Part of the reason many folks have been missing sports so much is the loss of fantasy sports, too.
So if Major League Baseball comes back soon — if the players and owners ever get their acts together — that means fantasy baseball can come back, as well.
Now what? How should fantasy owners strategize for an 82-game schedule? There’s a lot of adjusted expectation that may need to go into pitching stats as a result of this drastic change.
Jeff Erickson of RotoWire joins us to take a look at how fantasy managers may want to tweak their approaches.
In some cases, owners of players that are on bad teams in real life might benefit because in a sprint of a season, some lesser teams may influence the standings with hot starts early that otherwise may not result in being impactful over a full 162-game slate.
On the football front, Jeff and I get into lots of Steelers talk. Specifically, we focus on JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner and Ben Roethlisberger. There seem to be wildly ranging levels of belief in what Roethlisberger can do with his surgically repaired arm.
In a best-case scenario, I see Roethlisberger being a more efficient quarterback but with potentially reduced numbers.
That could be good for Steelers fans. It may be lousy for fantasy owners. I get Jeff’s opinions.
Meanwhile, in the case of Conner and Smith-Schuster, the better they play, the more likely it is that they will leave in free agency. That’s an odd dynamic. But from a Steelers fan point of view, it’s best to be pragmatic. Enjoy as the numbers go on the board with Roethlisberger back in the fold and worry about the offseason in February.
Jeff and I also theorize on how rookie receiver Chase Claypool may sneak his way into stealing a few fantasy points.
Plus, we get into Jeff’s latest “sports without sports” fantasy draft — dynasty teams that never won a title.
You know, teams such as the Bills, who lost four Super Bowls in a row. The University of Houston Phi Slama Jama team. The modern-day Los Angeles Dodgers. And the Michael Jordan-era New York Knicks of the 1990s.
Jeff says the Pirates of the 1990s made his list. I’ll make a pitch for the Steelers of the 1990s, as well.
LISTEN: Jeff Erickson breaks down shortened MLB season, Steelers fantasy impacts
http://podcast.triblive.com/download/Erickson515.mp3
