Ask ArenaBoy
By Richard Giorgi
Home Stretching
I've been trying for two weeks to come up with a column advising all you fantasy stars out there on how to prepare for your league playoffs.
Obviously, it hasn't been going to well.
Call it writer's block, call it laziness or just call it general lack of ideas. Everytime I write, it seems so utterly obvious. Do you need me to tell you to stick with Clint Dolezel even though Dallas has the best record sewn up? Do you need me to tell you that you are one lucky dog if you're sitting on top of Damien Harrell and under no circumstances should you overthink the decision to start him in your playoffs?
See what I mean... obvious.
When it comes to playoff time, I'm a "dance with the one that brung ya" sort of guy. Matt Nagy and Sonny Cumbie carried me at different times this year at the quarterback position, and with Georgia fighting for a playoff spot and Los Angeles just winging it pressure-free, I have a minor decision to make there. Me, I'm going with the guy fighting for his playoff money and starting Nagy. When a team has the playoffs on the line, they tend to push just a tad harder than someone just playing for pride.
Maybe that's the sort of advice I should be giving you?
Other QBs who fall into that category are NY's Nick Browder, San Jose's Mark Grieb, Arizona's Sherdrick Bonner and Orlando's Joe Hamilton. But don't go crazy and bench Dolezel, will ya? Unless...
There is a certain appeal in a quarterback playing loose and free. Take Brigade QB Chris Sanders, for instance. The guy is fresh off an Offensive Player of the Month award and has averaged 41 points per game in the last six weeks.
Just for the sake of comparison, Dolezel has averaged 33.5.
John Dutton has averaged 27.5.
Shane Stafford has averaged 28.8.
So, if you have Sanders, don't be afraid to get him in there for the playoffs. It's a risk, yes, but it's a calculated risk. It's like lifting your arms when the rollercoaster drops. It may feel like you're going to come flying out of the car, but you're not. And you'll feel braver for doing it.
So, I do believe in dancing with the one that brung me. But no one wins a championship by playing it safe.
So while I'm not saying to bench Will Pettis or James Roe or Chris Jackson or Kevin Ingram or Mike Horacek, I'm saying that if you've made it this far with an underachieving Marcus Nash, it might be time to get Ben Nelson in there. Or Aaron Boone. Or Damien Groce.
No one wins by playing it safe. But no one wins by playing it stupid, either. You've spent years building up that gutt... go with what it's feeling and you can't be wrong.
Well, okay, you could be wrong. But at least you won't have to say you lost by playing it safe.
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