Picture this: it’s Sunday morning, your head is pounding from the 12 White Claws you had in your driveway last night, but that doesn’t matter because today is the first Sunday of the 2020 NFL Season. You drag yourself to the living room and plop down on the couch for 10 hours of pure Fantasy Football bliss. Then, suddenly, a breaking news ticker. Your first-round pick tested positive for COVID-19 this morning and is out for the foreseeable future. Fantasy Football during COVID-19 is sure to lead to the most chaotic season we have ever seen. It is more or less inevitable that, at some point, players and coaches are going to test positive and miss time. We, as fantasy players, need to be able to adapt.

The Draft

Depth is important every year in fantasy football. You have to be able to work your way through bye weeks and injuries while continuing to field a strong lineup. Depth is going to be absolutely critical this season, more so than ever before. Along with the typical injury risk, we now have COVID-19 risk. There is no room for wasted picks in the draft. Don’t be the person that gets to the sixth round and says, “Ah screw it, it’s all a crapshoot from here anyways,” and starts pounding tequila with the vigor of a single girl at her little sister’s wedding. Yeah, it might be a bit of a crapshoot, but you can at least make informed decisions. It’s all about trying to stack the deck in your favor. Take late-round fliers on high upside picks but don’t be afraid to move on from them. Every pick matters.

Handcuffing your top players should be a priority in your draft. Learn the running back handcuffs and reach for them a round or two early. You need to ensure you have that emergency player you can sub in at a moment’s notice. Although this strategy typically applies to RBs, I don’t mind using it for WRs in some scenarios. If you draft Amari Cooper, for example, why not grab CeeDee Lamb later in the draft? Lamb would most likely see an increase in targets should Cooper miss time.

Commissioner Obstacles

Playing fantasy football during COVID-19 will surely bring up some issues all players have never dealt with before. Commissioners will have the most problems to deal with. Perhaps the biggest one is what happens if the season gets canceled after X amount of games? Will there be a predetermined point where, if the season comes to an abrupt halt after this point, a winner will be determined based on current standings or maybe even total points scored? If the season ends before that point will there be no 2020 champion and everyone gets refunded their league fees? I would encourage this to be decided on before the season starts.

Another detail for commissioners to check on would be the addition of injured reserve slots. It might not be a terrible idea to add a couple more for the upcoming season. Dynasty leagues especially could benefit from more injured reserve slots. Owners would hate to be forced to drop their prized third-round rookie just to be able to play a practice squad running back for a week.

Thank you for reading this little dive into how the 2020 fantasy football season could be impacted by COVID-19! You can follow me on Twitter @JimJamFF and don’t forget to check out some of the other great articles here at Belly Up Fantasy Sports to get you ready for football season!