Tips for the Stretch in Fantasy Football

So your team is out of the hunt in your fantasy football league. It happens. It has happened to me...once. One of my first crappy posts on this blog involved giving some tips for your fantasy draft. If you followed my advice your draft was probably the same as every other year, just with a few lame jokes sprinkled in. In light of the smashing success, here are some thoughts on how to conduct yourself now that your team is out of it.

Of course, every league is different, so some of this advice will be ridiculous for your league depending on how your draft order is set, how many keepers you have, or even the fluctuating value of a 35 yard field goal. The same issues arise in most leagues though: Do you set your lineup week after week if you're out? Are you active on the waiver wire? Is there anything meaningful you can do?

Let me dispose of issue one right away. Set your lineup. It doesn't take long; you look at your roster and see if any of your bench players are going against the Lions or Rams, you put them in. You see that Steven Jackson is out with a knee injury and Chad Johnson fell asleep in the middle of wind sprints, you sit them down. Maybe it won't mean much, but there is always something to shoot for, like beating that guy that stole Michael Turner from you in the third round, or making sure you don't lose to that one girl in your league.

There are also plenty of reasons to work that waiver wire. First thing you do is to check if anyone ditched a potential keeper during the year. Maybe some idiot dropped Brady, you never know. Obviously people in the league are a lot smarter than you though, so this probably didn't happen; or of course if you missed the playoffs, chances are pretty good that you had Brady. Also, let me reiterate the policy of revenge. Find a reason to want to beat your opponent, or steal this year's Kenny Watson from some douche who really needs him. A word of caution though, you're out of the playoffs, don't risk your dignity by spending hours on the waiver wire, or you know, writing long blog posts about fantasy football (no offense Bad Guy, you're the best).

So other than keeping up with your regular fantasy responsibilities, what else can you do? In most leagues the trading deadline has already passed, but it's always a good idea to look to the future. Especially with all the great young running backs this year, it's a great time to lock up a keeper through a trade. Maybe you have a decent wide receiver like Dwayne Bowe or Freddie Mitchell Jericho Cotchery, pair him with a veteran running back having a good year, like Thomas Jones and ship them off for a young stud with potential like Forte, Slaton, or Jonathan Stewart.

If the trade deadline has passed, tough break. Try something else to have some fun. Write up some playoff previews on the message board, or make incendiary posts against those bastards who made the playoffs.

The point of all of this is to stay involved. It will be more fun for you because fantasy football is fantastic and definitely better than your job or school. It's better for your league because no one wants a lame duck owner with four injured guys starting to change the league. Plus, the better you do at the end, you make it easier to complain about how close you came to winning it all. "If only DeSean Jackson wasn't such an idiot in the first three weeks of the season!"