I live in Upstate NY, and with the start of Week 11, the season’s first snowfall arrives. It’s also the time of year I begin to shift to an endgame strategy in my leagues, whether it’s dynasty, redraft, or best ball. I don’t want to lose sight of the goals I set for myself in preseason, which are pretty simple in theory but tough in practice. The first goal is reaching 8 wins, one at a time. Once I hit 8 wins, I aim for a first-round bye. At this point, I start reviewing the league payouts to ensure I understand how the prizes are distributed, as I ultimately want a return on my efforts. Some leagues pay division winners, or maybe that’s how the bye is awarded, while others pay for the best record or most points in addition to the overall winner. Since last week, I picked up an orphan best ball redraft team for the rest of the year, giving me 13 redraft teams with head-to-head playoffs. A team I’m not highlighting here starts playoffs in week 14 (the last week of NFL byes), so securing a first-round bye is critical, especially since I have key players with a bye that week. I also have a 384-team dynasty tournament that begins playoffs in week 12, meaning only one more week of regular season remains. I’ve been eliminated from the playoffs with one week to go; however, winning the consolation bracket could boost my chances of getting a top-3 rookie pick, as it’s drawn NBA lottery style. Let’s take a look at the three teams we’ve been following.
Danger Family
This team has been performing well all year and is at a 17-3 record, currently the #1 seed. However, as each week, it looks like a tough matchup against the #3 seed this week, who is only 3 games behind with 2 games each week. Since 8 regular-season games remain, the team hasn’t clinched a playoff spot yet, but winning 2 games this week could secure it. The team will continue to roll with Aaron Rodgers at QB since it’s a Bengals matchup this week. JT is on bye, and with both Dobbins and Vidal dealing with injuries, I’m closely watching the RB situation as I prefer to start 4 RBs each week. I do feel like I have some RBs on this team that can cover for the injuries, as Henderson is starting to look like a reliable weekly flex. Bijan and Javonte add depth to the RB room, so now I’m just searching for that one flex if both Dobbins and Vidal aren’t playing this week. Gainwell could be an option, or Pearsall, who has been stashed on IR. I’ve been streaming TE this year and settled on Dalton Schultz for the last couple of weeks. Looking at Waivers, not much is available as an upgrade, so I’ll probably try to win with what I have. My opponent also has a strong team, with only Pierce on bye, but he returns Lamb for this game. My main goal is to go 1-1 this week to reach 18 wins and put myself in a good position to clinch a playoff spot with three weeks remaining.
TFFL2
This is a team that, while not completely out of the playoffs, was on life support coming into play at 1-8. I played the #1 seed this week and got a win, bringing the record to 2-8. Currently, the team is 3 games out with 4 games remaining, sitting in the 12th spot. I just enjoy being the 12th seed and beating the #1 seed. The team started with plenty of QBs, but injuries have reduced it to 3 QBs, all of whom I expect to be active this week. My focus could be solely on using waivers for RBs and WRs, since I had McBride at TE, so I was simply using my priority each week to build up the RB and WR rooms. It seems to be coming a week late, but I hope to stay alive as long as possible and influence the playoff seeds and the teams that make it. This week, I play the 9 seed, which could make the playoff race even more challenging for that team. With 4 teams at 4-6 and 4 teams at 5-5, only 3 teams are above .500 in the league. Given the league’s parity, I believe I have an outside chance at the playoffs based on the math and my total points. I was also the league’s top point scorer this week from the 12th seed. This has me feeling encouraged about what future possibilities might hold. I’m staying inactive on the trade front, as I don’t think anything will really help me; it’s more about winning close games.
Clown Head Redraft I
This team suffered a tough loss, bringing their record to 7-3. This is good enough for the #3 seed; however, my total points are higher than the #1 seed, who has an 8-2 record overall. I still believe that winning games here is important; however, reaching 8 wins is the primary goal. Looking at the week 11 opponent, it’s a tough matchup against the #6 seed, who is on a 5-game winning streak. That team has CJ Stroud injured, but fortunately, Stafford and Caleb are available and able to play, barring any injury. The team includes Dobbins, but with CMC and Javonte, I have a top two at the position where only the flex spots require careful consideration. I built my team with a Hero RB strategy and focused on wide receivers like Lamb, London, McConkey, & Shakir as my starters. Having 2TE with a 3pt PPR premium forces me to mix and match, deciding whether to use extra TEs in the two flex spots. Currently, I have Meyers and Kirk in the flex spots, but I could substitute two RBs or two TEs depending on how rankings shape up this week. Ultimately, I need to secure a win, so I want to choose the most optimal outcome. I tend to aim for mid-range outcomes when making decisions like this, as I never want to leave points on the bench chasing upside.
Week 11 features a trade deadline in 9 Leagues, so I will also look at teams outside of the playoffs and start assessing how I can position myself best for next season. My current winning teams don’t seem to have holes that I can fix through trades, as most trades would just strengthen one area while weakening another. Since I’m in a more urgent situation, I tend to overpay, so staying still will probably be the smartest move. Good luck in week 11.
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