My team is 10-2 and in first place, and has been most of the year. While this secures a playoff spot and favorable matchup in that, it isn’t always good for waiver pickups. I mostly rely on second wave pickups that people give up on waiver exchanges. I managed to snatch Mixon this way. I also picked up Bell in the early weeks this way, although that one obviously didn’t pan out.
My first two picks in the draft were Barkley and McCaffrey, which have been solid this year as my RB1 and RB2. But the real reason I’ve been able to do well are my late round picks, in which I got Mahones, James Conner, Sony Michel and Golliday, which have all been top tier performers at their position. I also selected Zuerlien at kicker, which cannot be understated. I managed to get the Bears off waivers too, the #1 defensive team this year in terms of fantasy points.
Other than Greg Olsen, my mid-round picks were a disaster. So I was woefully thin at receiver at the beginning and still am somewhat. But Golliday and Edelman have been solid enough in the starting spots, and that’s all I need really, with all those marquee backs filling out my other spots, including the flex.
This is my 17th year playing through various hosts and iterations. I’ve missed the playoffs in only two of those and have made the championship game in 75% of them. I’ve probably won about half of my leagues playing each year.
It’s particularly fun for me this time because I don’t really have a home team to root for anymore, although I will still watch Chargers games on occasion. So there is no conflict of interest, although no Chargers are on my fantasy team this year.