The 2023 10 Demandments of Fantasy Football

by: God (as told to his humble servant John Holler)

Editor's Note: Below you will find THREE of the TEN Fantasy Demandments for 2023 (they change every year).  If you'd like to read all ten, please click HERE to order our 2023 Pre-Season Draft Guide.

"In the beginning, He that is God created fantasy football. He looked and said it was good." Genesis 17:52

 

For many years, He has chosen those among us that he sees as the proper vessel to convey His message. A couple thousand years ago in a land far, far away, Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments – a guide of principles that most, but not all, still live by. For reasons I have yet to fully understand, He has selected me to provide his fantasy football Ten Demandments – the same guiding principles imparted to Moses, except for the kingdom of fantasy football.

If you follow these guidelines, He will be pleased because He sends these Demandments to you because He wants to give you the best opportunity to discover the milk and honey of the Promised Land at the end of the season.

 

The First Demandment

 

Thou Shalt Anoint the Young to Ascend – One of the not-so-subtle changes that has taken place in the NFL is the belief that running backs on a second contract are immediately worthy of shedding. This offseason alone, we’ve seen running back Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, Miles Sanders, David Montgomery, Jamaal Williams, Leonard Fournette, D’Andre Swift, Devin Singletary and Rashaad Penny either traded, cut or lost to free agency. This doesn’t take into account anything to do with Alvin Kamara or Joe Mixon, who face off-field problems. Just players represent eight different franchises (25 percent of the league) going in a different direction. This mindset is leading to young running backs getting a big opportunity to fill a void. Rookies are never locks, but the success of running backs taken on the first two days of the draft are becoming the norm, not the exception. Be willing to pony up for a young running back with an opportunity. They burn out fast.

 

The Third Demandment

 

Thou Shalt Be Mindful of Thine Enemies – One of the lost arts in ranking players prior to your draft/auction is being fully aware of the teams on their schedule. Every year there are divisions that are done where a 9-8 record could walk away with the division title where another division could have three teams with 10 or more wins. Because of symmetrical scheduling, teams from one division play all play eight identical games against four teams from another division in the conference and four teams from the other conference. Playing against the worst division in the league can pad win totals for an entire division and bring with it more fantasy success, because most teams that stink in the modern NFL do so because they have the worst defenses in the league. Heading into 2023, He would list the worst top-to-bottom divisions as the NFC South, the NFC North and the AFC South. The NFC North and South play each other, while the teams from the AFC North draw the NFC South. In cross-conference pollination, the AFC West draws the NFC North and the AFC South and NFC South play each other. It may sound strange, but the big winner here are players from the NFC South because they draw two of the three weakest divisions. The other big winner is the AFC West because the defenses in the NFC North were all pretty brutal last year. When two players are effectively equal in your mind and one of them if from the two benefitted divisions, you may want to give them the nod.

 

The Ninth Demandment

 

Thou Shalt Listen to Proclamations – Too many fantasy players fall in love with a player and become obstinate about the perceived value of that player. Too many fantasy owners claim that some of their top players are "untouchable." There should be no such word in your fantasy football vocabulary. If you have Justin Jefferson there is little reason to believe that you would trade him – on draft day or during the season. But there is nothing saying you can’t listen to offers. If someone makes a lowball offer that is embarrassing on its face, laugh in the face of that person and move on. However, there are some who will offer a king’s ransom to land one star player and if you can get an offer that improves your roster at multiple positions and it means parting with one star player to do so, you owe to yourself to consider it. On draft day, let the other owners in your league know that none of your players are untouchable. It may take a "Wow!" type of offer to meet your asking price, but you’ll never what someone is willing to offer up unless you let them know that you’re open to listening. The "blow your socks off" offer may not materialize, but if it does, you may end up with an offer you can’t refuse.

 

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