Azubuike24
Figured I'd start this up to get some chatter going. I think winning leagues comes down to 3 things...
Quality drafting
Waiver manipulation/roster moves
YOUR league-specific strategy
We can all debate how much weight goes to each, but given the number of injuries and useful players because of an offensive league, I think drafting has become much less important than it once was. A few strategies I've implemented recently is in leagues with deeper benches, I've tried to find pieces in the TE, QB, K and DEF spots that are past their byes and I'm comfortable starting the rest of the year. After that, using all my bench spots to account for any more byes (usually stashing a WR or two), but mostly just grabbing the best handcuff RB's. I've gone through in numerous leagues and added Karlos Williams, Tevin Coleman, Ryan Mathews and others. A few leagues I went way overboard just to get Deangelo Williams and Jeremy Langford to simply stash them and never play them. I have one league that has a QB, WR, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, FLEX, DEF, K setup but has 9 bench spots. I have 7 RB's on my bench and 4 or 5 of them with no intention of playing. If I get trade offers for them, I demand a top 5 player and/or upgrade at a starting spot or refuse to make a trade, which gets some crappy comments, but it's at a point in the year where trade deadlines are approaching and sometimes you never know what someone else will do.
Another strategy is to use these bench spots to leverage your opponents who have players on byes, but might not be able to maneuver them to make room. This week is huge with 6 bye week teams, and with leagues with only 4-5 bench spots, teams with 3 or 4 byes are in a tough spot, as they have to consider dropping a very good talent to just fill their lineup. Using those spots to add/drop players, even if just to kick the guy to waivers and not be eligible in time for their game, can be a strategy. Like in a 2-day waiver, add 2-3 streaming defenses or QB's that a team might want, and then wait until Friday or Saturday to drop them, so they can't be added in-time for the game.
Any other fantasy strategies to discuss? I think this kind of stuff can literally win leagues even if you draft horribly or get killed by injuries.