Fantasy Football is about more than just the players and stats. Sometimes some ethical dilemmas come into play.
It was just after we got done shooting Fantasy Football Today on Sunday when our host, Jason Horowitz, leaned over to me and said, "I'm gonna kick your butt in Fantasy this week."
I thought he was acting cute thinking that he had a chance to beat my fireball-hot Fantasy team. After all, I had won three straight after a season-saving trade that netted me Aaron Rodgers.
As we were on our way to the Broadcast Center to watch the games, Jason checked his phone and saw that Brandon Marshall had scored a long touchdown on the Redskins.
"I need him to step up since Andre Johnson is on bye," Horowitz said as he pumped his fist.
Then as we were watching games with the rest of The NFL Today crew, he saw Marshall score again and gave another fist pump (you should be pleased to know that the guys who dispense Fantasy Football advice here really do live for Fantasy Football). Immediately, Horowitz raced to my laptop to see how big of a lead he had on my team.
When he saw the scoreboard, his face went from delighted to stunned. "Something's wrong," he said.
Indeed, Jason had left Johnson in his starting lineup and Marshall -- and his two touchdowns -- on his bench.
"I swear I set my lineup before the show today!" he exclaimed. "I know I had Marshall in there."
Moments later, he was begging for mercy. Now I've known Horowitz since he started at CBS when he was a young pup (he still is a young pup) and I know he is a diligent Fantasy owner. Chances are he made a mistake, but he was still asking me to swap a player on a bye for one who had just scored two long touchdowns. And I needed a win badly.
It didn't take long for me to make up my mind. "He counts," I said of Marshall.
Look, maybe I'm a sucker for letting him put Marshall in for Johnson after the games had started, but it was clear that he thought he had Marshall in. I was with him the entire morning and could verify that he truly believed he had pulled Johnson. And, if I ever was to make a mistake and get in a jam like that, I'd want someone to let me make a switch.
Needless to say, Horowitz won by three measly points and I'm 4-6, hanging on for my playoff life. I clearly have to win out to have a chance at playing on past Week 13.
I've had running back issues with this team all season and that goes double this week. I'm pretty much forced to start Joseph Addai running into the Ravens along with Jason Snelling, my waiver-wire pickup of the week. It makes me angrier than a father in line at Toys R Us on Black Friday that I have not one but two Texans running backs on my bench, and backups Michael Bush, Darren Sproles and Shonn Greene are half dead weight, half upside benchwarmers. I guess I need to be patient with them and let the rest of my team produce -- at least until the next round of starting running backs get hurt and I can replace them with gems off waivers.
12-team keeper league
Another ethical battery test for you: In our keeper league, we can trade future picks for players. Our trade deadline is an annual flea market of deals involving players on teams going nowhere for picks the following year. We also have a rule in place that all trades are final unless there's reason to believe there's collusion.
In the span of two weeks leading up to the trade deadline, the following trades were made, in order of their execution, with the last two deals done at the deadline:
Chad Ochocinco for a sixth-round pick and Cadillac Williams Michael Turner for a third-round pick and Hakeem Nicks Andre Johnson for a sixth-round pick Joseph Addai for an eighth-round pick
There was some outcry in the league that Johnson went for less than Ochocinco and that Addai went for way, way less than Turner.
But I am of the belief that as long as two people are making a trade that both agree is fair that it should be valid. I don't like leagues that have commissioners decide what's fair and what's not -- often times that commissioner might be in the playoff race and will nix a deal because it threatens his own chances of winning. It's not up to a commissioner or voting panel to decide if a deal is "fair" -- that was already determined by the two owners who agreed to the trade in the first place!
If you're in a league where someone is holding up a deal because they're not sure if it's fair, you've got a beef. I'm not saying that a league that sees Adrian Peterson dealt for a kicker should allow it -- that's definitely collusion -- but so long as a deal is within the realm of being realistic it shouldn't make anyone bat an eyelash.
I happened to be the owner who got Ochocinco and Addai in separate deals. Trading for Ochocinco has been a waste thus far as Sidney Rice has been the better receiver while Addai saved my team from some serious trouble -- had I not acquired him, I'd be thin at running back as I had to part ways with Ronnie Brown (I picked up Chad Simpson for him, backing up Addai as best as I can). Interestingly enough, I'm benching Addai this week for Brandon Jacobs and Ochocinco is already on the bench, so the two guys I traded for are wasting away, at least for this week.
14-team PPR league
I've rallied to take a share of first place in this league with a unique strategy: Lean on the studs and hope to get lucky with the rest of the roster.
You guys can see for yourself what I'm doing -- after drafting Adrian Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald, Ben Roethlisberger, Pierre Thomas and the Vikings DST, the rest of my team has wilted. So I'm taking to the waiver wire every week hoping to catch fire with someone. My plan has worked -- sort of. At points over the last two weeks I had Jason Snelling and Justin Forsett on my roster but dropped them. Don't ask who I dropped them for -- I don't want to bring up bad memories.
One of the guys I'm hoping to strike gold with is Texans tight end James Casey. He only has two catches for 14 yards on the season but he's someone who caught my eye back in March and April before the draft as an athletic, versatile player with good enough hands. I was disappointed when the Texans picked him because at the time it meant he'd sit behind Owen Daniels, but he'll get his chance to do something this week and I'm hoping that he can be at least 50 percent of what Daniels was. The Texans are probably hoping the same thing.
The other sleeper is Brandon Gibson, and I'm looking for maybe eight or nine points out of him. Gibson was targeted nine times by Marc Bulger this week and should be able to snare some passes against the boom-or-bust Cardinals secondary this week. Sure, I'm desperate for help, but who else besides Donnie Avery is going to catch passes in St. Louis in a game where they're sure to be playing from behind?
14-team Podcast Dynasty league
Like Freddy Krueger, I'm back from the dead! At 5-5 and only two games out of first place, I've got a shot to make the playoffs in a league I previously thought I was done in. Heck, if the season ended right now I'd be just out of the playoffs due to a tiebreaker -- there are six other teams tied with me at 5-5 for the fourth, fifth and sixth playoff seeds. That's right -- half the league is 5-5.
This is another league where my running backs went kaput fairly early. Sure, I have Cedric Benson, but behind him I have a lot of so-so talent. Justin Forsett should pan out but he's got a tough matchup at Minnesota. Still, I'm starting him over Jamaal Charles (vs. the Steelers), Larry Johnson (his reps, if any, will be limited) and Michael Bush. It's not like it was that hard of a choice to make.
I'm also hoping to upgrade at tight end, though even if I don't I still like Brandon Pettigrew's matchup vs. the Browns. And I also made the move to change kickers, going with Dan Carpenter against the Panthers hoping he can put up some points to give me an early lead (I had Olindo Mare and made the switch Thursday morning).
Hopefully it all adds up to another win. In this league, 6-5 is really good -- more or less playoff good.
Want to know the best part of our Full Disclosure column? You have the chance to give our Fantasy writers some advice! Drop Dave a line at dmfantasyfootball@cbs.com and share your thoughts on his rosters. Put Attn: Full Disclosure in the subject line, and don't forget to include your name, hometown and state.
