Monday, Nov. 5, 2001

Week Eight observations

Utilize the waiver wire to pick up players who are producing

By Steve Soucie, Contributing writer

I’ve always said in this space and to anyone who asks, the best way to improve a languishing fantasy football team is to work the waiver wire — hard.

If you have marginal players who aren’t producing, and there are players who are available that are producing (even if you don’t believe it), make the switch. Depth is a great commodity, especially when you can pick it up for free.

I’ve also gone on record on several occasions that you should try to anticipate what teams might do in case of injuries to their standouts.

For some reason this season I’ve done neither, and it has really come back to bite me in the behind.

Examples, you ask?

• Being a Jamal Anderson drafter, I should have been very prepared for an injury. Since I neglected to draft a sturdy No. 3 back, I certainly should have made sure I knew who Anderson’s backup would be and placed him deep on my team’s RB chart. I didn’t, and I’m paying for it with substandard play at my No. 2 back.

• A few weeks ago I noticed the depth at my QB position was lacking. I’d traded away my starter, Aaron Brooks, in a package to obtain Kurt Warner. But for some reason I can’t even explain, I kept my insurance policy for Brooks, Jeff Blake, on my roster instead of picking up a viable No. 3. Starters were available on the wire, including the red-hot Tom Brady. I got lazy, and it is going to cost me. This week I was forced to play Jake Plummer with Warner on bye. I will lose. I deserve to.

• Needing WR depth, I decided to stick with some players I thought would break out and ignored those players who actually have, such as David Patten, Marty Booker and Rod Gardner. Now, after fulfilling my league’s TE requirement, I’m playing a collection of has-beens and never-weres in my No. 3 wideout slot. I have been beaten by the other team’s No. 3 wideout twice, and I can’t reasonably complain. Had I done what I should have, both of the players who beat me would have likely been on my team.

• Always wondering what the Indianapolis Colts would do if Edgerrin James were to go down, I noticed Dominic Rhodes wandering around last Thursday against the Chiefs. But when claim day came, I decided Rhodes probably wouldn’t play much more, and so I didn’t claim him. No one else did either. But I’m sure after his 100-yard day on Sunday, someone underneath me in the standings will, and my RB-hungry team will still be starving.

I’m going to stop now because my head hurts. I ask — no, actually I plead — that you as fellow owners do your best to avoid the mistakes that I have made. Let’s learn from each other on this one.

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