I've been trying to post a steady stream of articles designed to bring newer fantasy managers up to speed. I've saved this article for one of the last 'helper' type submissions, but it might be the most important.
Roster management is the epitome of what you do as a Fantasy Team manager. Making sure you have the right people started, you have all your slots filled, and you have them filled properly (with the best candidates). This starts with a common theme across all the articles: RESEARCH. What are your matchups this week? Do you have some usual non-starters going up against Carolina..erm I mean a bad team? Do you have a guy on the bench that blew up last week and is looking to keep the momentum going? Click the little notepad next to your guys. See what the experts are saying. They HAVE done their research and are usually privvy to some things you may have missed.
Once you are confident you have the right guys starting, HOW you start them matters. In our leagues, you have 1 flex slot. You generally want to put your questionable players in this slot so you have 'flexibility' in replacing him if there is a game-time decision indicating he won't play. An example: In my Dynasty league, I had CMC. He was ruled out a couple hours before the game. Because I had him in the flex spot, I had the option of picking up any of the players (WR, RB, TE) in that game to fill his slot. Fortunately, CMCs backup was still available, and I snagged him and slapped him in the FLEX spot (to the tune of 22 points). If he wasn't available I could have picked up any TE RB or WR to backfill him, if I had him in the RB slot, I would only have been able to replace him with another RB. Obviously SOMETHING is better than NOTHING, and you want to leave as many options to fill spots as possible. Now, if you have no questionable players, it's best to fill the flex slot with the latest game you have in a given week whether its MNF, SNF or the late afternoon games on Sunday. Just put your last player to play in the flex slot. This gives you the ability to swap ANY flex position into that slot for as long as possible. Maybe you decide you want a TE going in there bc of a juicy matchup, you can pull the other player out, because he hasn't played yet. You may also use the flex spot on a player you just aren't sure you want to start and want the option to replace him open to all positions.
Properly utilizing your flex spot gives you the greatest chance to respond to changes in weekly player and matchup dynamics. Which, in turn, gives you your best chance of winning.
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