brain – I know I have a big brain when it comes to fantasy football which often leads to success. There are times when the ol’ brain decides to work overtime/overthink and that’s when we run into trouble. Trust your instincts and your gut feeling before tinkering your lineup into an island of misfit toys because of matchups
- Stay active on the waiver wire – I’ve found that the teams of mine that generally struggle are the ones where I’m least active with free agents. The season gets old and next thing you know, your starters are injured/unproductive and your bench is littered with guys who haven’t done anything despite being highly ranked preseason. There were tons of great options on the Waiver Wire this year that helped owners this year, as evidenced by our Waiver Wire MVP article.
- Get back in physically “dominating” shape – Here’s a little peak into the life of JimboSlice, I captain a beer league softball team. As team captain, it’s my responsibility to set the tone and lead by example for what I expect to be a scorched earth type of season. If your captain shows up with noodle arms and looks 150 pounds soaking wet, it doesn’t give off much fear. Would you rather be captained by a prepubescent looking girl, or a guy whose biceps are so big they are ripping holes in his arm sleeve?
- Ignore the Cam Newton bounce back hype – I was strongly against drafting Cam Newton this year. While I generally prefer to wait on QBs, I’ll take a good one if the value is there (*cough cough* Aaron Rodgers). Not Newton though, as I still think he’s one of the most overrated players in the league. Now that he’s not running anymore, he’s become one dimensional and his passing game is average at best. Give me a guy like Kirk Cousins 10 rounds later who will nearly double his yardage.
- Get a tan for the second consecutive year – As an Irish catholic boy who lost his family’s genetic lottery and was “blessed” with pasty white skin, it was amazing to get somewhat of a tan last summer. When I came back from a trip to family and a response of “holy shit, you’re tan” I nearly did a cartwheel. So you can expect yours truly to be sitting outside every Saturday/Sunday working on that bronze while pondering what 2017 draft strategy I’ll be rolling with this year.
- Don’t be scared of rookie running backs – There appears to be another crop of big name running backs coming into the NFL this draft. Usually, rookie backs tend to struggle or make little impact in the fantasy world, but that theory was derailed by Ezekiel Elliott and Jordan Howard this year. It just shows that if skilled guys are placed in the right situation, then good things can happen. We’ll see what happens with Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook and Christian McCaffrey.
That’s a good list for now, and definitely something I can start working towards right away. As for you, one of YOUR New Year’s Resolutions should be to continue to follow the Roto Street Journal throughout the entire year. There will be plenty of content coming your way to keep you in the fantasy state of mind. Stay tuned for more resolution pieces from our other writers. Happy New Year!
