Fantasy Draft Advice: Stay out of your feelings | Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast

In the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast, Matt Harmon and Andy Behrens share some common mistakes made by fantasy managers. Today’s mistake: Holding grudges against players.

Video Transcript

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MATT HARMON: All right, my third one here, I love this one. People getting their feelings hurt, OK? This guy burned me last year. I'm never drafting him again.

Oh man, I can't draft Brandon Aiyuk because of what happened in the first-- I might be taking this personally. I mean know, I drafted him, what happened in the first one the season. Never again, never.

Well, if you have guys that you're crossing off never again because you got your feelings hurt because they burned you in the past, you're going to miss out on value. Because guess what? If you feel that way, other people feel that way, right? And that pushes players down the draft board, it gives chances for value and opportunity.

So I just generally think, injuries are another great example. I mean, sometimes, obviously, our friend Scott Pianowski is the ultimate not injury optimist. You don't want to be injury optimistic, but at the same time, injuries can also create value. So just be open minded and let go of your feelings. Nothing happened to you personally. Let it go.

ANDY BEHRENS: Do you remember how many people were out on Joe Mixon last year because Joe Mixon had injury, had sort of scuttled his season the year before? People swore him off and then all he did was go out and catch 40 some balls and finish with, like, 1,500 total yards, 16 touchdowns. He was great.

He's been a great player every time he's been out in the field throughout his career. But people swore him off. And you're so right, carrying grudges from one season to the next, particularly when there's an injury that explains disappointing performance, is just an outrageous thing to do. It's just a ridiculous thing to do. If you want to have these little petty grudges, make sure that you have it with a team defense, a kicker, something that isn't going to absolutely roast you.

MATT HARMON: A tight end.

ANDY BEHRENS: Yes. Yeah, even a tight end. But do not swear off elite running backs.

MATT HARMON: Yeah, I mean, everybody, I mean Deebo last year, people, I'm sure, were like, this guy, he was hurt last year. And again, it can create opportunity. It can create value. I can think of a guy like Allen Robinson this year. There are so many people out there.

I drafted this guy last year and he burned me. Yeah, well, he was on the [BLEEP] Bears last year and like with a terrible rookie quarterback. And now it's a new year and he's on the Rams.

That's another thing too, every year is a new year. Again, you'll know this stuff. If you're going to swear off a guy that burned you last year, you better have been paying attention all summer. Like Trey Sermon, OK?

The guy is clearly not at the top of the depth chart. He might be in decent standing, but you're not in great standing with the 49ers or something like that. So you want to swear off a guy like that, better been paying attention to all summer long. There's not like a Brandon Aiyuk type drumbeat where we're all good, we're all past that. Or like Allen Robinson, he's on the damn Rams now, not the Bears.

ANDY BEHRENS: Hey, people are going to swear off Trey Lance this year because they held him all season in 2021. Never helped you, never got past Jimmy Garoppolo. There's a pretty fair chance that Trey Lance is going to be a fantasy difference maker this year.

I mean, hell, he got two starts and he ran 24 times in those games. He's going to be a good player. You can't put him on your do not draft list simply because you had a bad experience with him.

MATT HARMON: Pretty much just get your feelings out of it. Take your emotions out of it and just try to think with a clear mind. I know it can be difficult, I get that. I've said a lot of times the CMC thing.

You take CMC second overall and you're going to feel like just a complete idiot if by week three he's on injured reserve. I mean, I do want to be sensitive to that type of stuff, because I get it. But the, I got my feelings hurt by this guy, let it go. Nothing happened to you personally.