Published Nov 23, 2004

As I mentioned, my fantasy football season has included a lot more getting my butt kicked than I had anticipated. Well, it’s one thing to lose, and it’s another thing to lose without a plan. And that’s what I was doing: losing without a plan! At least with a plan I’d have, ya know, at a minimum the plan itself.

So, what plan could I possibly have? Well, of the five games I lost, four were lost by more than 10 but less than 15 points (the other was lost by about 0.75 points, which translates to about 15 yards of offense, for those who are counting — bad, but one of my friends lost a game by 0.2 points which is even worse!). So, the obvious question was, how could I get an average of 15 points a game? Thus, the 15-point solution.

The 15-point solution had three phases:

  1. Upgrade my defense
  2. Stop starting Tom Brady, who’s a good QB but is reliable, as opposed to stellar
  3. Trade for a quality #2 reciever to replace my #3, Keary Colbert, and a reliable producer of a tight end

Step 1 was fulfilled when I upgraded from Seattle to free-agent Cincinatti, which both has a weaker schedule and seems to be hitting its stride.

Step 2 consisted of picking Drew Brees up out of free agency, to complement the other QB I drafted, Jake Plummer.

Step 3 was the complicated one. But, fortunately, one of the other teams in my league desperately needed a real quarterback (going all the way with Matt Hasselbeck? Nope.) and, with Priest Holmes, needed my backup RB Derrick Blaylock as a backup. I didn’t need Blaylock or Brady, so this was a no-downside trade for me (unless the other team beats me in the playoffs, I guess). In return, I got TE stud Alge Crumpler and reliable WR Derrick Mason.

So what’s the upside for me? Well, this last week I won by about 10.5 points. If I hadn’t had Crumpler and Mason, I would have lost by 3. That’s a win already from this trade! And the numbers look good for the future. Over the last 4 weeks:

  • Cincinatti is almost +3 points/game
  • Crumpler is more than +1 point/game (and better than that over the whole season)
  • Mason is almost +16 points/game
  • Brees is about +1.5 points/game (and better than that over the whole season)

So, on average, the 15-point solution wil bring me 21.5 points/week. That’s sure to bring me some wins. Or, at least, give me the comfort of having a plan. And the plan itself.