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Papa Wheelie raises some interesting fantasy strategy questions in this week’s Fantasy Football 101.

Back in week five, I was fully expecting to get my ass kicked against my fantasy rival. He’s been knocking everyone’s heads in and really putting some nice numbers on the map. In hindsight, the numbers sometimes don’t lie. Everyone knows Peyton Manning will do at least 30 points, the Chiefs defense is going to rundown any of their opponents for massive points and Adrian Peterson is going to get at least 100 yards as well as some receptions and a couple of touchdowns. All of these players have been remarkably consistent. It’s been the peaks and valleys that have really defined our league on how the matches have been shaking out.

Marques Colston and David Wilson had been my biggest disappointments coming out of week five, so I decided to can them and go with my replacements, Willis McGahee and Le’Veon Bell. Both players have had some ups in the season, but there are relatively slim-pickens on the Free Agent list. I did try and make a couple of trades for some better running backs, but everyone in my league either isn’t really into the game (we’re not playing for cash), or they are holding on to their players for dear life. Either way, my running game has never been stellar and it looks like this is where I’m going to struggle for the rest of the season. That being said, I do have some remarkable players in the tight end spot, and I do have the two best defenses in the sport. This has allowed me to hang on to some wins because of their performances. But honestly, if my opponent played Tony Romo instead of playing Tom Brady in week five, I would have chalked up another loss to my season. One player really does have the ability to turn the game around in this sport.

Week six ended up being a better game for me, but again I struggled with players  under delivering on their expectations, and other key areas more than making up for the rest. Because this numbers game is closer to probability than it is to skill, my new strategy for the upcoming weeks is trying to raise my overall average points scoring, and not work so much off of the projections. I’m hoping this will give me a bit more consistency to my scoring, and not so much the flash in the pan one week, dead in the water the next week kind of effect. All in all, I must be doing something right, as I’m currently tied for first place in my division. But I do question whether not this is a straight fight for the overall win. Hell I know for a fact that a couple of people are not even checking their players and actually playing the game (ironically enough that gent has some key players in the league, and isn’t really losing all the time). Of course that kind of participation begs the question, do you really need to plot and scheme with your players all the time like I do? Or can you just pick a few key players, and let the numbers fall as they please. More to come on that one.

About Papa Wheelie

Born from wolves and raised on methanol, Papa Wheelie comes from a long line of motor-heads and adrenaline junkies. Formula 1 and MotoGP are his sports passion, but he also enjoys fine tequila, electronic music and furry animals. You can reach him on Twitter @PapaWheelie11