Kickoff 2019

Football Season is Upon us..

Man, that feels really nice to type. We're just weeks away from finding out

• Are the browns actually good now?
• Will the entire Cowboys offense hold out for better contracts?
• Can Antonio Brown recover from his frostbitten feet (seriously?)
• Who's going to dominate our draft only to watch their team fall apart in the final weeks of the season?

There are two important parts to this post, and both of them require your participation; draft dates and rule changes. If nothing else, please send me your draft dates ASAP

Draft Dates

In order to avoid drafting players who get injured in the preseason, I've set the earliest date for this poll after Preseason Week 2. Check all the dates you're available, or at least X out the days you definitely can't make it.

VOTE HERE

Potential Rule Changes

Alright, now for the rules. First, I want to note that we don't have to change anything from last year, but I always like to revisit how things work to see if they can improve. If you think of something that isn't listed, feel free to message me. All I want from you (via text, email, or comment on this page) is a "ballot" that says "yes" or "no" for each of the proposed changes.

A message that says "fantasy changes: no, no, yes, no" or whatever is fine.

I would say we'll just do majority voting on these, but it kinda depends on how many people actually vote. If we didn't get more than 3 votes on anything I would probably keep the rules static.

Clear? Maybe?

note: I tried to order the propositions from least to most change

Change #1: Cash Buy In/Pay Out

We've never played for money before, but some people have voiced interest in this. I'm fine with a small amount like $10-$20. If this is enacted we can discuss how much we buy in for and how it is distributed.

Change #2: Moving the league to Sleeper.app

Sleeper is a newer website/app that's more dedicated to fantasy football than Yahoo, with a nicer (I think) layout, no advertisements, and more options to customize things. I think it looks great, but it does mean you all have to register for new accounts.

Change #3: Removing Kickers, adding a second Flex position.

Pros: Kickers are super random and hard to predict. That's why they get drafted last even though they can score a lot of points. Removing them removes an element or randomness from the game, and makes it more likely the "better" team will win. A second flex position means you can play more players per week, so it benefits deeper teams.

Cons: Randomness isn't inherently bad, and it's not always wrong to give weaker teams more of a wildcard shot to win games. Field goals are also a real part of Football, it may seem strange to not have any fantasy points assigned to real points being scored.

Change #4: Adding Keepers (Suggested by Michael Talley)

A keeper league is one in which you carry some of your players forward from the previous season (In this case: 2). This rewards people for finding good talent, and lets you keep people you really like. Each player you keep costs you one draft selection, so the number of players you have stays the same (15).

Draft Selection Costs for keeping players:

• Players can be kept for their selection round last year -1.
•  I took Tyreek Hill in the 3rd last year, so I could keep him for my 2nd round pick this year.
• Players who were not drafted can be kept for a 10th/9th round pick. (If both were undrafted one takes your 9th round)
• Player cost is based on where they were drafted, even if you got them via waivers or trade. 
• ie: Josh Gordon was drafted, dropped, and then picked up later. All that matters is his previous draft position.
• As an exception to rule 1, players taken in the first round last year can be kept for a 1st round pick.
• This could be beneficial if you drafted towards the back of the 1st last year and got a player like Saquon who is now going at the top of the draft.

Note: Yahoo makes seeing your roster/draft last year a total pain. If we do this, I will make a new post on this blog with all the final rosters of all teams last year and the costs for keeping your players.

Below is an example for my team last year:

• TEAM: Wampus Cats
• [Player] : [Cost]
• Tevin Coleman : 6th
• Chris Godwin : 10th
• Josh Gordon : 7th
• Melvin Gordon III : 1st
• Tyreek Hill : 2nd
• T.Y. Hilton : 3rd
• Mark Ingram II : 4th
• Lamar Jackson : 10th
• C.J. Uzomah : 10th
• Spencer Ware : 14th
• Damien Williams : 10th
• Jameis Winston : 10th
• Greg Zurlein : 10th
• Buffalo DST : 10th
• Seattle DST : 10th