Pre-Week 1 Mailbag Answers

Plus a run-down of my in-season schedule

Hi folks,

I’m going to get to the mailbag answers in a moment but first I wanted to let you all know what to expect on Thinking About Thinking in-season.

My primary offering during the year is the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Running Back. That consists of a recap column called the Sunday Drive in which I discuss each backfield that had a meaningful injury, role change, or some other aspect worth discussing. For the first week I will address every backfield to level set, but we’ll set some aside from there if things are going along un-changed. The Sunday Drive will also include my waiver priority list.

My second column of the week is the Streamer Stock Watch, which is a preview of the week’s running back streaming options based on matchups and any updated injury news, with a ranking of all the week’s streamers’ weekly value and dynasty outlook. For this year I’m setting the streamer cut off at the end of Round 6 in FFPC ADP — this is right after Aaron Jones and David Montgomery.

This focus on “streamers” dates back to the original theory of the column, in which I specifically attempted to stream an RB2 based on a set of rules over the course of the season. The column has evolved since then to become more universal. While still helpful as a start/sit/stream column for ZeroRB players in managed leagues, I’ve opened it up to touch on the running back landscape as a whole, and provide weekly analysis applicable to managed leagues, mid-season best ball drafts, dynasty, and daily fantasy.

In most weeks the Sunday Drive will be published Monday Night or Tuesday Morning (pre-waiver run), while the Streamer Stock Watch will be published Saturday morning. Because I do work a “real life” job, I will occasionally have to shift that schedule or combine the columns into one.

The Dynasty Rankings will be updated after each of the first two weeks of the season, and that update will be done within 24 hours of the Sunday slate of game (plus any necessary revisions after Monday Night Football).

After the first two weeks I will update the rankings bi-weekly (typically on Wednesday or Thursday).

On top of this weekly schedule, I try to write additional one-off columns un-related to the weekly running back circuit, typically focused on dynasty strategy or some element of the fantasy zeitgeist that has caught my attention. I can’t promise any set schedule for these but I’ll write them once every few weeks / when I have time / when a topic captures my imagination.

You can also find me on the following podcasts / youtube shows:

1. The Underdog Waiver Show (Underdog Network) — Monday Nights

2. ADP Chasing (Ship Chasing) — Intermittent Tuesday Mornings [no longer weekly in-season]

3. Dynasty Points (Fantasy Points) — Tuesday Nights

4. Thinking About DFS (Davis Mattek Youtube) — Thursday Mornings

5. The Ship Cast (Ship Chasing) — Sunday Afternoons (during the games)

Now let’s get into the mailbag answers! I’ve hit on the vast majority of the submitted questions — sorry for not hitting them all.